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ALBANY Run, run, O, run!
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ALBANY Run, run, oh, run!
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EDGAR To who, my lord?—Who hath the office? Send
Thy token of reprieve.
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EDGAR Whom should we look for in the castle?—Whose job is it? Send something along to prove you’re withdrawing the orders.
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Edmund Well thought on. Take my sword. The captain—
Give it the captain.
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EDMUND Good idea. Take my sword. The captain—give it to the captain.
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ALBANY Haste thee for thy life.
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EDGAR Run as if your life depended on it.
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Exit a soldier
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A soldier exits.
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Edmund
265He 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.
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EDMUND My wife and I ordered him to hang Cordelia in prison and then to make it look as if she committed suicide in despair.
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ALBANY The gods defend her!—hear him hence awhile.
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ALBANY Heaven help her!—Get him out of here for now.
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Exit soldiers with EDMUND
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Soldiers exit with EDMUND.
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Enter LEAR with CORDELIA in his arms, a THIRD KNIGHT following
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LEAR enters with CORDELIA in his arms, followed by the THIRD KNIGHT.
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LEAR
270Howl, howl, howl, howl! Oh, you are men of stones.
Had I your tongues and eyes, I’d use them so
That heaven’s vault should crack. She’s gone forever.
I know when one is dead and when one lives.
She’s dead as earth. Lend me a looking-glass.
275If that her breath will mist or stain the stone,
Why then, she lives.
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LEAR Howl, howl, howl, howl! Oh, you men are made of stone! If I were you with eyes and a tongue to speak with, I’d crack heaven wide open with my laments! She’s gone forever. I know how to tell when someone is alive or dead. She’s as dead as the cold ground. Let me borrow a mirror. If her breath steams up the glass, then she’s alive.
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KENT Is this the promised end?
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KENT Is this doomsday? The end of the world?
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EDGAR Or image of that horror?
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EDGAR Or just a foretaste of it?
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