Gloucester. Sirrah, naked fellow--

  Edgar. Poor Tom's a-cold. [Aside] I cannot daub itdeg further.

  Gloucester. Come hither, fellow.

  Edgar. [Aside] And yet I must.--Bless thy sweet eyes, they bleed.

  Gloucester. Know'st thou the way to Dover?

  Edgar. Both stile and gate, horse-way and footpath. Poor Tom hath been scared out of his good wits.

  Bless thee, good man's son, from the foul fiend!

  Five fiends have been in Poor Tom at once; of lust, 37 How should this be i.e., how can this horror be?

  39 Ang'ring offending

  43 ancient (1) the love the Old Man feels, by virtue of his long tenancy (2) the love that formerly obtained between master and man

  46 times' plague characteristic disorder of this time

  47 thy pleasure as you like

  48 the rest all

  49 'parel apparel

  52-53 daub it lay it on (figure from plastering mortar)

  as Obidicut;deg Hobbididence, prince of dumb

  ness;deg Mahu, of stealing; Modo, of murder; Flib

  bertigibbet, of mopping and mowing;deg who since

  possesses chambermaids and waiting-women. So,

  bless thee, master!

  Gloucester. Here, take this purse, thou whom the heavens' plagues Have humbled to all strokes:deg that I am wretched

  Makes thee the happier. Heavens, deal so still!

  Let the superfluousdeg and lust-dieteddeg man,

  That slavesdeg your ordinance,deg that will not see

  Because he does not feel, feel your pow'r quickly;

  So distribution should undo excess,deg

  And each man have enough. Dost thou know

  Dover?

  Edgar. Ay, master.

  Gloucester. There is a cliff whose high and bendingdeg head Looks fearfullydeg in the confined deep:deg

  Bring me but to the very brim of it,

  And I'll repair the misery thou dost bear

  With something rich about me: from that place

  I shall no leading need.

  Edgar. Give me thy arm: Poor Tom shall lead thee. Exeunt.

  61 Obidicut Hoberdicut, a devil (like the four that follow, from Harsnett's Declaration)

  61-62 dumbness muteness (like the crimes and afflictions in the next lines, the result of diabolic possession)

  63 mopping and mowing grimacing and making faces

  67 humbled to all strokes brought so low as to bear anything humbly

  69 superfluous possessed of superfluities

  69 lust-dieted whose lust is gratified (like Gloucester's)

  70 slaves (1) tramples, spurns like a slave (2) ? tears, rends (Old English slaefan)

  70 ordinance law

  72 So ... excess then the man with too much wealth would distribute it among those with too little

  75 bending overhanging

  76 fearfully occasioning fear

  76 confined deep the sea, hemmed in below

  Scene 2. [Before the Duke of Albany's palace. ]

  Enter Goneril and Edmund.

  Goneril. Welcome, my lord: I marvel our mild husband

  Not metdeg us on the way.

  Enter Oswald.

  Now, where's your master? Oswald. Madam, within; but never man so changed. I told him of the army that was landed:

  He smiled at it. I told him you were coming;

  His answer was, "The worse." Of Gloucester's

  treachery,

  And of the loyal service of his son

  When I informed him, then he called me sot,deg

  And told me I had turned the wrong side out:

  What most he should dislike seems pleasant to him;

  What like,deg offensive.

  Goneril. [To Edmund] Then shall you go no further. It is the cowishdeg terror of his spirit,

  That dares not undertake:deg he'll not feel wrongs,

  Which tie him to an answer.deg Our wishes on the

  way

  May prove effects.deg Back, Edmund, to my brother;

  Hasten his mustersdeg and conduct his pow'rs.deg 4.2.2 Not met did not meet

  8 sot fool

  11 What like what he should like

  12 cowish cowardly

  13 undertake venture

  14 tie him to an answer oblige him to retaliate

  14-15 Our ... effects our desires (that you might be my husband), as we journeyed here, may be fulfilled

  16 musters collecting of troops

  16 conduct his pow'rs lead his army

  I must change namesdeg at home and give the

  distaffdeg

  Into my husband's hands. This trusty servant

  Shall pass between us: ere long you are like to hear,

  If you dare venture in your own behalf,

  A mistress'sdeg command. Wear this; spare speech;

  [Giving a favor]

  Decline your head.deg This kiss, if it durst speak,

  Would stretch thy spirits up into the air:

  Conceive,deg and fare thee well.

