Mary Baldwin College - Bluestocking Yearbook (Staunton, VA)

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TIIK AUGUSTA SICMINARY ANNUAL. l ' eyes, the last vestige of far off southern blood, their flattery, deceit and jealousy. , King Lear was growing old, and as the years advanced his strength began to fail. Deceived by the promises of his wily daughters, and angered by Cordelia ' s seeming want of love, he divided his realm ; Cordelia ' s share was a curse, and her dog-hearted sisters received the whole do- main. Thus in the mind of Lear we see the first flash of madness, which flamed up twice or thrice, ere, like the fire of the prairie, it swept in awful fury over his whole being. Cordelia, under her father ' s frenzied curse, had left her na- tive shores to share the throne of the noble King of France. Time wore on : Goneril and Regan began to treat their kind old father with harshness and neglect. It is here that Shakespeare first mentions the Fool ; the King re- turned from the hunt, inquires for him. A knight replies : Since my young lady ' s going into France the fool hath much pined away. ' ' What a story is this of heartache and longing; ol secret tears and sad repining for her whose happy laughter and whose winsome ways had long lit up the royal palace. That graceful form, that sunny face had flitted through the winding corridors for the last time: the young, free-hearted girl was to return no more to her old home, and even her native land should never see her as she had been of yore. Now the Fool has a new and arduous task before him. Lear may still be persuaded to undo the folly which will else prove fatal . In a thousand ways he strives to show the King what has been his mistake and to warn him of his danger. But throughout the brilliant sallies of wit and ridi- cule, there sounds a strain of tenderness, which is echoed in the fond words of King Lear as he calls the Fool m} boy, lad and bears his cutting speeches without reproach. In his turn the Fool addresses his master in the most familiar terms, calling him Nuncle and even boy, and faithfully he follows him, striving to defend him from his cruel daughters. When the poor old King, enraged by her treatment, is leaving Goneril, the Fool cries out: Nuncle Lear, Nuncle Lear, tarry and take the fool with thee! Nor does he shrink from the rough journey, nor the fierce

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12 THE AUGUSTA SEMINARY ANNUAL. The Fool : a Stud) from King Lear. TN ancient times, amid the purple hangings and - - gold fringed draperies of the royal court, where king and courtiers shone in their jeweled robes, often was seen the merry face of the court jester. Arrayed in motley robe, with shaven crown, and a long cowl surrounded by a cox- comb, right gaily did the fool jingle his bells and crack his jokes. A pleasant life was his. The only dut} of his office was to be witty, and hard a task as this would be to some of us, not so to him. We cannot help feeling a certain respect for this strange, quaint fellow. The difference is so great between one who intentionally and for sufficient rea- sons makes a fool of himself, and one who by nature is spared the task. Perhaps the kind hand of fortune has been more lavish than of yore; at an} rate the ancient fool has now no more employment. Yet he was a vast improvement on the ordinary modern affair. He openly confessed his vocation and gloried in his profession, and all his foolishness did not deprive him of constancy to those whom he served, and of kind and faithful affection. Keen to discern men ' s character, sharp to reveal their faults, his wit was of no ordinary kind, and even now it excites the envy of his many rivals. And if men must be fools of some kind, give me your good old fool with bells and hollow cap, rather than your modem one, with a hollow head and no cap. Of sterling quality was the jester who whiled away the hours for Lear, King of Ancient Britain ; a man of mature age and bright and winning parts, and of nervous, sensitive temperament was he who for many years was an atten- dant on the King. Perchance in other days he had played with a little Goneril and Regan, and had carried in his arms a bright-haired, blue-eyed Cordelia. And when this lovely babe grew tall and winsome, he still had tended her; with growing joy had watched her rounding form, her ripening lips and cheeks, the sweet unfolding of her womanhood. How well he knew her older sisters too: their dark, fierce

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14 THE AUGUSTA SEMINARY ANNUAL. warfare of animate and inanimate nature, in company with his master. Well is his devotion tested in the sad, eventful days that follow. Speaking to Kent, he says : That, sir, which serves and seeks for gain, And follows but for form. Will pack when it begins to rain And leave thee in the storm. But I will tarry : the fool will stay, And let the wise man fly ; The knave turns fool that runs away, The fool no knave, perdy. Now the King ' s troubles begin in all their frightful force, and henceforth his servant ' s only aim is to soothe and direct the mind weighed down by sorrow, constantly labor- ing to outjest his heartstruck injuries. How touching is the King ' s dependence on his Fool. When he leaves Goneril ' s castle, his last word is to him: so again at Gloucester ' s, in the bitterness of his grief, it is O fool, I shall go mad ! And in that weird and terrible scene where the old gray -haired L,ear braves the wild storm, and meets the half-clad madman, his love for the Fool is touching and pitiful. As they near a hovel, Lear says : In boy, go first, and as he seems to wait — Why get thee in. I ' ll pray and then I ' ll sleep. But the Fool rushes out terrified and trembling, and cries: Come not in here, Nuncle, here ' s a spirit. Help me, help me ! Then Kent says to the highstrung, delicate, sensitive creature: Give me thy hand. They enter and find Edgar, whose feigned madness adds to the wild effect of storm and tempest in na- ture and in the mind of the King. For now at last the dread insanity has come upon L,ear ; tenderly, lovingly, his Fool cares for him and humors his mad fancies. But we must leave the faithful friend of Cordelia, Kent and Lear. The King is borne to Dover, and as he departs, Kent says to the Fool : Come, help to bear thy master: thou must not stay behind. . Thus is recorded his last act of devotion. Perchance he perished on the long, weary trip ; we are not told. His presence in the final scenes might mar the beauty of Cordelia ' s grief and devotion, might detract from the terrible tragedy of the end. It is comforting to feel that he