Lear. Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia,
The gods themselves throw incense.’
The concluding events are sad, painfully sad; but their pathos is extreme. The oppression of the feelings is relieved by the very interest we take in the misfortunes of others, and by the reflections to which they give birth. Cordelia is hanged in prison by the orders of the bastard Edmund, which are known too late to be countermanded, and Lear dies broken-hearted, lamenting over her.
‘Lear. And my poor fool is hang’d! No, no, no life:
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life,
And thou no breath at all? O, thou wilt come no more,
Never, never, never, never, never!——
Pray you, undo this button: thank you, sir.’
He dies, and indeed we feel the truth of what Kent says on the occasion—
‘Vex not his ghost: O, let him pass! he hates him,