These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us. Though the wisdom of nature can reason it thus and thus, yet nature finds itself scourged by the sequent effects.
– William Shakespeare
King Lear, Act 1, Scene 2. After hearing Edmund falsely accuse Edgar of plotting against his father, Gloucester reflects gloomily on bad omens he has seen lately in nature. A superstitious man, he believes that recent eclipses of the sun and moon are foreshadowing of bad things to come.