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