** But when he heard Cordelia's death,
Who died indeed fbr k>ve
Of her dear father, in whose cause
She did this battle move ;
He swooning fell upoQ her breast,
From whence he nev^r parted :
But on her bosom left his life,
That was so truly hearted."

This is evidently the suggestion followed by
Shakspeare, and that to him are attributable
those exquisitely delicate touches of nature, that
expression of intense human agony, and over-
whelming pathos which characterise the closing
scene of Lear, wilj excite surprise in none who
have traced him thrpugh tb^se volumes, trium-
phantly creating forms of pure and perfect beauty
from the most rude materials.
Cordeilla, Cordelia, and Cordelia are the va-
ried forms under which Holinshed, the old
dramatist, and the author of the ballad, represent
the name; of Lear's youngest daughter, and



KING LEAR. 115

Shakspeare's good taste in adopting the latter, is
sanctioned by Spencer, in the narrative of the same
story, contained in the second book and tenth
canto of the Fairy Queen. The personage next
in consequence to Lear himself is Cordelia, and
though, in comparison with his dramatic prede-
cessor, Shakspeare has allotted but a small space
to the development of her character, she has
acquired under his hands additional beauty. It
is curious to notice the appearances of filial
affection in the heroines of the two plays. It
was the boast of Cordelia, that though the
greatest monarch were to sue to her

*' Except my heart could love, and heart could like,
Better than any that I ever saw,
His great estate no more should move my mind.
