Old Man. O, my good lord, I have been your tenant, and your father's tenant, these fourscore years.

Glou. Away, get thee away; good friend, be gone: Thy comforts can do me no good at all;

Thee they may hurt.

21

Old Man. Alack, sir, you cannot see your way.
Glou. I have no way and therefore want no eyes;
I stumbled when I saw: full oft 'tis seen,
Our means secure us, and our mere defects
Prove our commodities. Ah, dear son Edgar,
The food of thy abused father's wrath!
Might I but live to see thee in my touch,
I'ld say I had eyes again.

Old Man.

How now! Who's there?

Edg. [Aside] O gods! Who is 't can say 'I am at

the worst'?

I am worse than e'er I was.

Old Man.

'Tis poor mad Tom.

Edg. [Aside] And worse I may be yet: the worst

is not

So long as we can say "This is the worst.' 30 Old Man. Fellow, where goest?

Glou.

Is it a beggar-man? Old Man. Madman and beggar too. Glou. He has some reason, else he could not beg. I' the last night's storm I such a fellow saw, Which made me think a man a worm: my son Came then into my mind, and yet my mind Was then scarce friends with him: I have heard more since.

19. The words, "Alack, sir!” are omitted in the folio.-H. N. H.

As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods;
They kill us for their sport.

Edg.

[Aside] How should this be?

Bad is the trade that must play fool to sorrow,

Angering itself and others.

ter!

Glou. Is that the naked fellow?

Old Man.

Bless thee, mas

41

Aye, my lord.
Glou. Then, prithee, get thee gone: if for my sake
Thou wilt o'ertake us hence a mile or twain

I' the way toward Dover, do it for ancient love;
And bring some covering for this naked soul,
Who I'll entreat to lead me.

Old Man.

Alack, sir, he is mad. Glou. 'Tis the times' plague, when madmen lead

the blind.

Do as I bid thee, or rather do thy pleasure;
Above the rest, be gone.

50

Old Man. I'll bring him the best 'parel that I

have,

Come on 't what will.

Glou. Sirrah, naked fellow,

[Exit.

Edg. Poor Tom's a-cold. [Aside] I cannot daub

it further.

Glou. Come hither, fellow.

Edg. [Aside] And yet I must.-Bless thy sweet eyes, they bleed.

Glou. Know'st thou the way to Dover?

Edg. Both stile and gate, horse-way and foot

39. "Kill"; Q. 1, "bitt"; Qq. 2, 3, "bit"; (probably an error for hit).-I. G.

43. So the quartos. Instead of "Then, prithee, get thee gone," the folio has only "Get thee away."-H. N. H.

path. Poor Tom hath been scared out of
his good wits. Bless thee, good man's son, 60
from the foul fiend! Five fiends have been
in poor Tom at once; of lust, as Obidicut;
Hobbididence, prince of dumbness; Mahu,
of stealing; Modo, of murder; Flibbertigib-
bet, of mopping and mowing; who since
possesses chambermaids and waiting-women.
So, bless thee, master!

Glou. Here, take this purse, thou whom the heavens' plagues

71

Have humble to all strokes: that I am wretched
Makes thee the happier. Heavens, deal so still!
Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man,
That slaves your ordinance, that will not see
Because he doth not feel, feel your power
quickly;

So distribution should undo excess

And each man have enough. Dost thou know
Dover?

Edg. Aye, master.

Glou. There is a cliff whose high and bending head Looks fearfully in the confined deep:

Bring me but to the very brim of it,

60. So the folio: the quartos read, "bless the good man from the foul fiend!"-H. N. H.

65. "mopping and mowing"; "If she have a little helpe of the mother, epilepsie, or cramp, to teach her role her eyes, wrie her mouth, gnash her teeth, starte with her body, hold her armes and handes stiffe, make antike faces, grinne, mow and mop like an ape, then no doubt the young girle is owle-blasted, and possessed" (Harsnet).-H. N. H.

80

And I'll repair the misery thou dost bear
With something rich about me: from that place
I shall no leading need.

Edg.

Give me thy arm:

Poor Tom shall lead thee.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II

Before the Duke of Albany's palace.

Enter Goneril and Edmund.

Gon. Welcome, my lord: I marvel our mild hus

band

Not met us on the way.

Enter Oswald.

Now, where's your master?

Osw. Madam, within; but never man so changed. I told him of the army that was landed;

He smiled at it: I told him you were coming; His answer was, "The worse:' of Gloucester's treachery

And of the loyal service of his son

When I inform'd him, then he call'd me sot
And told me I had turn'd the wrong side out:
What most he should dislike seems pleasant to

him;

What like, offensive.

10

Gon. [To Edm.] Then shall you go no further. It is the cowish terror of his spirit,

That dares not undertake: he'll not feel

wrongs,

Which tie him to an answer. Our wishes on the

way

May prove effects. Back, Edmund, to my
brother;

Hasten his musters and conduct his powers:
I must change arms at home and give the dis-
taff

Into my husband's hands. This trusty servant
Shall pass between us: ere long you are like to
hear,

If

you

20

dare venture in your own behalf, A mistress's command. Wear this; spare

speech; [Giving a favor. Decline your head: this kiss, if it durst speak, Would stretch thy spirits up into the air: Conceive, and fare thee well.

Edm. Yours in the ranks of death.

Gon.

My most dear Gloucester!

[Exit Edmund.

O, the difference of man and man!
To thee a woman's services are due:
My fool usurps my body.

Osw.

Madam, here comes my lord.

Enter Albany

[Exit.

22. She bids him decline his head, that she might give him a kiss (the Steward being present) and that might appear only to him as a whisper.-H. N. H.

28. "My fool usurps my body"; so Ff.; Q. 1, “A foole usurps my bed"; Q. 2, "My foote usurps my head"; Malone, "My fool usurps my bed."-I. G.