Fer. This is a most majestic vision, and Harmonious charmingly. May I be bold To think these spirits ? Pros. Spirits, which by mine art I have from their confines call'd to enact My present fancies. Fer. Let me live here ever; So rare a wonder'd father and a wise Makes this place Paradise. [JUNO and CERES whisper, and send IRIS on employment.] Sweet, now, silence! Pros. Juno and Ceres whisper seriously; There's something else to do: hush, and be mute, Or else our spell is marr❜d. land Iris. You nymphs, called Naiads, of the windring brooks, You sunburnt sicklemen, of August weary, Enter certain reapers, properly habited: they join with the Of the beast Caliban and his confederates Against my life: the minute of their plot Is almost come. [To the Spirits.] Well done! avoid; no more Mir. Never till this day Saw I him touch'd with anger so distemper'd. Pros. You do look, my son, in a mov'd sort, As if you were dismay'd be cheerful, sir. > As I foretold you, were all spirits, and Are melted into air, into thin air : If you be pleas'd, retire into my cell And there repose: a turn or two I'll walk, To still my beating mind. We wish your peace. King Lear. ACT I., SCENE I.-A ROOM of State in KING LEAR'S PALACE Enter KENT and GLOSTER. Kent. I thought, the king had more affected the Duke of Albany, than Cornwall. Glo. It did always seem so to us: but now, in the division of the kingdom, it appears not which of the dukes he values most; for equalities are so weighed, that curiosity in neither can make choice of either's moiety. The king is coming. › Enter one bearing a Coronet, then LEAR, then the Dukes of ALBANY and CORNWALL, next GONERIL, REGAN, CORDELIA, with followers. Lear. Attend the Lords of France and Burgundy, Gloster. Glo. I shall, my liege. [Exeunt GLOSTER Lear. Meantime we shall express our darker purpose. Our daughters' several dowers, that future strife May be prevented now. The princes, France and Burgundy, Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love, Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn, And here are to be answered. Tell me, my daughters, Since now we will divest us both of rule, Interest of territory, cares of state, Which of you, shall we say, doth love us most? That we our largest bounty may extend Where nature doth with merit challenge it. Goneril, our eldest-born, speak first. Gon. Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter, Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare, No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour; As much as child e'er loved, or father found: A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable, Beyond all manner of so much, I love you. Cor. [Aside.] What shall Cordelia do? Love, and be silent. Lear. Of all these bounds, even from this line to this, With shadowy forests and with champains riched, With plenteous rivers, and wide-skirted meads, Reg. I am made of that self metal as my sister, Which the most precious square of sense possesses, And find, I am alone felicitate In your dear highness' love. Then, poor Cordelia ! More richer than my tongue. Lear. To thee and thine, hereditary ever Strive to be interessed; what can you say, to draw Lear. Nothing? Cor. Nothing. Lear. Nothing will come of nothing: speak again. My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty According to my bond; nor more, nor less. Lear. How, how, Cordelia ! mend your speech a little, Lest you may mar your fortunes. Cor. Good my lord You have begot me, bred me, loved me: I That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters, To love my father all. Lear. But goes thy heart with this? Cor. Ay, my good lord. Lear. So young, and so untender? Cor. So young, my lord, and true. Lear. Let it be so: thy truth then be thy dower; For, by the sacred radiance of the sun, The mysteries of Hecate and the night, By all the operation of the orbs From whom we do exist and cease to be, Kent. Lear. Peace, Kent! Good my liege, Come not between the dragon and his wrath. On her kind nursery.-Hence, and avoid my sight !— Who stirs ?— With my two daughters' dowers digest the third : That troop with majesty. Ourself, by monthly course, By you to be sustained, shall our abode Make with you by due turn. Only we shall retain Kent. Loved as my father, as my master followed, As my great patron thought on in my prayers,— Lear. The bow is bent and drawn; make from the shaft. 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'st thou that duty shall have dread to speak, When power to flattery bows? To plainness honour's bound, Reverse thy doom; And, in thy best consideration, check This hideous rashness. Answer my life my judgment, |