KING LEAR.

"Which has no need of you; begone,I pray."

"By looking backonwhat I have left behind."

"Obey it on all cause.—Oh, pardon, pardon!"

"As is the morn-dew on the myrtle-leafTo his grand sea."

"As is the morn-dew on the myrtle-leaf

To his grand sea."

I think we should read 'morning,' andthisfor 'his.' It is the adjacent Mediterranean that is meant.

"Offers from thine invention."

The folio reads "From thine invention offers." See on Temp. iii. 1.

"To lay his gay comparisons aside."

Mr. Singer and myself have both conjectured 'caparisons.'

"Hear it apart.—Here'snone but friends; say boldly."

Hanmer also addedHere.

"Thus then, thou most renowned! Cæsar entreatsthee."

"Farther than he is Cæsar['s]."

"And put yourself under his shroud,who isThe universal landlord."

"And put yourself under his shroud,who is

The universal landlord."

Collier's folio addswho is.

"Say to great Cæsar this. In disputationI kiss his conquering hand."

"Say to great Cæsar this. In disputation

I kiss his conquering hand."

Warburton's reading 'deputation,' is not to be disputed.

"Dissolve my life! The next Cæsarion smite!"

'Smite' is the proper correction for 'smile' of the folio. See on Hen. V. ii. 2.

"Enough to fetch him in. See itbedone."

"Thou,—and thou,—and thou.—You haveallserv'd me well."

"Haply you shall not see me more, or, ifYou do, a mangled shadow."

"Haply you shall not see me more, or, if

You do, a mangled shadow."

"Come,mygood fellow, put mine iron on."

The folio hasthinefor 'mine'; Rowe also addedmy.

"Alexas did revolt, and went to JewryOn affairs of Antony's; there did dissuadeGreat Herod to incline himself to Cæsar."

"Alexas did revolt, and went to Jewry

On affairs of Antony's; there did dissuade

Great Herod to incline himself to Cæsar."

Malone has shown from North's Plutarch thatpersuade, not 'dissuade,' was the poet's word. In the first line for 'and' I readHe, which may have been writtenA'.

"Cæsar himself has work, and our oppressionExceeds what we expected."

"Cæsar himself has work, and our oppression

Exceeds what we expected."

The right word is 'opposition,' also the reading of Hanmer and Warburton.

"And let the Queen know of our guests."

He had no guests. Theobald readgests, which must be right, though Shakespeare uses it nowhere else.

"Each man's like me; you have shownyourselvesall Hectors."

"Hark! the drumsDemurely wake the sleepers."

"Hark! the drums

Demurely wake the sleepers."

It is rather remarkable that Mr. Dyce and I should have simultaneously conjecturedDo merrily, of which I think there can be little doubt. See Introd. p.67.

"Andthey have put forth the haven * *"

Rowe proposedFurther on; CapellHie we on; TyrwhittLet us go; and MaloneLet's seek a spot. I read "We'll take our stand."

"But being charg'd we will be still by land."

Here both 'But' and 'still' may cause some difficulty. The former is to be taken in its original and proper sense, except, unless; the latter in the sense of quiet.

"The heartsThat spaniel'd me at heels."

"The hearts

That spaniel'd me at heels."

The folio haspannell'd; Hanmer made the correction.

"Oh! this false soul of Egypt! this grave charme."

In my Edition, yielding to an impulse I could not resist, I have added a finalrto 'charme' both here and a few lines before; thus making it accord with 'witch' and 'gypsy,' as he also calls her. But he likewise terms her 'spell,' and Perdita (W. T. iv. 3) is called 'enchantment,' both, however, in the vocative. It is also rather improbable that the last letter of the same word should have been effaced in two places; but this may be explained by supposing an effacement of the ends of many of the lines in a page of the MS.; and while the others were restored, 'charme,' as making sense, was not supposed to have been injured. By 'Egypt' is meant the Queen, so styled elsewhere also. 'Grave' isheavy, powerful, oppressive; as in thegravibus Persisof Horace, Carm. iii. 5. 4.

"And hoist thee upunto the shouting plebeians."

"That which is now a horse, even with a thoughtThe rack dislimns, and makes it indistinct."

"That which is now a horse, even with a thought

The rack dislimns, and makes it indistinct."

It might be better to readdislimbs.

"Pack'd cards with Cæsar['s]."

"Unarmme, Eros; the long day's work is done."

"The courage of a woman; less noble-minded."

It is evident that the final syllable had been effaced.

"His death's upon him, buthe isnot dead."

"Burn the great sphere thou mov'st in! darkling standon."

"No more, but e'en a woman."

