Title: Henry IV Parts I-II, Henry V
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Author: William Shakespeare
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Henry IV Parts III, Henry V
William Shakespeare
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Table of Contents
Henry IV Parts III, Henry V...........................................................................................................................1
William Shakespeare...............................................................................................................................1
Henry IV Parts III, Henry V
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Henry IV Parts III, Henry V
William Shakespeare
Henry IV Part I
Act I
Act II
Act III
Act IV
Act V
Henry IV Part II
Act I
Act II
Act III
Act IV
Act V
Henry V
Prologue
Act I
Act II
Act III
Act IV
Act V
KING HENRY IV, THE FIRST PART
William Shakespeare
Dramatis Personae
King Henry the Fourth.
Henry, Prince of Wales, son to the KING.
Prince John of Lancaster, son to the KING.
Earl of WESTMORELAND.
Sir Walter BLUNT.
Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester.
Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland.
Henry Percy, his son.
Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March.
Scroop, Archbishop of York.
Sir Michael, his Friend.
Archibald, Earl of Douglas.
Owen Glendower.
Sir Richard Vernon.
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Sir John FALSTAFF.
POINTZ.
Gadshill.
PETO.
BARDOLPH.
Lady Percy, Wife to Hotspur.
Lady Mortimer, Daughter to Glendower.
Mrs. Quickly, Hostess in Eastcheap.
Lords, Officers, Sheriff, Vintner, Chamberlain, Drawers,
Carriers, Travellers, and Attendants.
SCENE.England.
ACT I.
SCENE I. London. A Room in the Palace.
[Enter the King Henry, Westmoreland, Sir Walter Blunt, and
others.]
KING.
So shaken as we are, so wan with care,
Find we a time for frighted peace to pant,
And breathe shortwinded accents of new broils
To be commenced in strands afar remote.
No more the thirsty entrance of this soil
Shall daub her lips with her own children's blood;
No more shall trenching war channel her fields,
Nor bruise her flowerets with the armed hoofs
Of hostile paces: those opposed eyes,
Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven,
All of one nature, of one substance bred,
Did lately meet in the intestine shock
And furious close of civil butchery,
Shall now, in mutual wellbeseeming ranks,
March all one way, and be no more opposed
Against acquaintance, kindred, and allies:
The edge of war, like an illsheathed knife,
No more shall cut his master. Therefore, friends,
As far as to the sepulchre of Christ
Whose soldier now, under whose blessed cross
We are impressed and engaged to fight
Forthwith a power of English shall we levy,
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To chase these pagans in those holy fields
Over whose acres walk'd those blessed feet
Which fourteen hundred years ago were nail'd
For our advantage on the bitter cross.
But this our purpose now is twelvemonth old,
And bootless 'tis to tell you we will go:
Therefore we meet not now.Then let me hear
Of you, my gentle cousin Westmoreland,
What yesternight our Council did decree
In forwarding this dear expedience.
WEST.
My liege, this haste was hot in question,
And many limits of the charge set down
But yesternight; when, all athwart, there came
A post from Wales loaden with heavy news;
Whose worst was, that the noble Mortimer,
Leading the men of Herefordshire to fight
Against th' irregular and wild Glendower,
Was by the rude hands of that Welshman taken;
A thousand of his people butchered,
Upon whose dead corpse' there was such misuse,
Such beastly, shameless transformation,
By those Welshwomen done, as may not be
Without much shame retold or spoken of.
KING.
It seems, then, that the tidings of this broil
Brake off our business for the Holy Land.
WEST.
This, match'd with other, did, my gracious lord;
For more uneven and unwelcome news
Came from the North, and thus it did import:
On Holyrood day the gallant Hotspur there,
Young Harry Percy, and brave Archibald,
That evervaliant and approved Scot,
At Holmedon met;
Where they did spend a sad and bloody hour,
As by discharge of their artillery,
And shape of likelihood, the news was told;
For he that brought them, in the very heat
And pride of their contention did take horse,
Uncertain of the issue any way.
KING.
Here is a dear and trueindustrious friend,
Sir Walter Blunt, new lighted from his horse,
Stain'd with the variation of each soil
Betwixt that Holmedon and this seat of ours;
And he hath brought us smooth and welcome news.
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The Earl of Douglas is discomfited:
Ten thousand bold Scots, twoandtwenty knights,
Balk'd in their own blood, did Sir Walter see
On Holmedon's plains: of prisoners, Hotspur took
Mordake the Earl of Fife and eldest son
To beaten Douglas; and the Earls of Athol,
Of Murray, Angus, and Menteith.
And is not this an honourable spoil,
A gallant prize? ha, cousin, is it not?
WEST.
Faith, 'tis a conquest for a prince to boast of.
KING.
Yea, there thou makest me sad, and makest me sin
In envy that my Lord Northumberland
Should be the father to so blest a son,
A son who is the theme of honour's tongue;
Amongst a grove, the very straightest plant;
Who is sweet Fortune's minion and her pride:
Whilst I, by looking on the praise of him,
See riot and dishonour stain the brow
Of my young Harry. O, that it could be proved
That some nighttripping fairy had exchanged
In cradleclothes our children where they lay,
And call'd mine Percy, his Plantagenet!
Then would I have his Harry, and he mine:
But let him from my thoughts. What think you, coz,
Of this young Percy's pride? the prisoners,
Which he in this adventure hath surprised,
To his own use he keeps; and sends me word,
I shall have none but Mordake Earl of Fife.
WEST.
This is his uncle's teaching, this is Worcester,
Malevolent to you in all aspects;
Which makes him prune himself, and bristle up
The crest of youth against your dignity.
KING.
But I have sent for him to answer this;
And for this cause awhile we must neglect
Our holy purpose to Jerusalem.
Cousin, on Wednesday next our Council we
Will hold at Windsor; so inform the lords:
But come yourself with speed to us again;
For more is to be said and to be done
Than out of anger can be uttered.
WEST.
I will, my liege.
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[Exeunt.]
Scene II. The same. An Apartment of Prince Henry's.
[Enter Prince Henry and Falstaff.]
FAL.
Now, Hal, what time of day is it, lad?
PRINCE.
Thou art so fatwitted, with drinking of old sack, and
unbuttoning thee after supper, and sleeping upon benches
after noon, that thou hast forgotten to demand that truly which
thou wouldst truly know. What a devil hast thou to do with the
time of the day? unless hours were cups of sack, and minutes
capons, and the blessed Sun himself a fair hot wench in
flamecoloured taffeta, I see no reason why thou shouldst be
so superfluous to demand the time of the day.
FAL.
Indeed, you come near me now, Hal; for we that take purses go
by the Moon and the seven stars, and not by Phoebus,he, that
wandering knight so fair. And I pr'ythee, sweet wag, when thou
art king,as, God save thy GraceMajesty I should say, for
grace thou wilt have none,
PRINCE.
What, none?
FAL.
No, by my troth; not so much as will serve to be prologue
to an egg and butter.
PRINCE.
Well, how then? come, roundly, roundly.
FAL.
Marry, then, sweet wag, when thou art king, let not us that
are squires of the night's body be called thieves of the day's
beauty: let us be Diana's foresters, gentlemen of the shade,
minions of the Moon; and let men say we be men of good
government, being governed, as the sea is, by our noble and
chaste mistress the Moon, under whose countenance we steal.
PRINCE.
Thou say'st well, and it holds well too; for the fortune of
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us that are the Moon's men doth ebb and flow like the sea,
being governed, as the sea is, by the Moon. As, for proof, now: A
purse of gold most resolutely snatch'd on Monday night, and most
dissolutely spent on Tuesday morning; got with swearing Lay by,
and spent with crying Bring in; now ill as low an ebb as the foot
of the ladder, and byandby in as high a flow as the ridge of the
gallows.
FAL.
By the Lord, thou say'st true, lad. And is not my hostess of the
tavern a most sweet wench?
PRINCE.
As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of the castle. And is not a
buff jerkin a most sweet robe of durance?
FAL.
How now, how now, mad wag! what, in thy quips and thy
quiddities? what a plague have I to do with a buff jerkin?
PRINCE.
Why, what a pox have I to do with my hostess of the tavern?
FAL.
Well, thou hast call'd her to a reckoning many a time and oft.
PRINCE.
Did I ever call for thee to pay thy part?
FAL.
No; I'll give thee thy due, thou hast paid all there.
PRINCE.
Yea, and elsewhere, so far as my coin would stretch;
and where it would not, I have used my credit.
FAL.
Yea, and so used it, that, were it not here apparent that
thou art heirapparentBut I pr'ythee, sweet wag, shall there be
gallows standing in England when thou art king? and
resolution thus fobb'd as it is with the rusty curb of old father
antic the law? Do not thou, when thou art king, hang a thief.
PRINCE.
No; thou shalt.
FAL.
Shall I? O rare! By the Lord, I'll be a brave judge.
PRINCE.
Thou judgest false already: I mean, thou shalt have the
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hanging of the thieves, and so become a rare hangman.
FAL.
Well, Hal, well; and in some sort it jumps with my humour;
as well as waiting in the Court, I can tell you.
PRINCE.
For obtaining of suits?
FAL.
Yea, for obtaining of suits, whereof the hangman hath no
lean wardrobe. 'Sblood, I am as melancholy as a gibcat or a
lugg'd bear.
PRINCE.
Or an old lion, or a lover's lute.
FAL.
Yea, or the drone of a Lincolnshire bagpipe.
PRINCE.
What say'st thou to a hare, or the melancholy of Moorditch?
FAL.
Thou hast the most unsavoury similes, and art, indeed, the
most comparative, rascalliest, sweet young prince,But, Hal, I
pr'ythee trouble me no more with vanity. I would to God thou and
I knew where a commodity of good names were to be bought. An old
lord of the Council rated me the other day in the street about you,
sir,but I mark'd him not; and yet he talk'd very wisely,but I
regarded him not; and yet he talk'd wisely, and in the street too.
PRINCE.
Thou didst well; for wisdom cries out in the streets, and no man
regards it.
FAL.
O, thou hast damnable iteration, and art, indeed, able to corrupt
a saint.
Thou hast done much harm upon me, Hal; God forgive thee for it!
Before I knew thee, Hal, I knew nothing; and now am I, if a man
should speak truly, little better than one of the wicked. I must
give over this life, and I will give it over; by the Lord, an I do
not, I am a villain: I'll be damn'd for never a king's son in
Christendom.
PRINCE.
Where shall we take a purse tomorrow, Jack?
FAL.
Zounds, where thou wilt, lad; I'll make one: an I do not, call
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me villain, and baffle me.
PRINCE.
I see a good amendment of life in thee,from praying to
pursetaKING.
FAL.
Why, Hal, 'tis my vocation, Hal; 'tis no sin for a man to labour
in his vocation.
[Enter Pointz.]
Pointz!Now shall we know if Gadshill have set a match. O, if
men were to be saved by merit, what hole in Hell were hot enough
for him? This is the most omnipotent villain that ever cried
Stand! to a true man.
PRINCE.
Good morrow, Ned.
POINTZ.
Good morrow, sweet Hal.What says Monsieur Remorse? what
says Sir John Sackandsugar? Jack, how agrees the Devil and
thee about thy soul, that thou soldest him on GoodFriday last
for a cup of Madeira and a cold capon's leg?
PRINCE.
Sir John stands to his word,the Devil shall have his bargain;
for he was never yet a breaker of proverbs,he will give the
Devil his due.
POINTZ.
Then art thou damn'd for keeping thy word with the Devil.
PRINCE.
Else he had been damn'd for cozening the Devil.
POINTZ.
But, my lads, my lads, tomorrow morning, by four o'clock,
early at Gadshill! there are pilgrims gong to Canterbury
with rich offerings, and traders riding to London with fat
purses: I have visards for you all; you have horses for
yourselves: Gadshill lies tonight in Rochester: I have bespoke
supper tomorrow night in Eastcheap: we may do it as secure as
sleep. If you will go, I will stuff your purses full of crowns;
if you will not, tarry at home and be hang'd.
FAL.
Hear ye, Yedward; if I tarry at home and go not, I'll hang you
for going.
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POINTZ.
You will, chops?
FAL.
Hal, wilt thou make one?
PRINCE.
Who, I rob? I a thief? not I, by my faith.
FAL.
There's neither honesty, manhood, nor good fellowship in thee,
nor thou camest not of the blood royal, if thou darest not stand
for ten shillings.
PRINCE.
Well, then, once in my days I'll be a madcap.
FAL.
Why, that's well said.
PRINCE.
Well, come what will, I'll tarry at home.
FAL.
By the Lord, I'll be a traitor, then, when thou art KING.
PRINCE.
I care not.
POINTZ.
Sir John, I pr'ythee, leave the Prince and me alone: I will
lay him down such reasons for this adventure, that he shall go.
FAL.
Well, God give thee the spirit of persuasion, and him the ears
of profiting, that what thou speakest may move, and what he
hears may be believed, that the true Prince may, for recreation
sake, prove a false thief; for the poor abuses of the time want
countenance. Farewell; you shall find me in Eastcheap.
PRINCE.
Farewell, thou latter Spring! farewell, Allhallown Summer!
[Exit Falstaff.]
POINTZ.
Now, my good sweet honeylord, ride with us tomorrow: I
have a jest to execute that I cannot manage alone. Falstaff,
Bardolph, Peto, and Gadshill, shall rob those men that we have
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already waylaid: yourself and I will not be there; and when they
have the booty, if you and I do not rob them, cut this head off
from my shoulders.
PRINCE.
But how shall we part with them in setting forth?
POINTZ.
Why, we will set forth before or after them, and appoint them
a place of meeting, wherein it is at our pleasure to fail; and
then will they adventure upon the exploit themselves; which they
shall have no sooner achieved but we'll set upon them.
PRINCE.
Ay, but 'tis like that they will know us by our horses, by our
habits, and by every other appointment, to be ourselves.
POINTZ.
Tut! our horses they shall not see,I'll tie them in the wood;
our visards we will change, after we leave them; and, sirrah, I
have cases of buckram for the nonce, to immask our noted
outward garments.
PRINCE.
But I doubt they will be too hard for us.
POINTZ.
Well, for two of them, I know them to be as truebred
cowards as ever turn'd back; and for the third, if he fight
longer than he sees reason, I'll forswear arms. The virtue of
this jest will be, the incomprehensible lies that this same fat
rogue will tell us when we meet at supper: how thirty, at least,
he fought with; what wards, what blows, what extremities he
endured; and in the reproof of this lies the jest.
PRINCE.
Well, I'll go with thee: provide us all things necessary and
meet me tonight in Eastcheap; there I'll sup. Farewell.
POINTZ.
Farewell, my lord.
[Exit.]
PRINCE.
I know you all, and will awhile uphold
The unyok'd humour of your idleness:
Yet herein will I imitate the Sun,
Who doth permit the base contagious clouds
To smotherup his beauty from the world,
That, when he please again to be himself,
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Being wanted, he may be more wonder'd at,
By breaking through the foul and ugly mists
Of vapours that did seem to strangle him.
If all the year were playing holidays,
To sport would be as tedious as to work;
But, when they seldom come, they wish'dfor come,
And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents.
So, when this loose behaviour I throw off,
And pay the debt I never promised,
By how much better than my word I am,
By so much shall I falsify men's hopes;
And, like bright metal on a sullen ground,
My reformation, glittering o'er my fault,
Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes
Than that which hath no foil to set it off.
I'll so offend, to make offence a skill;
Redeeming time, when men think least I will.
[Exit.]
Scene III. The Same. A Room in the Palace.
[Enter King Henry, Northumberland, Worcester, Hotspur, Sir Walter
Blunt, and others.]
KING.
My blood hath been too cold and temperate,
Unapt to stir at these indignities,
And you have found me; for, accordingly,
You tread upon my patience: but be sure
I will from henceforth rather be myself,
Mighty and to be fear'd, than my condition,
Which hath been smooth as oil, soft as young down,
And therefore lost that title of respect
Which the proud soul ne'er pays but to the proud.
WOR.
Our House, my sovereign liege, little deserves
The scourge of greatness to be used on it;
And that same greatness too which our own hands
Have holp to make so portly.
NORTH.
My good lord,
KING.
Worcester, get thee gone; for I do see
Danger and disobedience in thine eye:
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O, sir, your presence is too bold and peremptory,
And majesty might never yet endure
The moody frontier of a servant brow.
You have good leave to leave us: when we need
Your use and counsel, we shall send for you.
[Exit Worcester.]
[To Northumberland.]
You were about to speak.
NORTH.
Yea, my good lord.
Those prisoners in your Highness' name demanded,
Which Harry Percy here at Holmedon took,
Were, as he says, not with such strength denied
As is deliver'd to your Majesty:
Either envy, therefore, or misprision
Is guilty of this fault, and not my son.
HOT.
My liege, I did deny no prisoners.
But, I remember, when the fight was done,
When I was dry with rage and extreme toil,
Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword,
Came there a certain lord, neat, trimly dress'd,
Fresh as a bridegroom; and his chin new reap'd
Show'd like a stubbleland at harvesthome:
He was perfumed like a milliner;
And 'twixt his finger and his thumb he held
A pouncetbox, which ever and anon
He gave his nose, and took't away again;
Who therewith angry, when it next came there,
Took it in snuff: and still he smiled and talk'd;
And, as the soldiers bore dead bodies by,
He call'd them untaught knaves, unmannerly,
To bring a slovenly unhandsome corse
Betwixt the wind and his nobility.
With many holiday and lady terms
He question'd me; amongst the rest, demanded
My prisoners in your Majesty's behalf.
I then, all smarting with my wounds being cold,
Out of my grief and my impatience
To be so pester'd with a popinjay,
Answer'd neglectingly, I know not what,
He should, or he should not; for't made me mad
To see him shine so brisk, and smell so sweet,
And talk so like a waitinggentlewoman
Of guns and drums and wounds,God save the mark!
And telling me the sovereign'st thing on Earth
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Was parmaceti for an inward bruise;
And that it was great pity, so it was,
This villainous saltpetre should be digg'd
Out of the bowels of the harmless earth,
Which many a good tall fellow had destroy'd
So cowardly; and, but for these vile guns,
He would himself have been a soldier.
This bald unjointed chat of his, my lord,
I answered indirectly, as I said;
And I beseech you, let not his report
Come current for an accusation
Betwixt my love and your high Majesty.
BLUNT.
The circumstance consider'd, good my lord,
Whatever Harry Percy then had said
To such a person, and in such a place,
At such a time, with all the rest retold,
May reasonably die, and never rise
To do him wrong, or any way impeach
What then he said, so he unsay it now.
KING.
Why, yet he doth deny his prisoners,
But with proviso and exception,
That we at our own charge shall ransom straight
His brotherinlaw, the foolish Mortimer;
Who, on my soul, hath wilfully betray'd
The lives of those that he did lead to fight
Against that great magician, damn'd Glendower,
Whose daughter, as we hear, the Earl of March
Hath lately married. Shall our coffers, then,
Be emptied to redeem a traitor home?
Shall we buy treason? and indent with fears
When they have lost and forfeited themselves?
No, on the barren mountains let him starve;
For I shall never hold that man my friend
Whose tongue shall ask me for one penny cost
To ransom home revolted Mortimer.
HOT.
Revolted Mortimer!
He never did fall off, my sovereign liege,
But by the chance of war: to prove that true
Needs no more but one tongue for all those wounds,
Those mouthed wounds, which valiantly he took,
When on the gentle Severn's sedgy bank,
In single opposition, hand to hand,
He did confound the best part of an hour
In changing hardiment with great Glendower.
Three times they breathed, and three times did they drink,
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Upon agreement, of swift Severn's flood;
Who then, affrighted with their bloody looks,
Ran fearfully among the trembling reeds,
And hid his crisp head in the hollow bank
Bloodstained with these valiant combatants.
Never did base and rotten policy
Colour her working with such deadly wounds;
Nor never could the noble Mortimer
Receive so many, and all willingly:
Then let not him be slander'd with revolt.
KING.
Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou dost belie him;
He never did encounter with Glendower:
I tell thee,
He durst as well have met the Devil alone
As Owen Glendower for an enemy.
Art not ashamed? But, sirrah, henceforth
Let me not hear you speak of Mortimer:
Send me your prisoners with the speediest means,
Or you shall hear in such a kind from me
As will displease you.My Lord Northumberland,
We license your departure with your son.
Send us your prisoners, or you'll hear of it.
[Exeunt King Henry, Blunt, and train.]
HOT.
An if the Devil come and roar for them,
I will not send them: I will after straight,
And tell him so; for I will else my heart,
Although it be with hazard of my head.
NORTH.
What, drunk with choler? stay, and pause awhile:
Here comes your uncle.
[Reenter Worcester.]
HOT.
Speak of Mortimer!
Zounds, I will speak of him; and let my soul
Want mercy, if I do not join with him:
Yea, on his part I'll empty all these veins,
And shed my dear blood drop by drop i' the dust,
But I will lift the downtrod Mortimer
As high i' the air as this unthankful King,
As this ingrate and canker'd Bolingbroke.
NORTH.
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[To Worcester.]
Brother, the King hath made your nephew mad.
WOR.
Who struck this heat up after I was gone?
HOT.
He will, forsooth, have all my prisoners;
And when I urged the ransom once again
Of my wife's brother, then his cheek look'd pale,
And on my face he turn'd an eye of death,
Trembling even at the name of Mortimer.
WOR.
I cannot blame him: was not he proclaim'd
By Richard that dead is the next of blood?
NORTH.
He was; I heard the proclamation:
And then it was when the unhappy King
Whose wrongs in us God pardon!did set forth
Upon his Irish expedition;
From whence he intercepted did return
To be deposed, and shortly murdered.
WOR.
And for whose death we in the world's wide mouth
Live scandalized and foully spoken of.
HOT.
But, soft! I pray you; did King Richard then
Proclaim my brother Edmund Mortimer
Heir to the crown?
NORTH.
He did; myself did hear it.
HOT.
Nay, then I cannot blame his cousin King,
That wish'd him on the barren mountains starve.
But shall it be, that you, that set the crown
Upon the head of this forgetful man,
And for his sake wear the detested blot
Of murderous subornation,shall it be,
That you a world of curses undergo,
Being the agents, or base second means,
The cords, the ladder, or the hangman rather?
O, pardon me, that I descend so low,
To show the line and the predicament
Wherein you range under this subtle King;
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Shall it, for shame, be spoken in these days,
Or fill up chronicles in time to come,
That men of your nobility and power
Did gage them both in an unjust behalf,
As both of you, God pardon it! have done,
To put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose,
And plant this thorn, this canker, Bolingbroke?
And shall it, in more shame, be further spoken,
That you are fool'd, discarded, and shook off
By him for whom these shames ye underwent?
No! yet time serves, wherein you may redeem
Your banish'd honours, and restore yourselves
Into the good thoughts of the world again;
Revenge the jeering and disdain'd contempt
Of this proud King, who studies day and night
To answer all the debt he owes to you
Even with the bloody payment of your deaths:
Therefore, I say,
WOR.
Peace, cousin, say no more:
And now I will unclasp a secret book,
And to your quickconceiving discontent
I'll read you matter deep and dangerous;
As full of peril and adventurous spirit
As to o'erwalk a current roaring loud
On the unsteadfast footing of a spear.
HOT.
If we fall in, good night, or sink or swim!
Send danger from the east unto the west,
So honour cross it from the north to south,
And let them grapple. O, the blood more stirs
To rouse a lion than to start a hare!
NORTH.
Imagination of some great exploit
Drives him beyond the bounds of patience.
HOT.
By Heaven, methinks it were an easy leap,
To pluck bright honour from the palefaced Moon;
Or dive into the bottom of the deep,
Where fathomline could never touch the ground,
And pluck up drowned honour by the locks;
So he that doth redeem her thence might wear
Without corrival all her dignities:
But out upon this halffaced fellowship!
WOR.
He apprehends a world of figures here,
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Page No 19
But not the form of what he should attend.
Good cousin, give me audience for a while.
HOT.
I cry you mercy.
WOR.
Those same noble Scots
That are your prisoners,
HOT.
I'll keep them all;
By God, he shall not have a Scot of them;
No, if a Scot would save his soul, he shall not:
I'll keep them, by this hand.
WOR.
You start away,
And lend no ear unto my purposes.
Those prisoners you shall keep;
HOT.
Nay, I will; that's flat.
He said he would not ransom Mortimer;
Forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer;
But I will find him when he lies asleep,
And in his ear I'll holla Mortimer!
Nay,
I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak
Nothing but Mortimer, and give it him,
To keep his anger still in motion.
WOR.
Hear you, cousin; a word.
HOT.
All studies here I solemnly defy,
Save how to gall and pinch this Bolingbroke:
And that same swordandbuckler Prince of Wales,
But that I think his father loves him not,
And would be glad he met with some mischance,
I'd have him poison'd with a pot of ale.
WOR.
Farewell, kinsman: I will talk to you
When you are better temper'd to attend.
NORTH.
Why, what a waspstung and impatient fool
Art thou, to break into this woman's mood,
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Tying thine ear to no tongue but thine own!
HOT.
Why, look you, I am whipp'd and scourged with rods,
Nettled, and stung with pismires, when I hear
Of this vile politician, Bolingbroke.
In Richard's time,what do you call the place?
A plague upon't!it is in Gioucestershire;
'Twas where the madcap Duke his uncle kept,
His uncle York;where I first bow'd my knee
Unto this king of smiles, this Bolingbroke;
When you and he came back from Ravenspurg.
NORTH.
At Berkeleycastle.
HOT.
You say true:
Why, what a candy deal of courtesy
This fawning greyhound then did proffer me!
Look, when his infant fortune came to age,
And, Gentle Harry Percy, and kind cousin,
O, the Devil take such cozeners!God forgive me!
Good uncle, tell your tale; for I have done.
WOR.
Nay, if you have not, to't again;
We'll stay your leisure.
HOT.
I have done, i'faith.
WOR.
Then once more to your Scottish prisoners.
Deliver them up without their ransom straight,
And make the Douglas' son your only mean
For powers in Scotland; which, for divers reasons
Which I shall send you written, be assured,
Will easily be granted.
[To Northumberland.] You, my lord,
Your son in Scotland being thus employ'd,
Shall secretly into the bosom creep
Of that same noble prelate, well beloved,
Th' ARCHBISHOP.
HOT.
Of York, is't not?
WOR.
True; who bears hard
His brother's death at Bristol, the Lord SCROOP.
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I speak not this in estimation,
As what I think might be, but what I know
Is ruminated, plotted, and set down,
And only stays but to behold the face
Of that occasion that shall bring it on.
HOT.
I smell't: upon my life, it will do well.
NORTH.
Before the game's afoot, thou still lett'st slip.
HOT.
Why, it cannot choose but be a noble plot:
And then the power of Scotland and of York
To join with Mortimer, ha?
WOR.
And so they shall.
HOT.
In faith, it is exceedingly well aim'd.
WOR.
And 'tis no little reason bids us speed,
To save our heads by raising of a head;
For, bear ourselves as even as we can,
The King will always think him in our debt,
And think we think ourselves unsatisfied,
Till he hath found a time to pay us home:
And see already how he doth begin
To make us strangers to his looks of love.
HOT.
He does, he does: we'll be revenged on him.
WOR.
Cousin, farewell: no further go in this
Than I by letters shall direct your course.
When time is ripe, which will be suddenly,
I'll steal to Glendower and Lord Mortimer;
Where you and Douglas, and our powers at once,
As I will fashion it, shall happily meet,
To bear our fortunes in our own strong arms,
Which now we hold at much uncertainty.
NORTH.
Farewell, good brother: we shall thrive, I trust.
HOT.
