King Lear : Act 2, Scene 3
Enter EDGAR Kent is on stage, in stocks, but not really there.
Enter EDGAR.
EDGAR
proclaim'd declared an outlaw
1 I heard myself proclaim'd;
happy opportune
2 And by the happy hollow of a tree
port exit; seaport no place ... my taking i.e., in every place people are watching and waiting to take me prisoner
am bethought am resolved; consider it best
am bethought am resolved; consider it best
3 Escaped the hunt. No port is free; no place,
4 That guard, and most unusual vigilance,
5 Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may 'scape,
6 I will preserve myself: and am bethought
7 To take the basest and most poorest shape
in contempt of man subject to everyone's contempt
wooden pricks skewers
object spectacle; appearance | low lowly
Poor pelting paltry; petty; contemptible
lunatic bans crazy curses
Poor Turlygod! poor Tom!
| presented exposed proof example mortified deadened to feeling; insensible |
object spectacle; appearance | low lowly
Poor pelting paltry; petty; contemptible
lunatic bans crazy curses
Poor Turlygod! poor Tom!
8 That ever penury, in contempt of man,
9 Brought near to beast. My face I'll grime with filth,
10 Blanket my loins, elf all my hair in knots;
11 And with presented nakedness outface
12 The winds and persecutions of the sky.
13 The country gives me proof and precedent
14 Of Bedlam beggars, who, with roaring voices,
15 Strike in their numb'd and mortified arms
16 Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary;
17 And with this horrible object, from low farms,
18 Poor pelting villages, sheep-cotes, and mills,
19 Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers,
20 Enforce their charity. Poor Turlygod! poor Tom!
Edgar, I nothing am I am no longer Edgar
21 That's something yet. Edgar I nothing am.
Exit.