My naked head expos'd to th' merciless air,
Than have my smallest wants supply'd by her.

Gon. At your choice, sir.

Lear. Now, I pr'ythee, daughter, do not make me

mad!

I will not trouble thee, my child; farewell;
Let shame come when it will, I do not call it;
I do not bid the thunder bearer strike,

Nor tell tales of thee to avenging Heaven.

Mend when thou canst; be better at thy leisure;-I can be patient, I can stay with Regan,

I, and my hundred knights.

Reg. Your pardon, sir;

I look'd not for you yet, nor am provided
For your fit welcome.

Lear. Is this well spoken, now?

Reg. My sister treats you fair. What! fifty fol

lowers?

Is it not well? What should you need of more ?

Gon. Why might not you, my lord, receive attend

ance

From those whom she calls servants, or from mine? Reg. Why not, my lord? If then they chance to

slack you,

We could control them. If you come to me,
For now I see the danger, I intreat you
To bring but five and twenty; to no more
Will I give place.

Lear. I gave you all !

Reg. And in good time you gave it.

Lear. Hold, now, my temper! stand this bolt un

mov'd,

And I am thunder proof.

The wicked, when compar'd with the more wicked,
Seem beautiful; and not to be the worst,

Stands in some rank of praise. Now, Goneril,
Thou art innocent again, I'll go with thee;
Thy fifty yet does double five and twenty,
And thou art twice her love.

Gon. Hear me, my lord.

[It begins to rain.

What need you five and twenty, ten, or five,
To follow in a house, where twice so many

Have a command t'attend you?

Reg. What need one?

[Distant Thunder.

Lear. Heav'ns drop your patience down!
You see me here, ye gods, a poor old man,
As full of grief as age, wretched in both!-
If it be you that stir these daughters' hearts
Against their father, fool me not so much
To bear it tamely! touch me with noble anger!
O, let not women's weapons, water drops,
Stain my man's cheek!-No, you unnatural hags,
I will have such revenges on you both,
That all the world shall-I will do such things,-
What they are, yet I know not; but they shall be
The terrors of the earth. - You think I'll weep;
No, I'll not weep :-

I have full cause of weeping; but this heart
Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws,
Or ere I'll weep.-

O, gods, I shall go mad!

[Rain-Thunder-Lightning.

[Exeunt KING LEAR, KENT and the KNIGHTS-
CORNWALL, REGAN, GONERIL, GLOSTER,
OSWALD, CAPTAIN of the GUARDS, and
ATTENDANTS, into the Castle.

ACT THE THIRD.

SCENE I.

A desert Heath.-Rain-Thunder -Lightning,

Enter KING LEAR and KENT.

Lear. Blow, winds, and burst your cheeks! rage
louder yet!

Fantastic lightning, singe, singe my white head!
Spout cataracts, and hurricanoes fall,
Till you have drown'd the towns and palaces

Of proud, ingrateful man!

Kent. Not all my best intreaties can persuade him

Into some needful shelter, or to 'bide
This poor slight cov'ring on his aged head,
Expos'd to this wild war of earth and heav'n.

[Thunder.

Lear. Rumble thy fill! fight whirlwind, rain and

fire!

Not fire, wind, rain, or thunder, are my daughters:
I tax not you, ye elements, with unkindness:
I never gave you kingdoms, call'd you children;
You owe me no obedience. Then let fall
Your horrible pleasure! - Here I stand your slave,
A poor, infirm, weak, and despis'd old man.-

[Rain-Thunder-Lightning.

Yet I will call you servile ministers,
That have with two pernicious daughters join'd
Your high engender'd battle 'gainst a head

So old and white as this. Oh! oh! 'tis foul.
Kent. Hard by, sir, is a hovel, that will lend

Some shelter from this tempest.

What! so kind a

[Rain-Thunder-Lightning.

Lear. I will forget my nature.

father!

Ay, there's the point.

Kent. Consider, good my liege, things, that love

night,

Love not such nights as this; these wrathful skies
Gallow the very wanderers of the dark,

And make them keep their caves: such drenching

rain,

Such sheets of fire, such claps of horrid thunder,

Such groans of roaring winds, have ne'er been known. [Thunder.

Lear. Let the great gods,

That keep this dreadful pother o'er our heads,
Find out their enemies now. Tremble, thou wretch,
That hast within thee undiscover'd crimes !-
Hide, hide, thou murd'rer, hide thy bloody hand!-
Thou perjur'd villain, holy hypocrite,
That drink'st the widow's tears, sigh now, and ask
These dreadful summoners' grace! - I am a man
More sinn'd against, than sinning.

Kent. Good sir, to th' hovel.

Lear. My wits begin to turn.

Come on, my boy; how dost, my boy? art cold?
I'm cold myself; show me this straw, my fellow;

The art of our necessity is strange,

And can make vile things precious.-my poor knave,

Cold as I am at heart, I've one place there

That's sorry yet for thee.

[Rain-Thunder-Lightning.-Exeunt

SCENE II.

Room in GLOSTER'S Castle.

Enter EDMUND.

Edm. The storm is in our louder rev'lings drown'd.
Thus would I reign, could I but mount a throne.
The riots of these proud imperial sisters
Already have impos'd the galling yoke
Of taxes, and hard impositions, on

The drudging peasant's neck, who bellows out
His loud complaints in vain. -Triumphant queens !
With what assurance do they tread the crowd!
Oh! for a taste of such majestic beauty,
Which none but my hot veins are fit t'engage;
Nor are my wishes desp'rate; for ev'n now,
During the banquet, I observ'd their glances
Shot thick at me; and, as they left the room,
Each cast, by stealth, a kind inviting smile,
The happy earnest-ha!

Two PAGES, from several Entrances, deliver him each a
Letter, and exeunt.

[Reads.] Where merit is so transparent, not to behold it were blindness, and not to reward it, ingratitude.

Enough! blind and ungrateful should I be,
Not to obey the summons of this oracle.
Now for the second letter.

GONERIL.

[Reads.] If modesty be not your enemy, doubt not to find me your friend.

REGAN.

E