Lear: Tell me, my daughters,--
Since now we will 1)divest us both of rule,
Interest of territory, cares of state,--
Which of you shall we say 2)doth love us most?
That we our largest 3)bounty may extend
Where nature doth with 4)merit challenge. Goneril,
Our eldest-born, speak first.
Gonrril: Sir, I love you more than words can 5)wield the matter;
Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty;
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare;
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour;
As much as child e'er loved, or father found;
A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable;
Beyond all manner of so much I love you.
Cordelia: [Aside] What shall Cordelia do?
Love, and be silent.
Lear: Of all these bounds, even from this line to this,
With 6)shadowy forests and with champains rich'd,
With 7)plenteous rivers and wide-skirted 8)meads,
We make 9)thee lady: to 10)thine and Albany's issue
Be this 11)perpetual. What says our second daughter,
Our dearest Regan, wife to Cornwall?
Regan: I am made
Of the self-same metal that my sister,
And prize me at her worth. In my true heart
I find she names my very deed of love;
Only she comes too short: that I profess
Myself an enemy to all other joys,
Which the most precious square of sense 12)possesses;
And find I am alone 13)felicitate
In your dear highness' love.
Cordelia: [Aside] Then poor Cordelia!
And yet not so; since, I am sure, my love's
More richer than my tongue.
Lear: To thee and thine 14)hereditary ever
Remain this 15)ample third of our fair kingdom;
No less in space, 16)validity, and pleasure,
Than that conferr'd on Goneril. Now, our joy,
Although the last, not least; to whose young love
The 17)vines of France and milk of 18)Burgundy
19)Strive to be interess'd; what can you say to draw
A third more 20)opulent than your sisters? Speak.
Cordelia: Nothing, my lord.
Lear: Nothing?
Cordelia: Nothing.
Lear: Nothing will come of nothing: speak again.
Cordelia: Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave
My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty
According to my bond; nor more nor less.
Lear: How, how, Cordelia! mend your speech a little,
Lest it may 21)mar your fortunes.
Cordelia: Good my lord,
You have begot me, bred me, loved me: I
Return those duties back as are right fit,
Obey you, love you, and most honour you.
Why have my sisters husbands, if they say
They love you all? Haply, when I shall wed,
That lord whose hand must take my 22)plight shall carry
Half my love with him, half my care and duty:
Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters,
To love my father all.
Lear: But goes thy heart with this?
Cordelia: Ay, good my lord.
Lear: So young, and so untender?
Cordelia: So young, my lord, and true.
Lear: Let it be so; thy truth, then, be thy 23)dower:
For, by the 24)sacred 25)radiance of the sun,
The mysteries of Hecate, and the night;
By all the operation of the orbs
From whom we do exist, and 26)cease to be;
Here I disclaim all my 27)paternal care,
28)Propinquity and property of blood,
And as a stranger to my heart and me
Hold thee, from this, for ever.
