King Lear

¹¹⁵attempting … self-subdued attacking one who offered no resistance

¹¹⁶fleshment excitement of a first success

¹¹⁶dread exploit fearsome military enterprise (sarcastic)

¹¹⁸None … fool there is not one of these rogues and cowards who cannot make a fool of a man like Ajax (the great Greek warrior was famously stupid; Cornwall is the subject of this dig)

¹²⁰stocks instrument of public punishment in which the offender sat with his ankles and sometimes wrists confined

¹²¹reverent old and revered (sarcastic)

¹²¹braggart boaster

¹²⁶bold malice impudent hostility

¹²⁷grace sovereignty

¹³³use treat

¹³⁵colour type

¹³⁶sister sister-in-law, i.e. Goneril

¹³⁶away here/there (Cornwall directs where the stocks are to be placed)

¹⁴¹answer be responsible for

¹⁴⁵pleasure will

¹⁴⁷rubbed deflected (from bowling where the “rub” is the obstacle that disrupts the path of the ball)

¹⁴⁸watched gone without sleep

¹⁵⁰out at heels worn out (literally, coming through one’s stockings or shoes; an appropriate phrase for one whose feet are poking out of the stocks)

¹⁵¹Give … morrow Good-bye

¹⁵³approve prove

¹⁵³saw saying

¹⁵⁴out … sun proverbial for going from good to bad; Kent means that Regan will prove worse than Goneril

¹⁵⁶beacon i.e. the sun

¹⁵⁶this under globe i.e. the earth

¹⁵⁷comfortable comforting, encouraging

¹⁵⁸Nothing … misery the miserable are almost the only people to see miracles

¹⁶¹obscurèd course secret (and “disguised”) course of action/dimmed fortunes

¹⁶²From away from (i.e. in France)

¹⁶²enormous state disordered situation (or country)

¹⁶³o’erwatched worn out by lack of sleep

¹⁶⁴vantage advantage

¹⁶⁶Fortune … wheel! Fortune was traditionally depicted as a woman turning a wheel that raised humans up and cast them down

¹⁶⁷proclaimed publicly declared an outlaw

¹⁶⁸happy opportune, fortunate

¹⁷¹attend my taking wait to catch me

¹⁷²am bethought have decided

¹⁷⁴in … man despising mankind (in particular, man’s claim to be superior to beasts)

¹⁷⁶elf tangle (into “elflocks” or messy knots of hair)

¹⁷⁷presented openly displayed

¹⁸⁰Bedlam the Saint Mary of Bethlehem hospital in London; a number of those who were released became beggars

¹⁸¹mortifièd deadened

¹⁸²pricks spikes

¹⁸³object sight

¹⁸³low humble, lowly

¹⁸⁴pelting paltry, insignificant

¹⁸⁵bans curses

¹⁸⁶Turlygod unexplained; perhaps a deliberately nonsensical name

¹⁸⁶Poor … Tom! the sorts of cries the beggars would utter; several sixteenth-century accounts refer to beggars calling themselves “Poor Tom”

¹⁸⁷That’s something yet i.e. at least as Poor Tom I have some form of existence

¹⁸⁷Edgar … am as Edgar I do not exist/I renounce my identity as Edgar

^2.2Gentleman presumably one of Lear’s reduced retinue of knights

¹⁸⁸they i.e. Regan and Cornwall

¹⁹⁶cruel puns on “crewel” (i.e. wool used for stockings)

¹⁹⁸over-lusty at legs as a servant, too ready to run away (perhaps plays on the sense of “too eager for sex”)

¹⁹⁹nether-stocks stockings

²⁰⁰place position (as Lear’s messenger)

²⁰¹To as to

²⁰³son son-in-law

²⁰⁹Juno wife of Jupiter, the supreme Roman god

²¹²upon respect upon consideration/against the respect due to a king and his representatives

²¹³Resolve make clear to, inform

²¹³modest moderate, reasonable

²¹³which way why, how

²¹⁴usage treatment

²¹⁵coming from us when you were sent by me

²¹⁷commend deliver

²¹⁹reeking steaming (with sweat)

²¹⁹post messenger

²²⁰Stewed hot and drenched in sweat

²²²spite of intermission in spite of interrupting me/in spite of his halting breath

²²³presently immediately

²²⁴meiny retinue

²²⁴straight straight away

²²⁵attend … answer wait until they had time to answer

²³⁰Displayed … against openly behaved so impudently toward

²³¹man than wit courage than sense

²³¹drew drew my sword

²³⁵Winter’s … way i.e. there is more stormy weather (trouble) on the way

²³⁷blind i.e. to their father’s needs

²³⁸bags moneybags

²⁴⁰arrant downright/notorious

²⁴¹turns the key opens the door/provides sexual favors

²⁴²dolours griefs (puns on “dollar,” a silver coin)

²⁴³tell relate/count

²⁴⁴mother i.e. hysteria (frequently a female affliction thought to arise from the womb or, in men, the abdomen; characterized by breathlessness and agitation)