# King Lear (1917) Yale/Text/Act V

Notes originally placed at the bottom of each page appear below, following Act V. Where these notes gloss a word in the text, the gloss can also be found by hovering over the text.
Where these notes refer to an end note (cf. n. = confer notam; "consult note"), a link to the accompanying end note is provided from the Footnotes section. The end notes accompanying Act V begin on page 137 of the original volume.
Layout 2
ACT FIFTH
Scene One
[The British Camp near Dover]
Enter, with drum and colours, Edmund, Regan, Gentlemen, and Soldiers.
Edm. Know of the duke if his last purpose hold, Or whether since he is advis'd by aught To change the course; he 's full of alteration And self-reproving; bring his constant pleasure.
[To one, who goes out.]
Reg. Our sister's man is certainly miscarried.
Edm. 'Tis to be doubted, madam.
Reg. Now, sweet lord, You know the goodness I intend upon you: Tell me, but truly, but then speak the truth, 8 Do you not love my sister?
Edm. In honour'd love.
Reg. But have you never found my brother's way To the forefended place?
[Edm. That thought abuses you.
Reg. I am doubtful that you have been conjunct 12 And bosom'd with her, as far as we call hers.]
Edm. No, by mine honour, madam.
Reg. I never shall endure her: dear my lord, Be not familiar with her.
Edm. Fear me not. 16 She and the duke her husband!
Enter with drum and colours, Albany, Goneril, Soldiers.
[Gon. [Aside.] I had rather lose the battle than that sister Should loosen him and me.]
Alb. Our very loving sister, well be-met. 20 Sir, this I heard, the king is come to his daughter, With others; whom the rigour of our state Forc'd to cry out. [Where I could not be honest I never yet was valiant: for this business, 24 It toucheth us, as France invades our land, Not bolds the king, with others, whom, I fear, Most just and heavy causes make oppose.
Edm. Sir, you speak nobly.]
Reg. Why is this reason'd? 28
Gon. Combine together 'gainst the enemy; For these domestic and particular broils Are not the question here.
Alb. Let's then determine With the ancient of war on our proceeding. 32
Edm. I shall attend you presently at your tent.
Reg. Sister, you'll go with us?
Gon. No.
Reg. 'Tis most convenient; pray you, go with us. 36
Gon. [Aside.] O, ho! I know the riddle. [Aloud.] I will go.
Exeunt both the Armies.
Enter Edgar.
Edg. If e'er your Grace had speech with man so poor, Hear me one word.
​Alb. I'll overtake you. Speak.
[Exeunt Edmund, Regan, Goneril.]
Edg. Before you fight the battle, ope this letter. 40 If you have victory, let the trumpet sound For him that brought it: wretched though I seem, I can produce a champion that will prove What is avouched there. If you miscarry, 44 Your business of the world hath so an end, And machination ceases. Fortune love you!
Alb. Stay till I have read the letter.
Edg. I was forbid it. When time shall serve, let but the herald cry, 48 And I'll appear again. Exit.
Alb. Why, fare thee well: I will o'erlook thy paper.
Enter Edmund.
Edm. The enemy's in view; draw up your powers. Here is the guess of their true strength and forces 52 By diligent discovery; but your haste Is now urg'd on you.
Alb. We will greet the time. Exit.
Edm. To both these sisters have I sworn my love; Each jealous of the other, as the stung 56 Are of the adder. Which of them shall I take? Both? one? or neither? Neither can be enjoy'd If both remain alive: to take the widow Exasperates, makes mad her sister Goneril; 60 And hardly shall I carry out my side, Her husband being alive. Now then, we'll use His countenance for the battle; which being done Let her who would be rid of him devise 64 His speedy taking off. As for the mercy ​Which he intends to Lear, and to Cordelia, The battle done, and they within our power, Shall never see his pardon; for my state 68 Stands on me to defend, not to debate. Exit.
Scene Two
[A Field between the two Camps]
Alarum within. Enter, with drum and colours, Lear, Cordelia, and Soldiers, over the stage, and exeunt. Enter Edgar and Gloucester.
