directory
home contact

King Lear

Please see the bottom of this page for helpful resources.
ACT IV SCENE IV The same. A tent. 
[Enter, with drum and colours, CORDELIA, Doctor, and Soldiers]
CORDELIAAlack, 'tis he: why, he was met even now
As mad as the vex'd sea; singing aloud;
Crown'd with rank fumiter and furrow-weeds,
With bur-docks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers,
Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow5
In our sustaining corn. A century send forth;
Search every acre in the high-grown field,
And bring him to our eye.
[Exit an Officer]
What can man's wisdom
In the restoring his bereaved sense?10
He that helps him take all my outward worth.
DoctorThere is means, madam:
Our foster-nurse of nature is repose,
The which he lacks; that to provoke in him,
Are many simples operative, whose power15
Will close the eye of anguish.
CORDELIAAll blest secrets,
All you unpublish'd virtues of the earth,
Spring with my tears! be aidant and remediate
In the good man's distress! Seek, seek for him;20
Lest his ungovern'd rage dissolve the life
That wants the means to lead it.
[Enter a Messenger]
MessengerNews, madam;
The British powers are marching hitherward.
CORDELIA'Tis known before; our preparation stands25
In expectation of them. O dear father,
It is thy business that I go about;
Therefore great France
My mourning and important tears hath pitied.
No blown ambition doth our arms incite,30
But love, dear love, and our aged father's right:
Soon may I hear and see him!
[Exeunt]


King Lear, Act 4, Scene 5
___________

Related Articles

 King Lear Overview
 King Lear: Analysis by Act and Scene
 Blank Verse in King Lear
 King Lear Lecture Notes and Study Topics
 Difficult Passages in King Lear

 King Lear Summary
 King Lear Character Introduction
 King Lear Study Questions
 Sources for King Lear

 Representations of Nature in Shakespeare's King Lear
 King Lear: FAQ
 Famous Quotations from King Lear
 Pronouncing Shakespearean Names

 Shakespeare's Language
 Shakespeare's Metaphors and Similes

 Shakespeare's Reputation in Elizabethan England
 Shakespeare's Impact on Other Writers
 Why Study Shakespeare?