King Lear by William Shakespeare

Act 5 - Scene 3

The British camp, near Dover.

Edmund : Some officers take them away. Good guard [p]Until their greater
pleasures first be known [p]That are to censure them.

Cordelia : We are not the first [p]Who with best meaning have incurr'd the
worst. [p]For thee, oppressed king, am I cast down; [p]Myself could
else outfrown false Fortune's frown. [p]Shall we not see these
daughters and these sisters?

Lear : No, no, no, no! Come, let's away to prison. [p]We two alone will sing
like birds i' th' cage. [p]When thou dost ask me blessing, I'll kneel
down [p]And ask of thee forgiveness. So we'll live, [p]And pray, and
sing, and tell old tales, and laugh [p]At gilded butterflies, and hear
poor rogues [p]Talk of court news; and we'll talk with them
too- [p]Who loses and who wins; who's in, who's out- [p]And take upon
's the mystery of things, [p]As if we were God's spies; and we'll wear
out, [p]In a wall'd prison, packs and sects of great ones [p]That ebb
and flow by th' moon.

Edmund : Take them away.

Lear : Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia, [p]The gods themselves throw
incense. Have I caught thee? [p]He that parts us shall bring a brand
from heaven [p]And fire us hence like foxes. Wipe thine eyes. [p]The
goodyears shall devour 'em, flesh and fell, [p]Ere they shall make us
weep! We'll see 'em starv'd first. [p]Come. Exeunt [Lear and Cordelia,
guarded].

Edmund : Come hither, Captain; hark. [p]Take thou this note [gives a paper]. Go
follow them to prison. [p]One step I have advanc'd thee. If thou
dost [p]As this instructs thee, thou dost make thy way [p]To noble
fortunes. Know thou this, that men [p]Are as the time is. To be
tender-minded [p]Does not become a sword. Thy great employment [p]Will
not bear question. Either say thou'lt do't, [p]Or thrive by other
means.

Captain : I'll do't, my lord.

Edmund : About it! and write happy when th' hast done. [p]Mark- I say,
instantly; and carry it so [p]As I have set it down.

Captain : I cannot draw a cart, nor eat dried oats; [p]If it be man's work, I'll
do't. Exit.

Duke of Albany : Sir, you have show'd to-day your valiant strain, [p]And fortune led
you well. You have the captives [p]Who were the opposites of this
day's strife. [p]We do require them of you, so to use them [p]As we
shall find their merits and our safety [p]May equally determine.

Edmund : Sir, I thought it fit [p]To send the old and miserable King [p]To some
retention and appointed guard; [p]Whose age has charms in it, whose
title more, [p]To pluck the common bosom on his side [p]And turn our
impress'd lances in our eyes [p]Which do command them. With him I sent
the Queen, [p]My reason all the same; and they are ready [p]To-morrow,
or at further space, t' appear [p]Where you shall hold your session.
At this time [p]We sweat and bleed: the friend hath lost his
friend; [p]And the best quarrels, in the heat, are curs'd [p]By those
that feel their sharpness. [p]The question of Cordelia and her
father [p]Requires a fitter place.

Duke of Albany : Sir, by your patience, [p]I hold you but a subject of this war, [p]Not
as a brother.

Regan : That's as we list to grace him. [p]Methinks our pleasure might have
been demanded [p]Ere you had spoke so far. He led our powers, [p]Bore
the commission of my place and person, [p]The which immediacy may well
stand up [p]And call itself your brother.

Goneril : Not so hot! [p]In his own grace he doth exalt himself [p]More than in
your addition.

Regan : In my rights [p]By me invested, he compeers the best.

Goneril : That were the most if he should husband you.

Regan : Jesters do oft prove prophets.

Goneril : Holla, holla! [p]That eye that told you so look'd but asquint.

Regan : Lady, I am not well; else I should answer [p]From a full-flowing
stomach. General, [p]Take thou my soldiers, prisoners,
patrimony; [p]Dispose of them, of me; the walls are thine. [p]Witness
the world that I create thee here [p]My lord and master.

Goneril : Mean you to enjoy him?

Duke of Albany : The let-alone lies not in your good will.

Edmund : Nor in thine, lord.

Duke of Albany : Half-blooded fellow, yes.

Regan : [to Edmund] Let the drum strike, and prove my title thine.