Edg. Here, father, take the shadow of this tree For your good host; pray that the right may thrive. If ever I return to you again, I'll bring you comfort.
Glo. Grace go with you, sir! 4
[Exit Edgar.]
Alarum and Retreat Within. Enter Edgar.
Edg. Away, old man! give me thy hand: away! King Lear hath lost, he and his daughter ta'en. Give me thy hand; come on.
Glo. No further, sir; a man may rot even here. 8
Edg. What! in ill thoughts again? Men must endure Their going hence, even as their coming hither: Ripeness is all. Come on.
Glo. And that's true too.
Exeunt.
Scene Three
[The British Camp, near Dover]
Enter, in conquest, with drum and colours, Edmund; Lear and Cordelia as prisoners, Soldiers, Captain.
Edm. Some officers take them away: good guard, Until their greater pleasures first be known That are to censure them.
Cor. We are not the first Who, with best meaning, have incurr'd the worst. 4 For thee, oppressed king, am I cast down; Myself could else out-frown false Fortune's frown. Shall we not see these daughters and these sisters?
Lear. No, no, no, no! Come, let's away to prison; 8 We two alone will sing like birds i' the cage: When thou dost ask me blessing, I'll kneel down, And ask of thee forgiveness: so we'll live, And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh 12 At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues Talk of court news; and we'll talk with them too, Who loses and who wins; who's in, who's out; And take upon 's the mystery of things, 16 As if we were God's spies: and we'll wear out, In a wall'd prison, packs and sets of great ones That ebb and flow by the moon.
Edm. Take them away.
Lear. Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia, 20 The gods themselves throw incense. Have I caught thee? He that parts us shall bring a brand from heaven, ​And fire us hence like foxes. Wipe thine eyes; The good years shall devour them, flesh and fell, 24 Ere they shall make us weep: we'll see 'em starve first, Come. [Exeunt Lear and Cordelia, guarded.]
Edm. Come hither, captain; hark, Take thou this note; [Giving a paper.] go follow them to prison: 28 One step I have advanc'd thee; if thou dost As this instructs thee, thou dost make thy way To noble fortunes; know thou this, that men Are as the time is; to be tender-minded 32 Does not become a sword; thy great employment Will not bear question; either say thou'lt do 't, Or thrive by other means.
Capt. I'll do 't, my lord.
Edm. About it; and write happy when thou hast done. 36 Mark,—I say, instantly, and carry it so As I have set it down.
[Capt. I cannot draw a cart nor eat dried oats; If it be man's work I will do it.] Exit Captain.
Flourish. Enter Albany, Goneril, Regan, Soldiers.
Alb. Sir, you have show'd to-day your valiant strain, 41 And fortune led you well; you have the captives Who were the opposites of this day's strife; We do require them of you, so to use them 44 As we shall find their merits and our safety May equally determine.
Edm. Sir, I thought it fit To send the old and miserable king ​To some retention, and appointed guard; 48 Whose age has charms in it, whose title more, To pluck the common bosom on his side, And turn our impress'd lances in our eyes Which do command them. With him I sent the queen; 52 My reason all the same; and they are ready To-morrow, or at further space, to appear Where you shall hold your session. [At this time We sweat and bleed; the friend hath lost his friend, 56 And the best quarrels, in the heat, are curs'd By those that feel their sharpness; The question of Cordelia and her father Requires a fitter place.]
Alb. Sir, by your patience, 60 I hold you but a subject of this war, Not as a brother.
Reg. That's as we list to grace him: Methinks our pleasure might have been demanded, Ere you had spoke so far. He led our powers, 64 Bore the commission of my place and person; The which immediacy may well stand up, And call itself your brother.
Gon. Not so hot;
In his own grace he doth exalt himself 68 More than in your addition.
Reg. In my rights,
By me invested, he compeers the best.
Gon. That were the most, if he should husband you.
Reg. Jesters do oft prove prophets.
​Gon. Holla, holla! 72 That eye that told you so look'd but a-squint.
