Page images
PDF
EPUB

This Coronet part between you.

Kent. Royal Lear,

[Giving the Crown.

Whom I have ever honour'd as my King,

Lov'd as my father, as my mafter follow'd,

As my great patron thought on in my pray❜rs— Lear. The bow is bent and drawn, make from the fhaft.

. Kent. Let it fall rather, though the fork invade
The region of my heart; be Kent unmannerly,
When Lear is mad. What wouldst thou do, old man ?
Think'ft thou, that duty fhall have dread to fpeak,
When pow'r to flatt'ry bows? To plainnefs honour's
bound,

When majefty falls to folly. Referve thy state,
And in thy beft confideration check

This hideous rafhnefs; answer my life my judgment,
Thy youngest daughter does not love thee leait;
Nor are thofe empty hearted, whofe low found
Reverbs no hollowness.

Lear. Kent, On thy life no more.

Kent. My life I never held but as a pawn

8 Think'ft thou, that duty shall bave dread to fpeak,] I have given this paffage according to the old folio, from which the modern editions have filently departed, for the fake of better numbers, with a degree of infincerity, which, if not fometimes detected and cenfured, muft impair the credit of antient books. One of the editors, and perhaps only one, knew how much mischief may be done by fuch clandeftine alterations.

The quarto agrees with the folio, except that for referve by ftate, it gives, reverfe thy doom, and has foops inftead of falls to folly.

The meaning of answer my life my judgment is, Let my life

be answerable for my judgment, or I will take my life on my opinion.

The reading which, without any right, has poffeffed all the modern copies is this,

-to plainnefs honour Is bound, when Majefty to folly falls.

Referve thy flate; with better judgment check

This hideous rafbnefs; with my life I answer,

Thy youngest daughter, &c. I am inclined to think that reverfe thy doom was Shakespeare's firft reading, as more appofite to the prefent occafion, and that he changed it afterwards to referve thy fate, which conduces more to the progress of the action.

To

To wage against thine enemies, nor fear to lofe it,
Thy fafety being the motive.

Lear. Out of my fight!

Kent. See better, Lear, and let me ftill remain

The true blank of thine eye.

Lear. Now by Apollo.

Kent. Now by Apollo, King, Thou fwear'ft thy Gods in vain. Lear. O vaffal! mifcreant!

[Laying his hand on his fword.

Alb. Corn. Dear Sir, forbear.

Kent. Kill thy phyfician, and thy fee bestow
Upon the foul difeafe; revoke thy doom,
Or whilst I can vent clamour from my throat,
I'll tell thee, thou doft evil.

Lear. Hear me, recreant!

Since thou haft fought to make us break our vow, Which we durft never yet; and with 'ftrain'd pride, To come betwixt our fentence and our power;

2

3 Which nor our nature, nor our place, can bear;

9 The true blank of thine eye] The blank is the white or exact mark at which the arrow is fhot. See better, fays Kent, and keep me always in your view.

-ftrain'd pride,] The oldeft copy reads, frayed pride; that is, pride exorbitant; pride paffing due bounds.

2 To come betwixt our fentence and our power;] Power, for execution of the fentence.

WARBURTON. 3 Which nor our nature, nor our place can bear.

Our potency make good;] Mr. Theobald, by putting the first line into a parenthesis, and altering make to made in the fecond line, had deftroyed the fenfe of the whole; which, as it

Our

ftood before he corrupted the words, was this: "You have "endeavoured, fays Lear, to "make me break my oath,

you have prefumed to stop the "execution of my fentence; "the latter of these attempts "neither my temper nor high

ftation will fuffer me to bear: " and the other, had I yielded "to it, my power could not "make good, or excufe.". Which, in the first line, referring to both attempts. But the ambiguity of it, as it might refer only to the latter, has occafioned all the obfcurity of the paffage.

WARBURTON.

[blocks in formation]

Our potency made good, take thy reward.
Five days we do allot thee for provision,
To fhield thee from difafters of the world;
And on the fixth, to turn thy hated back
Upon our Kingdom; if, the tenth day following,
Thy banish'd trunk be found in our dominions,
The moment is thy death. Away! By Jupiter,
This fhall not be revok'd.