Duke of Albany : Stay yet; hear reason. Edmund, I arrest thee [p]On capital treason;
and, in thine attaint, [p]This gilded serpent [points to Goneril]. For
your claim, fair [p] sister, [p]I bar it in the interest of my
wife. [p]'Tis she is subcontracted to this lord, [p]And I, her
husband, contradict your banes. [p]If you will marry, make your loves
to me; [p]My lady is bespoke.

Goneril : An interlude!

Duke of Albany : Thou art arm'd, Gloucester. Let the trumpet sound. [p]If none appear
to prove upon thy person [p]Thy heinous, manifest, and many
treasons, [p]There is my pledge [throws down a glove]! I'll prove it
on thy [p] heart, [p]Ere I taste bread, thou art in nothing
less [p]Than I have here proclaim'd thee.

Regan : Sick, O, sick!

Goneril : [aside] If not, I'll ne'er trust medicine.

Edmund : There's my exchange [throws down a glove]. What in the world [p] he
is [p]That names me traitor, villain-like he lies. [p]Call by thy
trumpet. He that dares approach, [p]On him, on you, who not? I will
maintain [p]My truth and honour firmly.

Duke of Albany : A herald, ho!

Edmund : A herald, ho, a herald!

Duke of Albany : Trust to thy single virtue; for thy soldiers, [p]All levied in my
name, have in my name [p]Took their discharge.

Regan : My sickness grows upon me.

Duke of Albany : She is not well. Convey her to my tent. [p] [Exit Regan, led. Enter
a Herald.] [p]Come hither, herald. Let the trumpet sound, [p]And read
out this.

Captain : Sound, trumpet! A trumpet sounds.

Herald : [reads] 'If any man of quality or degree within the lists of [p]the
army will maintain upon Edmund, supposed Earl of Gloucester, [p]that
he is a manifold traitor, let him appear by the third sound [p]of the
trumpet. He is bold in his defence.'

Edmund : Sound! First trumpet.

Herald : Again! Second trumpet.

Herald : Again! Third trumpet.

Duke of Albany : Ask him his purposes, why he appears [p]Upon this call o' th'
trumpet.

Herald : What are you? [p]Your name, your quality? and why you answer [p]This
present summons?

Edgar : Know my name is lost; [p]By treason's tooth bare-gnawn and
canker-bit. [p]Yet am I noble as the adversary [p]I come to cope.

Duke of Albany : Which is that adversary?

Edgar : What's he that speaks for Edmund Earl of Gloucester?

Edmund : Himself. What say'st thou to him?

Edgar : Draw thy sword, [p]That, if my speech offend a noble heart, [p]Thy arm
may do thee justice. Here is mine. [p]Behold, it is the privilege of
mine honours, [p]My oath, and my profession. I protest- [p]Maugre thy
strength, youth, place, and eminence, [p]Despite thy victor sword and
fire-new fortune, [p]Thy valour and thy heart- thou art a
traitor; [p]False to thy gods, thy brother, and thy
father; [p]Conspirant 'gainst this high illustrious prince; [p]And
from th' extremest upward of thy head [p]To the descent and dust
beneath thy foot, [p]A most toad-spotted traitor. Say thou
'no,' [p]This sword, this arm, and my best spirits are bent [p]To
prove upon thy heart, whereto I speak, [p]Thou liest.

Edmund : In wisdom I should ask thy name; [p]But since thy outside looks so
fair and warlike, [p]And that thy tongue some say of breeding
breathes, [p]What safe and nicely I might well delay [p]By rule of
knighthood, I disdain and spurn. [p]Back do I toss those treasons to
thy head; [p]With the hell-hated lie o'erwhelm thy heart; [p]Which-
for they yet glance by and scarcely bruise- [p]This sword of mine
shall give them instant way [p]Where they shall rest for ever.
Trumpets, speak!

Duke of Albany : Save him, save him!

Goneril : This is mere practice, Gloucester. [p]By th' law of arms thou wast not
bound to answer [p]An unknown opposite. Thou art not
vanquish'd, [p]But cozen'd and beguil'd.

Duke of Albany : Shut your mouth, dame, [p]Or with this paper shall I stop it. [Shows
her her letter to [p]Edmund.]- [To Edmund]. Hold, sir. [p][To Goneril]
Thou worse than any name, read thine own evil. [p]No tearing, lady! I
perceive you know it.

Goneril : Say if I do- the laws are mine, not thine. [p]Who can arraign me
for't?

Duke of Albany : Most monstrous! [p]Know'st thou this paper?

Goneril : Ask me not what I know. Exit.

Duke of Albany : Go after her. She's desperate; govern her.