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Uncle, adieu: O, let the hours be short,
Till fields and blows and groans applaud our sport!
[Exeunt.]
ACT II.
Scene I. Rochester. An InnYard.
[Enter a Carrier with a lantern in his hand.]
1. CAR.
Heighho! an't be not four by the day, I'll be hang'd:
Charles' wain is over the new chimney, and yet our horse' not
pack'd.What, ostler!
OST.
[within.] Anon, anon.
1. CAR.
I pr'ythee, Tom, beat Cut's saddle, put a few flocks in the
point; the poor jade is wrung in the withers out of all cess.
[Enter another Carrier.]
2. CAR.
Peas and beans are as dank here as a dog, and that is the
next way to give poor jades the bots; this house is turned
upside down since Robin ostler died.
1. CAR.
Poor fellow! never joyed since the price of oats rose; it was
the death of him.
2. CAR.
I think this be the most villainous house in all London road
for fleas: I am stung like a tench.
1. CAR.
Like a tench! by the Mass, there is ne'er a king in Christendom
could be better bit than I have been since the first cock.What,
ostler! come away and be hang'd; come away.
2. CAR.
I have a gammon of bacon and two razes of ginger, to be
delivered as far as Charingcross.
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1. CAR.
'Odsbody! the turkeys in my pannier are quite starved.What,
ostler! A plague on thee! hast thou never an eye in thy head?
canst not hear? An 'twere not as good a deed as drink to break
the pate of thee, I am a very villain. Come, and be hang'd:
hast no faith in thee?
[Enter Gadshill.]
GADS.
Good morrow, carriers. What's o'clock?
1. CAR.
I think it be two o'clock.
GADS.
I pr'ythee, lend me thy lantern, to see my gelding in the
stable.
1. CAR.
Nay, soft, I pray ye; I know a trick worth two of that, i'faith.
GADS.
I pr'ythee, lend me thine.
2. CAR.
Ay, when? canst tell? Lend me thy lantern, quoth a? marry, I'll
see thee hang'd first.
GADS.
Sirrah carrier, what time do you mean to come to London?
2. CAR.
Time enough to go to bed with a candle, I warrant thee.
Come, neighbour Muggs, we'll call up the gentlemen: they will
along with company, for they have great charge.
[Exeunt Carriers.]
GADS.
What, ho! chamberlain!
CHAM.
[Within.] At hand, quoth pickpurse.
GADS.
That's even as fair asat hand, quoth the chamberlain; for
thou variest no more from picking of purses than giving
direction doth from labouring; thou lay'st the plot how.
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Page No 24
[Enter Chamberlain.]
CHAM.
Good morrow, Master Gadshill. It holds current that I told
you yesternight: there's a franklin in the wild of Kent hath
brought three hundred marks with him in gold: I heard him
tell it to one of his company last night at supper; a kind of
auditor; one that hath abundance of charge too, God knows what.
They are up already, and call for eggs and butter; they will away
presently.
GADS.
Sirrah, if they meet not with Saint Nicholas' clerks, I'll give
thee this neck.
CHAM.
No, I'll none of it: I pr'ythee, keep that for the hangman; for
I know thou worshippest Saint Nicholas as truly as a man of
falsehood may.
GADS.
What talkest thou to me of the hangman? if I hang, I'll make
a fat pair of gallows; for, if I hang, old Sir John hangs with
me, and thou know'st he is no starveling. Tut! there are other
Trojans that thou dreamest not of, the which, for sportsake,
are content to do the profession some grace; that would, if
matters should be look'd into, for their own creditsake, make
all whole. I am joined with no foot landrakers, no longstaff
sixpenny strikers, none of these mad mustachio purplehued
maltworms; but with nobility and tranquillity, burgomasters and
great oneyers; such as can hold in, such as will strike sooner
than speak, and speak sooner than drink, and drink sooner than
pray: and yet, zwounds, I lie; for they pray continually to their
saint, the Commonwealth; or, rather, not pray to her, but prey on
her, for they ride up and down on her, and make her their boots.
CHAM.
What, the Commonwealth their boots? will she hold out water
in foul way?
GADS.
She will, she will; justice hath liquor'd her. We steal as in a
castle, cocksure; we have the receipt of fernseed,we walk
invisible.
CHAM.
Nay, by my faith, I think you are more beholding to the night
than to fernseed for your walking invisible.
GADS.
Give me thy hand: thou shalt have a share in our purchase, as
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I am a true man.
CHAM.
Nay, rather let me have it, as you are a false thief.
GADS.
Go to; homo is a common name to all men. Bid the ostler
bring my gelding out of the stable. Farewell, you muddy knave.
[Exeunt.]
Scene II. The Road by Gadshill.
[Enter Prince Henry and Pointz; Bardolph and Peto at
some distance.]
POINTZ.
Come, shelter, shelter: I have remov'd Falstaff's horse,
and he frets like a gumm'd velvet.
PRINCE.
Stand close.
[They retire.]
[Enter Falstaff.]
FAL.
Pointz! Pointz, and be hang'd! Pointz!
PRINCE.
[Coming forward.]
Peace, ye fatkidney'd rascal! what a brawling dost thou keep!
FAL.
Where's Pointz, Hal?
PRINCE.
He is walk'd up to the top of the hill: I'll go seek him.
[Retires.]
FAL.
I am accursed to rob in that thief's company: the rascal hath
removed my horse, and tied him I know not where. If I travel but
four foot by the squire further afoot, I shall break my wind.
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Well, I doubt not but to die a fair death for all this, if I 'scape
hanging for killing that rogue. I have forsworn his company hourly
any time this twoandtwenty year, and yet I am bewitch'd with the
rogue's company. If the rascal have not given me medicines to make
me love him, I'll be hang'd; it could not be else: I have drunk
medicines.
Pointz!Hal!a plague upon you both!Bardolph!Peto!I'll
starve, ere I'll rob a foot further. An 'twere not as good a deed as
drink, to turn true man, and to leave these rogues, I am the veriest
varlet that ever chewed with a tooth. Eight yards of uneven ground
is threescore and ten miles afoot with me; and the stonyhearted
villains know it well enough: a plague upon't, when thieves cannot
be true one to another!
[They whistle.] Whew!A plague upon you all! Give me
my horse, you rogues; give me my horse, and be hang'd!
PRINCE.
[Coming forward.] Peace! lie down; lay thine ear close to the
ground, and list if thou canst hear the tread of travellers.
FAL.
Have you any levers to lift me up again, being down? 'Sblood, I'll
not bear mine own flesh so far afoot again for all the coin in thy
father's exchequer. What a plague mean ye to colt me thus?
PRINCE.
Thou liest; thou art not colted, thou art uncolted.
FAL.
I pr'ythee, good Prince Hal, help me to my horse, good king's
son.
PRINCE.
Out, ye rogue! shall I be your ostler?
FAL.
Go, hang thyself in thine own heirapparent garters! If I be
ta'en, I'll peach for this. An I have not ballads made on you
all, and sung to filthy tunes, let a cup of sack be my poison.
When a jest is so forward, and afoot too, I hate it.
[Enter Gadshill.]
GADS.
Stand!
FAL.
So I do, against my will.
POINTZ.
O, 'tis our setter: I know his voice.
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Page No 27
[Comes forward with Bardolph and Peto.]
BARD.
What news?
GADS.
Case ye, case ye; on with your visards: there's money of
the King's coming down the hill; 'tis going to the King's
exchequer.
FAL.
You lie, ye rogue; 'tis going to the King's tavern.
GADS.
There's enough to make us all.
FAL.
To be hang'd.
PRINCE.
Sirs, you four shall front them in the narrow lane; Ned
Pointz and I will walk lower; if they 'scape from your
encounter, then they light on us.
PETO.
How many be there of them?
GADS.
Some eight or ten.
FAL.
Zwounds, will they not rob us?
PRINCE.
What, a coward, Sir John Paunch?
FAL.
Indeed, I am not John of Gaunt, your grandfather; but yet
no coward, Hal.
PRINCE.
Well, we leave that to the proof.
POINTZ.
Sirrah Jack, thy horse stands behind the hedge: when thou
need'st him, there thou shalt find him. Farewell, and stand fast.
FAL.
Now cannot I strike him, if I should be hang'd.
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Page No 28
PRINCE.
[aside to POINTZ.] Ned, where are our disguises?
POINTZ.
[aside to PRINCE HENRY.] Here, hard by: stand close.
[Exeunt Prince and Pointz.]
FAL.
Now, my masters, happy man be his dole, say I: every man
to his business.
[Enter Travellers.]
FIRST TRAVELLER.
Come, neighbour:
The boy shall lead our horses down the hill;
We'll walk afoot awhile and ease our legs.
FALS, GADS., Stand!
SECOND TRAVELLER.
Jesu bless us!
FAL.
Strike; down with them; cut the villains' throats. Ah,
whoreson caterpillars! baconfed knaves! they hate us youth:
down with them; fleece them.
FIRST TRAVELLER.
O, we're undone, both we and ours for ever!
FAL.
Hang ye, gorbellied knaves, are ye undone? No, ye fat chuffs;
I would your store were here! On, bacons on! What, ye knaves!
young men must live. You are grandjurors, are ye? we'll jure
ye, i'faith.
[Exeunt Fals., Gads., driving the Travellers out.]
[Reenter Prince Henry and Pointz, in buckram suits.]
PRINCE.
The thieves have bound the true men. Now, could thou and I rob
the thieves, and go merrily to London, it would be argument for a
week, laughter for a month, and a good jest for ever.
POINTZ.
Stand close: I hear them coming.
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[They retire.]
[Reenter Falstaff, Gadshill, Bardolph, and Peto.]
FAL.
Come, my masters, let us share, and then to horse before day.
An the Prince and Pointz be not two arrant cowards, there's no
equity stirring: there's no more valour in that Pointz than in a
wild duck.
[As they are sharing, the Prince and Poins set upon them.]
PRINCE.
Your money!
POINTZ.
Villains!
[Falstaff, after a blow or two, and the others run away, leaving
the booty behind them.]
PRINCE.
Got with much ease. Now merrily to horse:
The thieves are scatter'd, and possess'd with fear
So strongly that they dare not meet each other;
Each takes his fellow for an officer.
Away, good Ned. Fat Falstaff sweats to death,
And lards the lean earth as he walks along:
Were't not for laughing, I should pity him.
POINTZ.
How the rogue roar'd!
[Exeunt.]
Scene III. Warkworth. A Room in the Castle.
[Enter Hotspur, reading a letter.]
HOT.
But, for mine own part, my lord, I could be well contented to
be there, in respect of the love I bear your House.He could be
contented; why is he not, then? In respect of the love he bears
our House!he shows in this, he loves his own barn better than he
loves our house. Let me see some more. The purpose you undertake
is dangerous;Why, that's certain: 'tis dangerous to take a cold,
to sleep, to drink; but I tell you, my lord fool, out of this nettle,
danger, we pluck this flower, safety. The purpose you undertake is
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Page No 30
dangerous; the friends you have named uncertain; the time itself
unsorted; and your whole plot too light for the counterpoise of so
great an opposition.
Say you so, say you so? I say unto you again, you are a shallow,
cowardly hind, and you lie. What a lackbrain is this! By the Lord,
our plot is a good plot as ever was laid; our friends true and
constant: a good plot, good friends, and full of expectation; an
excellent plot, very good friends. What a frostyspirited rogue is
this! Why, my Lord of York commends the plot and the general course
of the action. Zwounds! an I were now by this rascal, I could brain
him with his lady's fan. Is there not my father, my uncle, and
myself? Lord Edmund Mortimer, my Lord of York, and Owen Glendower?
is there not, besides, the Douglas? have I not all their letters to
meet me in arms by the ninth of the next month? and are they not
some of them set forward already? What a pagan rascal is this! an
infidel! Ha! you shall see now, in very sincerity of fear and cold
heart, will he to the King, and lay open all our proceedings. O, I
could divide myself, and go to buffets, for moving such a dish of
skimm'd milk with so honourable an action!
Hang him! let him tell the King: we are prepared. I will set
forward tonight.
[Enter Lady Percy.]
How now, Kate! I must leave you within these two hours.
LADY.
O, my good lord, why are you thus alone?
For what offence have I this fortnight been
A banish'd woman from my Harry's bed?
Tell me, sweet lord, what is't that takes from thee
Thy stomach, pleasure, and thy golden sleep?
Why dost thou bend thine eyes upon the earth,
And start so often when thou sitt'st alone?
Why hast thou lost the fresh blood in thy cheeks;
And given my treasures and my rights of thee
To thickeyed musing and curst melancholy?
In thy faint slumbers I by thee have watch'd,
And heard thee murmur tales of iron wars;
Speak terms of manage to thy bounding steed;
Cry Courage! to the field! And thou hast talk'd
Of sallies and retires, of trenches, tents,
Of palisadoes, frontiers, parapets,
Of basilisks, of cannon, culverin,
Of prisoners ransomed, and of soldiers slain,
And all the 'currents of a heady fight.
Thy spirit within thee hath been so at war,
And thus hath so bestirr'd thee in thy sleep,
That beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow,
Like bubbles in a latedisturbed stream;
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And in thy face strange motions have appear'd,
Such as we see when men restrain their breath
On some great sudden hest. O, what portents are these?
Some heavy business hath my lord in hand,
And I must know it, else he loves me not.
HOT.
What, ho!
[Enter a Servant.]
Is Gilliams with the packet gone?
SERV.
He is, my lord, an hour ago.
HOT.
Hath Butler brought those horses from the sheriff?
SERV.
One horse, my lord, he brought even now.
HOT.
What horse? a roan, a cropear, is it not?
SERV.
It is, my lord.
HOT.
That roan shall be my throne.
Well, I will back him straight: O esperance!
Bid Butler lead him forth into the park.
[Exit Servant.]
LADY.
But hear you, my lord.
HOT.
What say'st thou, my lady?
LADY.
What is it carries you away?
HOT.
Why, my horse, my love, my horse.
LADY.
Out, you madheaded ape!
A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen
As you are toss'd with. In faith,
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Page No 32
I'll know your business, Harry, that I will.
I fear my brother Mortimer doth stir
About his title, and hath sent for you
To line his enterprise: but if you go,
HOT.
So far afoot, I shall be weary, love.
LADY.
Come, come, you paraquito, answer me
Directly to this question that I ask:
In faith, I'll break thy little finger, Harry,
An if thou wilt not tell me true.
HOT.
Away,
Away, you trifler! Love? I love thee not,
I care not for thee, Kate: this is no world
To play with mammets and to tilt with lips:
We must have bloody noses and crack'd crowns,
And pass them current too.Gods me, my horse!
What say'st thou, Kate? what wouldst thou have with me?
LADY.
Do you not love me? do you not indeed?
Well, do not, then; for, since you love me not,
I will not love myself. Do you not love me?
Nay, tell me if you speak in jest or no.
HOT.
Come, wilt thou see me ride?
And when I am o' horseback, I will swear
I love thee infinitELY.
But hark you, Kate;
I must not have you henceforth question me
Whither I go, nor reason whereabout:
Whither I must, I must; and, to conclude,
This evening must I leave you, gentle Kate.
I know you wise; but yet no further wise
Than Harry Percy's wife; constant you are;
But yet a woman: and, for secrecy,
No lady closer; for I well believe
Thou wilt not utter what thou dost not know;
And so far will I trust thee, gentle Kate.
LADY.
How! so far?
HOT.
Not an inch further. But hark you, Kate:
Whither I go, thither shall you go too;
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Page No 33
Today will I set forth, tomorrow you.
Will this content you, Kate?
LADY.
It must of force.
[Exeunt.]
Scene IV. Eastcheap. A Room in the Boar'sHead Tavern.
[Enter Prince Henry.]
PRINCE.
Ned, pr'ythee, come out of that fat room, and lend me thy
hand to laugh a little.
[Enter Pointz.]
POINTZ.
Where hast been, Hal?
PRINCE.
With three or four loggerheads amongst three or fourscore
hogsheads. I have sounded the very basestring of humility.
Sirrah, I am sworn brother to a leash of drawers; and can call
them all by their Christian names, as, Tom, Dick, and Francis.
They take it already upon their salvation, that though I be but
Prince of Wales, yet I am the king of courtesy; and tell me flatly
I am no proud Jack, like Falstaff, but a corinthian, a lad of mettle,
a good boy,by the Lord, so they call me;and, when I am King
of England, I shall command all the good lads in Eastcheap. They
call drinking deep, dying scarlet; and, when you breathe in your
watering, they cry hem! and bid you play it off. To conclude, I am
so good a proficient in one quarter of an hour, that I can drink with
any tinker in his own language during my life. I tell thee, Ned, thou
hast lost much honour, that thou wert not with me in this action. But,
sweet Ned,to sweeten which name of Ned, I give thee this pennyworth
of sugar, clapp'd even now into my hand by an underskinker; one that
never spake other English in his life than Eight shillings and sixpence,
and You are welcome; with this shrill addition, Anon, anon, sir! Score
a pint of bastard in the Halfmoon,or so. But, Ned, to drive away
the time till Falstaff come, I pr'ythee, do thou stand in some byroom,
while I question my puny drawer to what end he gave me the sugar;
and do thou never leave calling Francis! that his tale to me may be
nothing but Anon. Step aside, and I'll show thee a precedent.
[Exit Pointz.]
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Page No 34
POINTZ.
[Within.] Francis!
PRINCE.
Thou art perfect.
POINTZ.
[Within.] Francis!
[Enter Francis.]
FRAN.
Anon, anon, sir.Look down into the Pomegranate, Ralph.
PRINCE.
Come hither, Francis.
FRAN.
My lord?
PRINCE.
How long hast thou to serve, Francis?
FRAN.
Forsooth, five years, and as much as to
POINTZ.
[within.] Francis!
FRAN.
Anon, anon, sir.
PRINCE.
Five year! by'r Lady, a long lease for the clinking of
pewter. But, Francis, darest thou be so valiant as to play
the coward with thy indenture and show it a fair pair of heels
and run from it?
FRAN.
O Lord, sir, I'll be sworn upon all the books in England,
I could find in my heart
POINTZ.
[within.] Francis!
FRAN.
Anon, anon, sir.
PRINCE.
How old art thou, Francis?
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Page No 35
FRAN.
Let me see,about Michaelmas next I shall be
POINTZ.
[within.] Francis!
FRAN.
Anon, sir.Pray you, stay a little, my lord.
PRINCE.
Nay, but hark you, Francis: for the sugar thou gavest
me, 'twas a pennyworth, was't not?
FRAN.
O Lord, sir, I would it had been two!
PRINCE.
I will give thee for it a thousand pound: ask me when
thou wilt, and thou shalt have it.
POINTZ.
[within.] Francis!
FRAN.
Anon, anon.
PRINCE.
Anon, Francis? No, Francis; but tomorrow, Francis; or,
Francis, a Thursday; or, indeed, Francis, when thou wilt. But,
Francis,
FRAN.
My lord?
PRINCE.
wilt thou rob this leathernjerkin, crystalbutton,
nottpated, agatering, pukestocking, caddisgarter,
smoothtongue, Spanishpouch,
FRAN.
O Lord, sir, who do you mean?
PRINCE.
Why, then, your brown bastard is your only drink; for,
look you, Francis, your white canvas doublet will sully: in
Barbary, sir, it cannot come to so much.
FRAN.
What, sir?
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Page No 36
POINTZ.
[within.] Francis!
PRINCE.
Away, you rogue! dost thou not hear them call?
[Here they both call him; Francis stands amazed, not knowing
which way to go.]
[Enter Vintner.]
VINT.
What, stand'st thou still, and hear'st such a calling? Look
to the guests within. [Exit Francis.]My lord, old Sir John,
with halfadozen more, are at the door: shall I let them in?
PRINCE.
Let them alone awhile, and then open the door.
[Exit Vintner.]
Pointz!
[Reenter Pointz.]
POINTZ.
Anon, anon, sir.
PRINCE.
Sirrah, Falstaff and the rest of the thieves are at the
door: shall we be merry?
POINTZ.
As merry as crickets, my lad. But hark ye; what cunning
match have you made with this jest of the drawer? Come,
what's the issue?
PRINCE.
I am now of all humours that have showed themselves humours
since the old days of goodman Adam to the pupil age of this
present twelve o'clock at midnight.What's o'clock, Francis?
FRAN.
[Within.] Anon, anon, sir.
PRINCE.
That ever this fellow should have fewer words than a parrot, and
yet the son of a woman! His industry is upstairs and downstairs;
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Henry IV Parts III, Henry V 34
Page No 37
his eloquence the parcel of a reckoning. I am not yet of Percy's
mind, the Hotspur of the North; he that kills me some six or seven
dozen of Scots at a breakfast, washes his hands, and says to his wife,
Fie upon this quiet life! I want work. O my sweet Harry, says she,
how many hast thou kill'd today? Give my roan horse a drench,
says he; and answers, Some fourteen, an hour after,a trifle, a
trifle.
I pr'ythee, call in Falstaff: I'll play Percy, and that damn'd
brawn shall play Dame Mortimer his wife. Rivo! says the drunkard.
Call in ribs, call in tallow.
[Enter Falstaff, Gadshill, Bardolph, and Peto; followed by
Francis with wine.]
POINTZ.
Welcome, Jack: where hast thou been?
FAL.
A plague of all cowards, I say, and a vengeance too! marry, and
amen!
Give me a cup of sack, boy.Ere I lead this life long, I'll sew
netherstocks, and mend them and foot them too. A plague of all
cowards!
Give me a cup of sack, rogue.Is there no virtue extant?
[Drinks.]
PRINCE.
Didst thou never see Titan kiss a dish of butter? pitifulhearted
butter, that melted at the sweet tale of the Sun! if thou didst,
then behold that compound.
FAL.
You rogue, here's lime in this sack too: there is nothing but roguery
to be found in villainous man: yet a coward is worse than a cup of
sack with lime in it, a villanous coward.Go thy ways, old Jack: die
when thou wilt, if manhood, good manhood, be not forgot upon the face
of the Earth, then am I a shotten herring. There live not three good
men unhang'd in England; and one of them is fat, and grows old: God
help the while! a bad world, I say.
I would I were a weaver; I could sing psalms or any thing. A plague of
all cowards! I say still.
PRINCE.
How now, woolsack? what mutter you?
FAL.
A king's son! If I do not beat thee out of thy kingdom with a dagger
of lath, and drive all thy subjects afore thee like a flock of
wildgeese, I'll never wear hair on my face more. You Prince of Wales!
Henry IV Parts III, Henry V
Henry IV Parts III, Henry V 35
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PRINCE.
Why, you whoreson round man, what's the matter?
FAL.
Are not you a coward? answer me to that:and Pointz there?
POINTZ.
Zwounds, ye fat paunch, an ye call me coward, by the Lord, I'll
stab thee.
FAL.
I call thee coward! I'll see thee damn'd ere I call thee coward:
but I would give a thousand pound, I could run as fast as thou canst.
You are straight enough in the shoulders; you care not who sees your
back: call you that backing of your friends? A plague upon such
backing! give me them that will face me.Give me a cup of sack:
I am a rogue, if I drunk today.
PRINCE.
O villain! thy lips are scarce wiped since thou drunk'st last.
FAL.
All is one for that. A plague of all cowards! still say I.
[Drinks.]
PRINCE.
What's the matter?
FAL.
What's the matter? there be four of us here have ta'en a thousand
pound this day morning.
PRINCE.
Where is it, Jack? where is it?
FAL.
Where is it! taken from us it is: a hundred upon poor four of us!
PRINCE.
What, a hundred, man?
FAL.
I am a rogue, if I were not at halfsword with a dozen of them two
hours together. I have 'scaped by miracle. I am eight times thrust
through the doublet, four through the hose; my buckler cut through
and through; my sword hack'd like a handsaw,ecce signum! I never
dealt better since I was a man: all would not do. A plague of all
cowards! Let them speak: if they speak more or less than truth,
they are villains and the sons of darkness.
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PRINCE.
Speak, sirs; how was it?
GADS.
We four set upon some dozen,
FAL.
Sixteen at least, my lord.
GADS.
and bound them.
PETO.
No, no; they were not bound.
FAL.
You rogue, they were bound, every man of them; or I am a Jew
else, an Ebrew Jew.
GADS.
As we were sharing, some six or seven fresh men sea upon us,
FAL.
And unbound the rest, and then come in the other.
PRINCE.
What, fought you with them all?
FAL.
All? I know not what you call all; but if I fought not with fifty
of them, I am a bunch of radish: if there were not two or three
and fifty upon poor old Jack, then am I no twolegged creature.
PRINCE.
Pray God you have not murdered some of them.
FAL.
Nay, that's past praying for: I have pepper'd two of them; two I
am sure I have paid, two rogues in buckram suits. I tell thee what,
Hal, if I tell thee a lie, spit in my face, call me horse.
Thou knowest my old ward: here I lay, and thus I bore my point.
Four rogues in buckram let drive at me,
PRINCE.
What, four? thou saidst but two even now.
FAL.
Four, Hal; I told thee four.
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Page No 40
POINTZ.
Ay, ay, he said four.
FAL.
These four came all afront, and mainly thrust at me. I made me no more
ado but took all their seven points in my target, thus.
PRINCE.
Seven? why, there were but four even now.
FAL.
In buckram?
POINTZ.
Ay, four, in buckram suits.
FAL.
Seven, by these hilts, or I am a villain else.
PRINCE.
[aside to Pointz.] Pr'ythee let him alone; we shall have more
anon.
FAL.
Dost thou hear me, Hal?
PRINCE.
Ay, and mark thee too, Jack.
FAL.
Do so, for it is worth the listening to. These nine in buckram
that I told thee of,
PRINCE.
So, two more already.
FAL.
their points being broken,
POINTZ.
Down fell their hose.
FAL.
began to give me ground: but I followed me close, came in foot
and hand; and with a thought seven of the eleven I paid.
PRINCE.
O monstrous! eleven buckram men grown out of two!
FAL.
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Page No 41
But, as the Devil would have it, three misbegotten knaves in Kendal
Green came at my back and let drive at me; for it was so dark, Hal,
that thou couldst not see thy hand.
PRINCE.
These lies are like the father that begets them, gross as a mountain,
open, palpable. Why, thou nottpated fool, thou whoreson, obscene
greasy tallowkeech,
FAL.
What, art thou mad? art thou mad? is not the truth the truth?
PRINCE.
Why, how couldst thou know these men in Kendal green, when it was
so dark thou couldst not see thy hand? come, tell us your reason:
what sayest thou to this?
POINTZ.
Come, your reason, Jack, your reason.
FAL.
What, upon compulsion? No; were I at the strappado, or all the racks
in the world, I would not tell you on compulsion. Give you a reason on
compulsion! if reasons were as plentiful as blackberries, I would
give no man a reason upon compulsion, I.
PRINCE.
I'll be no longer guilty of this sin; this sanguine coward, this
bedpresser, this horsebackbreaker, this huge hill of flesh,
FAL.
Away, you starveling, you eelskin, you dried neat'stongue, you
stockfish,
O, for breath to utter what is like thee!you tailor'syard, you
sheath, you bowcase, you vile standing tuck,
PRINCE.
Well, breathe awhile, and then to it again: and, when thou hast
tired thyself in base comparisons, hear me speak but this:
POINTZ.
Mark, Jack.
PRINCE.
We two saw you four set on four; you bound them, and were masters of
their wealth.Mark now, how a plain tale shall put you down.
Then did we two set on you four; and, with a word, outfaced you from
your prize, and have it; yea, and can show it you here in the house:
and, Falstaff, you carried yourself away as nimbly, with as quick
dexterity, and roared for mercy, and still ran and roar'd, as ever I
heard bullcalf. What a slave art thou, to hack thy sword as thou
Henry IV Parts III, Henry V
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Page No 42
hast done, and then say it was in fight!
