This sword of mine shall give them instant way, Most monstrous! Ask me not what I know. Alb. Go after her: she's desperate; govern her. And more, much more: the time will bring it out; Let's exchange charity. I am no less in blood than thou art, Edmund; The dark and vicious place where thee he got, Edm. Worthy prince, I know it well. 23) That follow'd me so near, (O our lives' sweetness! Edm. Edg. And top extremity. 24) Whilst I was big in clamour, came there a man, 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 hastily, with a bloody Knife. Edg. Alb. Speak, man. "Tis hot, it smokes; - It came even from the heart of Edm. I was contracted to them both; all three Now marry in an instant. Alb. Produce their bodies, be they alive or dead! - See'st thou this object, Kent? [The Bodies of GONERIL and REGAN are brought in. 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. 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: 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. 28) Alb. The gods defend her! Bear him hence awhile. [EDMUND is borne off. Enter LBAR, with CORDELIA dead in his arms; EDGAR, Officer, and others. 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; Is this the promis'd end? Fall, and cease! 30) Did I not, fellow? I have seen the day, with my good biting faulchion 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 lov'd and hated, One of them we behold. 31) 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, 32) Have follow'd your sad steps. Lear. You are welcome hither. Kent. Nor no man else; 33) all's cheerless, dark, and deadly. Your eldest daughters have fore-doom'd themselves, And desperately are dead. Lear. Ay, so I think. Enter an Officer. Off. Edmund is dead, my lord. That's but a trifle here.— To him our absolute power: You, to your rights; | Pray you, undo this button: 37) Thank you, sir.— Edg. Look up, my lord. Kent. Vex not his ghost: O, let him pass! he hates Kent. The wonder is, he hath endur'd so long: He but usurp'd his life. Alb. Bear them from bence. Our present business Is general woe. Friends of my soul, you twain [To KENT and EDGAR. Rule in this realm, and the gor'd 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. TYBALT, Nephew to Lady Capulet. Friar LAWRENCE, a Franciscan. BALTHAZAR, Servant to Romeo. SAMPSON, GREGORY, Servants to Capulet. ABRAM, Servant to Montague. Chorus. Boy; Page to Paris; PETER; an Officer. Lady MONTAGUE, Wife to Montague. Lady CAPULET, Wife to Capulet. JULIET, Daughter to Capulet. Nurse to Juliet. Citizens of Verona; several Men and Women, Relations to both Houses; Maskers, Guards, Watchmen, and Attendants. SCENE during the greater part of the play, in Verona; once in the fifth Act, at Mantua. PROLOGUE. Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. Do, with their death, bury their parents' strife. ACT I. SCENE I. A public Place. Enter SAMPSON and GREGORY, armed with Swords and Bucklers. Sam. Gregory, o'my word, we'll not carry coals. 2) Gre. No, for then we should be colliers. Sam. I mean, an we be in choler, we'll draw. Gre. Ay, while you live, draw your neck out of the collar. Sam. I strike quickly, being moved. Gre. But thou art not quickly moved to strike. Sam. A dog of the house of Montague moves me. Gre. To move, is to stir; and to be valiant, is to stand to it: therefore, if thou art moved, thou run'st away. Sam. A dog of that house shall move me to stand: I will take the wall of any man or maid of Montague's. Gre. That shows thee a weak slave: for the weakest goes to the wall. Sam. True; and therefore women, being the weaker vessels, are ever thrust to the wall: therefore I will push Montague's men from the wall, and thrust his maids to the wall. Gre. The quarrel is between our masters, and us their men. Sam. 'Tis all one, I will show myself a tyrant: when I have fought with the men, I will be cruel with the maids; I will cut off their heads. Gre. The heads of the maids? Sam. Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maidenheads; take it in what sense thou wilt. Gre. They must take it in sense, that feel it. Sam. Me they shall feel, while I am able to stand: and, 'tis known, I am a pretty piece of flesh. Gre. 'Tis well, thou art not fish; if thou hadst, thou hadst been poor John. 3) Draw thy tool; here comes two of the house of the Montagues. 