4

Kent. Fare thee well, King; fith thus thou wilt
appear,

Freedom lives hence, and banishment is here.
The gods to their dear shelter take thee, maid,

[To Cordelia. That justly think'ft, and haft most rightly said. And your large fpeeches may your deeds approve, [To Reg. and Gon. That good effects may fpring from words of love. Thus Kent, O Princes, bids you all adieu; • He'll shape his old courfe in a country new. [Exit.

Warburton has very acutely explained and defended the reading that he has chofen, but I am not certain that he has chofen right. If we take the reading of the folio, our potency made good, the fenfe will be lefs profound indeed, but lefs intricate, and equally commodious. As thou hast come with unreasonable pride between the fentence which I had paffed, and the power by which I jhall execute it, take thy reward in another fentence which Shall make good, shall establish, fall maintain, that power.

If Dr. Warburton's explanation be chofen, and every reader will wish to choose it, we may better read,

Which nor our nature, nor our
fate can bear,
Or potency make good.

Mr. Davies thinks, that our potency made good relates only to our tlace.--Which our nature cannot bear, nor our place, without departure from the potency of that place. This is eafy and clear.

Lear, who is characterized as hot, heady and violent, is, with very juft obfervation of life, made to entangle himself with vows, upon any fudden provocation to vow revenge, and then to plead the obligation of fence of implacability.

vow in de

4 By Jupiter.] Shakespeare makes his Lear too much a mythologift: he had Hecate and Apolio before.

5 He'll shape his old course-] He will follow his old maxims; he will continue to act upon the fame principles.

SCENE

[blocks in formation]

Enter Glo'fter, with France and Burgundy, and Attendants.

Glo. Here's France and Burgundy, my noble Lord.
Lear. My Lord of Burgundy,

We first address tow'rd you, who with this King,
Have rivall'd for our daughter; what in the leaft
Will you require in prefent dower with her,
Or cease your queft of love?

Bur. Most royal majesty,

I crave no more than what your Highness offer'd,
Nor will you tender less.

Lear. Right noble Burgundy,

When she was dear to us, we held her fo;
But now her price is fall'n. Sir, there she stands,
If aught within that little feeming fubftance,
Or all of it with our displeasure piec'd,

And nothing more, may fitly like your Grace,
She's there, and fhe is your's.

Bur. I know no answer.

Lear. Will you, with those infirmities fhe owes, Unfriended, new-adopted to our hate,

Dower'd with our curfe, and stranger'd with our oath, Take her, or leave her?

Bur. Pardon, royal Sir;

Election makes not up on fuch conditions. Lear. Then leave her, Sir; for by the pow'r that made me,

6 Seeming is beautiful.

• Election makes not up on fuch conditions.] To make up fignifies to complete, to conclude; as, they made up the bargain; but in this fenfe it has, I think,

always the fubject noun after it. To make up, in familiar language, is, neutrally, to come forward, to make advances, which, I think, is meant here.

I

I tell you all her wealth.-For you, great King,

[To France. I would not from your love make fuch a stray,

To match you where I hate; therefore befeech you,
T'avert your liking a more worthy way

Than on a wretch, whom nature is afham'd
Almoft t' acknowledge hers.

France. This is moft ftrange!

That fhe, who ev'n but now was your best object,
The argument of your praife, balm of

your age, The beft, the deareft, fhould in this trice of time Commit a thing fo monftrous, to dismantle

So many folds of favour! fure, her offence
Must be of fuch unnatural degree,

8

That monsters it; or your fore-vouch'd affection

[blocks in formation]

--or you for vouch'd affections Fal'n into taint. The folio,

-or your fore-veuch'd affection Fall into taint.

Taint is ufed for corruption and for difgrace. If therefore we take the oldeft reading, it may be reformed thus:

-fure her offence Must be of fuch unnatural de

gree, That monsters it; or you for vouch'd affection

Fall into taint.

gious, or you must fall into re· proach for having vouched affection which you did not feel.

If the reading of th: folio be preferred, we may with a very flight change produce the fame fenie.

-fure her offence

Must be of fuch unnatural de

gree,

That monflers it, or your forevouch'd affection

Falls into taint.

That is, falls into reproach or cenfure.

But there is another poffible fenfe. Or fignifies before, and or ever is before ever; the meaning in the folio may therefore be, Sure her crime must be monftrous before your affection can be infected with hatred. Let the reader determine.

As I am not much a friend to conjectural emendation, I fhould prefer the latter fenfe, which re

Her offence must be prodi- quires no change of reading.

Fall

« PreviousContinue »