Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

Now, all the plagues that in the pendulous air

Hang fated o'er men’s faults light on thy daughters!

 

-Lear

King Lear                     Act III Scene iv, Line 67

Lear is transposing the ill feelings he has for his own daughters, and the troubles they have caused him, onto Edgar. The latter has just shown up, and Lear assumes that a man so wretched must have been driven to that state by miserable daughters.

         Death, traitor! Nothing could have subdued nature

        To such a lowness but his unkind daughters.—

Never mind that Edgar doesn’t have any daughters.

So, how about pendulous air? He's calling forth all the plagues, but it’s not enough to just say plagues. They are the plagues that in the pendulous air hang fated o’er men’s faults. I tell you, there’s a reason this guy is considered the greatest writer in the English language, and this is one small example of it. I’m sorry if you can’t see what I see in these lines. I wish you could.