4) Enter ABRAM and BALTHAZAR. Sam. My naked weapon is out; quarrel, I will back thee. Gre. How? turn thy back, and run? Gre. No, marry: I fear thee! Sam. Let us take the law of our sides; let them begin. Gre. I will frown, as I pass by; and let them take it as they list. Sam. Nay as they dare. I will bite my thumb at Abr. Do you bite your thumb at us, sir? ay? Sam. No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir; || To old Free-town, our common judgment-place. but I bite my thumb, sir. Turn thee, Benvolio, look upon thy death. Tyb. What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee: [They fight. Enter several Partizans of both Houses, who join the fray: then enter Citizens, with Clubs. 1 Cit. Clubs, bills, 5) and partizans! strike! beat them down! Down with the Capulets! down with the Montagues! Enter CAPULET, in his Gown; and Lady CAPULET. Cap. What noise is this? sword, ho! Give me my long Why call you for Cap. My sword, I say! Old Montague is come, And flourishes his blade in spite of me. Enter MONTAGUE and Lady Montagub. Mon. Thou villain Capulet, — Hold me not, let me go. La. Mon. Thou shalt not stir one foot to seek a foe. Enter PRINCE, with Attendants. Prin. Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace, Profaners of this neighbour-stained steel, Will they not hear?-what ho! you men, you beasts,— That quench the fire of your pernicious rage With purple fountains issuing from your veins, On pain of torture, from those bloody hands Throw your mis-temper'd weapons 6) to the ground, And hear the sentence of your moved prince. Three civil brawls, bred of an airy word, By thee, old Capulet, and Montague, Have thrice disturb'd the quiet of our streets; And made Verona's ancient citizens Cast by their grave beseeming ornaments, To wield old partizans, in hands as old, Canker'd with peace, to part your canker'd hate: If ever you disturb our streets again, Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace. For this time, all the rest depart away: You, Capulet, shall go along with me; And, Montague, come you this afternoon, To know our further pleasure in this case, Once more, on pain of death, all men depart. Mon. Who set this ancient quarrel new abroach? - Mon. Many a morning hath he there been seen, With tears augmenting the fresh morning's dew, Adding to clouds more clouds with his deep sighs: But all so soon as the all-cheering sun The shady curtains from Aurora's bed, Should in the further east begin to draw Away from light steals home my heavy son, And private in his chamber pins himself; Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out, And makes himself an artificial night: Black and portentous must this humour prove, Unless good counsel may the cause remove, Ben. My noble uncle, do you know the cause? Mon. I neither know it, nor can learn of him. Ben. Have you impórtun'd him by any means? Mon. Both by myself, and many other friends: Is to himself But he, his own affections' counsellor, I will not say, how true But to himself so secret and so close, So far from sounding and discovery, As is the bud bit with an envious worm, Ere he can spread his sweet leaves to the air, Or dedicate his beauty to the sun. 7) Could we but learn from whence his sorrows grow, We would as willingly give cure, as know. - Yet tell me not, for I have heard it all. Here's much to do with hate, but more with love: O heavy lightness! serious vanity! Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health! No, coz, I rather weep. At thy good heart's oppression. But sadly tell me, who. Being black, put us in mind they hide the fair; SCENE II. Enter CAPULET, PARIS, and Servant. Par. Of honourable reckoning are you both; [Going love. Rom. Bid a sick man in sadness make his will: Ah, word ill urg'd to one that is so ill! In sadness, cousin, I do love a woman. Ben. I aim'd so near, when I suppos'd you lov'd. Inherit at my house; 18) hear all, all see, Rom. A right good marks-man! I love. And she's fair Ben. A right fair mark, fair coz, is soonest hit. And like her most, whose merit most shall be: From love's weak childish bow she lives unharm'd. My house and welcome on their pleasures stay. She will not stay the siege of loving terms, chaste? Rom. She hath, and in that sparing makes huge waste; She is too fair, too wise; wisely too fair, 2) Rom. "Tis the way To call hers, exquisite, in question more: 13) These happy masks, 14) that kiss fair ladies' brows, [Exeunt CAPULET and PARIS. Serv. Find them out, whose names are written here? It is written that the shoemaker should meddle with his yard, and the taylor with his last, the fisher with his pencil, and the painter with his nets; but I am sent to find those persons, whose names are here writ, and can never find what names the writing person hath here writ. I must to the learned: :- In good time. |