What trick, what device, what startinghole canst thou now find
out to hide thee from this open and apparent shame?
POINTZ.
Come, let's hear, Jack; what trick hast thou now?
FAL.
By the Lord, I knew ye as well as he that made ye. Why, hear ye,
my masters:
Was it for me to kill the heirapparent? should I turn upon the
true Prince? why, thou knowest I am as valiant as Hercules: but
beware instinct; the lion will not touch the true PRINCE.
Instinct is a great matter; I was now a coward on instinct.
I shall think the better of myself and thee during my life; I for a
valiant lion, and thou for a true prince. But, by the Lord, lads,
I am glad you have the money.
[To Hostess within.] Hostess, clapto the doors: watch
tonight, pray tomorrow.Gallants, lads, boys, hearts of gold,
all the titles of good fellowship come to you!
What, shall we be merry? shall we have a play extempore?
PRINCE.
Content; and the argument shall be thy running away.
FAL.
Ah, no more of that, Hal, an thou lovest me!
[Enter the Hostess.]
HOST.
O Jesu, my lord the Prince,
PRINCE.
How now, my lady the hostess! What say'st thou to me?
HOST.
Marry, my lord, there is a nobleman of the Court at door would
speak with you: he says he comes from your father.
PRINCE.
Give him as much as will make him a royal man, and send him back
again to my mother.
FAL.
What manner of man is he?
HOST.
An old man.
FAL.
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Page No 43
What doth gravity out of his bed at midnight? Shall I give him
his answer?
PRINCE.
Pr'ythee, do, Jack.
FAL.
Faith, and I'll send him pacKING.
[Exit.]
PRINCE.
Now, sirs:by'r Lady, you fought fair;so did you, Peto;so did you,
Bardolph: you are lions, too, you ran away upon instinct, you will not
touch the true Prince; no,fie!
BARD.
Faith, I ran when I saw others run.
PRINCE.
Tell me now in earnest, how came Falstaff's sword so hack'd?
PETO.
Why, he hack'd it with his dagger; and said he would swear truth out of
England, but he would make you believe it was done in fight; and
persuaded us to do the like.
BARD.
Yea, and to tickle our noses with speargrass to make them bleed;
and then to beslubber our garments with it, and swear it was the
blood of true men. I did that I did not this seven year before;
I blush'd to hear his monstrous devices.
PRINCE.
O villain, thou stolest a cup of sack eighteen years ago, and wert
taken with the manner, and ever since thou hast blush'd extempore.
Thou hadst fire and sword on thy side, and yet thou rann'st away:
what instinct hadst thou for it?
BARD.
My lord, do you see these meteors? do you behold these
exhalations?
PRINCE.
I do.
BARD.
What think you they portend?
PRINCE.
Hot livers and cold purses.
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Page No 44
BARD.
Choler, my lord, if rightly taken.
PRINCE.
No, if rightly taken, halter.Here comes lean Jack, here comes
barebone.
[Enter Falstaff.]
How now, my sweet creature of bombast! How long is't ago, Jack,
since thou saw'st thine own knee?
FAL.
My own knee! when I was about thy years, Hal, I was not an eagle's
talon in the waist; I could have crept into any alderman's thumbring:
a plague of sighing and grief! it blows a man up like a bladder.
There's villanous news abroad: here was Sir John Bracy from your
father; you must to the Court in the morning.
That same mad fellow of the North, Percy; and he of Wales, that gave
Amaimon the bastinado, and swore the Devil his true liegeman upon the
cross of a Welsh hook,what a plague call you him?
POINTZ.
O, Glendower.
FAL.
Owen, Owen,the same; and his soninlaw Mortimer; and old
Northumberland; and that sprightly Scot of Scots, Douglas, that
runs o' horseback up a hill perpendicular,
PRINCE.
He that rides at high speed and with his pistol kills a sparrow
flying.
FAL.
You have hit it.
PRINCE.
So did he never the sparrow.
FAL.
Well, that rascal hath good metal in him; he will not run.
PRINCE.
Why, what a rascal art thou, then, to praise him so for running!
FAL.
O' horseback, ye cuckoo! but afoot he will not budge a foot.
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PRINCE.
Yes, Jack, upon instinct.
FAL.
I grant ye, upon instinct. Well, he is there too, and one Mordake,
and a thousand bluecaps more:
Worcester is stolen away tonight; thy father's beard is turn'd
white with the news: you may buy land now as cheap as stinking
mackerel.
But, tell me, Hal, art not thou horrible afeard? thou being
heirapparent, could the world pick thee out three such enemies again
as that fiend Douglas, that spirit Percy, and that devil Glendower?
art thou not horribly afraid? doth not thy blood thrill at it?
PRINCE.
Not a whit, i'faith; I lack some of thy instinct.
FAL.
Well, thou wilt be horribly chid tomorrow when thou comest to
thy father. If thou love life, practise an answer.
PRINCE.
Do thou stand for my father and examine me upon the particulars
of my life.
FAL.
Shall I? content: this chair shall be my state, this dagger my
sceptre, and this cushion my crown.
PRINCE.
Thy state is taken for a jointstool, thy golden sceptre for a
leaden dagger, and thy precious rich crown for a pitiful bald crown.
FAL.
Well, an the fire of grace be not quite out of thee, now shalt
thou be moved.
Give me a cup of sack, to make my eyes look red, that it may be
thought I have wept; for I must speak in passion, and I will do it
in King Cambyses' vein.
PRINCE.
Well, here is my leg.
FAL.
And here is my speech.Stand aside, nobility.
HOST.
O Jesu, this is excellent sport, i faith!
FAL.
Weep not, sweet Queen; for trickling tears are vain.
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Henry IV Parts III, Henry V 43
Page No 46
HOST.
O, the Father, how he holds his countenance!
FAL.
For God's sake, lords, convey my tristful Queen;
For tears do stop the floodgates of her eyes.
HOST.
O Jesu, he doth it as like one of these harlotry players as ever
I see!
FAL.
Peace, good pintpot; peace, good ticklebrain.Harry, I do not
only marvel where thou spendest thy time, but also how thou art
accompanied: for though the camomile, the more it is trodden on,
the faster it grows, yet youth, the more it is wasted, the sooner
it wears. That thou art my son, I have partly thy mother's word,
partly my own opinion; but chiefly a villainous trick of thine eye,
and a foolish hanging of thy nether lip, that doth warrant me. If,
then, thou be son to me, here lies the point: Why, being son to me,
art thou so pointed at?
Shall the blessed Sun of heaven prove a micher, and eat blackberries?
a question not to be ask'd. Shall the son of England prove a thief,
and take purses? a question to be ask'd.
There is a thing, Harry, which thou hast often heard of, and it is
known to many in our land by the name of pitch: this pitch, as
ancient writers do report, doth defile; so doth the company thou
keepest: for, Harry, now I do not speak to thee in drink, but in
tears; not in pleasure, but in passion; not in words only,
but in woes also. And yet there is a virtuous man whom I have
often noted in thy company, but I know not his name.
PRINCE.
What manner of man, an it like your Majesty?
FAL.
A goodly portly man, i'faith, and a corpulent; of a cheerful look,
a pleasing eye, and a most noble carriage; and, as I think, his age
some fifty, or, by'r Lady, inclining to threescore; and now I
remember me, his name is Falstaff: if that man should be lewdly given,
he deceiveth me; for, Harry, I see virtue in his looks.
If, then, the tree may be known by the fruit, as the fruit by the tree,
then, peremptorily I speak it, there is virtue in that Falstaff: him
keep with, the rest banish. And tell me now, thou naughty varlet, tell
me where hast thou been this month?
PRINCE.
Dost thou speak like a king? Do thou stand for me, and I'll play
my father.
Henry IV Parts III, Henry V
Henry IV Parts III, Henry V 44
Page No 47
FAL.
Depose me! if thou dost it half so gravely, so majestically, both
in word and matter, hang me up by the heels for a rabbitsucker or a
poulter's hare.
PRINCE.
Well, here I am set.
FAL.
And here I stand.Judge, my masters.
PRINCE.
Now, Harry, whence come you?
FAL.
My noble lord, from Eastcheap.
PRINCE.
The complaints I hear of thee are grievous.
FAL.
'Sblood, my lord, they are false.Nay, I'll tickle ye for a
young prince, i'faith.
PRINCE.
Swearest thou, ungracious boy? henceforth ne'er look on me. Thou art
violently carried away from grace: there is a devil haunts thee, in
the likeness of an old fat man,a tun of man is thy companion. Why
dost thou converse with that trunk of humours, that boltinghutch of
beastliness, that swollen parcel of dropsies, that huge bombard of
sack, that roasted Manningtree ox with the pudding in his belly, that
reverend Vice, that grey Iniquity, that father ruffian, that vanity
in years? Wherein is he good, but to taste sack and drink it? wherein
neat and cleanly, but to carve a capon and eat it? wherein cunning, but
in craft? wherein crafty, but in villany? wherein villainous, but in
all things? wherein worthy, but in nothing?
FAL.
I would your Grace would take me with you: whom means your Grace?
PRINCE.
That villainous abominable misleader of youth, Falstaff, that old
whitebearded Satan.
FAL.
My lord, the man I know.
PRINCE.
I know thou dOST.
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Henry IV Parts III, Henry V 45
Page No 48
FAL.
But to say I know more harm in him than in myself, were to say more
than I know. That he is old,(the more the pity,his white hairs do
witness it. If sack and sugar be a fault, God help the wicked! if to
be old and merry be a sin, then many an old host that I know is damn'd:
if to be fat be to be hated, then Pharaoh's lean kine are to be loved.
No, my good lord: banish Peto, banish Bardolph, banish Pointz; but,
for sweet Jack Falstaff, kind Jack Falstaff, true Jack Falstaff,
valiant Jack Falstaff, and therefore more valiant, being, as he is, old
Jack Falstaff, banish not him thy Harry's company, banish not him thy
Harry's company: banish plump Jack, and banish all the world.
PRINCE.
I do, I will.
[A knocking heard.]
[Exeunt Hostess, Francis, and Bardolph.]
[Enter Bardolph, running.]
BARD.
O, my lord, my lord! the sheriff with a most monstrous watch is
at the door.
FAL.
Out, ye rogue!Play out the play: I have much to say in the
behalf of that FALSTAFF.
[Reenter the Hostess, hastily.]
HOST.
O Jesu, my lord, my lord,
PRINCE.
Heigh, heigh! the Devil rides upon a fiddlestick: what's the matter?
HOST.
The sheriff and all the watch are at the door: they are come to
search the house. Shall I let them in?
FAL.
Dost thou hear, Hal? never call a true piece of gold a counterfeit:
thou art essentially mad without seeming so.
PRINCE.
And thou a natural coward, without instinct.
FAL.
I deny your major: if you will deny the sheriff, so; if not, let him
enter: if I become not a cart as well as another man, a plague on my
Henry IV Parts III, Henry V
Henry IV Parts III, Henry V 46
Page No 49
bringing up! I hope I shall as soon be strangled with a halter as
another.
PRINCE.
Go, hide thee behind the arras:the rest walk, up above. Now,
my masters, for a true face and good conscience.
FAL.
Both which I have had; but their date is out, and therefore I'll
hide me.
PRINCE.
Call in the sheriff.
[Exeunt all but the Prince and Pointz.]
[Enter Sheriff and Carrier.]
Now, master sheriff, what's your will with me?
SHER.
First, pardon me, my lord. A hueandcry
Hath followed certain men unto this house.
PRINCE.
What men?
SHER.
One of them is well known, my gracious lord,
A gross fat man.
CAR.
As fat as butter.
PRINCE.
The man, I do assure you, is not here;
For I myself at this time have employ'd him.
And, sheriff, I will engage my word to thee,
That I will, by tomorrow dinnertime,
Send him to answer thee, or any man,
For any thing he shall be charged withal:
And so, let me entreat you leave the house.
SHER.
I will, my lord. There are two gentlemen
Have in this robbery lost three hundred marks.
PRINCE.
It may be so: if he have robb'd these men,
He shall be answerable; and so, farewell.
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SHER.
Good night, my noble lord.
PRINCE.
I think it is good morrow, is it not?
SHER.
Indeed, my lord, I think't be two o'clock.
[Exit Sheriff and Carrier.]
PRINCE.
This oily rascal is known as well as Paul's. Go, call him forth.
POINTZ.
Falstaff!fast asleep behind the arras, and snorting like a
horse.
PRINCE.
Hark, how hard he fetches breath. Search his pockets.
[Pointz searches.]
What hast thou found?
POINTZ.
Nothing but papers, my lord.
PRINCE.
Let's see what they be: read them.
POINTZ. [reads]
Item, A capon, . . . . . . . . . 2s. 2d.
Item, Sauce, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4d.
Item, Sack two gallons ,. . . 5s. 8d.
Item, Anchovies and sack after supper, 2s. 6d.
Item, Bread, . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ob.
PRINCE.
O monstrous! but one halfpennyworth of bread to this intolerable
deal of sack! What there is else, keep close; we'll read it at more
advantage: there let him sleep till day.
I'll to the Court in the morning. We must all to the wars, and thy
place shall be honourable. I'll procure this fat rogue a charge of
foot; and I know his death will be a march of twelvescore. The money
shall be paid back again with advantage. Be with me betimes in the
morning; and so, good morrow, POINTZ.
POINTZ.
Good morrow, good my lord.
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Page No 51
[Exeunt.]
ACT III.
Scene I. Bangor. A Room in the Archdeacon's House.
[Enter Hotspur, Worcester, Mortimer, and Glendower.]
MORT.
These promises are fair, the parties sure,
And our induction full of prosperous hope.
HOT.
Lord Mortimer,and cousin Glendower,Will you sit down?
And uncle Worcester,A plague upon it! I have forgot the map.
GLEND.
No, here it is.
Sit, cousin Percy; sit, good cousin Hotspur;
For by that name as oft as Lancaster
Doth speak of you, his cheek looks pale, and with
A rising sigh he wisheth you in Heaven.
HOT.
And you in Hell, as oft as he hears Owen Glendower spoke of.
GLEND.
I cannot blame him: at my nativity
The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes,
Of burning cressets; ay, and at my birth
The frame and huge foundation of the Earth
Shaked like a coward.
HOT.
Why, so it would have done at the same season, if your mother's
cat had but kitten'd, though yourself had never been born.
GLEND.
I say the Earth did shake when I was born.
HOT.
And I say the Earth was not of my mind, if you suppose as
fearing you it shook.
GLEND.
The Heavens were all on fire, the Earth did tremble.
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Henry IV Parts III, Henry V 49
Page No 52
HOT.
O, then th' Earth shook to see the Heavens on fire,
And not in fear of your nativity.
Diseased Nature oftentimes breaks forth
In strange eruptions; oft the teeming Earth
Is with a kind of colic pinch'd and vex'd
By the imprisoning of unruly wind
Within her womb; which, for enlargement striving,
Shakes the old beldam Earth, and topples down
Steeples and mossgrown towers. At your birth,
Our grandam Earth, having this distemperature,
In passion shook.
GLEND.
Cousin, of many men
I do not bear these crossings. Give me leave
To tell you once again, that at my birth
The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes;
The goats ran from the mountains, and the herds
Were strangely clamorous to the frighted fields.
These signs have mark'd me extraordinary;
And all the courses of my life do show
I am not in the roll of common men.
Where is he living,clipp'd in with the sea
That chides the banks of England, Scotland, Wales,
Which calls me pupil, or hath read to me?
And bring him out that is but woman's son
Can trace me in the tedious ways of art,
And hold me pace in deep experiments.
HOT.
I think there is no man speaks better Welsh.I'll to dinner.
MORT.
Peace, cousin Percy; you will make him mad.
GLEND.
I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
HOT.
Why, so can I, or so can any man;
But will they come when you do call for them?
GLEND.
Why, I can teach you, cousin, to command the Devil.
HOT.
And I can teach thee, coz, to shame the Devil
By telling truth: tell truth, and shame the Devil.
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If thou have power to raise him, bring him hither,
And I'll be sworn I've power to shame him hence.
O, while you live, tell truth, and shame the Devil!
MORT.
Come, come, no more of this unprofitable chat.
GLEND.
Three times hath Henry Bolingbroke made head
Against my power; thrice from the banks of Wye
And sandybottom'd Severn have I sent
Him bootless home and weatherbeaten back.
HOT.
Home without boots, and in foul weather too!
How 'scaped he agues, in the Devil's name!
GLEND.
Come, here's the map: shall we divide our right
According to our threefold order ta'en?
MORT.
Th' archdeacon hath divided it
Into three limits very equally.
England, from Trent and Severn hitherto,
By south and east is to my part assign'd:
All westward, Wales beyond the Severn shore,
And all the fertile land within that bound,
To Owen Glendower:and, dear coz, to you
The remnant northward, lying off from Trent.
And our indentures tripartite are drawn;
Which being sealed interchangeably,
A business that this night may execute,
Tomorrow, cousin Percy, you, and I,
And my good Lord of Worcester, will set forth
To meet your father and the Scottish power,
As is appointed us, at Shrewsbury.
My father Glendower is not ready yet,
Nor shall we need his help these fourteen days:
[To Glend.] Within that space you may have drawn together
Your tenants, friends, and neighbouring gentlemen.
GLEND.
A shorter time shall send me to you, lords:
And in my conduct shall your ladies come;
From whom you now must steal, and take no leave,
For there will be a world of water shed
Upon the parting of your wives and you.
HOT.
Methinks my moiety, north from Burton here,
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In quantity equals not one of yours.
See how this river comes me cranking in,
And cuts me from the best of all my land
A huge halfmoon, a monstrous cantle out.
I'll have the current in this place damn'd up;
And here the smug and sliver Trent shall run
In a new channel, fair and evenly:
It shall not wind with such a deep indent,
To rob me of so rich a bottom here.
GLEND.
Not wind? it shall, it must; you see it doth.
MORT.
Yea, but
Mark how he bears his course, and runs me up
With like advantage on the other side;
Gelding th' opposed continent as much
As on the other side it takes from you.
WOR.
Yea, but a little charge will trench him here,
And on this north side win this cape of land;
And then he runneth straight and evenly.
HOT.
I'll have it so: a little charge will do it.
GLEND.
I will not have it alter'd.
HOT.
Will not you?
GLEND.
No, nor you shall not.
HOT.
Who shall say me nay?
GLEND.
Why, that will I.
HOT.
Let me not understand you, then; speak it in Welsh.
GLEND.
I can speak English, lord, as well as you;
For I was train'd up in the English Court;
Where, being but young, I framed to the harp
Many an English ditty lovely well,
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And gave the tongue a helpful ornament,
A virtue that was never seen in you.
HOT.
Marry, and I am glad of it with all my heart:
I had rather be a kitten, and cry mew,
Than one of these same metre balletmongers;
I had rather hear a brazen canstick turn'd,
Or a dry wheel grate on the axletree;
And that would set my teeth nothing on edge,
Nothing so much as mincing poetry:
'Tis like the forced gait of a shuffling nag.
GLEND.
Come, you shall have Trent turn'd.
HOT.
I do not care: I'll give thrice so much land
To any welldeserving friend;
But in the way of bargain, mark ye me,
I'll cavil on the ninth part of a hair.
Are the indentures drawn? shall we be gone?
GLEND.
The Moon shines fair; you may away by night:
I'll in and haste the writer, and withal
Break with your wives of your departure hence:
I am afraid my daughter will run mad,
So much she doteth on her Mortimer.
[Exit.]
MORT.
Fie, cousin Percy! how you cross my father!
HOT.
I cannot choose: sometimes he angers me
With telling me of the moldwarp and the ant,
Of the dreamer Merlin and his prophecies,
And of a dragon and a finless fish,
A clipwing'd griffin and a moulten raven,
A couching lion and a ramping cat,
And such a deal of skimbleskamble stuff
As puts me from my faith. I tell you what,
He held me last night at the least nine hours
In reckoning up the several devils' names
That were his lacqueys: I cried hum, and well,
But mark'd him not a word. O, he's as tedious
As a tired horse, a railing wife;
Worse than a smoky house: I had rather live
With cheese and garlic in a windmill, far,
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Than feed on cates and have him talk to me
In any summerhouse in Christendom.
MORT.
In faith, he is a worthy gentleman;
Exceedingly wellread, and profited
In strange concealments; valiant as a lion,
And wondrous affable, and as bountiful
As mines of India. Shall I tell you, cousin?
He holds your temper in a high respect,
And curbs himself even of his natural scope
When you do cross his humour; faith, he does:
I warrant you, that man is not alive
Might so have tempted him as you have done,
Without the taste of danger and reproof:
But do not use it oft, let me entreat you.
WOR.
In faith, my lord, you are too wilfulblunt;
And since your coming hither have done enough
To put him quite beside his patience.
You must needs learn, lord, to amend this fault:
Though sometimes it show greatness, courage, blood
And that's the dearest grace it renders you,
Yet oftentimes it doth present harsh rage,
Defect of manners, want of government,
Pride, haughtiness, opinion, and disdain;
The least of which haunting a nobleman
Loseth men's hearts, and leaves behind a stain
Upon the beauty of all parts besides,
Beguiling them of commendation.
HOT.
Well, I am school'd: good manners be your speed!
Here come our wives, and let us take our leave.
[Reenter Glendower, with Lady Mortimer and Lady Percy.]
MORT.
This is the deadly spite that angers me,
My wife can speak no English, I no Welsh.
GLEND.
My daughter weeps: she will not part with you;
She'll be a soldier too, she'll to the wars.
MORT.
Good father, tell her that she and my aunt Percy
Shall follow in your conduct speedily.
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[Glendower speaks to Lady Mortimer in Welsh, and she answers
him in the same.]
GLEND.
She's desperate here; a peevish selfwill'd harlotry,
One that no persuasion can do good upon.
[Lady Mortimer speaks to Mortimer in Welsh.]
MORT.
I understand thy looks: that pretty Welsh
Which thou pour'st down from these swelling heavens
I am too perfect in; and, but for shame,
In such a parley should I answer thee.
[Lady Mortimer speaks to him again in Welsh.]
I understand thy kisses, and thou mine,
And that's a feeling disputation:
But I will never be a truant, love,
Till I have learn'd thy language; for thy tongue
Makes Welsh as sweet as ditties highly penn'd,
Sung by a fair queen in a Summer's bower,
With ravishing division, to her lute.
GLEND.
Nay, if you melt, then will she run mad.
[Lady Mortimer speaks to Mortimer again in Welsh.]
MORT.
O, I am ignorance itself in this!
GLEND.
She bids you on the wanton rushes lay you down,
And rest your gentle head upon her lap,
And she will sing the song that pleaseth you,
And on your eyelids crown the god of sleep,
Charming your blood with pleasing heaviness;
Making such difference betwixt wake and sleep,
As is the difference betwixt day and night,
The hour before the heavenlyharness'd team
Begins his golden progress in the East.
MORT.
With all my heart I'll sit and hear her sing:
By that time will our book, I think, be drawn.
GLEND.
Do so:
An those musicians that shall play to you
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Hang in the air a thousand leagues from hence,
And straight they shall be here: sit, and attend.
HOT.
Come, Kate, thou art perfect in lying down: come, quick,
quick, that I may lay my head in thy lap.
LADY P.
Go, ye giddy goose.
[The music plays.]
HOT.
Now I perceive the Devil understands Welsh;
And 'tis no marvel he's so humorous.
By'r Lady, he's a good musician.
LADY P.
Then should you be nothing but musical; for you are
altogether governed by humours. Lie still, ye thief, and hear
the lady sing in Welsh.
HOT.
I had rather hear Lady, my brach, howl in Irish.
LADY P.
Wouldst thou have thy head broken?
HOT.
No.
LADY P.
Then be still.
HOT.
Neither; 'tis a woman's fault.
LADY P.
Now God help thee!
HOT.
Peace! she sings.
[A Welsh song by Lady Mortimer.]
Come, Kate, I'll have your song too.
LADY P.
Not mine, in good sooth.
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HOT.
Not yours, in good sooth! 'Heart! you swear like a
comfitmaker's wife. Not mine, in good sooth; and, As true
as I live; and, As God shall mend me; and, As sure as day;
And givest such sarcenet surety for thy oaths,
As if thou ne'er walk'dst further than Finsbury.
Swear me, Kate, like a lady as thou art,
A good mouthfilling oath; and leave in sooth,
And such protest of peppergingerbread,
To velvetguards and Sundaycitizens. Come, sing.
LADY P.
I will not sing.
HOT.
'Tis the next way to turn tailor, or be redbreastteacher.
An the indentures be drawn, I'll away within these two hours;
and so, come in when ye will.
[Exit.]
GLEND.
Come, come, Lord Mortimer; you are as slow
As hot Lord Percy is on fire to go.
By this our book's drawn; we'll but seal, and then
To horse immediatELY.
MORT.
With all my heart.
[Exeunt.]
Scene II. London. A Room in the Palace.
[Enter King Henry, Prince Henry, and Lords.]
KING.
Lords, give us leave; the Prince of Wales and I
Must have some private conference: but be near at hand,
For we shall presently have need of you.
[Exeunt Lords.]
I know not whether God will have it so,
For some displeasing service I have done,
That, in His secret doom, out of my blood
He'll breed revengement and a scourge for me;
But thou dost, in thy passages of life,
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Make me believe that thou art only mark'd
For the hot vengeance and the rod of Heaven
To punish my mistreadings. Tell me else,
Could such inordinate and low desires,
Such poor, such base, such lewd, such mean attempts,
Such barren pleasures, rude society,
As thou art match'd withal and grafted to,
Accompany the greatness of thy blood,
And hold their level with thy princely heart?
PRINCE.
So please your Majesty, I would I could
Quit all offences with as clear excuse
As well as I am doubtless I can purge
Myself of many I am charged withal:
Yet such extenuation let me beg,
As, in reproof of many tales devised
By smiling pickthanks and base newsmongers,
Which oft the ear of greatness needs must hear,
I may, for some things true, wherein my youth
Hath faulty wander'd and irregular,
Find pardon on my true submission.
KING.
God pardon thee! Yet let me wonder, Harry,
At thy affections, which do hold a wing
Quite from the flight of all thy ancestors.
Thy place in Council thou hast rudely lost,
Which by thy younger brother is supplied;
And art almost an alien to the hearts
Of all the Court and princes of my blood:
The hope and expectation of thy time
Is ruin'd; and the soul of every man
Prophetically does forethink thy fall.
Had I so lavish of my presence been,
So commonhackney'd in the eyes of men,
So stale and cheap to vulgar company,
Opinion, that did help me to the crown,
Had still kept loyal to possession,
And left me in reputeless banishment,
A fellow of no mark nor likelihood.
By being seldom seen, I could not stir
But, like a comet, I was wonder'd at;
That men would tell their children, This is he;
Others would say, Where, which is Bolingbroke?
And then I stole all courtesy from Heaven,
And dress'd myself in such humility,
That I did pluck allegiance from men's hearts,
Loud shouts and salutations from their mouths,
Even in the presence of the crowned KING.
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Thus did I keep my person fresh and new;
My presence, like a robe pontifical,
Ne'er seen but wonder'd at: and so my state,
Seldom but sumptuous, showed like a feast,
And won by rareness such solemnity.
The skipping King, he ambled up and down
With shallow jesters and rash bavin wits,
Soon kindled and soon burnt; carded his state,
Mingled his royalty, with capering fools;
Had his great name profaned with their scorns;
And gave his countenance, against his name,
To laugh at gibing boys, and stand the push
Of every beardless vain comparative;
Grew a companion to the common streets,
Enfeoff'd himself to popularity;
That, being dally swallow'd by men's eyes,
They surfeited with honey, and began
To loathe the taste of sweetness, whereof a little
More than a little is by much too much.
