IV.vi.57 (449,1) chalky bourn] _Bourn_ seems here to signify a _hill_.
Its common signification is a _brook_. Milton in _Comus_ uses _bosky
bourn_ in the same sense perhaps with Shakespeare. But in both authors
it may mean only a _boundary_.
IV.vi.73 (450,2) the clearest gods] The purest; the most free from evil.
IV.vi.80 (450,3) Bear free and patient thoughts] To be melancholy is to
have the mind _chained down_ to one painful idea; there is therefore
great propriety in exhorting Glo'ster to _free thoughts_, to an
emancipation of his soul from grief and despair.
IV.vi.81 (450,4) The safer sense will ne'er accommodate/His master thus]
[W: sober sense] I read rather,
The _saner_ sense will ne'er accoomodate
His master thus.
"Here is Lear, but he must be mad: his sound or _sane_ senses would
never suffer him to be thus disguised."
IV.vi.87 (451,5) That fellow handles his bow like a crow-keeper] This
_crow-keeper_ was so common in the author's time, that it is one of the
few peculiarities mentioned by Ortelius in his account of our island.
IV.vi.93 (451,8) Give the word] Lear supposes himself in a garrison, and
before he lets Edgar pass, requires the watch-word.
IV.vi.97 (452,7) Ha! Gonerill!--with a white beard!] So reads the folio,
properly; the quarto, whom the later editors have followed, has, _Ha!
Gonerill, ha! Regan! they flattered me_, &c. which is not so forcible.
IV.vi.98 (452,8) They flattered me like a dog] They played the spaniel
to me.
IV.vi.121 (453,2) Whose face between her forks] I believe that the
_forks_ were two prominences of the ruff rising on each side of the
face.
IV.vi.124 (453,4) nor the soyled horse] _Soiled_ horse is probably the
same as _pampered_ horse, _un cheval soûlé_.
IV.vi.169 (454.5) Robes and furr'd gowns hide all] From _hide all_ to
_accuser's lips_, the whole passage is wanting in the first edition,
being added, I suppose, at his revisal.
IV.vi.187 (455,8) This a good block!] I do not see how this _block_
corresponds either with his foregoing or following train of thoughts.
Madmen think not wholly at random. I would read thus, _a good flock_.
_Flocks_ are wool moulded together. The sentence then follows properly:
It were a delicate stratagem to shoe
A troop of horse with felt;--
i.e. with _flocks_ kneaded to a mass, a practice I believe sometimes
used in former ages, for it is mentioned in _Ariosto_:
"--Fece nel cader strepito quanto
Avesse avuto sotto i piedi il _feltro_."
It is very common for madmen to catch an accidental hint, and strain it
to the purpose predominant in their minds. Lear picks up a _flock_, and
immediately thinks to surprize his enemies by a troop of horse shod with
_flocks_ or _felt_. Yet _block_ may stand, if we suppose that the sight
of a block put him in mind of mounting his horse.
IV.vi.199 (457,1) Why, this would make a man, a man of salt] Would make
a man melt away like salt in wet weather.
IV.vi.206 (457,2) Then there's life in't] The case is not yet desperate.
IV.vi.217 (457,3) the main descry/Stands on the hourly thought] The
_main_ body is _expected_ to be _descry'd_ every hour. The expression is
harsh.
IV.vi.246 (459,7) che vor'ye] _I warn you_. Edgar counterfeits the
western dialect.
IV.vi.281 (460,3) Thee I'll rake up] I'll _cover_ thee. In
Staffordshire, to _rake_ the fire, is to cover it with fuel for the
night.
IV.vi.234 (460,4) the death-practis'd duke] The duke of Albany, whose
death is machinated by _practice_ or treason.
IV.vii.3 (461,1) every measure fail me] All good which I shall allot
thee, or _measure out_ to thee, will be scanty.
IV.vii.9 (461,4) shortens my made intent] [W: laid] An intent _made_, is
an intent _formed_. So we say in common language, to _make a design_,
and to _make a resolution_.
IV.vii.41 (464,2) 'Tis wonder, that thy life and wits, at once,/Had not
concluded all] [W: concluded.--Ah!] The plain construction is this: _It
is wonder that the wits and life had not all ended_.