The folio hasinfor 'e'en'; the correction is Johnson's.

"Being so frustrate, tell him he mocksus byThe pauses that he makes."

"Being so frustrate, tell him he mocksus by

The pauses that he makes."

I adopt Malone's excellent addition, which has everything in its favour.

"His taints and honoursWag'd equal with him."

"His taints and honours

Wag'd equal with him."

We should perhaps read, as has been proposed,Weigh'dfor 'Wag'd.'

"For Cæsar cannot liveTo be ungentle."

"For Cæsar cannot live

To be ungentle."

'Live' is the correction of Southern and Pope ofleavein the folio. 'To be' is being. See Introd. p.70.

"Which sleeps, and never palates more the dung,The beggar's nurse and Cæsar's."

"Which sleeps, and never palates more the dung,

The beggar's nurse and Cæsar's."

With Mr. Dyce I would readdug, the correction of Warburton.Ofmay have been lost in the beginning of the last line. Still 'dung' may be right, denoting earth; so I have retained it in my Edition.

"He gives me so much of my own, as IWill kneel to him in thanksfor."

"He gives me so much of my own, as I

Will kneel to him in thanksfor."

For 'as' Mason would readand.

"If idle talk will once be necessary."

Hanmer read 'accessary'; but perhaps without need.

"And he hath sentmefor thee."

"There was no winter in it; an autumn 'twas."

So Theobald; the folio hasAntony.

"His delightsWere dolphin-like; they showed his back aboveThe element they lived in."

"His delights

Were dolphin-like; they showed his back above

The element they lived in."

For 'his' we should readtheirorthe.

"By the rebound of yours; a grief that suitesMy very heart at root."

"By the rebound of yours; a grief that suites

My very heart at root."

'Suites' isshoots(see on L. L. L. iv. 3). Some readsmites.

"To one so meek, that my own servant should," etc.

The poet may have writtenweak.

"With one that I have bred. The gods! it smites me."

For 'The' we should readYe, as in Cor. i. 6.

"Of eyes again so royal! your crown's away;I'll mend it, and then play...."

"Of eyes again so royal! your crown's away;

I'll mend it, and then play...."

Pope most properly readawryfor 'away,' which was caused probably by the rime with play.

"What shall Cordelia do? love and be silent."

For 'do' the folio readsspeak.

"Only she comes too shortinthat I profess."

"Although the last not least."

The folio reads 'ourlastandleast.'

"I crave no more than what your highness offer'd."

So the 4tos; the folio reads 'thanhath.'

"It is no vicious blot, murder, or foulness,No unchaste action, or dishonour'd step."

"It is no vicious blot, murder, or foulness,

No unchaste action, or dishonour'd step."

How could the pure and gentle Cordelia suppose herself to be suspected of murder? which, moreover, accords not with the other charges she enumerates. Collier's folio readsor otherfor 'murder or.' I feel strongly persuaded that the poet's word wasmisdeed, which, if a little effaced, might easily be taken for 'murder.'

"Shall to the legitimate ... I grow, I prosper."

By pointing thus, as Rowe also did, we obviate the necessity of adopting Edwards' ingenious reading oftopfor 'to.'

"Though the wisdom of Nature can reason it thus and thus."

We should surely readman. 'Nature' is in the following line, and hence the error.

"Banishment of friends, dissipation of cohorts."

Johnson readcourts. 'Cohorts' is not a Shakespearian term.

"With checks; as flatteries, when they are seen,areabused."

It is only thus I can make sense.

"Remember what I have saidto you.—Well, madam."

"To hold my course.—Prepare for dinnernow."

The usual reading is, To hold myverycourse.

"How nowourdaughter! What makes that frontlet on?"

"As you are old and reverendyoushould be wise."

"Woe'shimthat too late repents ...—O sir, are you come?"

So perhaps the poet wrote.

"To the great love I bear you.—Pray youbecontent."

"Though I condemnitnot ... yet under pardon."

"How in my strength you please. For you,goodEdmund."

"Corn.You know not why we came to visit you.Reg.Thus out of season threading dark-eyed night.Occasions, noble Gloster, of some poise,Wherein we must have use of your advice."

"Corn.You know not why we came to visit you.

Reg.Thus out of season threading dark-eyed night.Occasions, noble Gloster, of some poise,Wherein we must have use of your advice."

Reg.Thus out of season threading dark-eyed night.

Occasions, noble Gloster, of some poise,

Wherein we must have use of your advice."

It is strange that the editors have not seen thatReg.is out of place. It belongs to the third line. (See on Hen. V. i. 1.) In her usual forward impatient manner she takes, as we say, the words out of Cornwall's mouth. There is evidently aline lost after the fourth. We might read "Have been the cause of this our sudden visit."