So, when he had occasion to be seen,
He was but as the cuckoo is in June,
Heard, not regarded; seen, but with such eyes
As, sick and blunted with community,
Afford no extraordinary gaze,
Such as is bent on sunlike majesty
When it shines seldom in admiring eyes;
But rather drowsed, and hung their eyelids down,
Slept in his face, and render'd such aspect
As cloudy men use to their adversaries,
Being with his presence glutted, gorged, and full.
And in that very line, Harry, stand'st thou;
For thou hast lost thy princely privilege
With vile participation: not an eye
But is aweary of thy common sight,
Save mine, which hath desired to see thee more;
Which now doth that I would not have it do,
Make blind itself with foolish tenderness.
PRINCE.
I shall hereafter, my thricegracious lord,
Be more myself.
KING.
For all the world,
As thou art to this hour, was Richard then
When I from France set foot at Ravenspurg;
And even as I was then is Percy now.
Now, by my sceptre, and my soul to boot,
He hath more worthy interest to the state
Than thou, the shadow of succession;
For, of no right, nor colour like to right,
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He doth fill fields with harness in the realm,
Turns head against the lion's armed jaws;
And, being no more in debt to years than thou,
Leads ancient lords and reverend bishops on
To bloody battles and to bruising arms.
What neverdying honour hath he got
Against renowned Douglas! whose high deeds,
Whose hot incursions, and great name in arms,
Holds from all soldiers chief majority
And military title capital
Through all the kingdoms that acknowledge Christ:
Thrice hath this Hotspur, Mars in swathingclothes,
This infant warrior, in his enterprises
Discomfited great Douglas; ta'en him once,
Enlarged him, and made a friend of him,
To fill the mouth of deep defiance up,
And shake the peace and safety of our throne.
And what say you to this? Percy, Northumberland,
Th' Archbishop's Grace of York, Douglas, and Mortimer
Capitulate against us, and are up.
But wherefore do I tell these news to thee?
Why, Harry, do I tell thee of my foes,
Which art my near'st and dearest enemy?
Thou that art like enough,through vassal fear,
Base inclination, and the start of spleen,
To fight against me under Percy's pay,
To dog his heels, and curtsy at his frowns,
To show how much thou art degenerate.
PRINCE.
Do not think so; you shall not find it so:
And God forgive them that so much have sway'd
Your Majesty's good thoughts away from me!
I will redeem all this on Percy's head,
And, in the closing of some glorious day,
Be bold to tell you that I am your son;
When I will wear a garment all of blood,
And stain my favour in a bloody mask,
Which, wash'd away, shall scour my shame with it:
And that shall be the day, whene'er it lights,
That this same child of honour and renown,
This gallant Hotspur, this allpraised knight,
And your unthoughtof Harry, chance to meet.
For every honour sitting on his helm,
Would they were multitudes, and on my head
My shames redoubled! for the time will come,
That I shall make this northern youth exchange
His glorious deeds for my indignities.
Percy is but my factor, good my lord,
T' engross up glorious deeds on my behalf;
And I will call hall to so strict account,
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That he shall render every glory up,
Yea, even the slightest worship of his time,
Or I will tear the reckoning from his heart.
This, in the name of God, I promise here:
The which if I perform, and do survive,
I do beseech your Majesty, may salve
The longgrown wounds of my intemperance:
If not, the end of life cancels all bands;
And I will die a hundred thousand deaths
Ere break the smallest parcel of this vow.
KING.
A hundred thousand rebels die in this.
Thou shalt have charge and sovereign trust herein.
[Enter Sir Walter Blunt.]
How now, good Blunt! thy looks are full of speed.
BLUNT.
So is the business that I come to speak of.
Lord Mortimer of Scotland hath sent word
That Douglas and the English rebels met
Th' eleventh of this month at Shrewsbury:
A mighty and a fearful head they are,
If promises be kept on every hand,
As ever offer'd foul play in a State.
KING.
The Earl of Westmoreland set forth today;
With him my son, Lord John of Lancaster;
For this advertisement is five days old.
On Wednesday next you, Harry, shall set forward;
On Thursday we ourselves will march:
Our meeting is Bridgenorth: and, Harry, you
Shall march through Glostershire; by which account,
Our business valued, some twelve days hence
Our general forces at Bridgenorth shall meet.
Our hands are full of business: let's away;
Advantage feeds him fat, while men delay.
[Exeunt.]
Scene III. Eastcheap. A Room in the Boar'sHead Tavern.
[Enter Falstaff and Bardolph.]
FAL.
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Bardolph, am I not fallen away vilely since this last action? do I
not bate? do I not dwindle? Why, my skin hangs about me like an
old lady's loose gown; I am withered like an old appleJohn.
Well, I'll repent, and that suddenly, while I am in some liking; I
shall be out of heart shortly, and then I shall have no strength to
repent.
An I have not forgotten what the inside of a church is made of, I
am a peppercorn, a brewer's horse: the inside of a church!
Company, villainous company, hath been the spoil of me.
BARD.
Sir John, you are so fretful, you cannot live long.
FAL.
Why, there is it: come, sing me a song; make me merry. I was as
virtuously given as a gentleman need to be; virtuous enough; swore
little; diced not above seven times a week; paid money that I borrowed
three or four times; lived well, and in good compass: and now I live
out of all order, out of all compass.
BARD.
Why, you are so fat, Sir John, that you must needs be out of all
compass, out of all reasonable compass, Sir John.
FAL.
Do thou amend thy face, and I'll amend my life: thou art our admiral,
thou bearest the lantern in the poop,but 'tis in the nose of thee;
thou art the Knight of the Burning Lamp.
BARD.
Why, Sir John, my face does you no harm.
FAL.
No, I'll be sworn; I make as good use of it as many a man doth of a
death'shead or a memento mori: I never see thy face but I think upon
hellfire, and Dives that lived in purple; for there he is in his robes,
burning, burning. If thou wert any way given to virtue, I would swear
by thy face; my oath should be, By this fire, that's God's angel: but
thou art altogether given over; and wert indeed, but for the light in
thy face, the son of utter darkness. When thou rann'st up Gad'shill in
the night to catch my horse, if I did not think thou hadst been an ignis
fatuus or a ball of wildfire, there's no purchase in money. O, thou art
a perpetual triumph, an everlasting bonfirelight! Thou hast saved me a
thousand marks in links and torches, walking with thee in the night
betwixt tavern and tavern: but the sack that thou hast drunk me would
have bought me lights as good cheap at the dearest chandler's in Europe.
I have maintain'd that salamander of yours with fire any time this
twoandthirty years; God reward me for it!
BARD.
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'Sblood, I would my face were in your stomach!
FAL.
Godamercy! so should I be sure to be heartburn'd.
[Enter the Hostess.]
How now, Dame Partlet the hen! have you enquir'd yet who
pick'd my pocket?
HOST.
Why, Sir John, what do you think, Sir John? do you think I
keep thieves in my house? I have search'd, I have inquired,
so has my husband, man by man, boy by boy, servant by servant:
the tithe of a hair was never lost in my house before.
FAL.
Ye lie, hostess: Bardolph was shaved, and lost many a hair; and
I'll be sworn my pocket was pick'd. Go to, you are a woman, go.
HOST.
Who, I? no; I defy thee: God's light, I was never call'd so in
mine own house before.
FAL.
Go to, I know you well enough.
HOST.
No, Sir John; you do not know me, Sir John. I know you, Sir John:
you owe me money, Sir John; and now you pick a quarrel to beguile me
of it: I bought you a dozen of shirts to your back.
FAL.
Dowlas, filthy dowlas: I have given them away to bakers' wives,
and they have made bolters of them.
HOST.
Now, as I am a true woman, holland of eight shillings an ell.
You owe money here besides, Sir John, for your diet and bydrinkings,
and money lent you, fourandtwenty pound.
FAL.
He had his part of it; let him pay.
HOST.
He? alas, he is poor; he hath nothing.
FAL.
How! poor? look upon his face; what call you rich? let
them coin his nose, let them coin his cheeks: I'll not pay a
denier. What, will you make a younker of me? shall I not take
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mine ease in mine inn, but I shall have my pocket pick'd? I have
lost a sealring of my grandfather's worth forty mark.
HOST.
O Jesu, I have heard the Prince tell him, I know not how oft,
that that ring was copper!
FAL.
How! the Prince is a Jack, a sneakcup: 'sblood, an he were
here, I would cudgel him like a dog, if he would say so.
[Enter Prince Henry and Pointz, marching. Falstaff meets them,
playing on his truncheon like a fife.]
How now, lad? is the wind in that door, i'faith? must we all
march?
BARD.
Yea, twoandtwo, Newgatefashion.
HOST.
My lord, I pray you, hear me.
PRINCE.
What say'st thou, Mistress Quickly? How doth thy husband? I love
him well; he is an honest man.
HOST.
Good my lord, hear me.
FAL.
Pr'ythee, let her alone, and list to me.
PRINCE.
What say'st thou, Jack?
FAL.
The other night I fell asleep here behind the arras, and had my
pocket pick'd: this house is turn'd bawdyhouse; they pick pockets.
PRINCE.
What didst thou lose, Jack?
FAL.
Wilt thou believe me, Hal? three or four bonds of forty pound
apiece and a sealring of my grandfather's.
PRINCE.
A trifle, some eightpenny matter.
HOST.
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So I told him, my lord; and I said I heard your Grace say so;
and, my lord, he speaks most vilely of you, like a foulmouth'd
man as he is; and said he would cudgel you.
PRINCE.
What! he did not?
HOST.
There's neither faith, truth, nor womanhood in me else.
FAL.
There's no more faith in thee than in a stew'd prune; nor no more
truth in thee than in a drawn fox; and, for womanhood, Maid Marian
may be the deputy's wife of the ward to thee. Go, you thing, go.
HOST.
Say, what thing? what thing? I am an honest man's wife: and,
setting thy knighthood aside, thou art a knave to call me so.
FAL.
Setting thy womanhood aside, thou art a beast to say otherwise.
HOST.
Say, what beast, thou knave, thou?
FAL.
What beast! why, an otter.
PRINCE.
An otter, Sir John, why an otter?
FAL.
Why, she's neither fish nor flesh; a man knows not where to have
her.
HOST.
Thou art an unjust man in saying so; thou or any man knows where
to have me, thou knave, thou!
PRINCE.
Thou say'st true, hostess; and he slanders thee most grossly.
HOST.
So he doth you, my lord; and said this other day you ought him a
thousand pound.
PRINCE.
Sirrah, do I owe you a thousand pound?
FAL.
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A thousand pound, Hal! a million: thy love is worth a million;
thou owest me thy love.
HOST.
Nay, my lord, he call'd you Jack, and said he would cudgel you.
FAL.
Did I, Bardolph?
BARD.
Indeed, Sir John, you said so.
FAL.
Yea, if he said my ring was copper.
PRINCE.
I say 'tis copper: darest thou be as good as thy word now?
FAL.
Why, Hal, thou know'st, as thou art but man, I dare; but as thou
art prince, I fear thee as I fear the roaring of the lion's whelp.
PRINCE.
And why not as the lion?
FAL.
The King himself is to be feared as the lion: dost thou think I'll
fear thee as I fear thy father? nay, an I do, I pray God my girdle
break.
PRINCE.
Sirrah, there's no room for faith, truth, nor honesty in this
bosom of thine; it is all fill'd up with midriff.
Charge an honest woman with picking thy pocket! why, thou whoreson,
impudent, emboss'd rascal, if there were anything in thy pocket but
tavernreckonings, and one poor pennyworth of sugarcandy to make thee
longwinded,if thy pocket were enrich'd with any other injuries but
these, I am a villain: and yet you will stand to it; you will not
pocketup wrong. Art thou not ashamed!
FAL.
Dost thou hear, Hal? thou know'st, in the state of innocency Adam fell;
and what should poor Jack Falstaff do in the days of villainy?
Thou see'st I have more flesh than another man; and therefore more
frailty. You confess, then, you pick'd my pocket?
PRINCE.
It appears so by the story.
FAL.
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Hostess, I forgive thee: go, make ready breakfast; love thy husband,
look to thy servants, cherish thy guests: thou shalt find me tractable
to any honest reason; thou see'st I am pacified.Still? Nay, pr'ythee,
be gone.
[Exit Hostess.]
Now, Hal, to the news at Court: for the robbery, lad, how is
that answered?
PRINCE.
O, my sweet beef, I must still be good angel to thee: the money
is paid back again.
FAL.
O, I do not like that paying back; 'tis a double labour.
PRINCE.
I am good friends with my father, and may do any thing.
FAL.
Rob me the exchequer the first thing thou doest, and do it with
unwash'd hands too.
BARD.
Do, my lord.
PRINCE.
I have procured thee, Jack, a charge of Foot.
FAL.
I would it had been of Horse. Where shall I find one that can steal
well? O, for a fine thief, of the age of twoandtwenty or thereabouts!
I am heinously unprovided. Well, God be thanked for these rebels; they
offend none but the virtuous: I laud them, I praise them.
PRINCE.
Bardolph,
BARD.
My lord?
PRINCE.
Go bear this letter to Lord John of Lancaster,
My brother John; this to my Lord of Westmoreland.
[Exit Bardolph.]
Go, Pointz, to horse, to horse; for thou and I
Have thirty miles to ride yet ere dinnertime.
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[Exit Pointz.]
Meet me tomorrow, Jack, i' the Templehall
At two o'clock in th' afternoon:
There shalt thou know thy charge; and there receive
Money and order for their furniture.
The land is burning; Percy stands on high;
And either they or we must lower lie.
[Exit.]
FAL.
Rare words! brave world!Hostess, my breakfast; come:
O, I could wish this tavern were my drum!
[Exit.]
ACT IV.
Scene I. The Rebel Camp near Shrewsbury.
[Enter Hotspur, Worcester, and Douglas.]
HOT.
Well said, my noble Scot: if speaking truth
In this fine age were not thought flattery,
Such attribution should the Douglas have,
As not a soldier of this season's stamp
Should go so generalcurrent through the world.
By God, I cannot flatter; I defy
The tongues of soothers; but a braver place
In my heart's love hath no man than yourself:
Nay, task me to my word; approve me, lord.
DOUG.
Thou art the king of honour:
No man so potent breathes upon the ground
But I will beard him.
HOT.
Do so, and 'tis well.
[Enter a Messenger with letters.]
What letters hast thou there?I can but thank you.
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MESS.
These letters come from your father.
HOT.
Letters from him! why comes he not himself?
MESS.
He cannot come, my lord; he's grievous sick.
HOT.
Zwounds! how has he the leisure to be sick
In such a justling time? Who leads his power?
Under whose government come they along?
MESS.
His letters bears his mind, not I, my lord.
WOR.
I pr'ythee, tell me, doth he keep his bed?
MESS.
He did, my lord, four days ere I set forth,
And at the time of my departure thence
He was much fear'd by his physicians.
WOR.
I would the state of time had first been whole
Ere he by sickness had been visited:
His health was never better worth than now.
HOT.
Sick now! droop now! this sickness doth infect
The very lifeblood of our enterprise;
'Tis catching hither, even to our camp.
He writes me here, that inward sickness,
And that his friends by deputation could not
So soon be drawn; no did he think it meet
To lay so dangerous and dear a trust
On any soul removed, but on his own.
Yet doth he give us bold advertisement,
That with our small conjunction we should on,
To see how fortune is disposed to us;
For, as he writes, there is no quailing now,
Because the King is certainly possess'd
Of all our purposes. What say you to it?
WOR.
Your father's sickness is a maim to us.
HOT.
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A perilous gash, a very limb lopp'd off:
And yet, in faith, 'tis not; his present want
Seems more than we shall find it. Were it good
To set the exact wealth of all our states
All at one cast? to set so rich a main
On the nice hazard of one doubtful hour?
It were not good; for therein should we read
The very bottom and the soul of hope,
The very list, the very utmost bound
Of all our fortunes.
DOUG.
Faith, and so we should;
Where now remains a sweet reversion;
And we may boldly spend upon the hope
Of what is to come in:
A comfort of retirement lives in this.
HOT.
A rendezvous, a home to fly unto,
If that the Devil and mischance look big
Upon the maidenhead of our affairs.
WOR.
But yet I would your father had been here.
The quality and hair of our attempt
Brooks no division: it will be thought
By some, that know not why he is away,
That wisdom, loyalty, and mere dislike
Of our proceedings, kept the earl from hence:
And think how such an apprehension
May turn the tide of fearful faction,
And breed a kind of question in our cause;
For well you know we of the offering side
Must keep aloof from strict arbitrement,
And stop all sightholes, every loop from whence
The eye of reason may pry in upon us.
This absence of your father's draws a curtain,
That shows the ignorant a kind of fear
Before not dreamt of.
HOT.
Nay, you strain too far.
I, rather, of his absence make this use:
It lends a lustre and more great opinion,
A larger dare to our great enterprise,
Than if the earl were here; for men must think,
If we, without his help, can make a head
To push against the kingdom, with his help
We shall o'erturn it topsyturvy down.
Yet all goes well, yet all our joints are whole.
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DOUG.
As heart can think: there is not such a word
Spoke in Scotland as this term of fear.
[Enter Sir Richard Vernon.]
HOT.
My cousin Vernon! welcome, by my soul.
VER.
Pray God my news be worth a welcome, lord.
The Earl of Westmoreland, seven thousand strong,
Is marching hitherwards; with him Prince John.
HOT.
No harm: what more?
VER.
And further, I have learn'd
The King himself in person is set forth,
Or hitherwards intended speedily,
With strong and mighty preparation.
HOT.
He shall be welcome too. Where is his son,
The nimblefooted madcap Prince of Wales,
And his comrades, that daff the world aside,
And bid it pass?
VER.
All furnish'd, all in arms;
All plumed like estridges that with the wind
Bate it; like eagles having lately bathed;
Glittering in golden coats, like images;
As full of spirit as the month of May
And gorgeous as the Sun at midsummer;
Wanton as youthful goats, wild as young bulls.
I saw young Harrywith his beaver on,
His cuisses on his thighs, gallantly arm'd
Rise from the ground like feather'd Mercury,
And vault it with such ease into his seat,
As if an angel dropp'd down from the clouds,
To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus,
And witch the world with noble horsemanship.
HOT.
No more, no more: worse than the Sun in March,
This praise doth nourish agues. Let them come;
They come like sacrifices in their trim,
And to the fireeyed maid of smoky war,
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All hot and bleeding, will we offer them:
The mailed Mars shall on his altar sit
Up to the ears in blood. I am on fire
To hear this rich reprisal is so nigh,
And yet not ours.Come, let me taste my horse,
Who is to bear me, like a thunderbolt,
Against the bosom of the Prince of Wales:
Harry and Harry shall, hot horse to horse,
Meet, and ne'er part till one drop down a corse.
O, that Glendower were come!
VER.
There is more news:
I learn'd in Worcester, as I rode along,
He cannot draw his power this fourteen days.
DOUG.
That's the worst tidings that I hear of yet.
WOR.
Ay, by my faith, that bears a frosty sound.
HOT.
What may the King's whole battle reach unto?
VER.
To thirty thousand.
HOT.
Forty let it be:
My father and Glendower being both away,
The powers of us may serve so great a day.
Come, let us take a muster speedily:
Doomsday is near; die all, die merrily.
DOUG.
Talk not of dying: I am out of fear
Of death or death's hand for this one halfyear.
[Exeunt.]
Scene II. A public Road near Coventry.
[Enter Falstaff and Bardolph.]
FAL.
Bardolph, get thee before to Coventry; fill me a bottle of
sack: our soldiers shall march through; we'll to SuttonCo'fil'
tonight.
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BARD.
Will you give me money, captain?
FAL.
Lay out, lay out.
BARD.
This bottle makes an angel.
FAL.
An if it do, take it for thy labour; an if it make twenty,
take them all; I'll answer the coinage. Bid my lieutenant
Peto meet me at the town's end.
BARD.
I will, captain: farewell.
[Exit.]
FAL.
If I be not ashamed of my soldiers, I am a soused gurnet. I have
misused the King's press damnably. I have got, in exchange of
a hundred and fifty soldiers, three hundred and odd pounds. I
press'd me none but good householders, yeomen's sons; inquired
me out contracted bachelors, such as had been ask'd twice on the
banns; such a commodity of warm slaves as had as lief hear the
Devil as a drum; such as fear the report of a caliver worse than
a struck fowl or a hurt wildduck. I press'd me none but such
toastsandbutter, with hearts in their bodies no bigger than
pins'heads, and they have bought out their services; and now
my whole charge consists of ancients, corporals, lieutenants,
gentlemen of companies, slaves as ragged as Lazarus in the
painted cloth, where the glutton's dogs licked his sores; and
such as, indeed, were never soldiers, but discarded unjust
servingmen, younger sons to younger brothers, revolted tapsters,
and ostlers tradefallen; the cankers of a calm world and a long
peace; ten times more dishonourable ragged than an old faced
ancient: and such have I, to fill up the rooms of them that have
bought out their services, that you would think that I had a
hundred and fifty tattered Prodigals lately come from
swinekeeping, from eating draff and husks. A mad fellow met me on
the way, and told me I had unloaded all the gibbets, and press'd
the dead bodies.
No eye hath seen such scarecrows. I'll not march through Coventry
with them, that's flat: nay, and the villains march wide betwixt
the legs, as if they had gyves on; for, indeed, I had the most of
them out of prison. There's but a shirt and a half in all my company;
and the halfshirt is two napkins tack'd together and thrown over the
shoulders like a herald's coat without sleeves; and the shirt, to say
the truth, stolen from my host at Saint Alban's, or the rednose
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innkeeper of Daventry.
But that's all one; they'll find linen enough on every hedge.
[Enter Prince Henry and Westmoreland.]
PRINCE.
How now, blown Jack! how now, quilt!
FAL.
What, Hal! how now, mad wag! what a devil dost thou in
Warwickshire?My good Lord of Westmoreland, I cry you mercy:
I thought your honour had already been at Shrewsbury.
WEST.
Faith, Sir John, 'tis more than time that I were there, and you too;
but my powers are there already. The King, I can tell you, looks for
us all: we must away all, tonight.
FAL.
Tut, never fear me: I am as vigilant as a cat to steal cream.
PRINCE.
I think, to steal cream, indeed; for thy theft hath already made thee
butter. But tell me, Jack, whose fellows are these that come after?
FAL.
Mine, Hal, mine.
PRINCE.
I did never see such pitiful rascals.
FAL.
Tut, tut; good enough to toss; food for powder, food for powder;
they'll fill a pit as well as better: tush, man, mortal men,
mortal men.
WEST.
Ay, but, Sir John, methinks they are exceeding poor and bare,too
beggarly.
FAL.
Faith, for their poverty, I know not where they had that; and,
for their bareness, I am sure they never learn'd that of me.
PRINCE.
No, I'll be sworn; unless you call three fingers on the ribs
bare. But, sirrah, make haste: Percy is already in the field.
[Exit.]
FAL.
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What, is the King encamp'd?
WEST.
He is, Sir John: I fear we shall stay too long.
[Exit.]
FAL.
Well,
To the latter end of a fray and the beginning of a feast
Fits a dull fighter and a keen guest.
[Exit.]
Scene III. The Rebel Camp near Shrewsbury.
[Enter Hotspur, Worcester, Douglas, and Vernon.]
HOT.
We'll fight with him tonight.
WOR.
It may not be.
DOUG.
You give him, then, advantage.
VER.
Not a whit.
HOT.
Why say you so? looks he not for supply?
VER.
So do we.
HOT.
His is certain, ours is doubtful.
WOR.
Good cousin, be advised; stir not tonight.
VER.
Do not, my lord.
DOUG.
You do not counsel well:
You speak it out of fear and cold heart.
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VER.
Do me no slander, Douglas: by my life,
And I dare well maintain it with my life,
If wellrespected honour bid me on,
I hold as little counsel with weak fear
As you, my lord, or any Scot that this day lives:
Let it be seen tomorrow in the battle
Which of us fears.
DOUG.
Yea, or tonight.
VER.
Content.
HOT.
Tonight, say I.
VER.
Come, come, it may not be. I wonder much,
Being men of such great leading as you are,
That you foresee not what impediments
Drag back our expedition: certain Horse
Of my cousin Vernon's are not yet come up:
Your uncle Worcester's Horse came but today;
And now their pride and mettle is asleep,
Their courage with hard labour tame and dull,
That not a horse is half the half himself.
HOT.
So are the horses of the enemy
In general, journeybated and brought low:
The better part of ours are full of rest.
WOR.
The number of the King exceedeth ours.
For God's sake, cousin, stay till all come in.
[The Trumpet sounds a parley.]
[Enter Sir Walter Blunt.]
BLUNT.
I come with gracious offers from the King,
If you vouchsafe me hearing and respect.
HOT.
Welcome, Sir Walter Blunt; and would to God
You were of our determination!
Some of us love you well; and even those some
Envy your great deservings and good name,
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Because you are not of our quality,
But stand against us like an enemy.
BLUNT.
And God defend but still I should stand so,
So long as out of limit and true rule
You stand against anointed majesty!
But to my charge: the King hath sent to know
The nature of your griefs; and whereupon
You conjure from the breast of civil peace
Such bold hostility, teaching his duteous land
Audacious cruelty. If that the King
Have any way your good deserts forgot,
Which he confesseth to be manifold,
He bids you name your griefs; and with all speed
You shall have your desires with interest,
And pardon absolute for yourself and these
Herein misled by your suggestion.
HOT.
The King is kind; and well we know the King
Knows at what time to promise, when to pay.
My father and my uncle and myself
Did give him that same royalty he wears;
Andwhen he was not sixandtwenty strong,
Sick in the world's regard, wretched and low,
A poor unminded outlaw sneaking home
My father gave him welcome to the shore:
Andwhen he heard him swear and vow to God,
He came but to be Duke of Lancaster,
To sue his livery and beg his peace,
With tears of innocence and terms of zeal
My father, in kind heart and pity moved,
Swore him assistance, and performed it too.
Now, when the lords and barons of the realm
Perceived Northumberland did lean to him,
The more and less came in with cap and knee;
Met him in boroughs, cities, villages,
Attended him on bridges, stood in lanes,
Laid gifts before him, proffer'd him their oaths,
Give him their heirs as pages, follow'd him
Even at the heels in golden multitudes.
He presentlyas greatness knows itself
Steps me a little higher than his vow
Made to my father, while his blood was poor,
Upon the naked shore at Ravenspurg;
And now, forsooth, takes on him to reform
Some certain edicts and some strait decrees
That lie too heavy on the commonwealth;
Cries out upon abuses, seems to weep
Over his country's wrongs; and, by this face,
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This seeming brow of justice, did he win
The hearts of all that he did angle for:
Proceeded further; cut me off the heads
Of all the favourites, that the absent King
In deputation left behind him here
When he was personal in the Irish war.
BLUNT.
Tut, I came not to hear this.
HOT.
Then to the point:
In short time after, he deposed the King;
Soon after that, deprived him of his life;
And, in the neck of that, task'd the whole State:
To make that worse, suffer'd his kinsman March
(Who is, if every owner were well placed,
Indeed his king) to be engaged in Wales,
There without ransom to lie forfeited;
Disgraced me in my happy victories,
Sought to entrap me by intelligence;
Rated my uncle from the Councilboard;
In rage dismiss'd my father from the Court;
Broke oath on oath, committed wrong on wrong;
And, in conclusion, drove us to seek out
This head of safety; and withal to pry
Into his title, the which now we find
Too indirect for long continuance.