Reg. Lady, I am not well; else I should answer From a full-flowing stomach. General, Take thou my soldiers, prisoners, patrimony; 76 Dispose of them, of me; the walls are thine; Witness the world, that I create thee here My lord and master.
Gon. Mean you to enjoy him?
Alb. The let-alone lies not in your good will. 80
Edm. Nor in thine, lord.
Alb. Half -blooded fellow, yes.
Reg. [To Edmund.] Let the drum strike, and prove my title thine.
Alb. Stay yet; hear reason. Edmund, I arrest thee On capital treason; and, in thy arrest, 84 This gilded serpent. [Pointing to Goneril.] For your claim, fair sister, I bar it in the interest of my wife; 'Tis she is sub-contracted to this lord, And I, her husband, contradict your bans. 88 If you will marry, make your love to me, My lady is bespoke.
Gon. An interlude!
Alb. Thou art arm'd, Gloucester; let the trumpet sound: If none appear to prove upon thy person 92 Thy heinous, manifest, and many treasons, There is my pledge; [Throws down a glove.] I'll prove it on thy heart, Ere I taste bread, thou art in nothing less Than I have here proclaim'd thee.
​Reg. Sick! O sick! 96
Gon. [Aside.] If not, I'll ne'er trust medicine.
Edm. There's my exchange: [Throws down a glove.] what in the world he is That names me traitor, villain-like he lies. Call by thy trumpet: he that dares approach, On him, on you, who not? I will maintain 101 My truth and honour firmly.
Alb. A herald, ho!
Edm. A herald, ho! a herald!
Alb. Trust to thy single virtue; for thy soldiers, 104 All levied in my name, have in my name Took their discharge.
Reg. My sickness grows upon me.
Alb. She is not well; convey her to my tent. [Exit Regan, led.] Come hither, herald,
Enter a Herald.
Let the trumpet sound,— 108 And read out this.
Capt. Sound, trumpet! A trumpet sounds.
Herald reads.
"If any man of quality or degree within the lists of the army will maintain upon Edmund, supposed Earl of Gloucester, that he is a manifold traitor, let him appear at the third sound of the trumpet. He is bold in his defence." 116
Edm. Sound! 1 Trumpet.
Her. Again! 2 Trumpet.
Her. Again! 3 Trumpet.
Trumpet answers within.
Enter Edgar, armed.
Alb. Ask him his purposes, why he appears Upon this call o' the trumpet.
Her. What are you? 121 Your name? your quality? and why you answer This present summons?
Edg. Know, my name is lost; By treason's tooth bare-gnawn and canker-bit: Yet am I noble as the adversary 125 I come to cope.
Alb. Which is that adversary?
Edg. What's he that speaks for Edmund Earl of Gloucester?
Edm. Himself: what sayst thou to him?
Edg. Draw thy sword, 128 That, if my speech offend a noble heart, Thy arm may do thee justice; here is mine: Behold, it is the privilege of mine honours, My oath, and my profession: I protest, 132 Maugre thy strength, youth, place, and eminence, Despite thy victor sword and fire-new fortune, Thy valour and thy heart, thou art a traitor, False to thy gods, thy brother, and thy father, Conspirant 'gainst this high illustrious prince, And, from the extremest upward of thy head To the descent and dust below thy foot, A most toad-spotted traitor. Say thou 'No,' 140 This sword, this arm, and my best spirits are bent To prove upon thy heart, whereto I speak, Thou liest.
Edm. In wisdom I should ask thy name; ​But since thy outside looks so fair and war-like, And that thy tongue some say of breeding breathes, 145 What safe and nicely I might well delay By rule of knighthood, I disdain and spurn; Back do I toss these treasons to thy head, 148 With the hell-hated lie o'erwhelm thy heart, Which, for they yet glance by and scarcely bruise, This sword of mine shall give them instant way, Where they shall rest for ever. Trumpets, speak! 152
Alarums. Fights. [Edmund falls.]
Alb. Save him, save him!
Gon. This is practice, Gloucester: By the law of arms thou wast not bound to answer An unknown opposite; thou art not vanquish'd, But cozen'd and beguil'd.