Edmund : What, you have charg'd me with, that have I done, [p]And more, much
more. The time will bring it out. [p]'Tis past, and so am I.- But what
art thou [p]That hast this fortune on me? If thou'rt noble, [p]I do
forgive thee.

Edgar : Let's exchange charity. [p]I am no less in blood than thou art,
Edmund; [p]If more, the more th' hast wrong'd me. [p]My name is Edgar
and thy father's son. [p]The gods are just, and of our pleasant
vices [p]Make instruments to scourge us. [p]The dark and vicious place
where thee he got [p]Cost him his eyes.

Edmund : Th' hast spoken right; 'tis true. [p]The wheel is come full circle; I
am here.

Duke of Albany : Methought thy very gait did prophesy [p]A royal nobleness. I must
embrace thee. [p]Let sorrow split my heart if ever I [p]Did hate thee,
or thy father!

Edgar : Worthy prince, I know't.

Duke of Albany : Where have you hid yourself? [p]How have you known the miseries of
your father?

Edgar : By nursing them, my lord. List a brief tale; [p]And when 'tis told, O
that my heart would burst! [p]The bloody proclamation to
escape [p]That follow'd me so near (O, our lives' sweetness! [p]That
with the pain of death would hourly die [p]Rather than die at once!)
taught me to shift [p]Into a madman's rags, t' assume a
semblance [p]That very dogs disdain'd; and in this habit [p]Met I my
father with his bleeding rings, [p]Their precious stones new lost;
became his guide, [p]Led him, begg'd for him, sav'd him from
despair; [p]Never (O fault!) reveal'd myself unto him [p]Until some
half hour past, when I was arm'd, [p]Not sure, though hoping of this
good success, [p]I ask'd his blessing, and from first to last [p]Told
him my pilgrimage. But his flaw'd heart [p](Alack, too weak the
conflict to support!) [p]'Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and
grief, [p]Burst smilingly.

Edmund : This speech of yours hath mov'd me, [p]And shall perchance do good;
but speak you on; [p]You look as you had something more to say.

Duke of Albany : If there be more, more woful, hold it in; [p]For I am almost ready to
dissolve, [p]Hearing of this.

Edgar : This would have seem'd a period [p]To such as love not sorrow; but
another, [p]To amplify too much, would make much more, [p]And top
extremity. [p]Whilst I was big in clamour, came there a man, [p]Who,
having seen me in my worst estate, [p]Shunn'd my abhorr'd society; but
then, finding [p]Who 'twas that so endur'd, with his strong arms [p]He
fastened on my neck, and bellowed out [p]As he'd burst heaven; threw
him on my father; [p]Told the most piteous tale of Lear and
him [p]That ever ear receiv'd; which in recounting [p]His grief grew
puissant, and the strings of life [p]Began to crack. Twice then the
trumpets sounded, [p]And there I left him tranc'd.

Duke of Albany : But who was this?

Edgar : Kent, sir, the banish'd Kent; who in disguise [p]Followed his enemy
king and did him service [p]Improper for a slave.

Gentleman : Help, help! O, help!

Edgar : What kind of help?

Duke of Albany : Speak, man.

Edgar : What means that bloody knife?

Gentleman : 'Tis hot, it smokes. [p]It came even from the heart of- O! she's
dead!

Duke of Albany : Who dead? Speak, man.

Gentleman : Your lady, sir, your lady! and her sister [p]By her is poisoned; she
hath confess'd it.

Edmund : I was contracted to them both. All three [p]Now marry in an instant.

Edgar : Here comes Kent.

Duke of Albany : Produce their bodies, be they alive or dead. [p]
[Exit Gentleman.] [p]This judgement of the heavens, that
makes us tremble [p]Touches us not with pity. O, is this he? [p]The
time will not allow the compliment [p]That very manners urges.

Earl of Kent : I am come [p]To bid my king and master aye good night. [p]Is he not
here?

Duke of Albany : Great thing of us forgot! [p]Speak, Edmund, where's the King? and
where's Cordelia? [p] [The bodies of Goneril and Regan are brought
in.] [p]Seest thou this object, Kent?

Earl of Kent : Alack, why thus?

Edmund : Yet Edmund was belov'd. [p]The one the other poisoned for my
sake, [p]And after slew herself.

Duke of Albany : Even so. Cover their faces.

Edmund : I pant for life. Some good I mean to do, [p]Despite of mine own
nature. Quickly send [p](Be brief in't) to the castle; for my
writ [p]Is on the life of Lear and on Cordelia. [p]Nay, send in time.

