Alb. Who's dead ? fpeak man.

Gent. Your lady, Sir, your lady; and her sister By her is poison'd; she confesses it.

Baft. 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 live or dead.

(Gonerill and Regan's Bodies brought out.
This judgment of the heav'ns, that makes us tremble,
Touches us not with pity. O! is this she?
The time will not allow the compliment
Which very nianners urge.

Kent. I am come
To bid my King and Mafter aye good night,
Is he not here?

Alb. Great thing of us forgot!
Speak Edmund, where's the King? and where's Coro

delia ?
See'st thou this object, Kent ?

Kent. Alack, why thus?
Baft. Yet Edmund was belov'd :
The one the other poison'd for my fake,
And after few her self.

Alb. Even so; cover their faces.

Baft. I pant for life; some good I mean to do
Despight of mine own nature. Quickly send,
(Be brief) into the castle, for my writ
Às on the life of Lear and on Cordelia :
Nay, send in time.

Alb. Run, run, run
Edg. To whom, my lord? who has the office!
Send thy token of reprieve.

Baft. Well thought on, take my sword,
Give it the captain

Edg. Haste thee for thy life.

Bast. He hath commission from thy wife and me, To hang Cordelia in the prison, and

TO

To lay the blame upon her own despair.
Alb. The gods defend her, bear him hence a while)

SCENE X.

Enter Lear with Cordelia dead in his arms.

Lear. Howl, howl, howl, howl, 0. you are

men of stone, Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use them fo, That heaven's vault fhould 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 mitt or stain the stone, Why then she lives.

Kent. Is this the promisd end?

Lear. This feather stirs, she lives; it it be so
It is a chance which do's redeem all forrows
That ever I have felt,

Kent. O my good master!
Lear. Prythee away
Edg. 'Tis noble Kent your

friend. Lear. A plague upon you murth'rers, traitors all, I might have lav'd her, now she's gone

for ever!
Cordelia, Cordelia, stay a little. Hå!
What is't thou fay'st ? her voice was ever soft,
Gentle and low, an excellent thing in woman..
I kill'd the slave that was a hanging thee.

Gent. "Tis true, my lords, he did.

Lear, Did I not, fellow ? I've 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'thi best. I'll tell

you

strait.. Kent. If fortune brag of two she lovid and hated, One of them we behold.

Lear. Are you not Kent ?
Kent. The same'; your servant Kent;
Where is your servant Caius ?

Lear)

Lear. He's a good fellow, I can tell you that, He'll ftrike, and quickly too: he's dead and rotten.

Kent. No, my good lord, I am the very man.
Lear, I'll see that strait.

Kent. That from your a life of difference and decay, Have follow'd your fad steps

Lear. You're welcome hither.
Kent. b 'Twas no man, else; all's cheerless, dark,

and deadly:
Your eldest daughters have fore-done themselves,
And defp'rately are dead.

Lear. Ay, so I think. Alb. He knows not what he says, and yain is is That we present us to him. Edg. Very bootless.

Enter a Messenger. Mes. Edmund is dead, my lord. .

. Alb. That's but a trifle. You lords and noble friends know our intents What comfort to this great decay may come, Shall be apply'd. For us, we will resign During the life of this old majesty, To him our absolute power : to you, your rights,

[ To Edgar 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 fee, 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 on her lips,
Look there, look there

Edg. He faints, my lord.
Kent. Break heart, I pr’ythee break,
Edg. Look to my lord.

[He Dies.

1

Kent. Vex not his ghost: o let him pass! He hates

him, That would upon the rack of this rough world Stretch him out longer.

Edg. He is gone indeed.

Kent. The wonder is, he hath 'endur'd so long He but usurpt his life.

Alb. Bear them from hence, our present business
Is general woe: friends of my soul, you twain,
Rule in this realm, and the gord ftate sustain.

Kent. I have a journey, Sir, fhortly to go;
My master calls me, I must not say no. (Dies,

* Alb. The weight of this fad time we must obey,
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
The oldest hath born most; we that are young
Shall never see so much, nor live so long.

(Exeunt with a dead march,
• Edg:

The End of the Third Volume.