That heaven's vault should crack.—O, she is gone for ever! I know when one is dead, and when one lives; Kent. Is this the promised end? 1 Edg. Or image of that horror? Alb. Fall, and cease! 2 Lear. This feather stirs; she lives: if it be so, It is a chance that does redeem all sorrows Lear. A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all! I might have saved 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. Off. 'Tis true, my lords, he did. Lear. Did I not, fellow? I 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? 1 i. e. the end of the world, foretold by our Saviour. Mine eyes are none o' the best: I'll tell you straight. Kent. If Fortune brag of two she loved 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; 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 eldest daughters have foredoom'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.1 Enter OFFICER. Off. Edmund is dead, my lord. Alb. That's but a trifle here.— 1 Useless. 1 You lords, and noble friends, know our intent. To him our absolute power: you, to your rights; [to Edgar and Kent. With boot, and such addition as your honors Have more than merited.-All friends shall taste The wages of their virtue, and all foes The cup of their deservings.-O, see, see! Lear. And my poor fool3 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,—her lips,— Look there, look there! Edg. [he dies. He faints! My lord, my lord,————— Kent. Break, heart; I pr'ythee, break! Edg. Kent. Vex not his ghost. hates him, Look up, my lord. O, let him pass! he That would upon the rack of this tough world Stretch him out longer. Edg. O, he is gone, indeed. 1 i. e. Lear. • Increase. An expression of tenderness for his dead Cordelia. Kent. The wonder is, he hath endured so long: He but usurp'd his life. 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 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. |