Duke of Albany : Run, run, O, run!

Edgar : To who, my lord? Who has the office? Send [p]Thy token of reprieve.

Edmund : Well thought on. Take my sword; [p]Give it the Captain.

Duke of Albany : Haste thee for thy life. [Exit Edgar.]

Edmund : He hath commission from thy wife and me [p]To hang Cordelia in the
prison and [p]To lay the blame upon her own despair [p]That she fordid
herself.

Duke of Albany : The gods defend her! Bear him hence awhile.

Lear : Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stone. [p]Had I your tongues
and eyes, I'ld use them so [p]That heaven's vault should crack. She's
gone for ever! [p]I know when one is dead, and when one
lives. [p]She's dead as earth. Lend me a looking glass. [p]If that her
breath will mist or stain the stone, [p]Why, then she lives.

Earl of Kent : Is this the promis'd end?

Edgar : Or image of that horror?

Duke of Albany : Fall and cease!

Lear : This feather stirs; she lives! If it be so, [p]It is a chance which
does redeem all sorrows [p]That ever I have felt.

Earl of Kent : O my good master!

Lear : Prithee away!

Edgar : 'Tis noble Kent, your friend.

Lear : A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all! [p]I might have sav'd her;
now she's gone for ever! [p]Cordelia, Cordelia! stay a little.
Ha! [p]What is't thou say'st, Her voice was ever soft, [p]Gentle, and
low- an excellent thing in woman. [p]I kill'd the slave that was
a-hanging thee.

Captain : 'Tis true, my lords, he did.

Lear : Did I not, fellow? [p]I have seen the day, with my good biting
falchion [p]I would have made them skip. I am old now, [p]And these
same crosses spoil me. Who are you? [p]Mine eyes are not o' th' best.
I'll tell you straight.

Earl of Kent : If fortune brag of two she lov'd and hated, [p]One of them we behold.

Lear : This' a dull sight. Are you not Kent?

Earl of Kent : The same- [p]Your servant Kent. Where is your servant Caius?

Lear : He's a good fellow, I can tell you that. [p]He'll strike, and quickly
too. He's dead and rotten.

Earl of Kent : No, my good lord; I am the very man-

Lear : I'll see that straight.

Earl of Kent : That from your first of difference and decay [p]Have followed your sad
steps.

Lear : You're welcome hither.

Earl of Kent : Nor no man else! All's cheerless, dark, and deadly. [p]Your eldest
daughters have fordone themselves, [p]And desperately are dead.

Lear : Ay, so I think.

Duke of Albany : He knows not what he says; and vain is it [p]That we present us to
him.

Edgar : Very bootless.

Captain : Edmund is dead, my lord.

Duke of Albany : That's but a trifle here. [p]You lords and noble friends, know our
intent. [p]What comfort to this great decay may come [p]Shall be
applied. For us, we will resign, [p]During the life of this old
Majesty, [p]To him our absolute power; [to Edgar and Kent] you to
your [p] rights; [p]With boot, and such addition as your
honours [p]Have more than merited.- All friends shall taste [p]The
wages of their virtue, and all foes [p]The cup of their deservings.-
O, see, see!

Lear : And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life! [p]Why should a dog, a
horse, a rat, have life, [p]And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no
more, [p]Never, never, never, never, never! [p]Pray you undo this
button. Thank you, sir. [p]Do you see this? Look on her! look! her
lips! [p]Look there, look there! He dies.

Edgar : He faints! My lord, my lord!

Earl of Kent : Break, heart; I prithee break!

Edgar : Look up, my lord.

Earl of Kent : Vex not his ghost. O, let him pass! He hates him [p]That would upon
the rack of this tough world [p]Stretch him out longer.

Edgar : He is gone indeed.

Earl of Kent : The wonder is, he hath endur'd so long. [p]He but usurp'd his life.

Duke of Albany : Bear them from hence. Our present business [p]Is general woe. [To Kent
and Edgar] Friends of my soul, you [p] twain [p]Rule in this realm,
and the gor'd state sustain.

Earl of Kent : I have a journey, sir, shortly to go. [p]My master calls me; I must
not say no.

Duke of Albany : The weight of this sad time we must obey, [p]Speak what we feel, not
what we ought to say. [p]The oldest have borne most; we that are
young [p]Shall never see so much, nor live so long.

Previous: Act 5 - Scene 2

Next: Act 5 - Scene 3

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