BLUNT.
Shall I return this answer to the King?
HOT.
Not so, Sir Walter: we'll withdraw awhile.
Go to the King; and let there be impawn'd
Some surety for a safe return again,
And in the morning early shall my uncle
Bring him our purposes: and so, farewell.
BLUNT.
I would you would accept of grace and love.
HOT.
And may be so we shall.
BLUNT.
Pray God you do.
[Exeunt.]
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Scene IV. York. A Room in the Archbishop's Palace.
[Enter the Archbishop of York and Sir Michael.]
ARCH.
Hie, good Sir Michael; bear this sealed brief
With winged haste to the Lord Marshal;
This to my cousin Scroop; and all the rest
To whom they are directed. If you knew
How much they do import, you would make haste.
SIR M.
My good lord,
I guess their tenour.
ARCH.
Like enough you do.
Tomorrow, good Sir Michael, is a day
Wherein the fortune of ten thousand men
Must bide the touch; for, sir, at Shrewsbury,
As I am truly given to understand,
The King, with mighty and quickraised power,
Meets with Lord Harry: and, I fear, Sir Michael,
What with the sickness of Northumberland,
Whose power was in the first proportion,
And what with Owen Glendower's absence thence,
Who with them was a rated sinew too,
And comes not in, o'errul'd by prophecies,
I fear the power of Percy is too weak
To wage an instant trial with the KING.
SIR M.
Why, my good lord, you need not fear;
There's Douglas and Lord Mortimer.
ARCH.
No, Mortimer's not there.
SIR M.
But there is Mordake, Vernon, Lord Harry Percy,
And there's my Lord of Worcester; and a head
Of gallant warriors, noble gentlemen.
ARCH.
And so there is: but yet the King hath drawn
The special head of all the land together;
The Prince of Wales, Lord John of Lancaster,
The noble Westmoreland, and warlike Blunt;
And many more corrivals and dear men
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Of estimation and command in arms.
SIR M.
Doubt not, my lord, they shall be well opposed.
ARCH.
I hope no less, yet needful 'tis to fear;
And, to prevent the worst, Sir Michael, speed:
For if Lord Percy thrive not, ere the King
Dismiss his power, he means to visit us,
For he hath heard of our confederacy;
And 'tis but wisdom to make strong against him:
Therefore make haste. I must go write again
To other friends; and so, farewell, Sir Michael.
[Exeunt.]
ACT V.
Scene I. The King's Camp near Shrewsbury.
[Enter King Henry, Prince Henry, Lancaster, Sir Walter Blunt,
and Sir John Falstaff.]
KING.
How bloodily the Sun begins to peer
Above yon busky hill! the day looks pale
At his distemperature.
PRINCE.
The southern wind
Doth play the trumpet to his purposes;
And by his hollow whistling in the leaves
Foretells a tempest and a blustering day.
KING.
Then with the losers let it sympathize,
For nothing can seem foul to those that win.
[The trumpet sounds. Enter Worcester and Vernon.]
How, now, my Lord of Worcester! 'tis not well
That you and I should meet upon such terms
As now we meet. You have deceived our trust;
And made us doff our easy robes of peace,
To crush our old limbs in ungentle steel:
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This is not well, my lord, this is not well.
What say you to't? will you again unknit
This churlish knot of allabhorred war,
And move in that obedient orb again
Where you did give a fair and natural light;
And be no more an exhaled meteor,
A prodigy of fear, and a portent
Of broached mischief to the unborn times?
WOR.
Hear me, my liege:
For mine own part, I could be well content
To entertain the lagend of my life
With quiet hours; for I do protest,
I have not sought the day of this dislike.
KING.
You have not sought it! why, how comes it, then?
FAL.
Rebellion lay in his way, and he found it.
PRINCE.
Peace, chewet, peace!
WOR.
It pleased your Majesty to turn your looks
Of favour from myself and all our House;
And yet I must remember you, my lord,
We were the first and dearest of your friends.
For you my staff of office did I break
In Richard's time; and posted day and night
To meet you on the way, and kiss your hand,
When yet you were in place and in account
Nothing so strong and fortunate as I.
It was myself, my brother, and his son,
That brought you home, and boldly did outdare
The dangers of the time. You swore to us,
And you did swear that oath at Doncaster,
That you did nothing purpose 'gainst the state;
Nor claim no further than your newfall'n right,
The seat of Gaunt, dukedom of Lancaster:
To this we swore our aid. But in short space
It rain'd down fortune showering on your head;
And such a flood of greatness fell on you,
What with our help, what with the absent King,
What with the injuries of a wanton time,
The seeming sufferances that you had borne,
And the contrarious winds that held the King
So long in his unlucky Irish wars
That all in England did repute him dead,
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And, from this swarm of fair advantages,
You took occasion to be quickly woo'd
To gripe the general sway into your hand;
Forgot your oath to us at Doncaster;
And, being fed by us, you used us so
As that ungentle gull, the cuckoobird,
Useth the sparrow; did oppress our nest;
Grew by our feeding to so great a bulk,
That even our love thirst not come near your sight
For fear of swallowing; but with nimble wing
We were enforced, for safetysake, to fly
Out of your sight, and raise this present head:
Whereby we stand opposed by such means
As you yourself have forged against yourself,
By unkind usage, dangerous countenance,
And violation of all faith and troth
Sworn to tis in your younger enterprise.
KING.
These things, indeed, you have articulate,
Proclaim'd at marketcrosses, read in churches,
To face the garment of rebellion
With some fine colour that may please the eye
Of fickle changelings and poor discontents,
Which gape and rub the elbow at the news
Of hurlyburly innovation:
And never yet did insurrection want
Such watercolours to impaint his cause;
Nor moody beggars, starving for a time
Of pellmell havoc and confusion.
PRINCE.
In both our armies there is many a soul
Shall pay full dearly for this encounter,
If once they join in trial. Tell your nephew,
The Prince of Wales doth join with all the world
In praise of Henry Percy: by my hopes,
This present enterprise set off his head,
I do not think a braver gentleman,
More activevaliant or more valiantyoung,
More daring or more bold, is now alive
To grace this latter age with noble deeds.
For my part,I may speak it to my shame,
I have a truant been to chivalry;
And so I hear he doth account me too:
Yet this before my father's Majesty,
I am content that he shall take the odds
Of his great name and estimation,
And will, to save the blood on either side,
Try fortune with him in a single fight.
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KING.
And, Prince of Wales, so dare we venture thee,
Albeit considerations infinite
Do make against it.No, good Worcester, no;
We love our people well; even those we love
That are misled upon your cousin's part;
And, will they take the offer of our grace,
Both he, and they, and you, yea, every man
Shall be my friend again, and I'll be his:
So tell your cousin, and then bring me word
What he will do: but, if he will not yield,
Rebuke and dread correction wait on us,
And they shall do their office. So, be gone;
We will not now be troubled with reply:
We offer fair; take it advisedly.
[Exit Worcester with Vernon.]
PRINCE.
It will not be accepted, on my life:
The Douglas and the Hotspur both together
Are confident against the world in arms.
KING.
Hence, therefore, every leader to his charge;
For, on their answer, will we set on them:
And God befriend us, as our cause is just!
[Exeunt the King, Blunt, and Prince John.]
FAL.
Hal, if thou see me down in the battle, and bestride me,
so; 'tis a point of friendship.
PRINCE.
Nothing but a colossus can do thee that friendship.
Say thy prayers, and farewell.
FAL.
I would it were bedtime, Hal, and all well.
PRINCE.
Why, thou owest God a death.
[Exit.]
FAL.
'Tis not due yet; I would be loth to pay Him before His day.
What need I be so forward with him that calls not on me?
Well, 'tis no matter; honour pricks me on. Yea, but how if honour
prick me off when I come on? how then? Can honor setto a leg?
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no: or an arm? no: or take away the grief of a wound? no. Honour
hath no skill in surgery then? no. What is honour? a word. What
is that word, honour? air. A trim reckoning!Who hath it? he that
died o' Wednesday. Doth he feel it? no. Doth be hear it? no. Is it
insensible, then? yea, to the dead. But will it not live with the
living? no. Why? detraction will not suffer it. Therefore I'll none
of it: honour is a mere scutcheon:and so ends my catechism.
[Exit.]
Scene II. The Rebel Camp.
[Enter Worcester and Vernon.]
WOR.
O no, my nephew must not know, Sir Richard,
The liberalkind offer of the KING.
VER.
'Twere best he did.
WOR.
Then are we all undone.
It is not possible, it cannot be,
The King should keep his word in loving us;
He will suspect us still, and find a time
To punish this offence in other faults:
Suspicion all our lives shall be stuck full of eyes;
For treason is but trusted like the fox,
Who, ne'er so tame, so cherish'd, and lock'd up,
Will have a wild trick of his ancestors.
Look how we can, or sad or merrily,
Interpretation will misquote our looks;
And we shall feed like oxen at a stall,
The better cherish'd, still the nearer death.
My nephew's trespass may be well forgot:
It hath th' excuse of youth and heat of blood,
And an adopted name of privilege,
A harebrain'd Hotspur, govern'd by a spleen:
All his offences live upon my head
And on his father's: we did train him on;
And, his corruption being ta'en from us,
We, as the spring of all, shall pay for all.
Therefore, good cousin, let not Harry know,
In any case, the offer of the KING.
VER.
Deliver what you will, I'll say 'tis so.
Here comes your cousin.
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[Enter Hotspur and Douglas; Officers and Soldiers behind.]
HOT.
My uncle is return'd: deliver up
My Lord of Westmoreland.Uncle, what news?
WOR.
The King will bid you battle presently.
DOUG.
Defy him by the Lord Of WESTMORELAND.
HOT.
Lord Douglas, go you and tell him so.
DOUG.
Marry, I shall, and very willingly.
[Exit.]
WOR.
There is no seeming mercy in the KING.
HOT.
Did you beg any? God forbid!
WOR.
I told him gently of our grievances,
Of his oathbreaking; which he mended thus,
By newforswearing that he is forsworn:
He calls us rebels, traitors; and will scourge
With haughty arms this hateful name in us.
[Reenter Douglas.]
DOUG.
Arm, gentlemen; to arms! for I have thrown
A brave defiance in King Henry's teeth,
And Westmoreland, that was engaged, did bear it;
Which cannot choose but bring him quickly on.
WOR.
The Prince of Wales stepp'd forth before the King,
And, nephew, challenged you to single fight.
HOT.
O, would the quarrel lay upon our heads;
And that no man might draw short breath today
But I and Harry Monmouth! Tell me, tell me,
How show'd his tasking? seem'd it in contempt?
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VER.
No, by my soul: I never in my life
Did hear a challenge urged more modestly,
Unless a brother should a brother dare
To gentle exercise and proof of arms.
He gave you all the duties of a man;
Trimm'd up your praises with a princely tongue;
Spoke your deservings like a chronicle;
Making you ever better than his praise,
By still dispraising praise valued with you;
And, which became him like a prince indeed,
He made a blushing cital of himself;
And chid his truant youth with such a grace,
As if he master'd there a double spirit,
Of teaching and of learning instantly.
There did he pause: but let me tell the world,
If he outlive the envy of this day,
England did never owe so sweet a hope,
So much misconstrued in his wantonness.
HOT.
Cousin, I think thou art enamoured
Upon his follies: never did I hear
Of any prince so wild o' liberty.
But be he as he will, yet once ere night
I will embrace him with a soldier's arm,
That he shall shrink under my courtesy.
Arm, arm with speed: and, fellows, soldiers, friends,
Better consider what you have to do
Than I, that have not well the gift of tongue,
Can lift your blood up with persuasion.
[Enter a Messenger.]
MESS.
My lord, here are letters for you.
HOT.
I cannot read them now.
O gentlemen, the time of life is short!
To spend that shortness basely were too long,
If life did ride upon a dial's point,
Still ending at th' arrival of an hour.
An if we live, we live to tread on kings;
If die, brave death, when princes die with us!
Now, for our consciences, the arms are fair,
When the intent of bearing them is just.
[Enter another Messenger.]
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MESS.
My lord, prepare: the King comes on apace.
HOT.
I thank him, that he cuts me from my tale,
For I profess not talking; only this,
Let each man do his best: and here draw I
A sword, whose temper I intend to stain
With the best blood that I can meet withal
In the adventure of this perilous day.
Now, Esperance! Percy! and set on.
Sound all the lofty instruments of war,
And by that music let us all embrace;
For, Heaven to Earth, some of us never shall
A second time do such a courtesy.
[The trumpets sound. They embrace, and exeunt.]
Scene III. Plain between the Camps.
[Excursions, and Parties fighting. Alarum to the battle.
Then enter Douglas and Sir Walter Blunt, meeting.]
BLUNT.
What is thy name, that in the battle thus
Thou crossest me? what honour dost thou seek
Upon my head?
DOUG.
Know, then, my name is Douglas,
And I do haunt thee in the battle thus
Because some tell me that thou art a KING.
BLUNT.
They tell thee true.
DOUG.
The Lord of Stafford dear today hath bought
Thy likeness; for, instead of thee, King Harry,
This sword hath ended him: so shall it thee,
Unless thou yield thee as my prisoner.
BLUNT.
I was not born a yielder, thou proud Scot;
And thou shalt find a king that will revenge
Lord Stafford's death.
[They fight, and Blunt is slain. Enter Hotspur.]
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HOT.
O Douglas, hadst thou fought at Holmedon thus,
I never had triumphed o'er a Scot.
DOUG.
All's done, all's won; here breathless lies the KING.
HOT.
Where?
DOUG.
Here.
HOT.
This, Douglas? no; I know this face full well:
A gallant knight he was, his name was Blunt;
Semblably furnish'd like the King himself.
DOUG.
A fool go with thy soul, where're it goes!
A borrow'd title hast thou bought too dear:
Why didst thou tell me that thou wert a king?
HOT.
The King hath many marching in his coats.
DOUG.
Now, by my sword, I will kill all his coats;
I'll murder all his wardrobe piece by piece,
Until I meet the KING.
HOT.
Up, and away!
Our soldiers stand full fairly for the day.
[Exeunt.]
[Alarums. Enter Falstaff.]
FAL.
Though I could 'scape shotfree at London, I fear the shot
here; here's no scoring but upon the pate.Soft! who are you?
Sir Walter Blunt: there's honour for you! here's no vanity! I am
as hot as molten lead, and as heavy too: God keep lead out of me!
I need no more weight than mine own bowels. I have led my
ragamuffins where they are peppered: there's not three of my
hundred and fifty left alive; and they are for the town's end, to
beg during life. But who comes here?
[Enter Prince Henry.]
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PRINCE.
What, stand'st thou idle here? lend me thy sword:
Many a nobleman lies stark and stiff
Under the hoofs of vaunting enemies,
Whose deaths are yet unrevenged: I pr'ythee,
Lend me thy sword.
FAL.
O Hal, I pr'ythee give me leave to breathe awhile. Turk
Gregory never did such deeds in arms as I have done this
day. I have paid Percy, I have made him sure.
PRINCE.
He is indeed; and living to kill thee.
I pr'ythee, lend me thy sword.
FAL.
Nay, before God, Hal, if Percy be alive, thou gett'st not
my sword; but take my pistol, if thou wilt.
PRINCE.
Give it me: what, is it in the case?
FAL.
Ay, Hal. 'Tis hot, 'tis hot: there's that will sack a city.
[The Prince draws out a bottle of sack.]
What, is't a time to jest and dally now?
[Throws it at him, and exit.]
FAL.
Well, if Percy be alive, I'll pierce him. If he do come in my
way, so; if he do not, if I come in his willingly, let him make
a carbonado of me. I like not such grinning honour as Sir
Walter hath: give me life; which if I can save, so; if not,
honour comes unlooked for, and there's an end.
[Exit.]
Scene IV. Another Part of the Field.
[Alarums. Excursions. Enter King Henry, Prince Henry,
Lancaster, and Westmoreland.]
KING.
I pr'ythee,
Harry, withdraw thyself; thou bleedest too much.
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Lord John of Lancaster, go you unto him.
LAN.
Not I, my lord, unless I did bleed too.
PRINCE.
I do beseech your Majesty, make up,
Lest your retirement do amaze your friends.
KING.
I will do so.
My Lord of Westmoreland, lead him to his tent.
WEST.
Come, my lord, I'll lead you to your tent.
PRINCE.
Lead me, my lord? I do not need your help:
And God forbid, a shallow scratch should drive
The Prince of Wales from such a field as this,
Where stain'd nobility lies trodden on,
And rebels' arms triumph in massacres!
LAN.
We breathe too long:come, cousin Westmoreland,
Our duty this way lies; for God's sake, come.
[Exeunt Lancaster and Westmoreland.]
PRINCE.
By Heaven, thou hast deceived me, Lancaster;
I did not think thee lord of such a spirit:
Before, I loved thee as a brother, John;
But now I do respect thee as my soul.
KING.
I saw him hold Lord Percy at the point
With lustier maintenance than I did look for
Of such an ungrown warrior.
PRINCE.
O, this boy
Lends mettle to us all!
[Exit.]
[Alarums. Enter Douglas.]
DOUG.
Another king! they grow like Hydra's heads:
I am the Douglas, fatal to all those
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That wear those colours on them.What art thou,
That counterfeit'st the person of a king?
KING.
The King himself; who, Douglas, grieves at heart
So many of his shadows thou hast met,
And not the very King. I have two boys
Seek Percy and thyself about the field:
But, seeing thou fall'st on me so luckily,
I will assay thee; so, defend thyself.
DOUG.
I fear thou art another counterfeit;
And yet, in faith, thou bear'st thee like a king:
But mine I'm sure thou art, whoe'er thou be,
And thus I win thee.
[They fight; the King being in danger, reenter Prince Henry.]
PRINCE.
Hold up thy head, vile Scot, or thou art like
Never to hold it up again! the spirits
Of valiant Shirley, Stafford, Blunt are in my arms:
It is the Prince of Wales that threatens thee;
Who never promiseth but he means to pay.
[They fight: Douglas flies.]
Cheerly, my lord: how fares your Grace?
Sir Nicholas Gawsey hath for succour sent,
And so hath Clifton: I'll to Clifton straight.
KING.
Stay, and breathe awhile:
Thou hast redeem'd thy lost opinion;
And show'd thou makest some tender of my life,
In this fair rescue thou hast brought to me.
PRINCE.
O God, they did me too much injury
That ever said I hearken'd for your death!
If it were so, I might have let alone
Th' insulting hand of Douglas over you,
Which would have been as speedy in your end
As all the poisonous potions in the world,
And saved the treacherous labour of your son.
KING.
Make up to Clifton: I'll to Sir Nicholas Gawsey.
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[Exit.]
[Enter Hotspur.]
HOT.
If I mistake not, thou art Harry Monmouth.
PRINCE.
Thou speak'st as if I would deny my name.
HOT.
My name is Harry Percy.
PRINCE.
Why, then I see
A very valiant rebel of the name.
I am the Prince of Wales; and think not, Percy,
To share with me in glory any more:
Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere;
Nor can one England brook a double reign,
Of Harry Percy and the Prince of Wales.
HOT.
Nor shall it, Harry; for the hour is come
To end the one of us; and would to God
Thy name in arms were now as great as mine!
PRINCE.
I'll make it greater ere I part from thee;
And all the budding honours on thy crest
I'll crop, to make a garland for my head.
HOT.
I can no longer brook thy vanities.
[They fight.]
[Enter Falstaff.]
FAL.
Well said, Hal! to it, Hal! Nay, you shall find no boy's
play here, I can tell you.
[Reenter Douglas; he fights with Falstaff, who falls down as if
he were dead, and exit Douglas. Hotspure is wounded, and falls.]
HOT.
O Harry, thou hast robb'd me of my youth!
I better brook the loss of brittle life
Than those proud titles thou hast won of me;
They wound my thoughts worse than thy sword my flesh:
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But thoughts the slave of life, and life Time's fool,
And Time, that takes survey of all the world,
Must have a stop. O, I could prophesy,
But that the earthy and cold hand of death
Lies on my tongue: no, Percy, thou art dust,
And food for
[Dies.]
PRINCE.
For worms, brave Percy: fare thee well, great heart!
Illweaved ambition, how much art thou shrunk!
When that this body did contain a spirit,
A kingdom for it was too small a bound;
But now two paces of the vilest earth
Is room enough. This earth that bears thee dead
Bears not alive so stout a gentleman.
If thou wert sensible of courtesy,
I should not make so dear a show of zeal:
But let my favours hide thy mangled face;
And, even in thy behalf, I'll thank myself
For doing these fair rites of tenderness.
Adieu, and take thy praise with thee to Heaven!
Thy ignominy sleep with thee in the grave,
But not remember'd in thy epitaph!
[Sees Falstaff on the ground.]
What, old acquaintance? could not all this flesh
Keep in a little life? Poor Jack, farewell!
I could have better spared a better man:
O, I should have a heavy miss of thee,
If I were much in love with vanity!
Death hath not struck so fat a deer today,
Though many dearer, in this bloody fray.
Embowell'd will I see thee byandby:
Till then in blood by noble Percy lie.
[Exit.]
FAL.
[Rising.] Embowell'd! if thou embowel me today, I'll give you leave
to powder me and eat me too tomorrow. 'Sblood, 'twas time to
counterfeit, or that hot termagant Scot had paid me scot and lot too.
Counterfeit! I lie; I am no counterfeit: to die, is to be a
counterfeit; for he is but the counterfeit of a man who hath not the
life of a man: but to counterfeit dying, when a man thereby liveth,
is to be no counterfeit, but the true and perfect image of life indeed.
The better part of valour is discretion; in the which better part I
have saved my life.
Zwounds, I am afraid of this gunpowder Percy, though he be dead: how,
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if he should counterfeit too, and rise? by my faith, I am afraid he
would prove the better counterfeit. Therefore I'll make him sure; yea,
and I'll swear I kill'd him. Why may not he rise as well as I?
Nothing confutes me but eyes, and nobody sees me. Therefore,
sirrah, with a new wound in your thigh, come you along with me.
[Takes Hotspur on his hack.]
[Reenter Prince Henry and Lancaster.]
PRINCE.
Come, brother John; full bravely hast thou flesh'd
Thy maiden sword.
LAN.
But, soft! whom have we here?
Did you not tell me this fat man was dead?
PRINCE.
I did; I saw him dead, breathless and bleeding
Upon the ground.
Art thou alive? or is it fantasy
That plays upon our eyesight? I pr'ythee, speak;
We will not trust our eyes without our ears.
Thou art not what thou seem'st.
FAL.
No, that's certain; I am not a double man: but if I be not
Jack Falstaff, then am I a Jack. There is Percy! [Throwing the
body down.] if your father will do me any honour, so; if not, let
him kill the next Percy himself. I look to be either earl or
duke, I can assure you.
PRINCE.
Why, Percy I kill'd myself, and saw thee dead.
FAL.
Didst thou? Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying!
I grant you I was down and out of breath; and so was he: but
we rose both at an instant, and fought a long hour by Shrewsbury
clock. If I may be believed, so; if not, let them that should
reward valour bear the sin upon their own heads. I'll take it upon
my death, I gave him this wound in the thigh: if the man were
alive, and would deny it, zwounds, I would make him eat a piece of
my sword.
LAN.
This is the strangest tale that ever I heard.
PRINCE.
This is the strangest fellow, brother John.
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Come, bring your luggage nobly on your back:
For my part, if a lie may do thee grace,
I'll gild it with the happiest terms I have.
[A retreat is sounded.]
The trumpet sounds retreat; the day is ours.
Come, brother, let's to th' highest of the field,
To see what friends are living, who are dead.
[Exeunt Prince Henry and Lancaster.]
FAL.
I'll follow, as they say, for reward. He that rewards me, God
reward him! If I do grow great, I'll grow less; for I'll purge,
and leave sack, and live cleanly as a nobleman should do.
[Exit, bearing off the body.]
Scene V. Another Part of the Field.
[The trumpets sound. Enter King Henry, Prince Henry,
Lancaster, Westmoreland, and others, with Worcester and
Vernon prisoners.]
KING.
Thus ever did rebellion find rebuke.
Illspirited Worcester! did not we send grace,
Pardon, and terms of love to all of you?
And wouldst thou turn our offers contrary?
Misuse the tenour of thy kinsman's trust?
Three knights upon our party slain today,
A noble earl, and many a creature else,
Had been alive this hour,
If, like a Christian, thou hadst truly borne
Betwixt our armies true intelligence.
WOR.
What I have done my safety urged me to;
And I embrace this fortune patiently,
Since not to be avoided it fails on me.
KING.
Bear Worcester to the death, and Vernon too:
Other offenders we will pause upon.
[Exeunt Worcester and Vernon, guarded.]
How goes the field?
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PRINCE.
The noble Scot, Lord Douglas, when he saw
The fortune of the day quite turn'd from him,
The noble Percy slain, and all his men
Upon the foot of fear, fled with the rest;
And, falling from a hill, he was so bruised
That the pursuers took him. At my tent
The Douglas is: and I beseech your Grace
I may dispose of him.
KING.
With all my heart.
PRINCE.
Then, brother John of Lancaster, to you
This honourable bounty shall belong:
Go to the Douglas, and deliver him
Up to his pleasure, ransomless and free:
His valour, shown upon our crests today,
Hath taught us how to cherish such high deeds
Even in the bosom of our adversaries.
KING.
Then this remains, that we divide our power.
You, son John, and my cousin Westmoreland,
Towards York shall bend you with your dearest speed,
To meet Northumberland and the prelate Scroop,
Who, as we hear, are busily in arms:
Myself,and you, son Harry,will towards Wales,
To fight with Glendower and the Earl of March.
Rebellion in this land shall lose his sway,
Meeting the check of such another day;
And since this business so fair is done,
Let us not leave till all our own be won.
[Exeunt.]
KING HENRY IV, SECOND PART
by William Shakespeare
Dramatis Personae
Henry IV Parts III, Henry V
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RUMOUR, the Presenter.
KING HENRY the Fourth.
His sons
HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES, afterwards King Henry V.
THOMAS, DUKE OF CLARENCE.
PRINCE JOHN OF LANCASTER.
PRINCE HUMPHREY OF GLOUCESTER.
EARL OF WARWICK.
EARL OF WESTMORELAND.
EARL OF SURREY.
GOWER.
HARCOURT.
BLUNT.
Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench.
A Servant of the ChiefJustice.
EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND.
SCROOP, Archbishop of York.
LORD MOWBRAY.
LORD HASTINGS.
LORD BARDOLPH.
SIR JOHN COLEVILE.
TRAVERS and MORTON, retainers of Northumberland.
SIR JOHN FALSTAFF.
His Page.
BARDOLPH.
PISTOL.
POINS.
PETO.
SHALLOW and SILENCE, country justices.
DAVY, Servant to SHALLOW.
MOULDY, SHADOW, WART, FEEBLE, and BULLCALF, recruits.
FANG and SNARE, sheriff's officers.
LADY NORTHUMBERLAND.
LADY PERCY.
MISTRESS QUICKLY, hostess of a tavern in Eastcheap.
DOLL TEARSHEET.
Lords and Attendants; Porter, Drawers, Beadles, Grooms, etc.
A Dancer, speaker of the epilogue.
SCENE: England.
INTRODUCTION
Warkworth. Before the castle.
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[Enter Rumour, painted full of tongues.]
RUMOUR.
Open your ears; for which of you will stop
The vent of hearing when loud Rumour speaks?
I, from the orient to the drooping west,
Making the wind my posthorse, still unfold
The acts commenced on this ball of earth:
Upon my tongues continual slanders ride,
The which in every language I pronounce,
Stuffing the ears of men with false reports.
