King Lear : Act 3, Scene 4
Enter LEAR, KENT [disguised as Caius],
and Fool.
KENT
1 Here is the place, my lord; good my lord, enter:
1. the place: the hovel mentioned at 3.2.61.
2 The tyranny of the open night's too rough
2. tyranny: i.e., the power of the storm.
3 For nature to endure.
3. nature: human nature.
Storm still.
KING LEAR Let me alone.
Sylvester McCoy as Fool, Ian MacKellen as Lear,
Johnathan Hyde as Kent
(TV Movie 2008)
KENT 4 Good my lord, enter here.
KING LEAR Wilt break my heart?
KENT 5 I had rather break mine own. Good my lord, enter.
KING LEAR 6 Thou think'st 'tis much that this contentious storm
7 Invades us to the skin: so 'tis to thee;
8 But where the greater malady is fix'd,
8. fix'd: rooted.
9 The lesser is scarce felt. Thou'ldst shun a bear;
10 But if thy flight lay toward the raging sea,
11 Thou'ldst meet the bear i' the mouth. When the mind's free,
11. free: unburdened; at ease.
12 The body's delicate: the tempest in my mind
12. delicate: sensitive to pain.
13 Doth from my senses take all feeling else
14 Save what beats there. Filial ingratitude!
14. there: in my mind.
15 Is it not as this mouth should tear this hand
15. as: as if.
16 For lifting food to't? But I will punish home:
16. home: thoroughly; fully.
17 No, I will weep no more. In such a night
18 To shut me out! Pour on; I will endure.
19 In such a night as this! O Regan, Goneril!
20 Your old kind father, whose frank heart gave all,—
20. frank: generous.
21 O, that way madness lies; let me shun that;
22 No more of that.
KENT Good my lord, enter here.
KING LEAR 23 Prithee, go in thyself: seek thine own ease:
24 This tempest will not give me leave to ponder
24. give me leave to: allow me to.
25 On things would hurt me more. But I'll go in.
[To the Fool.]
26 In, boy; go first. You houseless poverty,—
26. houseless poverty: i.e., homeless people.
27 Nay, get thee in. I'll pray, and then I'll sleep.
Exit [Fool].
28 Poor naked wretches, whereso'er you are,
29 That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,
29. bide: abide; endure.
30 How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,
30. unfed sides: lean ribs.
31 Your loop'd and window'd raggedness, defend you
31. loop'd and window'd: full of holes and vents.
32 From seasons such as these? O, I have ta'en
33 Too little care of this! Take physic, pomp;
33. Take physic, pomp: cure yourself, splendid luxury.
34 Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel,
35 That thou mayst shake the superflux to them,
35. superflux: superfluity; all that is more than needed to live.
36 And show the heavens more just.
EDGAR [Within.]
37 Fathom and half, fathom and half! Poor
37. Fathom and half: i.e., nine feet —This a sailor's cry when taking depth soundings. Most ships of Shakespeare's time would run aground in water less than nine feet deep.
38 Tom!
[The] Fool [runs out from the hovel].
Illustrator: Sir John Gilbert
Fool
39 Come not in here, nuncle, here's a spirit
40 Help me, help me!
KENT 41 Give me thy hand. Who's there?
Fool
42 A spirit, a spirit: he says his name's poor
43 Tom.
KENT 44 What art thou that dost grumble
45 there i' the straw? Come forth.
Enter EDGAR [disguised as a mad man].
EDGAR 46 Away! the foul fiend follows me! Through the
46. Away!: Keep away! foul fiend: the devil.
47 sharp hawthorn blows the cold wind. Humh!
47. Through the sharp hawthorn blows the cold wind: —Perhaps a ballad lyric.
48 go to thy cold bed, and warm thee.
KING LEAR 49 Hast thou given all to thy two daughters? And art
50 thou come to this?
EDGAR 51 Who gives any thing to poor Tom? whom the foul
52 fiend hath led through fire and through flame,
53 through ford and whirlpool o'er bog and quagmire;
54 that hath laid knives under his pillow, and halters
54. halters: hangman's nooses.
55 in his pew; set ratsbane by his porridge; made him
55. ratsbane: rat poison —The foul fiend is trying to lure Poor Tom into suicide.
56 proud of heart, to ride on a bay trotting-horse over 57 four-inch'd bridges, to course his own shadow for
58 a traitor. Bless thy five wits! Tom's a-cold,—O, do de,
56-58. to ride . . . traitor: i.e., to ride over impossibly narrow bridges chasing his own shadow which he thinks is a traitor.
59 do de, do de. Bless thee from whirlwinds, star-blasting,
59. star-blasting: malign astrological influences.
60 and taking! Do poor Tom some charity, whom the
60. taking: bewitchment.
61 foul fiend vexes. There could I have him now,—and
62 there,— and there again,— and there.
61-62. There could I have him now,—and there,—and there again, and there: —As "Poor Tom" (Edgar) speaks this sentence, he might be trying to kill vermin on his body as if they were devils.
