The images of revolt and flying off. * Fetch me a better answer. Glo. My dear lord, You know the fiery quality of the duke, In his own course. Lear. Vengeance! y plague! death! confufion!z What fiery quality? Why, Glofter, a Glofter, I'd fpeak with th' duke of Cornwall, and his wife. b Glo. Well, my good lord, I have inform'd them fo. Lear. Inform'd them? Doft thou understand me, man? Glo. Ay, my good lord. Lear. The king would fpeak with Cornwall; the dear father с Would with his daughter fpeak, commands her service; Are they inform'd of this?-My breath and blood!Fiery? the fiery duke? tell the hot duke, that—f No, but not yet; may be, he is not well ; Infirmity doth ftill neglect all office, Whereto our health is bound; we're not ourselves, When nature, being oppreft, & commands the mind x So all before P.; he and all after bring for fetch. y The qu's place death before plague. z So the qu's; the fo's and R. read fiery? what quality? P. and all after fiery? what fiery quality? a So all before P.; he and all after read Glo'fter only once. b These two speeches in italic are not in the qu's. The fo's read commands, tends, fervice; R. command tends fervice: d The qu's omit this line. The qu's read fiery duke, tell the hot duke that Lear. f Here J. puts a direction, [Glo'fter offers to go.] So that he makes Glofter going, not with half his errand, but without any of it. The ift q. reads command. Το To fuffer with the body. I'll forbear; And am fallen out with my more h headier will, To take the indifpos'd and fickly fit For the found man.-Death on my ftate! i [Looking on Kent. Is practice only. Give me my fervant forth. 1 Go, tell the duke and 's wife, I'd fpeak with them. Now! presently! bid them come forth and hear me, Or at their chamber-door I'll beat the drum, Till it cry, fleep to death. Glo. I would have all well betwixt you. [Exit. Lear. "Oh me, my heart, my rifing heart! but down. Fool. Cry to it, nuncle, as the cockney did to the eels, when the P put them i'th' paste alive; fhe rapt 'em o'th' coxcombs with a stick, and cry'd, down wantons, down. 'Twas her brother that in pure kindness to his horse butter'd his " hay. t h P. and H. read heady for headier. i After ftate P. reads but; followed by all after; but then wherefore is by them, made a part of this line, as in the folio's. KH. reads perfuadeth. 1 The qu's omit go. m The qu's read Ile for I'd. This speech in the qu's only O my heart! my heart. The 2d, 3d, and 4th fo's, R. P. and H. read he for fhe. P The 2d q. reads put um up i'th', &c. The 1ft q. past; the 2d, the fo's, and R. pafte; P. and all after pasty But who ever heard of an eel-pafty? R. P. and H. read he for fhe. The fo's and R. knapt for rapt. The 3d and 4th qu's, R. P. and H. read his for her The ad and 3d fo's hey for hay. SCENE SCENE XI. Enter Cornwall, Regan, Glo'fter, and fervants. Lear. Good morrow to you both. Corn. Hail to your grace. [Kent is fet at liberty. Reg. I am glad to fee your highness. X Lear. Regan, I think you are; I know what reason I can fcarce fpeak to thee; thou'lt not believe, y Of how deprav'd a quality-Oh Regan! [Points to his heart. Reg. I pray you, fir, take patience; I have hope, You lefs know how to value her defert, Than fhe to a fean her duty. с b Lear. Say? How is that? Reg. I cannot think, my fifter in the leaft w So all before P.; he and all after read wert not for should not be. The qu's read yea for 0. y So the qu's; the reft with for of. z The qu's read depriv'd for deprav'd.. a The qu's read flacke her duty; the fo's, R. P. T. W. and J. fcant her duty; H. fean her duty; J. propofes this emendation, without telling us that H. has made it. b These two fpeeches in italic are not in the qu's. So all before P.; he and H. omit say. Would fail her obligation. If, fir, perchance Lear. My curfes on her! Reg. O fir, you are old; Nature in you stands on the very verge h Say you have wrong'd her, fir. Lear. Afk her forgiveness ? Do you but mark, how this becomes k me now: Age is unneceffary; on my knees I beg, [Kneels. That you'll vouchsafe me raiment, bed, and food. So all before P.; he and all after omit fir. The qu's read on for in. f The 1ft q. his for her. The qu's omit you. h The fo's and R. omit fir. i The qu's omit but. * For me now, the qu's, fo's, R. P. W. and J. read the house, which W. interprets, the order of families, the duties of relation, which are scandalously disturbed by the father's fubmiffion to the daughter. H. reads becometh us. T. the ufe; but who ever faid, this becomes the custom or use? What agrees with custom, or rather nature, does indeed become the perfon who uses it. We make it better sense by reading me now, and referring it to what follows, which infers a fortiori that much lefs would it become him to ask his daughter forgiveness. Lear Lear. 1 Never, Regan: She hath abated me of half my train ; Look'd m black upon me; ftruck me with her tongue, Most serpent-like, upon the very heart. All the stor❜d vengeances of heaven fall On her ingrateful" top! Strike her young bones, • You taking airs, with lameness ! Corn. P Fie, fir, fie. Lear. You nimble lightnings, dart your blinding flames Into her fcornful eyes! infect her beauty, Ye fen-fuck'd fogs, drawn by the pow'rful fun To fall, and a blast her pride! Reg. O the bleft Gods! So will you wish on me, when the rafh mood r is on. t Thee o'er to harshness; her eyes are fierce, but thine To grudge my pleasures, to cut off my train, 1 The qu's read no, Regan! m The 2d q. reads back; T. blank. n P. and H. read head for top. For you taking, P. reads infecting. Is not this an unwarrantable licence to alter at this rate, when the word was intelligible enough, and, no doubt, agreeable to the language of that time. This alteration is the more furprizing, because P. has retained the fame word afterwards in the fame fenfe, Act iii. Sc. vi. "Blefs thee from whirlwinds-and taking, &c." p The qu's read fie, fie, fir. 4 For blaft her pride the fo's and R. read blister. The qu's omit is on; and have a dash signifying interruption after mood. s The qu's read the tender-hefted, &c. R.'s 12mo and P. tender-hearted. * So all but J. |