she hath confess'd it.
  Edm. I was contracted to them both. All three
     Now marry in an instant.

                             Enter Kent.

  Edg. Here comes Kent.
  Alb. Produce their bodies, be they alive or dead.
                                               [Exit Gentleman.]
     This judgement of the heavens, that makes us tremble
     Touches us not with pity. O, is this he?
     The time will not allow the compliment
     That very manners urges.
  Kent. I am come
     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?
                 The bodies of Goneril and Regan are brought in.
     Seest thou this object, Kent?
  Kent. Alack, why thus?
  Edm. Yet Edmund was belov'd.
     The one the other poisoned 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't) 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 who, 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.
  Alb. The gods defend her! Bear him hence awhile.
                                          [Edmund is borne off.]

    Enter Lear, with Cordelia [dead] in his arms, [Edgar, Captain,
                        and others following].

  Lear. Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stone.
     Had I your tongues and eyes, I'ld use them so
     That heaven's vault should crack. She's gone for ever!
     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?
  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
     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!
     What is't thou say'st, Her voice was ever soft,
     Gentle, and low- an excellent thing in woman.
     I kill'd the slave that was a-hanging thee.
  Capt. 'Tis true, my lords, 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' th' best. I'll tell you straight.
  Kent. If fortune brag of two she lov'd and hated,
     One of them we behold.
  Lear. This' 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
     Have followed your sad steps.
  Lear. You're welcome hither.
  Kent. Nor no man else! All's cheerless, dark, and deadly.
     Your eldest daughters have fordone themselves,
     And desperately are dead.
  Lear. Ay, so I think.
  Alb. He knows not what he says; and vain is it
     That we present us to him.
  Edg. Very bootless.

                           Enter a Captain.

  Capt. 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,
     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
     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,
     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!
     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.
  Kent. The wonder is, he hath endur'd so long.
     He but usurp'd his life.
  Alb. Bear them from hence. Our present business
     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.
  Alb. The weight of this sad time we must obey,
     Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
     The oldest have borne most; we that are young
     Shall never see so much, nor live so long.
                                       Exeunt with a dead march.


THE END