I speak of peace, while covert emnity
Under the smile of safety wounds the world:
And who but Rumour, who but only I,
Make fearful musters and prepared defence,
Whiles the big year, swoln with some other grief,
Is thought with child by the stern tyrant war,
And no such matter? Rumour is a pipe
Blown by surmises, jealousies, conjectures,
And of so easy and so plain a stop
That the blunt monster with uncounted heads,
The stilldiscordant wavering multitude,
Can play upon it. But what need I thus
My wellknown body to anatomize
Among my household? Why is Rumour here?
I run before King Harry's victory;
Who in a bloody field by Shrewsbury
Hath beaten down young Hotspur and his troops,
Quenching the flame of bold rebellion
Even with the rebels' blood. But what mean I
To speak so true at first? my office is
To noise abroad that Harry Monmouth fell
Under the wrath of noble Hotspur's sword,
And that the king before the Douglas' rage
Stoop'd his anointed head as low as death.
This have I rumour'd through the peasant towns
Between that royal field of Shrewsbury
And this wormeaten hold of ragged stone,
Where Hotspur's father, old Northumberland,
Lies craftysick: the posts come tiring on,
And not a man of them brings other news
Than they have learn'd of me: from Rumour's tongues
They bring smooth comforts false, worse than true wrongs.
[Exit.]
ACT I.
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SCENE 1. The same.
[Enter Lord Bardolph.]
LORD BARDOLPH.
Who keeps the gate here, ho?
[The Porter opens the gate.]
Where is the earl?
PORTER.
What shall I say you are?
LORD BARDOLPH.
Tell thou the earl
That the Lord Bardolph doth attend him here.
PORTER.
His lordship is walk'd forth into the orchard:
Please it your honour, knock but at the gate,
And he himself will answer.
[Enter Northumberland.]
LORD BARDOLPH.
Here comes the earl.
[Exit Porter.]
NORTHUMBERLAND.
What news, Lord Bardolph? every minute now
Should be the father of some stratagem:
The times are wild; contention, like a horse
Full of high feeding, madly hath broke loose
And bears down all before him.
LORD BARDOLPH.
Noble earl,
I bring you certain news from Shrewsbury.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
Good, an God will!
LORD BARDOLPH.
As good as heart can wish:
The king is almost wounded to the death;
And, in the fortune of my lord your son,
Prince Harry slain outright; and both the Blunts
Kill'd by the hand of Douglas; young Prince John,
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And Westmoreland and Stafford fled the field:
And Harry Monmouth's brawn, the hulk Sir John,
Is prisoner to your son: O, such a day,
So fought, so follow'd and so fairly won,
Came not till now to dignify the times,
Since Caesar's fortunes!
NORTHUMBERLAND.
How is this derived?
Saw you the field? came you from Shrewsbury?
LORD BARDOLPH.
I spake with one, my lord, that came from thence,
A gentleman well bred and of good name,
That freely render'd me these news for true.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
Here comes my servant Travers, whom I sent
On Tuesday last to listen after news.
[Enter Travers.]
LORD BARDOLPH.
My lord, I overrode him on the way;
And he is furnish'd with no certainties
More than he haply may retail from me.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
Now, Travers, what good tidings comes with you?
TRAVERS.
My lord, Sir John Umfrevile turn'd me back
With joyful tidings; and, being better horsed,
Outrode me. After him came spurring hard
A gentleman, almost forspent with speed,
That stopp'd by me to breathe his bloodied horse.
He ask'd the way to Chester; and of him
I did demand what news from Shrewsbury:
He told me that rebellion had bad luck
And that young Harry Percy's spur was cold.
With that, he gave his able horse the head,
And bending forward struck his armed heels
Against the panting sides of his poor jade
Up to the rowelhead, and starting so
He seem'd in running to devour the way,
Staying no longer question.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
Ha! Again:
Said he young Harry Percy's spur was cold?
Of Hotspur Coldspur? that rebellion
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Had met ill luck?
LORD BARDOLPH.
My lord, I'll tell you what;
If my young lord your son have not the day,
Upon mine honour, for a silken point
I'll give my barony: never talk of it.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
Why should that gentleman that rode by Travers
Give then such instances of loss?
LORD BARDOLPH.
Who, he?
He was some hilding fellow that had stolen
The horse he rode on, and, upon my life,
Spoke at a venture. Look, here comes more news.
[Enter Morton.]
NORTHUMBERLAND.
Yea, this man's brow, like to a titleleaf,
Foretells the nature of a tragic volume:
So looks the strand whereon the imperious flood
Hath left a witness'd usurpation.
Say, Morton, didst thou come from Shrewsbury?
MORTON. I ran from Shrewsbury, my noble lord;
Where hateful death put on his ugliest mask
To fright our party.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
How doth my son and brother?
Thou tremblest; and the whiteness in thy cheek
Is apter than thy tongue to tell thy errand.
Even such a man, so faint, so spiritless,
So dull, so dread in look, so woebegone,
Drew Priam's curtain in the dead of night,
And would have told him half his Troy was burnt;
But Priam found the fire ere he his tongue,
And I my Percy's death ere thou report'st it.
This thou wouldst say: "Your son did thus and thus;
Your brother thus: so fought the noble Douglas:"
Stopping my greedy ear with their bold deeds:
But in the end, to stop my ear indeed,
Thou hast a sigh to blow away this praise,
Ending with "Brother, son, and all are dead."
MORTON.
Douglas is living, and your brother, yet:
But, for my lord your son,
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NORTHUMBERLAND.
Why, he is dead.
See what a ready tongue suspicion hath!
He that but fears the thing he would not know
Hath by instinct knowledge from others' eyes
That what he fear'd is chanced. Yet speak, Morton;
Tell thou an earl his divination lies,
And I will take it as a sweet disgrace
And make thee rich for doing me such wrong.
MORTON.
You are too great to be by me gainsaid:
Your spirit is too true, your fears too certain.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
Yet, for all this, say not that Percy's dead.
I see a strange confession in thine eye;
Thou shakest thy head and hold'st it fear or sin
To speak a truth. If he be slain, say so;
The tongue offends not that reports his death:
And he doth sin that doth belie the dead,
Not he which says the dead is not alive
Yet the first bringer of unwelcome news
Hath but a losing office, and his tongue
Sounds ever after as a sullen bell,
Remember'd tolling a departing friend.
LORD BARDOLPH.
I cannot think, my lord, your son is dead.
MORTON.
I am sorry I should force you to believe
That which I would to God I had not seen;
But these mine eyes saw him in bloody state,
Rendering faint quittance, wearied and outbreathed,
To Harry Monmouth; whose swift wrath beat down
The neverdaunted Percy to the earth,
From whence with life he never more sprung up.
In few, his death, whose spirit lent a fire
Even to the dullest peasant in his camp,
Being bruited once, took fire and heat away
From the besttemper'd courage in his troops;
For from his metal was his party steel'd;
Which once in him abated, all the rest
Turn'd on themselves, like dull and heavy lead:
And as the thing that's heavy in itself,
Upon enforcement flies with greatest speed,
So did our men, heavy in Hotspur's loss,
Lend to this weight such lightness with their fear
That arrows fled not swifter toward their aim
Than did our soldiers, aiming at their safety,
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Fly from the field. Then was that noble Worcester
Too soon ta'en prisoner; and that furious Scot,
The bloody Douglas, whose welllabouring sword
Had three times slain the appearance of the king,
'Gan vail his stomach and did grace the shame
Of those that turn'd their backs, and in his flight,
Stumbling in fear, was took. The sum of all
Is that the king hath won, and hath sent out
A speedy power to encounter you, my lord,
Under the conduct of young Lancaster
And Westmoreland. This is the news at full.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
For this I shall have time enough to mourn.
In poison there is physic; and these news,
Having been well, that would have made me sick,
Being sick, have in some measure made me well:
And as the wretch, whose feverweaken'd joints,
Like strengthless hinges, buckle under life,
Impatient of his fit, breaks like a fire
Out of his keeper's arms, even so my limbs,
Weaken'd with grief, being now enraged with grief,
Are thrice themselves. Hence, therefore, thou nice crutch!
A scaly gauntlet now with joints of steel
Must glove this hand: and hence, thou sickly quoif!
Thou art a guard too wanton for the head
Which princes, flesh'd with conquest, aim to hit.
Now bind my brows with iron; and approach
The ragged'st hour that time and spite dare bring
To frown upon the enraged Northumberland!
Let heaven kiss earth! now let not Nature's hand
Keep the wild flood confined! let order die!
And let this world no longer be a stage
To feed contention in a lingering act;
But let one spirit of the firstborn Cain
Reign in all bosoms, that, each heart being set
On bloody courses, the rude scene may end,
And darkness be the burier of the dead!
TRAVERS.
This strained passion doth you wrong, my lord.
LORD BARDOLPH.
Sweet earl, divorce not wisdom from your honour.
MORTON.
The lives of all your loving complices
Lean on your health; the which, if you give o'er
To stormy passion, must perforce decay.
You cast the event of war, my noble lord,
And summ'd the account of chance, before you said
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"Let us make head." It was your presurmise,
That, in the dole of blows, your son might drop:
You knew he walk'd o'er perils, on an edge,
More likely to fall in than to get o'er;
You were advised his flesh was capable
Of wounds and scars and that his forward spirit
Would lift him where most trade of danger ranged:
Yet did you say "Go forth;" and none of this,
Though strongly apprehended, could restrain
The stiffborne action: what hath then befallen,
Or what hath this bold enterprise brought forth,
More than that being which was like to be?
LORD BARDOLPH.
We all that are engaged to this loss
Knew that we ventured on such dangerous seas
That if we wrought out life 'twas ten to one;
And yet we ventured, for the gain proposed
Choked the respect of likely peril fear'd;
And since we are o'erset, venture again.
Come, we will put forth, body and goods.
MORTON.
'Tis more than time: and, my most noble lord,
I hear for certain, and dare speak the truth:
The gentle Archbishop of York is up
With wellappointed powers: he is a man
Who with a double surety binds his followers.
My lord your son had only but the corpse,
But shadows and the shows of men, to fight;
For that same word, rebellion, did divide
The action of their bodies from their souls;
And they did fight with queasiness, constrain'd,
As men drink potions, that their weapons only
Seem'd on our side; but, for their spirits and souls,
This word, rebellion, it had froze them up,
As fish are in a pond. But now the bishop
Turns insurrection to religion:
Supposed sincere and holy in his thoughts,
He 's follow'd both with body and with mind;
And doth enlarge his rising with the blood
Of fair King Richard, scraped from Pomfret stones;
Derives from heaven his quarrel and his cause;
Tells them he doth bestride a bleeding land,
Gasping for life under great Bolingbroke;
And more and less do flock to follow him.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
I knew of this before; but, to speak truth,
This present grief had wiped it from my mind.
Go in with me; and counsel every man
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The aptest way for safety and revenge:
Get posts and letters, and make friends with speed:
Never so few, and never yet more need.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE II. London. A street.
[Enter Falstaff, with his Page bearing his sword and buckler.]
FALSTAFF.
Sirrah, you giant, what says the doctor to my water?
PAGE.
He said, sir, the water itself was a good healthy water; but,
for the party that owed it, he might have moe diseases than he
knew for.
FALSTAFF.
Men of all sorts take a pride to gird at me: the brain of
this foolishcompounded clay, man, is not able to invent any thing
that tends to laughter, more than I invent or is invented on me:
I am not only witty in myself, but the cause that wit is in other men.
I do here walk before thee like a sow that hath overwhelmed all her
litter but one.
If the prince put thee into my service for any other reason than to
set me off, why then I have no judgement. Thou whoreson mandrake, thou
art fitter to be worn in my cap than to wait at my heels. I was never
manned with an agate till now: but I will inset you neither in gold nor
silver, but in vile apparel, and send you back again to your master, for
a jewel,the juvenal, the prince your master, whose chin is not yet
fledged. I will sooner have a beard grow in the palm of my hand than he
shall get one on his cheek; and yet he will not stick to say his face is
a faceroyal: God may finish it when he will, 'tis not a hair amiss yet:
he may keep it still at a faceroyal, for a barber shall never earn
sixpence out of it; and yet he'll be crowing as if he had writ man ever
since his father was a bachelor. He may keep his own grace, but he's
almost out of mine, I can assure him. What said Master Dombledon about
the satin for my short cloak and my slops?
PAGE.
He said, sir, you should procure him better assurance than Bardolph:
he would not take his band and yours; he liked not the security.
FALSTAFF.
Let him be damned, like the glutton! pray God his tongue be hotter!
A whoreson Achitophel! a rascally yeaforsooth knave! to bear a
gentleman in hand, and then stand upon security! The whoreson
smoothpates do now wear nothing but high shoes, and bunches of keys
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at their girdles; and if a man is through with them in honest taking
up, then they must stand upon security. I had as lief they would
put ratsbane in my mouth as offer to stop it with security.
I looked 'a should have sent me two and twenty yards of satin, as I
am a true knight, and he sends me security. Well, he may sleep in
security; for he hath the horn of abundance, and the lightness of
his wife shines through it: and yet cannot he see, though he have his
own lanthorn to light him. Where's Bardolph?
PAGE.
He's gone into Smithfield to buy your worship a horse.
FALSTAFF.
I bought him in Paul's, and he'll buy me a horse in Smithfield:
an I could get me but a wife in the stews, I were manned, horsed,
and wived.
[Enter the Lord ChiefJustice and Servant.]
PAGE. Sir, here comes the nobleman that committed the Prince for
striking him about BARDOLPH.
FALSTAFF.
Wait close; I will not see him.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
What's he that goes there?
SERVANT.
Falstaff, an 't please your lordship.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
He that was in question for the robbery?
SERVANT.
He, my lord; but he hath since done good service at
Shrewsbury; and, as I hear, is now going with some charge to the
Lord John of LANCASTER.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
What, to York? Call him back again.
SERVANT.
Sir John Falstaff!
FALSTAFF.
Boy, tell him I am deaf.
PAGE.
You must speak louder; my master is deaf.
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CHIEF JUSTICE.
I am sure he is, to the hearing of anything good.
Go, pluck him by the elbow; I must speak with him.
SERVANT.
Sir John!
FALSTAFF.
What! a young knave, and begging! Is there not wars? is
there not employment? doth not the king lack subjects? do not the
rebels need soldiers? Though it be a shame to be on any side but
one, it is worse shame to beg than to be on the worst side, were
it worse than the name of rebellion can tell how to make it.
SERVANT.
You mistake me, sir.
FALSTAFF.
Why, sir, did I say you were an honest man? setting my knighthood
and my soldiership aside, I had lied in my throat, if I had said so.
SERVANT.
I pray you, sir, then set your knighthood and your soldiership aside;
and give me leave to tell you, you lie in your throat, if you say I
am any other than an honest man.
FALSTAFF.
I give thee leave to tell me so! I lay aside that which grows to me!
If thou gettest any leave of me, hang me; if thou takest leave,
thou wert better be hanged. You hunt counter: hence! avaunt!
SERVANT.
Sir, my lord would speak with you.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Sir John Falstaff, a word with you.
FALSTAFF.
My good lord! God give your lordship good time of day. I am glad to
see your lordship abroad: I heard say your lordship was sick:
I hope your lordship goes abroad by advice. Your lordship, though
not clean past your youth, hath yet some smack of age in you, some
relish of the saltness of time; and I most humbly beseech your lordship
to have a reverend care of your health.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Sir John, I sent for you before your expedition to Shrewsbury.
FALSTAFF.
An 't please your lordship, I hear his majesty is returned
with some discomfort from Wales.
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CHIEF JUSTICE.
I talk not of his majesty: you would not come when I
sent for you.
FALSTAFF.
And I hear, moreover, his highness is fall'n into this same
whoreson apoplexy.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Well God mend him! I pray you, let me speak with you.
FALSTAFF.
This apoplexy is, as I take it, a kind of lethargy, an 't please
your lordship; a kind of sleeping in the blood, a whoreson tingling.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
What tell you me of it? be it as it is.
FALSTAFF.
It hath it original from much grief, from study and perturbation
of the brain: I have read the cause of his effects in Galen:
it is a kind of deafness.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
I think you are fallen into the disease, for you hear not
what I say to you.
FALSTAFF.
Very well, my lord, very well: rather, an 't please you, it
is the disease of not listening, the malady of not marking, that
I am troubled withal.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
To punish you by the heels would amend the attention
of your ears; and I care not if I do become your physician.
FALSTAFF.
I am as poor as Job, my lord, but not so patient: your lordship
may minister the potion of imprisonment to me in respect of poverty;
but how I should be your patient to follow your prescriptions,
the wise may make some dram of a scruple, or indeed a scruple itself.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
I sent for you, when there were matters against you
for your life, to come speak with me.
FALSTAFF.
As I was then advised by my learned counsel in the laws
of this landservice, I did not come.
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CHIEF JUSTICE.
Well, the truth is, Sir John, you live in great infamy.
FALSTAFF.
He that buckles himself in my belt cannot live in less.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Your means are very slender, and your waste is great.
FALSTAFF.
I would it were otherwise; I would my means were greater,
and my waist slenderer.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
You have misled the youthful PRINCE.
FALSTAFF.
The young prince hath misled me: I am the fellow with the
great belly, and he my dog.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Well, I am loath to gall a newhealed wound: your day's service
at Shrewsbury hath a little gilded over your night's exploit
on Gad'shill: you may thank the unquiet time for your quiet
o'erposting that action.
FALSTAFF.
My lord?
CHIEF JUSTICE.
But since all is well, keep it so: wake not a sleeping wolf.
FALSTAFF.
To wake a wolf is as bad as smell a fox.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
What! you are as a candle, the better part burnt out.
FALSTAFF.
A wassail candle, my lord, all tallow: if I did say of wax, my
growth would approve the truth.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
There is not a white hair in your face but should have his
effect of gravity.
FALSTAFF.
His effect of gravy, gravy, gravy.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
You follow the young prince up and down, like his ill angel.
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FALSTAFF.
Not so, my lord; your ill angel is light; but I hope he that looks
upon me will take me without weighing: and yet, in some respects,
I grant, I cannot go: I cannot tell. Virtue is of so little regard
in these costermonger times that true valour is turned bearherd;
pregnancy is made a tapster, and hath his quick wit wasted in giving
reckonings: all the other gifts appertinent to man, as the malice of
this age shapes them, are not worth a gooseberry. You that are old
consider not the capacities of us that are young; you do measure the
heat of our livers with the bitterness of your galls: and we that
are in the vaward of our youth, I must confess, are wags too.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Do you set down your name in the scroll of youth, that are written
down old with all the characters of age? Have you not a moist eye?
a dry hand? a yellow cheek? a white beard? a decreasing leg? an
increasing belly? is not your voice broken? your wind short? your
chin double? your wit single? and every part about you blasted
with antiquity? and will you yet call yourself young? Fie, fie,
fie, Sir John!
FALSTAFF.
My lord, I was born about three of the clock in the afternoon,
with a white head and something a round belly. For my voice, I
have lost it with halloing and singing of anthems. To approve my
youth further, I will not: the truth is, I am only old in judgement
and understanding; and he that will caper with me for a thousand
marks, let him lend me the money, and have at him!
For the box of the ear that the prince gave you, he gave it like a
rude prince, and you took it like a sensible lord. I have checked
him for it, and the young lion repents; marry, not in ashes and
sackcloth, but in new silk and old sack.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Well, God send the prince a better companion!
FALSTAFF.
God send the companion a better prince! I cannot rid my hands of him.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Well, the king hath severed you and Prince Harry:
I hear you are going with Lord John of Lancaster against the
Archbishop and the Earl of Northumberland.
FALSTAFF.
Yea; I thank your pretty sweet wit for it. But look you pray, all
you that kiss my lady Peace at home, that our armies join not in a
hot day; for, by the Lord, I take but two shirts out with me, and I
mean not to sweat extraordinarily: if it be a hot day, and I brandish
any thing but a bottle, I would I might never spit white again.
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There is not a dangerous action can peep out his head but I am thrust
upon it: well, I cannot last ever: but it was alway yet the trick of
our English nation, if they have a good thing, to make it too common.
If ye will needs say I am an old man, you should give me rest. I
would to God my name were not so terrible to the enemy as it is:
I were better to be eaten to death with a rust than to be scoured to
nothing with perpetual motion.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Well, be honest, be honest; and God bless your expedition!
FALSTAFF.
Will your lordship lend me a thousand pound to furnish me forth?
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Not a penny, not a penny; you are too impatient to bear crosses.
Fare you well: commend me to my cousin WESTMORELAND.
[Exeunt ChiefJustice and Servant.]
FALSTAFF.
If I do, fillip me with a threeman beetle. A man can no more separate
age and covetousness than 'a can part young limbs and lechery: but
the gout galls the one, and the pox pinches the other; and so both the
degrees prevent my curses. Boy!
PAGE.
Sir?
FALSTAFF.
What money is in my purse?
PAGE.
Seven groats and two pence.
FALSTAFF.
I can get no remedy against this consumption of the purse:
borrowing only lingers and lingers it out, but the disease is
incurable. Go bear this letter to my Lord of Lancaster; this to the
prince; this to the Earl of Westmoreland; and this to old Mistress
Ursula, whom I have weekly sworn to marry since I perceived the
first white hair of my chin. About it: you know where to find me.
[Exit Page.]
A pox of this gout! or, a gout of this pox! for the one or the other
plays the rogue with my great toe. 'Tis no matter if I do halt; I
have the wars for my colour, and my pension shall seem the more
reasonable. A good wit will make use of any thing: I will turn
diseases to commodity.
[Exit.]
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SCENE III. York. The Archbishop's palace.
[Enter the Archbishop, the Lords Hastings, Mowbray, Bardolph.]
ARCHBISHOP.
Thus have you heard our cause and known our means;
And, my most noble friends, I pray you all,
Speak plainly your opinions of our hopes:
And first, lord marshal, what say you to it?
MOWBRAY.
I well allow the occasion of our arms;
But gladly would be better satisfied
How in our means we should advance ourselves
To look with forehead bold and big enough
Upon the power and puissance of the KING.
HASTINGS.
Our present musters grow upon the file
To five and twenty thousand men of choice;
And our supplies live largely in the hope
Of great Northumberland, whose bosom burns
With an incensed fire of injuries.
LORD BARDOLPH.
The question then, Lord Hastings, standeth thus:
Whether our present five and twenty thousand
May hold up head without Northumberland?
HASTINGS.
With him, we may.
LORD BARDOLPH.
Yea, marry, there 's the point:
But if without him we be thought too feeble,
My judgement is, we should not step too far
Till we had his assistance by the hand;
For in a theme so bloodyfaced as this
Conjecture, expectation, and surmise
Of aids incertain should not be admitted.
ARCHBISHOP.
'Tis very true, Lord Bardolph; for indeed
It was young Hotspur's case at Shrewsbury.
LORD BARDOLPH.
It was, my lord; who lined himself with hope,
Eating the air on promise of supply,
Flattering himself in project of a power
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Much smaller than the smallest of his thoughts:
And so, with great imagination
Proper to madmen, led his powers to death
And winking leap'd into destruction.
HASTINGS.
But, by your leave, it never yet did hurt
To lay down likelihoods and forms of hope.
LORD BARDOLPH.
Yes, if this present quality of war,
Indeed the instant action: a cause on foot
Lives so in hope as in an early spring
We see the appearing buds; which to prove fruit,
Hope gives not so much warrant as despair
That frosts will bite them. When we mean to build,
We first survey the plot, then draw the model;
And when we see the figure of the house,
Then we must rate the cost of the erection;
Which if we find outweighs ability,
What do we then but draw anew the model
In fewer offices, or at least desist
To build at all? Much more, in this great work,
Which is almost to pluck a kingdom down
And set another up, should we survey
The plot of situation and the model,
Consent upon a sure foundation,
Question surveyors, know our own estate,
How able such a work to undergo,
To weigh against his opposite; or else
We fortify in paper and in figures,
Using the names of men instead of men;
Like one that draws the model of a house
Beyond his power to build it; who, half through,
Gives o'er and leaves his partcreated cost
A naked subject to the weeping clouds
And waste for churlish winter's tyranny.
HASTINGS.
Grant that our hopes, yet likely of fair birth,
Should be stillborn, and that we now possess'd
The utmost man of expectation,
I think we are a body strong enough,
Even as we are, to equal with the KING.
LORD BARDOLPH.
What, is the king but five and twenty thousand?
HASTINGS.
To us no more; nay, not so much, LORD BARDOLPH.
For his divisions, as the times do brawl,
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Are in three heads: one power against the French,
And one against Glendower; perforce a third
Must take up us: so is the unfirm king
In three divided; and his coffers sound
With hollow poverty and emptiness.
ARCHBISHOP.
That he should draw his several strengths together
And come against us in full puissance,
Need not be dreaded.
HASTINGS.
If he should do so,
He leaves his back unarm'd, the French and Welsh
Baying him at the heels: never fear that.
LORD BARDOLPH.
Who is it like should lead his forces hither?
HASTINGS.
The Duke of Lancaster and Westmoreland;
Against the Welsh, himself and Harry Monmouth:
But who is substituted 'gainst the French,
I have no certain notice.
ARCHBISHOP.
Let us on,
And publish the occasion of our arms.
The commonwealth is sick of their own choice;
Their overgreedy love hath surfeited:
An habitation giddy and unsure
Hath he that buildeth on the vulgar heart.
O thou fond many, with what loud applause
Didst thou beat heaven with blessing Bolingbroke,
Before he was what thou wouldst have him be!
And being now trimm'd in thine own desires,
Thou, beastly feeder, art so full of him,
That thou provokest thyself to cast him up.
So, so, thou common dog, didst thou disgorge
Thy glutton bosom of the royal Richard;
And now thou wouldst eat thy dead vomit up,
And howl'st to find it. What trust is in these times?
They that, when Richard lived, would have him die,
Are now become enamour'd on his grave:
Thou that threw'st dust upon his goodly head
When through proud London he came sighing on
After the admired heels of Bolingbroke,
Criest now "O earth, yield us that king again,
And take thou this!" O thoughts of men accursed!
Past and to come seems best; things present worst.
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MOWBRAY.
Shall we go draw our numbers, and set on?
HASTINGS.
We are time's subjects, and time bids be gone.
[Exeunt.]
ACT II.
SCENE I. London. A street.
[Enter Hostess, Fang and his Boy with her, and Snare following.]
HOSTESS.
Master Fang, have you entered the action?
FANG.
It is entered.
HOSTESS.
Where 's your yeoman? Is 't a lusty yeoman? will 'a stand to 't?
FANG.
Sirrah, where 's Snare?
HOSTESS.
O Lord, ay! good Master Snare.
SNARE.
Here, here.
FANG.
Snare, we must arrest Sir John FALSTAFF.
HOSTESS.
Yea, good Master Snare; I have entered him and all.
SNARE.
It may chance cost some of our lives, for he will stab.
HOSTESS.
Alas the day! take heed of him; he stabbed me in mine own house,
and that most beastly: in good faith, he cares not what
mischief he does, if his weapon be out: he will foin like any
devil; he will spare neither man, woman, nor child.
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FANG.
If I can close with him, I care not for his thrust.
HOSTESS.
No, nor I neither: I'll be at your elbow.
FANG.
An I but fist him once; an 'a come but within my vice,
HOSTESS.
