Was this a face
To be opposed against the jarring winds?
To stand against the deep dread-bolted thunder,
In the most terrible and nimble stroke
Of quick cross-lightning? To watch, poor perdu,
With this thin helm?
– William Shakespeare
King Lear, Act 4, Scene 7. Cordelia shows true and deep affection as she speaks these words of compassion over her sleeping father. She is shocked at the cruel treatment the elderly monarch had to endure at the hands of her two unkind sisters who left him outside in the violent storm. Goneril and Regan had ordered that their doors be shut and locked. Cordelia accuses them of leaving Lear to stand guard all night against the fierce winds, dreadful thunder and terrible lightning with only his thinning hair for a helmet.