  Edmund. Yours in the ranks of death.

  Goneril. My most dear Gloucester! Exit [Edmund]. O, the difference of man and man!

  To thee a woman's services are due:

  My fool usurps my body.deg

  Oswald. Madam, here comes my lord. Exit.

  Enter Albany.

  Goneril. I have been worth the whistle.deg

  Albany. O Goneril! You are not worth the dust which the rude wind

  Blows in your face. I fear your disposition:deg

  That nature which contemnsdeg its origin

  Cannot be bordered certain in itself;deg

  She that herself will sliver and disbranchdeg 17 change names i.e., exchange the name of "mistress" for that of "master"

  17 distaff spinning stick (wifely symbol)

  21 mistress's lover's (and also, Albany having been disposed of, lady's or wife's)

  22 Decline your head i.e., that Goneril may kiss him

  24 Conceive understand (with a sexual implication, that includes "stretch thy spirits," 1. 23; and "death," 1. 25: "to die," meaning "to experience sexual intercourse")

  28 My fool usurps my body my husband wrongfully enjoys me

  29 I ... whistle i.e., once you valued me (the proverb is implied, "It is a poor dog that is not worth the whistling")

  31 disposition nature

  32 contemns espises

  33 bordered ... itself kept within its normal bounds

  34 sliver and disbranch cut off

  From her material sap,deg perforce must wither

  And come to deadly use.deg

  Goneril. No more; the textdeg is foolish.

  Albany. Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile: Filths savor but themselves.deg What have you done?

  Tigers, not daughters, what have you performed?

  A father, and a gracious aged man,

  Whose reverence even the head-lugged beardeg

  would lick,

  Most barbarous, most degenerate, have you

  madded.deg

  Could my good brother suffer you to do it?

  A man, a prince, by him so benefited!

  If that the heavens do not their visible spiritsdeg

  Send quickly down to tame these vile offenses,

  It will come,

  Humanity must perforce prey on itself,

  Like monsters of the deep.

  Goneril. Milk-livereddeg man! That bear'st a cheek for blows, a head for wrongs;

  Who hast not in thy brows an eye discerning

  Thine honor from thy suffering;deg that not know'st

  Fools do those villains pity who are punished

  Ere they have done their mischief.deg Where's thy

  drum?

  France spreads his banners in our noiselessdeg

  land,

  With plumed helmdeg thy state begins to threat,deg 35 material sap essential and life-giving sustenance

  36 come to dea
dly use i.e., be as a dead branch for the burning

  37 text i.e., on which your sermon is based

  39 Filths savor but themselves the filthy relish only the taste of filth

  42 head-lugged bear bear-baited by the dogs, and hence enraged

  43 madded made mad

  46 visible spirits avenging spirits in material form

  50 Milk-livered lily-livered (hence cowardly, the liver being regarded as the seat of courage)

  52-53 discerning ... suffering able to distinguish between insults that ought to be resented, and ordinary pain that is to be borne

  54-55 Fools ... mischief only fools are sorry for criminals whose intended criminality is prevented by punishment

  56 noiseless i.e., the drum, signifying preparation for war, is silent

  57 helm helmet 7 thy ... threat France begins to threaten Albany's realm

  Whilst thou, a moraldeg fool, sits still and cries

  "Alack, why does he so?"

  Albany. See thyself, devil! Properdeg deformity seems not in the fiend

  So horrid as in woman.

  Goneril. O vain fool!

