Vol. 08 · Shakespeare ·King Lear, Act III.ii ·Lear
"Blow winds and crack your cheeks."
Not quite the line.
How it's usually quoted
"Blow winds and crack your cheeks."
What Shakespeare actually wrote
"Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow! / You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout!" Lear — King Lear, Act III.ii
Why it matters
The line is a storm-summons — Lear on the heath, ordering the weather. Cutting after "cheeks" keeps the image but loses the "rage! blow!" that makes it ravings.
More from the canon.
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