"Knowing noughtelse, like dogs, but following."

"Smile youatmy speeches, as I were a fool?"

"They have travell'd hard to-night. Mere fetchesthese."

"For the sound man.—Death on my state!Wherefore should he sit here? This act persuades me."

"For the sound man.—Death on my state!

Wherefore should he sit here? This act persuades me."

This is the proper arrangement.

"Thy tender-hefted nature shall not giveThee o'er to harshness."

"Thy tender-hefted nature shall not give

Thee o'er to harshness."

Neitherheftednorhested, the other reading, makes sense; the conjectureheartedmay, then, be right.

"To wagewaragainst the enmity of the air."

"You heavens, give me that patience [patience] I need."

Malone made the same omission.

"Hehath put himself from rest, and must needs taste his folly."

"Who have—as who have not, that their great starshave?"

"Hast thoutoogiven all unto thy daughters?"

"Dolphin, my boy, my boy!Cessè, let him trot by."

"Dolphin, my boy, my boy!

Cessè, let him trot by."

As these seem to be the words of the French King to his son in a ballad quoted by Steevens, I have given the Frenchcesseinstead of the Spanishcesafor theceaseof the 4tos,sessyof the folio.

"Child Rowland to the dark tower came."

Capell saw that a line was wanting here; for what follows must be the words of the Giant. He would read with the 4toscome; but there was no necessity, for in these ballads the first and third lines rarely rimed. The lost line may have been something like this: "The Giant saw him, and out he ran."

"A horse's heels," etc.

The originals readhealth, which is wrong beyond question, as is proved by the proverb in Fordun and Ray, cited by the critics.

"What store her heart is made of."

'Store' an obvious error forstone.

"This rest might yet have balm'd thy broken sinews."

For 'sinews' Theobald readsenses, which has been generally received, but perhaps without necessity.

"Might I but live to see thee in my touch I'd say I had eyes again."

The proper word of course isfeel, not 'see'; but the text may be right. We have elsewhere, "I see it feelingly." We might also readbyfor 'in.'

"Sirrah,thounaked fellow!"

"It will comethathumanity must perforce."

"With plumed helm thy slayer beginshisthreats."

"Butshebeing widow, and my Gloster with her."

"Ay, sir, she took them, read them in my presence."

The original isI so. Theobald made the change.

"Not to a rage; Patience and Sorrow strove."

Pope gave 'strove' for the originalstreme.

"You might have seenSunshine and rain at once ... her smiles and tearsWere like it—a better way."

"You might have seen

Sunshine and rain at once ... her smiles and tears

Were like it—a better way."

For 'way' Theobald readMay. Warburton proposedwetter May.

"'Tis so they are afoot."

We should, with Warburton, readsaidnot 'so.'

"Pull off my boots;pullharder, harder; so!"

"Who by the art of known and feeling sorrow."

We should certainly readknowing.

"Got 'tween the lawful sheets."

We might supply 'were unto me.'

"What! with the case of eyes?"

With Rowe I readthis. Case is pair.

"Your eyes are in a heavy case, your purse in a lightone."

"Madamhesleeps still."

"Be so good, madam, when we do awake him."

The folio has "Madam, be so good."

"Fourscore and upward [not an hour more or less] and to deal plainlywith you."

I agree with the 4tos, and with the more judicious critics, in omitting the bracketted words. (See on Ham. iii. 1. v. 2.) The addition seems requisite.

"To make him evengoo'er the time he has lost."

The poet's word may not have beengo, but a verb is lost. Its place may have been taken by 'even.'

"YetI am doubtful that you have been conjunct."

"Butif it be man's work I'll do it."

"And Fortune led you well. You have themcaptives."

"Make instruments to plague us * * *"

We might add 'in their time.'

"As he'd burst heaven, threw me on my father."

So all the 4tos—the place is not in the folio. Editors most properly readhimfor 'me.'

"1 W.I come, Graymalkin.—2 W.Paddock calls.—3 W.Anon."

I adopt this arrangement of Mr. Hunter's instead of that of the folio, usually followed.

"Say to the King the knowledge of the broil."

Here 'the' is evidently an error forthy.

"Doubtful it stood ***"

We might add,For the two armies were.

"And Fortune on his damned quarry smiling."

Holinshed, treating of this very matter, says, "to assist him in that rebelliousquarrel." Hence the usual correction ofquarrelfor 'quarry' seems to be justified. In the old writersquarrelin the sense of cause, party, is frequent. It was in ordinary use at that time, alike in French and English.

