Edmund’s first soliloquy, “Thou Nature art… for Bastards”, is worded using a verse form; a form suitable for conveying Edmund’s passionate, personal beliefs.

From the very beginning, it is clear that Edmund is a firm believer in the natural world, “Thou Nature art my Goddess”. He prefers the ‘every man for himself’ attitude of the natural world to conventional, less mercenary religions – he takes a pre-Darwinian “Survival of the fittest” view.[…]

In saying “Do you mark that?”, Goneril uses an interrogative to convey the incredulity she feels at Lear’s outbursts. Her apparent astonishment suggests that she isn’t one to think deeply (in this case as to why Lear is acting in such a manner); she is emotional and only considers what’s best for her.[…]

The ‘Fool’ articulates his attempts to make Lear understand what Lear has done through the use of a light-hearted verse form. In fact, it could be argued that Fool talks in vers libre, a term which refers to “rhymes in which various metres, or various rhythms, are combined, or the ordinary rules of prosody disregarded.” This can be seen through his mixture of statements and rhymes in the same speech- coupled with his sudden changes in metres- for example, “I have used it nuncle, e’er since thou mad’st thy daughters thy mothers {an unrhyming declaration}… Then they for sudden joy did weep,/ And I for sorrow sung,/ That such a King should play bo-peep,/ And go the fools among {an ordered abab rhyme, with an 8/6/8/6 syllable structure}”. Upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that much of his wisdom-filled homespun philosophy is conveyed through the use of such a seemingly meaningless, harmless form.[…]