  Albany. Thou changed and self covereddeg thing, for shame, Be-monster not thy feature.deg Were 't my fitnessdeg

  To let these hands obey my blood,deg

  They are apt enough to dislocate and tear

  Thy flesh and bones: howe'erdeg thou art a fiend,

  A woman's shape doth shield thee.

  Goneril. Marry,deg your manhood mewdeg--

  Enter a Messenger.

  Albany. What news?

  Messenger. O, my good lord, the Duke of Cornwall's dead, Slain by his servant, going todeg put out

  The other eye of Gloucester.

  Albany. Gloucester's eyes!

  Messenger. A servant that he bred,deg thrilled with remorse,deg Opposed against the act, bending his sword

  To his great master, who thereat enraged

  Flew on him, and amongst them felleddeg him dead,

  But not without that harmful stroke which since 58 moral moralizing; but also with the implication that morality and folly are one

  60 Proper (1) natural (to a fiend) (2) fair-appearing

  62 changed and self-covered i.e., transformed, by the contorting of her woman's face, on which appears the fiendish behavior she has allowed herself. (Goneril has disguised nature by wickedness)

  63 Be-monster not thy feature do not change your appearance into a fiend's

  63 my fitness appropriate for me

  64 blood passion 66 howe'er but even if

  68 Marry by the Virgin Mary

  68 your manhood mew (1) coop up or confine your (pretended) manhood (2) molt or shed it, if that is what is supposed to "shield" me from you

  71 going to as he was about to

  73 bred reared

  73 thrilled with remorse pierced by compassion

  76 amongst them felled others assisting, they felled

  Hath plucked him after.deg

  Albany. This shows you are above, You justicers,deg that these our netherdeg crimes

  So speedily can venge.deg But, O poor Gloucester!

  Lost he his other eye?

  Messenger. Both, both, my lord. This letter, madam, cravesdeg a speedy answer; 'Tis from your sister.

  Goneril. [Aside] One way I like this well; But being widow, and my Gloucester with her,

  May all the building in my fancy pluck

  Upon my hateful life.deg Another way,deg

  The news is not so tart.deg--I'll read, and answer.

  Exit.

  Albany. Where was his son when they did take his eyes?

  Messenger. Come with my lady hither.

  Albany. He is not here.

  Messenger. No, my good lord; I met him backdeg again.

  Albany. Knows he the wickedness?

  Messenger. Ay, my good lord; 'twas he informed against him, And quit the house on purpose, that their punish

  ment

  Might have the freer course.

  Albany. Gloucester, I live To thank thee for the love thou showed'st the

  King,

  And to revenge thine eyes. Come hither, friend:

  Tell me what more thou know'st. Exeunt.

  78 plucked him after i.e., brought Cornwall to death with his servant

  79 justicers judges

  79 nether committed below (on earth)

  80 venge avenge

  82 craves demands

  85-86 May ... life these things (1.84) may send my future hopes, my castles in air, crashing down upon the hateful (married) life I lead now

  86 Another way looked at another way

  87 tart sour

  90 back going back

  [Scene 3. The French camp near Dover.]

  Enter Kent and a Gentleman.

  Kent. Why the King of France is so suddenly gone back, know you no reason?

  Gentleman. Something he left imperfect in the state,deg which since his coming forth is thought of, which importsdeg to the kingdom so much fear and danger that his personal return was most required and necessary.

  Kent. Who hath he left behind him general?

  Gentleman. The Marshal of France, Monsieur La Far.

  Kent. Did your letters piercedeg the queen to any demonstration of grief?

  Gentleman. Ay, sir; she took them, read them in my presence, And now and then an ample tear trilleddeg down

  Her delicate cheek: it seemed she was a queen

  Over her passion, who most rebel-like

  Sought to be king o'er her.

  Kent. O, then it moved her.