I am undone by his going; I warrant you, he 's an
infinitive thing upon my score. Good Master Fang, hold him sure:
good Master Snare, let him not 'scape. A' comes continuantly to
Piecornersaving your manhoodsto buy a saddle; and he is
indited to dinner to the Lubber'shead in Lumbert Street, to
Master Smooth's the silkman: I pray ye, since my exion is
entered and my case so openly known to the world, let him be
brought in to his answer. A hundred mark is a long one for a poor
lone woman to bear: and I have borne, and borne, and borne; and
have been fubbed off, and fubbed off, and fubbed off, from this
day to that day, that it is a shame to be thought on. There is no
honesty in such dealing; unless a woman should be made an ass and
a beast, to bear every knave's wrong. Yonder he comes; and that
arrant malmseynose knave, Bardolph, with him. Do your offices,
do your offices, Master Fang and Master Snare, do me, do me, do me
your offices.
[Enter Falstaff, Page, and Bardolph.]
FALSTAFF.
How now! whose mare's dead? what's the matter?
FANG.
Sir John, I arrest you at the suit of Mistress Quickly.
FALSTAFF.
Away, varlets! Draw, Bardolph: cut me off the villain's
head: throw the quean in the channel.
HOSTESS.
Throw me in the channel! I'll throw thee in the channel.
Wilt thou? wilt thou? thou bastardly rogue! Murder, murder! Ah,
thou honeysuckle villain! wilt thou kill God's officers and the
king's?
Ah, thou honeyseed rogue! thou art a honeyseed, a manqueller,
and a womanqueller.
FALSTAFF.
Keep them off, BARDOLPH.
FANG.
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A rescue! a rescue!
HOSTESS.
Good people, bring a rescue or two. Thou wo't, wo't thou?
thou wo't, wo't ta? do, do, thou rogue! do, thou hempseed!
PAGE.
Away, you scullion! you rampallian! you fustilarian! I'll tickle
your catastrophe.
[Enter the Lord ChiefJustice, and his men.]
CHIEF JUSTICE.
What is the matter? keep the peace here, ho!
HOSTESS.
Good my lord, be good to me. I beseech you, stand to me.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
How now, Sir John! what are you brawling here?
Doth this become your place, your time and business?
You should have been well on your way to York.
Stand from him, fellow: wherefore hang'st thou upon him?
HOSTESS.
O my most worshipful lord, an't please your grace, I am a
poor widow of Eastcheap, and he is arrested at my suit.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
For what sum?
HOSTESS.
It is more than for some, my lord; it is for all, all I have.
He hath eaten me out of house and home; he hath put all my substance
into that fat belly of his: but I will have some of it out again,
or I will ride thee o' nights like the mare.
FALSTAFF.
I think I am as like to ride the mare, if I have any
vantage of ground to get up.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
How comes this, Sir John? Fie! what man of good temper would
endure this tempest of exclamation? Are you not ashamed to enforce
a poor widow to so rough a course to come by her own?
FALSTAFF.
What is the gross sum that I owe thee?
HOSTESS.
Marry, if thou wert an honest man, thyself and the money too.
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Thou didst swear to me upon a parcelgilt goblet, sitting in
my Dolphinchamber, at the round table, by a seacoal fire, upon
Wednesday in Wheeson week, when the prince broke thy head for
liking his father to a singingman of Windsor, thou didst swear to
me then, as I was washing thy wound, to marry me and make me my
lady thy wife. Canst thou deny it? Did not goodwife Keech, the
butcher's wife, come in then and call me gossip Quickly? Coming
in to borrow a mess of vinegar; telling us she had a good dish of
prawns, whereby thou didst desire to eat some, whereby I told
thee they were ill for green wound? And didst thou not, when she
was gone down stairs, desire me to be no more so familiarity with
such poor people; saying that ere long they should call me madam?
And didst thou not kiss me, and bid me fetch thee thirty shillings?
I put thee now to thy bookoath: deny it, if thou canst.
FALSTAFF.
My lord, this is a poor mad soul; and she says up and down the
town that her eldest son is like you: she hath been in good case,
and the truth is, poverty hath distracted her. But for these
foolish officers, I beseech you I may have redress against them.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Sir John, Sir John, I am well acquainted with your
manner of wrenching the true cause the false way. It is not a
confident brow, nor the throng of words that come with such more
than impudent sauciness from you, can thrust me from a level
consideration: you have, as it appears to me, practised upon the
easyyielding spirit of this woman, and made her serve your uses
both in purse and in person.
HOSTESS.
Yea, in truth, my lord.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Pray thee, peace. Pay her the debt you owe her, and unpay the
villany you have done her: the one you may do with sterling
money, and the other with current repentance.
FALSTAFF.
My lord, I will not undergo this sneap without reply.
You call honourable boldness impudent sauciness: if a man will make
courtesy and say nothing, he is virtuous: no, my lord, my humble
duty remembered, I will not be your suitor. I say to you, I do desire
deliverance from these officers, being upon hasty employment in the
king's affairs.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
You speak as having power to do wrong: but answer
in the effect of your reputation, and satisfy the poor woman.
FALSTAFF.
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Come hither, HOSTESS.
[Enter Gower.]
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Now, Master Gower, what news?
GOWER.
The king, my lord, and Harry Prince of Wales
Are near at hand: the rest the paper tells.
FALSTAFF.
As I am a gentleman.
HOSTESS.
Faith, you said so before.
FALSTAFF.
As I am a gentleman. Come, no more words of it.
HOSTESS.
By this heavenly ground I tread on, I must be fain to pawn
both my plate and the tapestry of my diningchambers.
FALSTAFF.
Glasses, glasses, is the only drinking: and for thy walls, a pretty
slight drollery, or the story of the Prodigal, or the German hunting
in waterwork, is worth a thousand of these bedhangings and
these flybitten tapestries. Let it be ten pound, if thou canst.
Come, an 'twere not for thy humours, there's not a better wench in
England. Go, wash thy face, and draw the action. Come, thou must not be
in this humour with me; dost not know me? come, come, I know thou wast
set on to this.
HOSTESS.
Pray thee, Sir John, let it be but twenty nobles: i' faith,
I am loath to pawn my plate, so God save me, la!
FALSTAFF.
Let it alone; I'll make other shift: you'll be a fool still.
HOSTESS.
Well, you shall have it, though I pawn my gown. I hope
you'll come to supper. You'll pay me all together?
FALSTAFF.
Will I live? [To Bardolph.] Go, with her, with her;
hook on, hook on.
HOSTESS.
Will you have Doll Tearsheet meet you at supper?
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FALSTAFF.
No more words; let 's have her.
[Exeunt Hostess, Bardolph, Officers, and Boy.]
CHIEF JUSTICE.
I have heard better news.
FALSTAFF.
What 's the news, my lord?
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Where lay the king last night?
GOWER.
At Basingstoke, my lord.
FALSTAFF.
I hope, my lord, all 's well: what is the news, my lord?
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Come all his forces back?
GOWER.
No; fifteen hundred foot, five hundred horse,
Are march'd up to my Lord of Lancaster,
Against Northumberland and the ARCHBISHOP.
FALSTAFF.
Comes the king back from Wales, my noble lord?
CHIEF JUSTICE.
You shall have letters of me presently:
Come, go along with me, good Master GOWER.
FALSTAFF.
My lord!
CHIEF JUSTICE.
What's the matter?
FALSTAFF.
Master Gower, shall I entreat you with me to dinner?
GOWER.
I must wait upon my good lord here; I thank you, good Sir John.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Sir John, you loiter here too long, being you are to
take soldiers up in counties as you go.
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FALSTAFF.
Will you sup with me, Master Gower?
CHIEF JUSTICE.
What foolish master taught you these manners, Sir John?
FALSTAFF.
Master Gower, if they become me not, he was a fool that
taught them me. This is the right fencing grace, my lord; tap for
tap, and so part fair.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Now the Lord lighten thee! thou art a great fool.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE II. London. Another street.
[Enter Prince Henry and Poins.]
PRINCE.
Before God, I am exceeding weary.
POINS.
Is 't come to that? I had thought weariness durst not have
attach'd one of so high blood.
PRINCE.
Faith, it does me; though it discolours the complexion of
my greatness to acknowledge it. Doth it not show vilely in me to
desire small beer?
POINS.
Why, a prince should not be so loosely studied as to
remember so weak a composition.
PRINCE.
Belike then my appetite was not princely got; for, by my troth,
I do now remember the poor creature, small beer. But, indeed,
these humble considerations make me out of love with my greatness.
What a disgrace is it to me to remember thy name! or to know thy
face tomorrow! or to take note how many pair of silk stockings thou
hast, viz. these, and those that were thy peachcoloured ones! or to
bear the inventory of thy shirts, as, one for superfluity, and another
for use!
But that the tenniscourtkeeper knows better than I; for it is a low
ebb of linen with thee when thou keepest not racket there; as thou hast
not done a great while, because the rest of thy low countries have made
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Page No 124
a shift to eat up thy holland: and God knows, whether those that bawl
out of the ruins of thy linen shall inherit his kingdom: but the
midwives say the children are not in the fault; whereupon the world
increases, and kindreds are mightily strengthened.
POINS.
How ill it follows, after you have laboured so hard, you
should talk so idly! Tell me, how many good young princes would
do so, their fathers being so sick as yours at this time is?
PRINCE.
Shall I tell thee one thing, Poins?
POINS.
Yes, faith; and let it be an excellent good thing.
PRINCE.
It shall serve among wits of no higher breeding than thine.
POINS.
Go to; I stand the push of your one thing that you will tell.
PRINCE.
Marry, I tell thee it is not meet that I should be sad, now my father
is sick: albeit I could tell to thee, as to one it pleases me, for
fault of a better, to call my friend, I could be sad, and sad indeed too.
POINS.
Very hardly upon such a subject.
PRINCE.
By this hand, thou thinkest me as far in the devil's book as thou
and Falstaff for obduracy and persistency: let the end try the man.
But I tell thee, my heart bleeds inwardly that my father is so sick:
and keeping such vile company as thou art hath in reason taken from
me all ostentation of sorrow.
POINS.
The reason?
PRINCE.
What wouldst thou think of me, if I should weep?
POINS.
I would think thee a most princely hypocrite.
PRINCE.
It would be every man's thought; and thou art a blessed fellow to
think as every man thinks: never a man's thought in the world keeps
the roadway better than thine: every man would think me an
hypocrite indeed. And what accites your most worshipful thought to
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Page No 125
think so?
POINS.
Why, because you have been so lewd and so much engraffed
to FALSTAFF.
PRINCE.
And to thee.
POINS.
By this light, I am well spoke on; I can hear it with mine own
ears: the worst that they can say of me is that I am a second
brother and that I am a proper fellow of my hands; and those two
things, I confess, I cannot help. By the mass, here comes BARDOLPH.
[Enter Bardolph and Page.]
PRINCE.
And the boy that I gave Falstaff: 'a had him from me Christian;
and look, if the fat villain have not transformed him ape.
BARDOLPH.
God save your grace!
PRINCE.
And yours, most noble Bardolph!
POINS.
Come, you virtuous ass, you bashful fool, must you be blushing?
wherefore blush you now? What a maidenly manatarms are you become!
Is 't such a matter to get a pottlepot's maidenhead?
PAGE.
'A calls me e'en now, my lord, through a red lattice, and I could
discern no part of his face from the window: at last I spied his
eyes, and methought he had made two holes in the alewife's new
petticoat and so peep'd through.
PRINCE.
Has not the boy profited?
BARDOLPH.
Away, you whoreson upright rabbit, away!
PAGE.
Away, you rascally Althaea's dream, away!
PRINCE.
Instruct us, boy; what dream, boy?
PAGE.
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Marry, my lord, Althaea dreamt she was delivered of a
firebrand; and therefore I call him her dream.
PRINCE.
A crown's worth of good interpretation: there 'tis, BOY.
POINS.
O, that this blossom could be kept from cankers! Well,
there is sixpence to preserve thee.
BARDOLPH.
An you do not make him hanged among you, the gallows
shall have wrong.
PRINCE.
And how doth thy master, Bardolph?
BARDOLPH.
Well, my lord. He heard of your grace's coming to town:
there's a letter for you.
POINS.
Deliver'd with good respect. And how doth the martlemas,
your master?
BARDOLPH.
In bodily health, sir.
POINS.
Marry, the immortal part needs a physician; but that moves
not him: though that be sick, it dies not.
PRINCE.
I do allow this wen to be as familiar with me as my dog;
and he holds his place; for look you how he writes.
POINS.
[Reads.] "John Falstaff, knight,"every man must know that, as oft
as he has occasion to name himself: even like those that are kin
to the king; for they never prick their finger but they say,
"There's some of the king's blood spilt."
"How comes that?" says he, that takes upon him not to conceive.
The answer is as ready as a borrower's cap,
"I am the king's poor cousin, sir."
PRINCE.
Nay, they will be kin to us, or they will fetch it from Japhet.
But to the letter:
POINS.
[Reads] "Sir John Falstaff, knight, to the son of the king,
Henry IV Parts III, Henry V
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nearest his father, Harry Prince of Wales, greeting." Why, this
is a certificate.
PRINCE.
Peace!
POINS.
[Reads.] "I will imitate the honourable Romans in brevity:" he sure
means brevity in breath, shortwinded. "I commend me to thee, I commend
thee, and I leave thee. Be not too familiar with Poins; for he misuses
thy favours so much, that he swears thou art to marry his sister Nell.
Repent at idle times as thou mayest; and so, farewell.
"Thine, by yea and no, which is as much as to say, as thou
usest him,
JACK FALSTAFF with my familiars, JOHN with my brothers and
sisters, and SIR JOHN with all Europe."
My lord, I'll steep this letter in sack and make him eat it.
PRINCE.
That 's to make him eat twenty of his words. But do you use
me thus, Ned? must I marry your sister?
POINS.
God send the wench no worse fortune! But I never said so.
PRINCE.
Well, thus we play the fools with the time, and the spirits of the
wise sit in the clouds and mock us. Is your master here in London?
BARDOLPH.
Yea, my lord.
PRINCE.
Where sups he? doth the old boar feed in the old frank?
BARDOLPH.
At the old place, my lord, in Eastcheap.
PRINCE.
What company?
PAGE.
Ephesians, my lord, of the old church.
PRINCE.
Sup any women with him?
PAGE.
None, my lord, but old Mistress Quickly and Mistress Doll Tearsheet.
PRINCE.
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What pagan may that be?
PAGE.
A proper gentlewoman, sir, and a kinswoman of my master's.
PRINCE.
Even such kin as the parish heifers are to the town bull. Shall
we steal upon them, Ned, at supper?
POINS.
I am your shadow, my lord; I'll follow you.
PRINCE.
Sirrah, you boy, and Bardolph, no word to your master that
I am yet come to town: there's for your silence.
BARDOLPH.
I have no tongue, sir.
PAGE.
And for mine, sir, I will govern it.
PRINCE.
Fare you well; go.
[Exeunt Bardolph and Page.]
This Doll Tearsheet should be some road.
POINS.
I warrant you, as common as the way between Saint Alban's and London.
PRINCE.
How might we see Falstaff bestow himself tonight in his true
colours, and not ourselves be seen?
POINS.
Put on two leathern jerkins and aprons, and wait upon him at
his table as drawers.
PRINCE.
From a God to a bull? a heavy descension! it was Jove's case.
From a prince to a prentice? a low transformation! that shall be
mine; for in everything the purpose must weigh with the folly.
Follow me, Ned.
[Exeunt.]
Henry IV Parts III, Henry V
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SCENE III. Warkworth. Before the castle.
[Enter Northumberland, Lady Northumberland, and Lady Percy.]
NORTHUMBERLAND.
I pray thee, loving wife, and gentle daughter,
Give even way unto my rough affairs;
Put not you on the visage of the times
And be like them to Percy troublesome.
LADY NORTHUMBERLAND.
I have given over, I will speak no more:
Do what you will; your wisdom be your guide.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
Alas, sweet wife, my honour is at pawn;
And, but my going, nothing can redeem it.
LADY PERCY.
O yet, for God's sake, go not to these wars!
The time was, father, that you broke your word,
When you were more endear'd to it than now!
When your own Percy, when my heart's dear Harry,
Threw many a northward look to see his father
Bring up his powers; but he did long in vain.
Who then persuaded you to stay at home?
There were two honours lost, yours and your son's.
For yours, the God of heaven brighten it!
For his, it stuck upon him as the sun
In the grey vault of heaven; and by his light
Did all the chivalry of England move
To do brave acts: he was indeed the glass
Wherein the noble youth did dress themselves:
He had no legs that practis'd not his gait;
And speaking thick, which nature made his blemish,
Became the accents of the valiant;
For those who could speak low and tardily
Would turn their own perfection to abuse,
To seem like him: so that in speech, in gait,
In diet, in affections of delight,
In military rules, humours of blood,
He was the mark and glass, copy and book,
That fashion'd others. And him, O wondrous him!
O miracle of men! him did you leave,
Second to none, unseconded by you,
To look upon the hideous god of war
In disadvantage; to abide a field
Where nothing but the sound of Hotspur's name
Did seem defensible: so you left him.
Never, O never, do his ghost the wrong
To hold your honour more precise and nice
Henry IV Parts III, Henry V
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With others than with him! let them alone:
The marshal and the archbishop are strong:
Had my sweet Harry had but half their numbers,
Today might I, hanging on Hotspur's neck,
Have talk'd of Monmouth's grave.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
Beshrew your heart,
Fair daughter, you do draw my spirits from me
With new lamenting ancient oversights.
But I must go and meet with danger there,
Or it will seek me in another place,
And find me worse provided.
LADY NORTHUMBERLAND.
O, fly to Scotland,
Till that the nobles and the armed commons
Have of their puissance made a little taste.
LADY PERCY.
If they get ground and vantage of the king,
Then join you with them, like a rib of steel,
To make strength stronger; but, for all our loves,
First let them try themselves. So did your son;
He was so suffer'd: so came I a widow;
And never shall have length of life enough
To rain upon remembrance with mine eyes,
That it may grow and sprout as high as heaven,
For recordation to my noble husband.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
Come, come, go in with me. 'Tis with my mind
As with the tide swell'd up unto his height,
That makes a stillstand, running neither way:
Fain would I go to meet the archbishop,
But many thousand reasons hold me back.
I will resolve for Scotland: there am I,
Till time and vantage crave my company.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE IV. London. The Boar'shead Tavern in Eastcheap.
[Enter two Drawers.]
FIRST DRAWER.
What the devil hast thou brought there? applejohns?
thou knowest Sir John cannot endure an applejohn.
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SECOND DRAWER.
Mass, thou sayest true. The prince once set a dish of applejohns
before him, and told him there were five more Sir Johns, and, putting
off his hat, said "I will now take my leave of these six dry, round,
old, withered knights." It angered him to the heart: but he hath
forgot that.
FIRST DRAWER.
Why, then, cover, and set them down: and see if thou canst find out
Sneak's noise; Mistress Tearsheet would fain hear some music.
Dispatch: The room where they supped is too hot; they'll come in
straight.
SECOND DRAWER.
Sirrah, here will be the prince and Master Poins anon; and they
will put on two of our jerkins and aprons; and Sir John must
not know of it: Bardolph hath brought word.
FIRST DRAWER.
By the mass, here will be old Utis: it will be an excellent
stratagem.
SECOND DRAWER.
I'll see if I can find out Sneak.
[Exit.]
[Enter Hostess and Doll Tearsheet.]
HOSTESS.
I' faith, sweetheart, methinks now you are in an excellent good
temperality: your pulsidge beats as extraordinarily as heart would
desire; and your colour, I warrant you, is as red as any rose, in
good truth, la! But, i' faith, you have drunk too much canaries; and
that 's a marvellous searching wine, and it perfumes the blood ere one
can say "What's this?" How do you now?
DOLL.
Better than I was: hem!
HOSTESS.
Why, that 's well said; a good heart's worth gold. Lo, here
comes Sir John.
[Enter Falstaff.]
FALSTAFF.
[Singing] "When Arthur first in court"Empty the jordan.
[Exit First Drawer.][Singing] "And was a worthy king."
How now, Mistress Doll!
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HOSTESS.
Sick of a calm; yea, good faith.
FALSTAFF.
So is all her sect; an they be once in a calm, they are sick.
DOLL.
You muddy rascal, is that all the comfort you give me?
FALSTAFF.
You make fat rascals, Mistress Doll.
DOLL.
I make them! gluttony and diseases make them; I make them not.
FALSTAFF.
If the cook help to make the gluttony, you help to make the diseases,
Doll: we catch of you, Doll, we catch of you; grant that, my poor
virtue, grant that.
DOLL.
Yea, joy, our chains and our jewels.
FALSTAFF.
"Your brooches, pearls, and ouches:" for to serve bravely is to come
halting off, you know: to come off the breach with his pike bent
bravely, and to surgery bravely; to venture upon the charged chambers
bravely,
DOLL.
Hang yourself, you muddy conger, hang yourself!
HOSTESS.
By my troth, this is the old fashion; you two never meet but you
fall to some discord: you are both, i' good truth, as rheumatic
as two dry toasts; you cannot one bear with another's confirmities.
What the goodyear! one must bear, and that must be you: you are the
weaker vessel, as as they say, the emptier vessel.
DOLL.
Can a weak empty vessel bear such a huge full hogshead? there's a whole
merchant's venture of Bourdeaux stuff in him; you have not seen a hulk
better stuffed in the hold. Come, I'll be friends with thee, Jack:
thou art going to the wars; and whether I shall ever see thee again or
no, there is nobody cares.
[Reenter First Drawer.]
FIRST DRAWER.
Sir, Ancient Pistol's below, and would speak with you.
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DOLL.
Hang him, swaggering rascal! let him not come hither: it is the
foulmouthed'st rogue in England.
HOSTESS.
If he swagger, let him not come here: no, by my faith; I must live
among my neighbours; I'll no swaggerers: I am in good name and fame
with the very best: shut the door; there comes no swaggerers here:
I have not lived all this while, to have swaggering now: shut the
door, I pray you.
FALSTAFF.
Dost thou hear, hostess?
HOSTESS.
Pray ye, pacify yourself, Sir John: there comes no swaggerers here.
FALSTAFF.
Dost thou hear? it is mine ancient.
HOSTESS.
Tillyfally, Sir John, ne'er tell me: your ancient swaggerer comes
not in my doors. I was before Master Tisick, the debuty, t'other day;
and, as he said to me, 'twas no longer ago than Wednesday last,
"I' good faith, neighbour Quickly," says he; Master Dumbe, our
minister, was by then; "neighbour Quickly," says he, "receive those
that are civil; for" said he "you are in an ill name:" now a' said
so, I can tell whereupon; "for," says he, "you are an honest woman,
and well thought on; therefore take heed what guests you receive:
receive," says he, "no swaggering companions." There comes none here:
you would bless you to hear what he said: no, I'll no swaggerers.
FALSTAFF.
He's no swaggerer, hostess; a tame cheater, i' faith; you may stroke
him as gently as a puppy greyhound: he'll not swagger with a Barbary
hen, if her feathers turn back in any show of resistance. Call
him up, drawer.
[Exit First Drawer.]
HOSTESS.
Cheater, call you him? I will bar no honest man my house, nor no
cheater: but I do not love swaggering, by my troth; I am the worse,
when one says swagger: feel, masters, how I shake; look you, I
warrant you.
DOLL.
So you do, HOSTESS.
HOSTESS.
Do I? yea, in very truth, do I, an 'twere an aspen leaf: I
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cannot abide swaggerers.
[Enter Pistol, Bardolph, and Page.]
PISTOL.
God save you, Sir John!
FALSTAFF.
Welcome, Ancient PISTOL.
Here, Pistol, I charge you with
a cup of sack: do you discharge upon mine HOSTESS.
PISTOL.
I will discharge upon her, Sir John, with two bullets.
FALSTAFF.
She is pistolproof, sir; you shall hardly offend her.
HOSTESS.
Come, I'll drink no proofs nor no bullets: I'll drink no
more than will do me good, for no man's pleasure, I.
PISTOL.
Then to you, Mistress Dorothy; I will charge you.
DOLL.
Charge me! I scorn you, scurvy companion. What! you poor,
base, rascally, cheating, lacklinen mate! Away, you mouldy
rogue, away!
I am meat for your master.
PISTOL.
I know you, Mistress Dorothy.
DOLL.
Away, you cutpurse rascal! you filthy bung, away! by this wine,
I'll thrust my knife in your mouldy chaps, an you play the saucy
cuttle with me. Away, you bottleale rascal! you baskethilt stale
juggler, you! Since when, I pray you, sir? God's light, with two
points on your shoulder? much!
PISTOL.
God let me not live, but I will murder your ruff for this.
FALSTAFF.
No more, Pistol; I would not have you go off here:
discharge yourself of our company, PISTOL.
HOSTESS.
No, good Captain Pistol; not here, sweet captain.
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DOLL.
Captain! thou abominable damned cheater, art thou not ashamed
to be called captain? An captains were of my mind, they would
truncheon you out, for taking their names upon you before you
have earned them. You a captain! you slave, for what? for tearing
a poor whore's ruff in a bawdyhouse? He a captain! hang him,
rogue! he lives upon mouldy stewed prunes and dried cakes. A
captain! God's light, these villains will make the word as odious
as the word "occupy;" which was an excellent good word before it
was ill sorted: therefore captains had need look to't.
BARDOLPH.
Pray thee, go down, good ancient.
FALSTAFF.
Hark thee hither, Mistress Doll.
PISTOL.
Not I: I tell thee what, Corporal Bardolph, I could tear
her: I'll be revenged of her.
PAGE.
Pray thee go down.
PISTOL.
I'll see her damned first; to Pluto's damned lake, by this
hand, to the infernal deep, with Erebus and tortures vile also.
Hold hook and line, say I. Down, down, dogs! down, faitors!
Have we not Hiren here?
HOSTESS.
Good Captain Peesel, be quiet; 'tis very late, i' faith: I
beseek you now, aggravate your choler.
PISTOL.
These be good humours, indeed! Shall packhorses
And hollow pamper'd jades of Asia,
Which cannot go but thirty mile aday,
Compare with Caesars, and with Cannibals,
And Trojan Greeks? nay, rather damn them with
King Cerberus; and let the welkin roar.
Shall we fall foul for toys?
HOSTESS.
By my troth, captain, these are very bitter words.
BARDOLPH.
Be gone, good ancient: this will grow to a brawl anon.
PISTOL.
Die men like dogs! give crowns like pins! Have we not Hiren
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here?
HOSTESS.
O' my word, captain, there 's none such here. What the
goodyear! do you think I would deny her? For God's sake, be
quiet.
PISTOL.
Then feed, and be fat, my fair Calipolis.
Come, give 's some sack.
"Si fortune me tormente, sperato me contento."
Fear we broadsides? no, let the fiend give fire:
Give me some sack: and, sweetheart, lie thou there.
[Laying down his sword.]
Come we to full points here, and are etceteras nothing?
FALSTAFF.
Pistol, I would be quiet.
PISTOL.
Sweet knight, I kiss thy neif: what! we have seen the seven
stars.
DOLL.
For God's sake, thrust him down stairs: I cannot endure such a
fustian rascal.
PISTOL.
Thrust him down stairs! know we not Galloway nags?
FALSTAFF.
Quoit him down, Bardolph, like a shovegroat shilling:
nay, an a' do nothing but speak nothing, a' shall be nothing
here.
BARDOLPH.
Come, get you down stairs.
PISTOL.
What! shall we have incision? shall we imbrue?
[Snatching up his sword.]
Then death rock me asleep, abridge my doleful days!
Why, then, let grievous, ghastly, gaping wounds
Untwine the Sisters Three! Come, Atropos, I say!
HOSTESS.
Here's goodly stuff toward!
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FALSTAFF.
Give me my rapier, BOY.
DOLL.
I pray thee, Jack, I pray thee, do not draw.
FALSTAFF.
Get you down stairs.
[Drawing, and driving Pistol out.]
