Kent. Nor no man else; all's cheerless, dark, and deadly: 292
Your eldest daughters have fordone themselves,
And desperately are dead.
Lear. Ay, so I think.
Alb. He knows not what he says, and vain it is
That we present us to him.
Edg. Very bootless. 296
Enter a Messenger.
Mess. 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, 300
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 305
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, 308
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, 312
Look there, look there! He dies.
Edg. He faints!—my lord, my lord!
Kent. Break, heart; I prithee, break.
Edg. Look up, my lord.
307 fool: referring, with intimate tenderness, to Cordelia