Alb. Shut your mouth, dame, 156 Or with this paper shall I stop it. Hold, sir; Thou worse than any name, read thine own evil: No tearing, lady; I perceive you know it.
[Gives the letter to Edmund.]
Gon. Say, if I do, the laws are mine, not thine: 160 Who can arraign me for 't? Exit.
Alb. Most monstrous! Know'st thou this paper?
Edm. Ask me not what I know.
Alb. Go after her: she's desperate; govern her.
[Exit an Officer.]
Edm. What you have charg'd me with, that have I done, 164 And more, much more; the time will bring it out: 'Tis past, and so am I. But what art thou ​That hast this fortune on me? If thou'rt noble, I do forgive thee.
Edg. Let's exchange charity. 168 I am no less in blood than thou art, Edmund; If more, the more thou hast wrong' d me. My name is Edgar, and thy father's son. The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices 172 Make instruments to plague us: The dark and vicious place where thee he got Cost him his eyes.
Edm. Thou hast spoken right, 'tis true; The wheel is come full circle; I am here. 176
Alb. Methought thy very gait did prophesy A royal nobleness: I must embrace thee: Let sorrow split my heart, if ever I Did hate thee or thy father.
Edg. Worthy prince, I know 't. 180
Alb. Where have you hid yourself? How have you known the miseries of your father?
Edg. By nursing them, my lord. List a brief tale; And, when 'tis told, O! that my heart would burst! 184 The bloody proclamation to escape That follow'd me so near,—O! our lives' sweetness, That we the pain of death would hourly die Rather than die at once!—taught me to shift 188 Into a madman's rags, to assume a semblance That very dogs disdain'd: and in this habit Met I my father with his bleeding rings, Their precious stones new lost; became his guide, 192 Led him, begg'd for him, sav'd him from despair; Never,—O fault!—reveal'd myself unto him, Until some half hour past, when I was arm'd; Not sure, though hoping, of this good success, ​I ask'd his blessing, and from first to last 197 Told him my pilgrimage: but his flaw'd heart,— Alack! too weak the conflict to support; 'Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief, Burst smilingly.
Edm. This speech of yours hath mov'd me, And shall perchance do good; but speak you on; 202 You look as you had something more to say.
Alb. If there be more, more woeful, hold it in; For I am almost ready to dissolve, 205 Hearing of this.
[Edg. This would have seem'd a period To such as love not sorrow; but another, To amplify too much, would make much more, And top extremity. 209 Whilst I was big in clamour came there a man, Who, having seen me in my worst estate, Shunn'd my abhorr'd society; but then, finding Who 'twas that so endur'd, with his strong arms He fasten'd on my neck, and bellow'd out As he'd burst heaven; threw him on my father; Told the most piteous tale of Lear and him 216 That ever ear receiv'd; 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 tranc'd.
Alb. But who was this? 220
Edg. Kent, sir, the banish'd Kent; who in disguise Follow'd his enemy king, and did him service Improper for a slave.]
Enter a Gentleman [with a bloody knife.]
Gent. Help, help! O help!
​Edg. What kind of help?
Alb. Speak, man. 224
Edg. What means that bloody knife?
Gent. 'Tis hot, it smokes; It came even from the heart of—O! she's dead.
Alb. Who dead? speak, man.
Gent. Your lady, sir, your lady: and her sister 228 By her is poison'd; she confesses it.
Edm. I was contracted to them both: all three Now marry in an instant.
Edg. Here comes Kent.
Enter Kent.
Alb. Produce the bodies, be they alive or dead: 232 This judgment of the heavens, that makes us tremble, Touches us not with pity. O! is this he? The time will not allow the compliment Which very manners urges.
Kent. I am come 236 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? 240
Goneril and Regan's bodies brought out.
Kent. Alack! why thus?
Edm. Yet Edmund was belov'd: The one the other poison'd for my sake, And after slew herself.
Alb. Even so. Cover their faces. 244
Edm. I pant for life: some good I mean to do Despite of mine own nature. Quickly send, ​Be brief in it, to the castle; for my writ Is on the life of Lear and on Cordelia. 248 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, 252 Give it the captain.