Storm still.
KING LEAR 63 What, have his daughters brought him to this pass?
63. pass: miserable plight.
64 Couldst thou save nothing? Didst thou give them all?
Fool
65 Nay, he reserved a blanket, else we had been all
66 sham'd.
65-66. he reserved a blanket, else we had been all sham'd: he kept a blanket, or else we would have all been embarrassed to see him naked.
KING LEAR 67 Now, all the plagues that in the pendulous air
67. pendulous: overhanging; portentous.
68 Hang fated o'er men's faults light on thy daughters!
68. fated: having the power of fate.
KENT 69 He hath no daughters, sir.
KING LEAR 70 Death, traitor! nothing could have subdued nature
71 To such a lowness but his unkind daughters.
72 Is it the fashion, that discarded fathers
73 Should have thus little mercy on their flesh?
72-73. Is . . . flesh?: i.e., Is it the fashion for discarded fathers to punish their own flesh as this Poor Tom is doing?
74 Judicious punishment! 'twas this flesh begot
75 Those pelican daughters.
75. pelican daughters: i.e., blood-sucking daughters. >>>
EDGAR
76 Pillicock sat on Pillicock-hill: alow, alow,
77 loo, loo!
76-77. Pillicock sat on Pillicock-hill: Halloo, halloo, loo, loo!: A fragment of an old rhyme, followed by hunting cries or a ballad refrain; "Pillicock" was both a term of endearment and a euphemism for penis.
Fool
78 This cold night will turn us all to fools and
79 madmen.
EDGAR 80 Take heed o' the foul fiend: obey thy parents;
81 keep thy word justly; swear not; commit not with
82 man's sworn spouse; set not thy sweet heart on proud
83 array. Tom's a-cold.
80-83. obey . . . spouse: — These appear to be fragments from the Ten Commandments. proud array: fine clothes.
KING LEAR 84 What hast thou been?
EDGAR 85 A serving-man, proud in heart and mind; that curled
86 my hair; wore gloves in my cap; served the lust of
86. gloves: — Gloves were used as love tokens.
87 my mistress' heart, and did the act of darkness with
87. did the act of darkness: had sex.
88 her; swore as many oaths as I spake words, and
89 broke them in the sweet face of heaven: one that
89. broke them in the sweet face of heaven: broke the oaths while heaven watched.
90 slept in the contriving of lust, and waked to do it:
91 wine loved I deeply, dice dearly: and in woman
92 out-paramoured the Turk: false of heart, light of ear,
92. out-paramoured the Turk: had more mistresses than the Sultan. light of ear: rumor-hungry.
93 bloody of hand; hog in sloth, fox in stealth, wolf in
94 greediness, dog in madness, lion in prey. Let not the
94. prey: preying; hunting and killing.
95 creaking of shoes nor the rustling of silks betray thy
96 poor heart to woman: keep thy foot out of brothels,
97 thy hand out of plackets, thy pen from lenders' books,
97. plackets: openings in petticoats. lenders' books: money lenders' account-books which borrowers must sign.
98 and defy the foul fiend. Still through the hawthorn
99 blows the cold wind: Says suum, mun, ha, no, nonny.
100 Dolphin my boy, my boy, sessa! let him trot by.
100. Dolphin: perhaps Dauphin, the heir to the French throne, sometimes identified with the devil by the English.
Storm still.
KING LEAR101 Why, thou wert better in thy grave than to answer
101. answer: encounter.
102 with thy uncovered body this extremity of the skies.
102. extremity: extreme violence.
103 Is man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou
104 owest the worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep
105 no wool, the cat no perfume. Ha! here's three on 's
105. cat: civet. >>> three on 's: three of us.
106 are sophisticated! Thou art the thing itself:
106. sophisticated: adulterated.
107 unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor bare,
107. unaccommodated: naked; without the trappings of civilization.
108 forked animal as thou art. Off, off, you lendings!
108. forked animal: two-legged animal. lendings: i.e., garments, borrowed from nature.
109 come unbutton here.
[Tearing off his clothes.]
Fool110 Prithee, nuncle, be contented; 'tis a naughty
110. naughty: foul.
111 night to swim in. Now a little fire in a wild field
111. wild: barren; lustful.
112 were like an old lecher's heart; a small spark,
113 all the rest on's body cold. Look, here comes a
113. the rest on's: the rest of his.
114 walking fire.
Enter GLOUCESTER, with a torch.
EDGAR
115 This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet: he begins
115. Flibbertigibbet: name of a devil.
116 at curfew, and walks till the first cock; he gives
116. curfew . . . cock: from 9:00 p.m. until midnight. the web and the pin: cataract of the eye.
117 the web and the pin, squints the eye, and makes the
117. the web and the pin: cataract of the eye.
118 hare-lip; mildews the white wheat, and hurts the
118. white wheat: wheat approaching ripeness.
119 poor creature of earth.
