Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stones:
Had I your tongues and eyes, I’d use them so
That heaven’s vault should crack. She’s gone forever!
I know when one is dead, and when one lives;
She’s dead as earth.
– William Shakespeare
King Lear, Act 5, Scene 3. A tortured Lear comes from prison onto the stage carrying in his arms the body of Cordelia, his most beloved daughter, and howls like a wounded animal in terrible pain. He questions the justice of the gods – "That heaven’s vault should crack" – as he sinks into madness again at the unnecessary loss of his favorite daughter. There is an almost unbearable sadness in the words of a broken-hearted father, who knows the end has come and the daughter he lovingly reunited with in prison is "dead as earth." His last link with family is gone.