The Complete Works of William Shakespeare · William Shakespeare
SCENE I. A Heath
A storm with thunder and lightning. Enter Kent and a Gentleman, severally. KENT. Who’s there, besides foul weather? GENTLEMAN. One minded like the weather, most unquietly. KENT. I know you. Where’s the King? GENTLEMAN. Contending with the fretful elements; Bids the wind blow the earth into the sea, Or swell the curled waters ’bove the main, That things might change or cease; tears his white hair, Which the impetuous blasts with eyeless rage, Catch in their fury and make nothing of; Strives in his little world of man to outscorn The to-and-fro-conflicting wind and rain. This night, wherein the cub-drawn bear would couch, The lion and the belly-pinched wolf Keep their fur dry, unbonneted he runs, And bids what will take all. KENT. But who is with him? GENTLEMAN. None but the fool, who labours to out-jest His heart-struck injuries.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.