Alb. Haste thee, for thy life.
[Exit Edgar.]
Edm. He hath commission from my wife and me To hang Cordelia in the prison, and To lay the blame upon her own despair, 256 That she fordid herself.
Alb. The gods defend her! Bear him hence awhile.
[Edmund is borne off.]
Enter Lear, with Cordelia in his arms; [Edgar, Captain, 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. She's gone for ever. 261 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 promis'd end? 265
Edg. Or image of that horror?
Alb. Fall and cease?
Lear. This feather stirs; she lives! if it be so, ​It is a chance which does redeem all sorrows 268 That ever I have felt.
Kent. O, my good master!
Lear. Prithee, away.
Edg. 'Tis noble Kent, your friend.
Lear. A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all! I might have sav'd her; now, she's gone for ever! Cordelia, Cordelia! stay a little. Ha! 273 What is 't thou sayst? Her voice was ever soft. Gentle and low, an excellent thing in woman. I kill'd the slave that was a hanging thee. 276
Capt. 'Tis true, my lord, 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 not o' the best: I'll tell you straight. 281
Kent. If fortune brag of two she lov'd and hated, One of them we behold.
Lear. This is a dull sight. Are you not Kent?
Kent. The same, 284 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— 288
Lear. I'll see that straight.
Kent. That, from your first of difference and decay, Have follow'd your sad steps.
Lear. You are welcome hither.
​Kent. Nor no man else; all's cheerless, dark, and deadly: 292 Your eldest daughters have fordone themselves, And desperately are dead.
Lear. Ay, so I think.
Alb. He knows not what he says, and vain it is That we present us to him.
Edg. Very bootless. 296
Enter a Messenger.
Mess. 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, 300 During the life of this old majesty, To him our absolute power:—[To Edgar and Kent.] You, to your rights; With boot and such addition as your honours Have more than merited. All friends shall taste The wages of their virtue, and all foes 305 The cup of their deservings. O! see, see!
Lear. And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life! Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life, 308 And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt 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, 312 Look there, look there! He dies.
Edg. He faints!—my lord, my lord!
Kent. Break, heart; I prithee, 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. He is gone, indeed. 317
Kent. The wonder is he hath endur'd so long: He but usurp'd his life.
Alb. Bear them from hence. Our present business 320 Is general woe. [To Kent and Edgar.] Friends of my soul, you twain Rule in this realm, and the gor'd state sustain.
Kent. I have a journey, sir, shortly to go; My master calls me, I must not say no. 324
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. 328
Exeunt, with a dead march.
FINIS.
Footnotes to Act V
Scene One
​4 constant: settled 6 doubted: feared 11 forefended: forbidden 13 as far, etc.; cf. n. ​26 bolds; cf. n. 28 reason'd: discussed 32 ancient; cf. n. 34 us: me 36 convenient: proper 37 riddle: the answer to the riddle ​44 avouched: asserted 53 discovery: reconnoitring 54 time: occasion 56 jealous: suspicious ​68 Shall: they shall
Scene Two
​11 Ripeness: readiness
Scene Three
​1 good guard: guard them well ​24 good years; cf. n. fell: skin 36 write happy: call yourself lucky ​48 retention: detention 51 impress'd: enlisted 63 demanded: requested 66 immediacy: sovereignty 70 compeers: equals ​75 stomach: passion 77 walls: figuratively, including all my possessions 80 let-alone: power to permit or hinder 90 interlude: farce ​104 virtue: valor ​124 canker-bit: worm-eaten 126 cope: meet 133 Maugre: despite 139 descent and dust: lowest dust ​145 say: assay 146 safe and nicely: with secure scruple ​176 wheel; cf. n. 191 rings: eye-sockets ​209 top extremity: exceed the limit of endurance ​ ​257 fordid: slew 265 end: judgment day ​280 crosses: perversities, troubles 284 sight: referring to his power of vision 290 first of difference: first perversity ​307 fool: referring, with intimate tenderness, to Cordelia ​319 usurp'd: retained by violence