  Gentleman. Not to a rage: patience and sorrow strove Who should express her goodliest.deg You have seen

  Sunshine and rain at once: her smiles and tears

  Were like a better way:deg those happy smiletsdeg

  That played on her ripe lip seemed not to know

  What guests were in her eyes, which parted thence 4.3.3-4 imperfect in the state unsettled in his own kingdom

  5 imports portends

  10 pierce impel

  13 trilled trickled

  18 Who ... goodliest which should give her the most becoming expression

  20 Were like a better way i.e., improved on that spectacle

  20 smilets little smiles

  As pearls from diamonds dropped. In brief,

  Sorrow would be a rarity most beloved,

  If all could so become it.deg

  Kent. Made she no verbal question?

  Gentleman. Faith, once or twice she heaveddeg the name of "father" Pantingly forth, as if it pressed her heart;

  Cried "Sisters! Sisters! Shame of ladies! Sisters!

  Kent! Father! Sisters! What, i' th' storm? i' th'

  night?

  Let pity not be believed!"deg There she shook

  The holy water from her heavenly eyes,

  And clamor moistened:deg then away she started

  To deal with grief alone.

  Kent. It is the stars, The stars above us, govern our conditions;deg

  Else one self mate and make could not beget

  Such different issues.deg You spoke not with her

  since?

  Gentleman. No.

  Kent. Was this before the King returned?

  Gentleman. No, since.

  Kent. Well, sir, the poor distressed Lear's i' th' town; Who sometime in his better tunedeg remembers

  What we are come about, and by no means

  Will yield to see his daughter.

  Gentleman. Why, good sir?

  Kent. A sovereigndeg shame so elbowsdeg him: his own unkindness 24-25 Sorrow ... it sorrow would be a coveted jewel if it became others as it does her

  26 heaved expressed with difficulty

  30 Let pity not be believed let it not be believed for pity

  32 clamor moistened moistened clamor, i.e., mixed (and perhaps assuaged) her outcries with tears

  34 govern our conditions determine what we are

  35-36 Else ...
issues otherwise the same husband and wife could not produce such different children

  40 better tune composed, less jangled intervals

  43 sovereign overpowering

  43 elbows jogs his elbow i.e., reminds him

  That stripped her from his benediction, turned her

  To foreign casualties,deg gave her dear rights

  To his dog-hearted daughters: these things sting

  His mind so venomously that burning shame

  Detains him from Cordelia.

  Gentleman. Alack, poor gentleman!

  Kent. Of Albany's and Cornwall's powers you heard not?

  Gentleman. 'Tis so;deg they are afoot.

  Kent. Well, sir, I'll bring you to our master Lear, And leave you to attend him: some dear causedeg

  Will in concealment wrap me up awhile;

  When I am known aright, you shall not grieve

  Lending me this acquaintance. I pray you, go

  Along with me. [Exeunt.]

  [Scene 4. The same. A tent.]

  Enter, with drum and colors, Cordelia, Doctor, and Soldiers.

  Cordelia. Alack, 'tis he: why, he was met even now As mad as the vexed sea; singing aloud;

  Crowned with rank femiter and furrow-weeds,

  With hardocks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flow'rs,

  Darnel,deg and all the idle weeds that grow

  In our sustaining corn.deg A centurydeg send forth;

  Search every acre in the high-grown field, 45 casualties chances

  50 'Tis so i.e., I have heard of them

  52 dear cause important reason

  4.4.3-5 femiter ... Darnel: femiter fumitory, whose leaves and juice are bitter; furrow-weeds weeds that grow in the furrow; or plowed land; hardocks ? hoar or white docks, burdocks, harlocks; hemlock a poison; nettles plants which sting and burn; cuckoo-flow'rs identified with a plant employed to remedy diseases of the brain; Darnel tares, noisome weeds

  6 sustaining corn life-maintaining wheat

  6 century ? sentry; troop of a hundred soldiers

  And bring him to our eye [Exit an Officer.] What

  can man's wisdomdeg

  In the restoring his bereaveddeg sense?

  He that helps him take all my outwarddeg worth.