(Alack, too weak the conflict to support!)
'Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief,
Burst smilingly.

Edm.

This speech of yours hath moved me, And shall, perchance, do good. But speak you on; You look as you had something more to say. Alb. If there be more, more woful, hold it in; For I am almost ready to dissolve,

Hearing of this.

Edg.

This would have seemed a period
To such as love not sorrow; but another,
To amplify too much, would make much more,.
And top extremity.

Whilst I was big in clamor, came there a man,
Who, having seen me in my worst estate,

Shunned my abhorred society; but then finding
Who 'twas that so endured, with his strong arms
He fastened on my neck, and bellowed out
As he'd burst heaven; threw him on my father;
Told the most piteous tale of Lear and him,
That ever ear received; which in recounting
His grief grew puissant, and the strings of life
Began to crack. Twice then the trumpet sounded,
And there I left him tranced.

Alb.

But who was this?

Edg. Kent, sir, the banished Kent; who in disguise Followed his enemy king, and did him service

Improper for a slave.

Enter a Gentleman, hastily, with a bloody knife.

Gent. Help! help! O, help!

Edg.

Alb.

What kind of help?

Edg. What means that bloody

Gent.

It came even from the heart of

Alb.

Who, man? speak.

Gent. Your lady, sir, your lady; and her sister By her is poisoned; she hath confessed it.

Edm. I was contracted to them both; all three Now marry in an instant.

Alb. Produce their bodies, be they alive or dead!This judgment of the Heavens, that makes us tremble, Touches us not with pity.

[Exit Gentleman.

Enter KENT.

Here comes Kent, sir.

Edg.

Alb. O! it is he.

The time will not allow the compliment,
Which very manners urges.

Kent.

I am come

To bid my king and master aye good-night;
Is he not here?

Alb.

Great thing of us forgot!

Speak, Edmund, where's the king? and where's Cordelia? — Seest thou this object, Kent?

[The bodies of GONERIL and REGAN are

brought in.

Yet Edmund was beloved.

The one the other poisoned for my sake,

And after slew herself.

Alb. Even so.- Cover their faces.

Edm. I pant for life: -Some good I mean to do, Despite of mine own nature. Quickly sendBe brief in it-to the castle, for my writ Is on the life of Lear, and on Cordelia.Nay, send in time.

Alb.

Run, run, O, run

Edg. To whom, my lord?-Who has the office? send Thy token of reprieve.

Edm. Well thought on; take my sword,

Give it the captain.

Alb.

Haste thee, for thy life.

[Exit EDGAR.

Edm. He hath commission from thy wife and me To hang Cordelia in the prison, and

To lay the blame upon her own despair,

That she fordid herself.

Alb. The gods defend her! Bear him hence awhile.

[EDMUND is borne off.

Enter LEAR, with CORDELIA dead in his arms; EDGAR, Officer, and others.

Lear. Howl, howl, howl, howl!-O, you are men of

stones;

Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use them so
That heaven's vault should crack.-O, she is gone for

ever!

I know when one is dead, and when one lives;
She's dead as earth.-Lend me a looking-glass;

If that her breath will mist or stain the stone,
Why, then she lives..

Kent.

Is this the promised end?

Edg. Or image of that horror?

Alb.

Fall, and cease!
Lear. This feather stirs; she lives! if it be so,
It is a chance that does redeem all sorrows

That ever I have felt.

Kent.

O my good master! [Kneeling.

Lear. 'Pr'ythee, away. Edg. 'Tis noble Kent, your friend. Lear. A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all! I might have saved her; now she's gone forever! 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 killed 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? 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 followed your sad steps.

Lear.

You are welcome hither.

Kent. Nor no man else; all's cheerless, dark, and deadly.Your eldest daughters have fore-doomed themselves,

And desperately are dead.

Lear.

Ay, so I think.

Alb. He knows not what he sees; and vain it is

That we present us to him.

Edg.

Very bootless.

Enter an Officer.

Off. Edmund is dead, my lord.

Alb.

That's but a trifle here.

You lords, and noble friends, know our intent.
What comfort to this great decay may come,
Shall be applied. For us, we will resign,
During the life of this old majesty,

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 fool is hanged! 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.

Look up, my lord.

Kent. Vex not his ghost: O, let him pass! he hates him, That would upon the rack of this tough world

Stretch him out longer.

Edg.

O, he is gone indeed.

Kent. The wonder is, he hath endured so long; He but usurped 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.