120. Swithold: Saint Withold. footed: walked over. 'old: wold; upland plain.
120 Swithold footed thrice the 'old;
121 He met the night-mare, and her nine-fold;
121. the night-mare: demon thought to afflict people while they slept. her nine-fold: her familiars.
122 Bid her alight,
123 And her troth plight,
123. And her troth plight: And give her word.
124 And, aroint thee, witch, aroint thee!
124. aroint thee: begone.
KENT125 How fares your grace?
KING LEAR126 What's he?
126. What's: Who's.
KENT127 Who's there? What is't you seek?
GLOUCESTER128 What are you there? Your names?
EDGAR129 Poor Tom; that eats the swimming frog, the toad,
130 the tadpole, the wall-newt and the water; that in
130. the wall-newt and the water: the wall newt and the water newt. >>>
131 the fury of his heart, when the foul fiend rages,
132 eats cow-dung for sallets; swallows the old rat and
132. sallets: salads; greens.
133 the ditch-dog; drinks the green mantle of the
133. ditch-dog: dog found dead in a ditch. green mantle: scum.
134 standing pool; who is whipped from tithing to
135 tithing, and stock-punished, and imprisoned; who
134-135. tithing: parish. stock-punished: put in stocks.
136 hath had three suits to his back, six shirts to his body—
137 Horse to ride, and weapon to wear;
138 But mice and rats, and such small deer,
138. deer: animals.
139 Have been Tom's food for seven long year.
137-139. Horse . . . year: — These three lines imitate the rhythm and diction of a medieval romance.
140 Beware my follower. Peace, Smulkin; peace,
140. Beware . . . peace: — His "follower" is the fiend Smulkin, who he trying to get to shut up.
141 thou fiend!
GLOUCESTER142 What, hath your grace no better company?
EDGAR
143 The prince of darkness is a gentleman:
144 Modo he's call'd, and Mahu.
144. Modo he's call'd, and Mahu: >>>
GLOUCESTER
145 Our flesh and blood, my lord, is grown so vild,
145. vild: vile.
146 That it doth hate what gets it.
146. gets: begets.
EDGAR147 Poor Tom's a-cold.
GLOUCESTER [To King Lear.]
148 Go in with me: my duty cannot suffer
148. my duty cannot suffer: my duty [to you, as king] does not permit me.
149 To obey in all your daughters' hard commands:
150 Though their injunction be to bar my doors,
151 And let this tyrannous night take hold upon you,
152 Yet have I ventured to come seek you out,
153 And bring you where both fire and food is ready.
KING LEAR154 First let me talk with this philosopher.
155 What is the cause of thunder?
KENT156 Good my lord, take his offer; go into the house.
KING LEAR157 I'll talk a word with this same learned Theban.
157. learned Theban: Greek sage.
158 What is your study?
158. study: field of expertise.
EDGAR159 How to prevent the fiend, and to kill vermin.
159. to prevent the fiend: to figure out what the fiend is going to do next, in order to stop him.
KING LEAR160 Let me ask you one word in private.
KENT161 Importune him once more to go, my lord;
162 His wits begin to unsettle.
GLOUCESTER
Canst thou blame him?
Storm still.
163 His daughters seek his death: ah, that good Kent!
163. that good Kent!: Gloucester does not know that he is talking to Kent, because Kent is in disguise.
164 He said it would be thus, poor banish'd man!
165 Thou say'st the king grows mad; I'll tell thee, friend,
166 I am almost mad myself: I had a son,
167 Now outlaw'd from my blood; he sought my life,
167. outlaw'd from my blood: disowned.
168 But lately, very late: I loved him, friend;
168. very late: very recently.
169 No father his son dearer: truth to tell thee,
170 The grief hath crazed my wits. What a night's this!
171 I do beseech your grace,—
KING LEAR O, cry your mercy, sir.
171. cry your mercy: beg your pardon.
[To "Poor Tom."]
172 Noble philosopher, your company.
172. your company: please accompany me.
EDGAR173 Tom's a-cold.
GLOUCESTER174 In, fellow, there, into the hovel: keep thee warm.
KING LEAR175 Come, let's in all.
KENT175 This way, my lord.
KING LEAR175 With him;
176 I will keep still with my philosopher.
KENT177 Good my lord, soothe him; let him take the fellow.
177. soothe him: humor him.
GLOUCESTER178 Take him you on.
178. on: on ahead.
KENT179 Sirrah, come on; go along with us.
KING LEAR180 Come, good Athenian.
180. Athenian: i.e., Greek philosopher.
GLOUCESTER181 No words, no words: hush.
EDGAR182 Child Rowland to the dark tower came,
182. Child: an aspirant to knighthood. Rowland: the famous hero of the Charlemagne legends.
183 His word was still, "Fie, foh, and fum,
183. His word was still: his motto was always.
184 I smell the blood of a British man."
183-184. "Fie . . . man": this appears to be a version of a repeated phrase from "Jack and the Beanstalk."
Exeunt.