"Like Valour's minion, carv'd out his passage,Till he fac'd the slave ***"

"Like Valour's minion, carv'd out his passage,

Till he fac'd the slave ***"

We might add,with Vengeance at his side.

"Shipwrecking storms, and direful thundersbreak."

So Pope, frombreakingof the 2nd folio.

"LiketempestsBrokefrom the raging North."

"Liketempests

Brokefrom the raging North."

Fletch. Hum. Lieut. i. 1.

"This oür captains, Macbeth and Banquo?—Yes."

"As cannons overcharg'd with double cracks, so they."

We might, but not so well perhaps, read 'o'ercharg'd'(see on M. N. D. ii. 1). 'They so,' though it makes a rime, would give energy.

"Who comes herenow?—The worthy thane of Rosse."

"So should he look that seems to speak great things."

Collier's folio, I think rightly, readscomesfor 'seems' (see on All's Well, ii. 3). We can hardly take 'to speak' in the sense of about to speak.

"From Fife, great king, where the Norweyan bannersDidflout the air, and fan our people cold.Norway himself with terrible numbersthere."

"From Fife, great king, where the Norweyan banners

Didflout the air, and fan our people cold.

Norway himself with terrible numbersthere."

Both sense and metre requireDid. The battle was over, and the enemy defeated.

"As thick as taleCame post with post," etc.

"As thick as tale

Came post with post," etc.

Though 'tale' makes good sense, it might be better to read, with Rowe,hail, of which Mr. Dyce gives many examples.Cameis Rowe's correction for 'Can' of the folio.

"Promis'd no less to them?—That trusted home."

Beyond question we should read, with Malone,thrusted.

"Givemeyour favour; my dull brain was wrought."

"I'the interim having weigh'd it."

TheI'is not absolutely necessary, but I think Shakespeare wrote it. See on Hamlet, iii. 1.

"Is execution done on Cawdor? or notThose in commission yet returned?"

"Is execution done on Cawdor? or not

Those in commission yet returned?"

There is every reason to suppose that the poet wrote 'arenot,' the reading of the 2nd folio.

"That which cries "Thus must thou do, if thou'dsthave it."

"The raven himself is hoarseThat croaks the fatal enterance of DuncanUnder my battlements. Come you spirits."

"The raven himself is hoarse

That croaks the fatal enterance of Duncan

Under my battlements. Come you spirits."

It is strange that our critics have not seen that the raven is figurative, and means the man. I find that the German Delius had also perceived it. In the third line I think we should read 'spirits ofevil'; for a foot is wanting, and good as well as evil spirits 'tend on mortal thoughts.' The ordinary correction, 'Come,come,' is a mere make-shift, and is tame and feeble.

"And take my milk for gall."

Perhaps we should readwithfor 'for,' taking 'take' in the sense of tinge, infect, a sense it often bears.

"Nor Heaven peep through the blanket of the dark."

The word 'blanket' certainly seems too familiar and even vulgar an expression, especially as the more dignified 'pall thee' had just been used. Malone quotes from Drayton's Mortemeriados, 1596, "The sullen night in mistyrugis wrapp'd." But even this is not so low as 'blanket.' Collier's folio readsblankness, but that surely is whiteness. Perhaps we might venture to readblackness, as in Ant. and Cleop. (i. 4) we have "Night'sblackness." At that time 'peep' was to gaze earnestly and steadily at anything; not furtively, as now. 'To cry' in the next line may be crying. See Introd. p.70.

"By his loved mansionry that the heaven's breathSmells wooingly here; no jutty, frieze,Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this birdon'tHath made his pendent bed and procreant cradle."

"By his loved mansionry that the heaven's breath

Smells wooingly here; no jutty, frieze,

Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this birdon't

Hath made his pendent bed and procreant cradle."

The second line here is short by a foot; and as it does not end a paragraph, there must be something wrong. The defect, however, is easily remedied; we have only to read,

"By his lov'd mansiönry that the heaven'sBreath smells wooingly here."

"By his lov'd mansiönry that the heaven's

Breath smells wooingly here."

The structure of the last line is like that of "Thy knee bussing the stones" (Cor. iii. 1). "The mind is its own place" (Par. Lost, i. 254), and similar places. There can be little doubt, I think, thaton'twas effaced at the end of the third line; for the poet could hardly, even in his most careless moment, have termed solid parts of a building 'pendent nests,' etc. Wordsworth, with this very place in his mind, wrote: "Oncoigns of vantagehangtheir nests of clay" (Misc. Son. 34). It is also in favour of this reading that it throws the metric accent onthis, thereby adding force. 'Coign of vantage' would seem to becoin d'avantage, Fr., and denoting a projection of some kind.

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