HOSTESS.
Here's a goodly tumult! I'll forswear keeping house, afore
I'll be in these tirrits and frights. So; murder, I warrant now.
Alas, alas! put up your naked weapons, put up your naked weapons.
[Exeunt Pistol and Bardolph.]
DOLL.
I pray thee, Jack, be quiet; the rascal's gone. Ah, you whoreson
little valiant villain, you!
HOSTESS.
Are you not hurt i' the groin? methought a' made a shrewd
thrust at your belly.
[Reenter Bardolph.]
FALSTAFF.
Have you turned him out o' doors?
BARDOLPH.
Yea, sir. The rascal's drunk: you have hurt him, sir, i'
the shoulder.
FALSTAFF.
A rascal! to brave me!
DOLL.
Ah, you sweet little rogue, you! Alas, poor ape, how thou
sweatest! come, let me wipe thy face; come on, you whoreson chops:
ah, rogue! i' faith, I love thee: thou art as valorous as Hector
of Troy, worth five of Agamemnon, and ten times better than the Nine
Worthies: ah, villain!
FALSTAFF.
A rascally slave! I will toss the rogue in a blanket.
DOLL.
Do, an thou darest for thy heart: an thou dost, I'll canvass
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thee between a pair of sheets.
[Enter Music.]
PAGE.
The music is come, sir.
FALSTAFF.
Let them play. Play, sirs. Sit on my knee, Doll. A rascal
bragging slave! The rogue fled from me like quicksilver.
DOLL.
I' faith, and thou followedst him like a church. Thou whoreson
little tidy Bartholomew boarpig, when wilt thou leave fighting
o' days and foining o' nights, and begin to patch up thine old body
for heaven?
[Enter, behind, Prince Henry and Poins, disguised as drawers.]
FALSTAFF.
Peace, good Doll! do not speak like a death'shead; do
not bid me remember mine end.
DOLL.
Sirrah, what humour 's the prince of?
FALSTAFF.
A good shallow young fellow: 'a would have made a good
pantler; a' would ha' chipped bread well.
DOLL.
They say Poins has a good wit.
FALSTAFF.
He a good wit! hang him, baboon! his wit's as thick as
Tewksbury mustard; there 's no more conceit in him than is in a
mallet.
DOLL.
Why does the prince love him so, then?
FALSTAFF.
Because their legs are both of a bigness, and a' plays at quoits
well, and eats conger and fennel, and drinks off candles' ends for
flapdragons, and rides the wildmare with the boys, and jumps upon
joinedstools, and swears with a good grace, and wears his boots very
smooth, like unto the sign of the leg, and breeds no bate with telling
of discreet stories; and such other gambol faculties a' has, that show
a weak mind and an able body, for the which the prince admits him: for
the prince himself is such another; the weight of a hair will turn the
scales between their avoirdupois.
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PRINCE.
Would not this nave of a wheel have his ears cut off?
POINS.
Let 's beat him before his whore.
PRINCE.
Look, whether the withered elder hath not his poll clawed
like a parrot.
POINS.
Is it not strange that desire should so many years outlive
performance?
FALSTAFF.
Kiss me, Doll.
PRINCE.
Saturn and Venus this year in conjunction! what says the
almanac to that?
POINS.
And, look, whether the fiery Trigon, his man, be not lisping
to his master's old tables, his notebook, his counselkeeper.
FALSTAFF.
Thou dost give me flattering busses.
DOLL.
By my troth, I kiss thee with a most constant heart.
FALSTAFF.
I am old, I am old.
DOLL.
I love thee better than I love e'er a scurvy young boy of
them all.
FALSTAFF.
What stuff wilt have a kirtle of? I shall receive money o'
Thursday: shalt have a cap tomorrow. A merry song, come: it
grows late; we'll to bed. Thou'lt forget me when I am gone.
DOLL.
By my troth, thou'lt set me aweeping, an thou sayest so:
prove that ever I dress myself handsome till thy return: well,
hearken at the end.
FALSTAFF.
Some sack, Francis.
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PRINCE POINS.
Anon, anon, sir.
[Coming forward.]
FALSTAFF.
Ha! a bastard son of the king's? And art thou not Poins
his brother?
PRINCE.
Why, thou globe of sinful continents, what a life dost thou lead!
FALSTAFF.
A better than thou: I am a gentleman; thou art a drawer.
PRINCE.
Very true, sir; and I come to draw you out by the ears.
HOSTESS.
O, the Lord preserve thy grace! by my troth, welcome to
London. Now, the Lord bless that sweet face of thine! O Jesu,
are you come from Wales?
FALSTAFF.
Thou whoreson mad compound of majesty, by this light
flesh and corrupt blood, thou art welcome.
DOLL.
How, you fat fool! I scorn you.
POINS.
My lord, he will drive you out of your revenge and turn all
to a merriment, if you take not the heat.
PRINCE.
You whoreson candlemine, you, how vilely did you speak of
me even now before this honest, virtuous, civil gentlewoman!
HOSTESS.
God's blessing of your good heart! and so she is, by my troth.
FALSTAFF.
Didst thou hear me?
PRINCE.
Yea, and you knew me, as you did when you ran away by
Gad'shill: you knew I was at your back, and spoke it on purpose
to try my patience.
FALSTAFF.
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Page No 141
No, no, no; not so; I did not think thou wast within hearing.
PRINCE.
I shall drive you then to confess the wilful abuse; and then I
know how to handle you.
FALSTAFF.
No abuse, Hal, o' mine honour; no abuse.
PRINCE.
Not to dispraise me, and call me pantler and breadchipper and I
know not what!
FALSTAFF.
No abuse, Hal.
POINS.
No abuse!
FALSTAFF.
No abuse, Ned, i' the world; honest Ned, none. I dispraised him before
the wicked, that the wicked might not fall in love with him; in which
doing, I have done the part of a careful friend and a true subject,
and thy father is to give me thanks for it. No abuse, Hal: none,
Ned, none: no, faith, boys, none.
PRINCE.
See now, whether pure fear and entire cowardice doth not make thee
wrong this virtuous gentlewoman to close with us. Is she of the wicked?
is thine hostess here of the wicked? or is thy boy of the wicked?
or honest Bardolph, whose zeal burns in his nose, of the wicked?
POINS.
Answer, thou dead elm, answer.
FALSTAFF.
The fiend hath pricked down Bardolph irrecoverable; and his
face is Lucifer's privykitchen, where he doth nothing but roast
maltworms.
For the boy, there is a good angel about him; but the devil
outbids him too.
PRINCE.
For the women?
FALSTAFF.
For one of them, she is in hell already, and burns poor souls.
For the other, I owe her money; and whether she be damned for
that, I know not.
HOSTESS.
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No, I warrant you.
FALSTAFF.
No, I think thou art not; I think thou art quit for that. Marry, there
is another indictment upon thee, for suffering flesh to be eaten in
thy house, contrary to the law; for the which I think thou wilt howl.
HOSTESS.
All victuallers do so: what 's a joint of mutton or two in a
whole Lent?
PRINCE.
You, gentlewoman,
DOLL.
What says your grace?
FALSTAFF.
His grace says that which his flesh rebels against.
[Knocking within.]
HOSTESS.
Who knocks so loud at door? Look to the door there, Francis.
[Enter Peto.]
PRINCE.
Peto, how now! what news?
PETO.
The king your father is at Westminster;
And there are twenty weak and wearied posts
Come from the north: and, as I came along,
I met and overtook a dozen captains,
Bareheaded, sweating, knocking at the taverns,
And asking every one for Sir John FALSTAFF.
PRINCE.
By heaven, Poins, I feel me much to blame,
So idly to profane the precious time,
When tempest of commotion, like the south
Borne with black vapour, doth begin to melt
And drop upon our bare unarmed heads.
Give me my sword and cloak. Falstaff, good night.
[Exeunt Prince, Poins, Peto, and Bardolph.]
FALSTAFF.
Now comes in the sweetest morsel of the night, and we must
hence, and leave it unpicked.
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[Knocking within.] More knocking at the door!
[Reenter Bardolph.]
How now! what's the matter?
BARDOLPH.
You must away to court, sir, presently;
A dozen captains stay at door for you.
FALSTAFF.
[To the Page].
Pay the musicians, sirrah. Farewell, hostess; farewell, Doll.
You see, my good wenches, how men of merit are sought after:
the undeserver may sleep, when the man of action is called on.
Farewell, good wenches: if I be not sent away post, I will see
you again ere I go.
DOLL.
I cannot speak; if my heart be not ready to burst,well, sweet
Jack, have a care of thyself.
FALSTAFF.
Farewell, farewell.
[Exeunt Falstaff and Bardolph.]
HOSTESS.
Well, fare thee well: I have known thee these twentynine years,
come peascodtime; but an honester and truerhearted man,
well, fare thee well.
BARDOLPH.
[Within.] Mistress Tearsheet!
HOSTESS.
What's the matter?
BARDOLPH.
[Within.] Bid Mistress Tearsheet come to my master.
HOSTESS.
O, run, Doll, run; run, good Doll: come. [She comes blubbered.]
Yea, will you come, Doll?
[Exeunt.]
ACT III.
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Page No 144
SCENE I. Westminster. The palace.
[Enter the King in his nightgown, with a Page.]
KING.
Go call the Earls of Surrey and of Warwick;
But, ere they come, bid them o'erread these letters,
And well consider of them: make good speed.
[Exit Page.]
How many thousands of my poorest subjects
Are at this hour asleep! O sleep, O gentle sleep,
Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee,
That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down
And steep my senses in forgetfulness?
Why rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs,
Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee
And hush'd with buzzing nightflies to thy slumber
Than in the perfumed chambers of the great,
Under the canopies of costly state,
And lull'd with sound of sweetest melody?
O thou dull god, why liest thou with the vile
In loathsome beds, and leavest the kingly couch
A watchcase or a common 'larumbell?
Wilt thou upon the high and giddy mast
Seal up the shipboy's eyes, and rock his brains
In cradle of the rude imperious surge
And in the visitation of the winds,
Who take the ruffian billows by the top,
Curling their monstrous heads and hanging them
With deafening clamour in the slippery clouds,
That, with the hurly, death itself awakes?
Canst thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose
To the wet seaboy in an hour so rude;
And in the calmest and most stillest night,
With all appliances and means to boot,
Deny it to a king? Then happy low, lie down!
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.
[Enter Warwick and Surrey.]
WARWICK.
Many good morrows to your majesty!
KING.
Is it good morrow, lords?
WARWICK.
'Tis one o'clock, and past.
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Henry IV Parts III, Henry V 142
Page No 145
KING.
Why then, good morrow to you all, my lords.
Have you read o'er the letters that I sent you?
WARWICK.
We have, my liege.
KING.
Then you perceive the body of our kingdom
How foul it is; what rank diseases grow,
And with what danger, near the heart of it.
WARWICK.
It is but as a body yet distemper'd;
Which to his former strength may be restored
With good advice and little medicine:
My Lord Northumberland will soon be cool'd.
KING.
O God! that one might read the book of fate,
And see the revolution of the times
Make mountains level, and the continent,
Weary of solid firmness, melt itself
Into the sea! and, other times, to see
The beachy girdle of the ocean
Too wide for Neptune's hips; how chances mock,
And changes fill the cup of alteration
With divers liquors! O, if this were seen,
The happiest youth, viewing his progress through,
What perils past, what crosses to ensue,
Would shut the book, and sit him down and die.
'Tis not ten years gone
Since Richard and Northumberland, great friends,
Did feast together, and in two years after
Were they at wars: it is but eight years since
This Percy was the man nearest my soul,
Who like a brother toil'd in my affairs
And laid his love and life under my foot,
Yea, for my sake, even to the eyes of Richard
Gave him defiance. But which of you was by
You, cousin Nevil, as I may remember
[To Warwick.]
When Richard, with his eye brimful of tears,
Then check'd and rated by Northumberland,
Did speak these words, now proved a prophecy?
"Northumberland, thou ladder by the which
My cousin Bolingbroke ascends my throne;"
Though then, God knows, I had no such intent,
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Page No 146
But that necessity so bow'd the state
That I and greatness were compell'd to kiss:
"The time shall come," thus did he follow it,
"The time will come, that foul sin, gathering head,
Shall break into corruption:" so went on,
Foretelling this same time's condition
And the division of our amity.
WARWICK.
There is a history in all men's lives,
Figuring the natures of the times deceased;
The which observed, a man may prophesy,
With a near aim, of the main chance of things
As yet not come to life, who in their seeds
And weak beginning lie intreasured.
Such things become the hatch and brood of time;
And by the necessary form of this
King Richard might create a perfect guess
That great Northumberland, then false to him,
Would of that seed grow to a greater falseness;
Which should not find a ground to root upon,
Unless on you.
KING.
Are these things then necessities?
Then let us meet them like necessities:
And that same word even now cries out on us:
They say the bishop and Northumberland
Are fifty thousand strong.
WARWICK.
It cannot be, my lord;
Rumour doth double, like the voice and echo,
The numbers of the fear'd. Please it your grace
To go to bed. Upon my soul, my lord,
The powers that you already have sent forth
Shall bring this prize in very easily.
To comfort you the more, I have received
A certain instance that Glendower is dead.
Your majesty hath been this fortnight ill,
And these unseason'd hours perforce must add
Unto your sickness.
KING.
I will take your counsel:
And were these inward wars once out of hand,
We would, dear lords, unto the Holy Land.
[Exeunt.]
Henry IV Parts III, Henry V
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Page No 147
SCENE II. Gloucestershire. Before Justice Shallow's house.
[Enter Shallow and Silence, meeting; Mouldy, Shadow, Wart,
Feeble, Bullcalf, a Servant or two with them.]
SHALLOW.
Come on, come on, come on, sir; give me your hand, sir,
give me your hand, sir: an early stirrer, by the rood! And how
doth my good cousin Silence?
SILENCE.
Good morrow, good cousin SHALLOW.
SHALLOW.
And how doth my cousin, your bedfellow? and your fairest
daughter and mine, my goddaughter Ellen?
SILENCE.
Alas, a black ousel, cousin Shallow!
SHALLOW.
By yea and nay, sir, I dare say my cousin William is become
a good scholar: he is at Oxford still, is he not?
SILENCE.
Indeed, sir, to my cOST.
SHALLOW.
A' must, then, to the inns o' court shortly. I was once of
Clement's Inn, where I think they will talk of mad Shallow yet.
SILENCE.
You were called "lusty Shallow" then, cousin.
SHALLOW.
By the mass, I was called any thing; and I would have done any thing
indeed too, and roundly too. There was I, and little John Doit of
Staffordshire, and black George Barnes, and Francis Pickbone, and
Will Squele, a Cotswold man; you had not four such swingebucklers in
all the inns o' court again: and I may say to you, we knew where the
bonarobas were and had the best of them all at commandment. Then was
Jack Falstaff, now Sir John, boy, and page to Thomas Mowbray, Duke of
Norfolk.
SILENCE.
This Sir John, cousin, that comes hither anon about soldiers?
SHALLOW.
The same Sir John, the very same. I see him break Skogan's head at the
courtgate, when a' was a crack not thus high: and the very same
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Page No 148
day did I fight with one Sampson Stockfish, a fruiterer, behind
Gray's Inn.
Jesu, Jesu, the mad days that I have spent! and to see how many of my
old acquaintance are dead!
SILENCE.
We shall all follow, cousin.
SHALLOW.
Certain, 'tis certain; very sure, very sure: death, as the Psalmist
saith, is certain to all; all shall die. How a good yoke of bullocks at
Stamford fair?
SILENCE.
By my troth, I was not there.
SHALLOW.
Death is certain. Is old Double of your town living yet?
SILENCE.
Dead, sir.
SHALLOW.
Jesu, Jesu, dead! a' drew a good bow; and dead! a' shot a fine shoot:
John a Gaunt loved him well, and betted much money on his head.
Dead! a' would have clapped i' the clout at twelve score; and carried
you a forehand shaft a fourteen and fourteen and a half, that it
would have done a man's heart good to see. How a score of ewes now?
SILENCE.
Thereafter as they be: a score of good ewes may be worth ten
pounds.
SHALLOW.
And is old Double dead?
SILENCE.
Here come two of Sir John Falstaffs men, as I think.
[Enter Bardolph, and one with him.]
BARDOLPH.
Good morrow, honest gentlemen: I beseech you, which is justice
Shallow?
SHALLOW.
I am Robert Shallow, sir; a poor esquire of this county, and one
of the king's justices of the peace: what is your good pleasure
with me?
BARDOLPH.
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Page No 149
My captain, sir, commends him to you; my captain, Sir John
Falstaff, a tall gentleman, by heaven, and a most gallant leader.
SHALLOW.
He greets me well, sir. I knew him a good backsword man. How
doth the good knight? may I ask how my lady his wife doth?
BARDOLPH.
Sir, pardon; a soldier is better accommodated than with a wife.
SHALLOW.
It is well said, in faith, sir; and it is well said indeed too.
Better accommodated! it is good; yea, indeed, is it: good phrases are
surely, and ever were, very commendable. Accommodated! it comes of
"accommodo:" very good; a good phrase.
BARDOLPH.
Pardon me, sir; I have heard the word. Phrase call you it? By this
day, I know not the phrase; but I will maintain the word with my sword
to be a soldierlike word, and a word of exceeding good command, by
heaven.
Accommodated; that is, when a man is, as they say, accommodated; or
when a man is, being, whereby a' may be thought to be accommodated;
which is an excellent thing.
SHALLOW.
It is very just.
[Enter Falstaff.]
Look, here comes good Sir John. Give me your good hand, give me your
worship's good hand: by my troth, you like well and bear your years
very well: welcome, good Sir John.
FALSTAFF.
I am glad to see you well, good Master Robert Shallow: Master
Surecard, as I think?
SHALLOW.
No, Sir John; it is my cousin Silence, in commission with me.
FALSTAFF.
Good Master Silence, it well befits you should be of the peace.
SILENCE.
Your good worship is welcome.
FALSTAFF.
Fie! this is hot weather, gentlemen. Have you provided me here
half a dozen sufficient men?
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Page No 150
SHALLOW.
Marry, have we, sir. Will you sit?
FALSTAFF.
Let me see them, I beseech you.
SHALLOW.
Where's the roll? where's the roll? where's the roll? Let me see,
let me see, let me see.
So, so, so, so, so, so, so: yea, marry, sir: Ralph Mouldy!
Let them appear as I call; let them do so, let them do so.
Let me see; where is Mouldy?
MOULDY.
Here, an't please you.
SHALLOW.
What think you, Sir John? a goodlimbed fellow; young, strong,
and of good friends.
FALSTAFF.
Is thy name Mouldy?
MOULDY.
Yea, an't please you.
FALSTAFF.
'Tis the more time thou wert used.
SHALLOW.
Ha, ha, ha! most excellent, i' faith! things that are mouldy lack use:
very singular good! in faith, well said, Sir John, very well said.
FALSTAFF.
Prick him.
MOULDY.
I was prick'd well enough before, an you could have let me alone:
my old dame will be undone now for one to do her husbandry and her
drudgery: you need not to have pricked me; there are other men fitter
to go out than I.
FALSTAFF.
Go to: peace, Mouldy; you shall go. Mouldy, it is time you were spent.
MOULDY.
Spent!
SHALLOW.
Peace, fellow, peace; stand aside: know you where you are? For
the other, Sir John: let me see: Simon Shadow!
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FALSTAFF.
Yea, marry, let me have him to sit under: he 's like to be a
cold soldier.
SHALLOW.
Where's Shadow?
SHADOW.
Here, sir.
FALSTAFF.
Shadow, whose son art thou?
SHADOW.
My mother's son, sir.
FALSTAFF.
Thy mother's son! like enough; and thy father's shadow: so the son of
the female is the shadow of the male: it is often so indeed; but
much of the father's substance!
SHALLOW.
Do you like him, Sir John?
FALSTAFF.
Shadow will serve for summer; prick him; for we have a number of
shadows to fill up the musterbook.
SHALLOW.
Thomas Wart!
FALSTAFF.
Where's he?
WART.
Here, sir.
FALSTAFF.
Is thy name Wart?
WART.
Yea, sir.
FALSTAFF.
Thou art a very ragged wart.
SHALLOW.
Shall I prick him down, Sir John?
FALSTAFF.
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It were superfluous; for his apparel is built upon his back and
the whole frame stands upon pins: prick him no more.
SHALLOW.
Ha, ha, ha! you can do it, sir; you can do it: I commend you
well.
Francis Feeble!
FEEBLE.
Here, sir.
FALSTAFF.
What trade art thou, Feeble?
FEEBLE.
A woman's tailor, sir.
SHALLOW.
Shall I prick him, sir?
FALSTAFF.
You may: but if he had been a man's tailor, he'ld ha' prick'd you.
Wilt thou make as many holes in an enemy's battle as thou hast done in
a woman's petticoat?
FEEBLE.
I will do my good will, sir; you can have no more.
FALSTAFF.
Well said, good woman's tailor! well said, courageous Feeble! thou wilt
be as valiant as the wrathful dove or most magnanimous mouse.
Prick the woman's tailor: well, Master Shallow, deep, Master SHALLOW.
FEEBLE.
I would Wart might have gone, sir.
FALSTAFF.
I would thou wert a man's tailor, that thou mightst mend him and make
him fit to go. I cannot put him to a private soldier that is the leader
of so many thousands; let that suffice, most forcible Feeble.
FEEBLE.
It shall suffice, sir.
FALSTAFF.
I am bound to thee, reverend Feeble. Who is next?
SHALLOW.
Peter Bullcalf o' th' green!
FALSTAFF.
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Yea, marry, let 's see Bullcalf.
BULLCALF.
Here, sir.
FALSTAFF.
'Fore God, a likely fellow! Come, prick me Bullcalf till he roar
again.
BULLCALF.
O Lord! good my lord captain,
FALSTAFF.
What, dost thou roar before thou art prick'd?
BULLCALF.
O Lord, sir! I am a diseased man.
FALSTAFF.
What disease hast thou?
BULLCALF.
A whoreson cold, sir, a cough, sir, which I caught with ringing
in the king's affairs upon his coronationday, sir.
FALSTAFF.
Come, thou shalt go to the wars in a gown; we will have away thy cold;
and I will take such order that thy friends shall ring for thee.
Is here all?
SHALLOW.
Here is two more called than your number; you must have but four here,
sir; and so, I pray you, go in with me to dinner.
FALSTAFF.
Come, I will go drink with you, but I cannot tarry dinner. I am
glad to see you, by my troth, Master SHALLOW.
SHALLOW.
O, Sir John, do you remember since we lay all night in the windmill
in Saint George's field?
FALSTAFF.
No more of that, Master Shallow, no more of that.
SHALLOW.
Ha, 'twas a merry night. And is Jane Nightwork alive?
FALSTAFF.
She lives, Master SHALLOW.
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SHALLOW.
She never could away with me.
FALSTAFF.
Never, never; she would always say she could not abide Master
SHALLOW.
SHALLOW.
By the mass, I could anger her to the heart. She was then a bonaroba.
Doth she hold her own well?
FALSTAFF.
Old, old, Master SHALLOW.
SHALLOW.
Nay, she must be old; she cannot choose but be old; certain she 's old;
and had Robin Nightwork by old Nightwork before I came to Clement's Inn.
SILENCE.
That's fiftyfive year ago.
SHALLOW.
Ha, cousin Silence, that thou hadst seen that that this knight and I
have seen! Ha, Sir John, said I well?
FALSTAFF.
We have heard the chimes at midnight, Master SHALLOW.
SHALLOW.
That we have, that we have, that we have; in faith, Sir John, we have:
our watchword was "Hem boys!" Come, let 's to dinner; come, let 's
to dinner: Jesus, the days that we have seen! Come, come.
[Exeunt Falstaff and the Justices.]
BULLCALF.
Good Master Corporate Bardolph, stand my friend; and here 's four
Harry ten shillings in French crowns for you.
In very truth, sir, I had as lief be hanged, sir, as go: and yet,
for mine own part, sir, I do not care; but rather, because I am
unwilling, and, for mine own part, have a desire to stay with my
friends; else, sir, I did not care, for mine own part, so much.
BARDOLPH.
Go to; stand aside.
MOULDY.
And, good master corporal captain, for my old dame's sake, stand my
friend: she has nobody to do any thing about her when I am gone;
and she is old, and cannot help herself: you shall have forty, sir.
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BARDOLPH.
Go to; stand aside.
FEEBLE.
By my troth, I care not; a man can die but once; we owe God a death:
I'll ne'er bear a base mind: an 't be my destiny, so; an 't be not, so:
no man's too good to serve 's prince; and let it go which way it will, he
that dies this year is quit for the next.
BARDOLPH.
Well said; th'art a good fellow.
FEEBLE.
Faith, I'll bear no base mind.
[Reenter Falstaff and the Justices.]
FALSTAFF.
Come, sir, which men shall I have?
SHALLOW.
Four of which you please.
BARDOLPH.
Sir, a word with you: I have three pound to free Mouldy and
Bullcalf.
FALSTAFF.
Go to; well.
SHALLOW.
Come, Sir John, which four will you have?
FALSTAFF.
Do you choose for me.
SHALLOW.
Marry, then, Mouldy, Bullcalf, Feeble, and Shadow.
FALSTAFF.
Mouldy and Bullcalf: for you, Mouldy, stay at home till you are past
service; and for your part, Bullcalf, grow till you come unto it:
I will none of you.
SHALLOW.
Sir John, Sir John, do not yourself wrong: they are your likeliest
men, and I would have you served with the best.
FALSTAFF.
Will you tell me, Master Shallow, how to choose a man? Care I for the
limb, the thewes, the stature, bulk, and big assemblance of a man!
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Give me the spirit, Master SHALLOW.
Here's Wart; you see what a ragged
appearance it is: a' shall charge you and discharge you with the
motion of a pewterer's hammer, come off and on swifter than he that
gibbets on the brewer's bucket.
And this same halffaced fellow, Shadow; give me this man: he
presents no mark to the enemy; the foeman may with as great aim level
at the edge of a penknife.
And for a retreat; how swiftly will this Feeble the woman's tailor
run off! O, give me the spare men, and spare me the great ones.
Put me a caliver into Wart's hand, BARDOLPH.
BARDOLPH.
Hold, Wart, traverse; thus, thus, thus.
FALSTAFF.
Come, manage me your caliver. So: very well: go to: very good,
exceeding good. O, give me always a little, lean, old, chapt,
bald shot. Well said, i' faith, Wart; thou'rt a good scab: hold,
there's a tester for thee.
SHALLOW.
He is not his craft's master; he doth not do it right. I remember at
Mileend Green, when I lay at Clement's Inn,I was then Sir Dagonet in
Arthur's show,there was a little quiver fellow, and a' would manage
you his piece thus; and a' would about and about, and come you in and
come you in: "rah, tah, tah," would a' say; "bounce" would a' say; and
away again would a' go, and again would 'a come: I shall ne'er see
such a fellow.
FALSTAFF.
These fellows will do well. Master Shallow, God keep you, Master Silence:
I will not use many words with you. Fare you well, gentlemen both:
I thank you: I must a dozen mile tonight. Bardolph, give the soldiers
coats.
SHALLOW.
Sir John, the Lord bless you! God prosper your affairs! God send us
peace! At your return visit our house; let our old acquaintance be
renewed: peradventure I will with ye to the COURT.
FALSTAFF.
'Fore God, I would you would.
SHALLOW.
Go to; I have spoke at a word. God keep you.
FALSTAFF.
Fare you well, gentle gentlemen.
[Exeunt Justices.]
On, Bardolph; lead the men away.
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Page No 157
[Exeunt Bardolph, Recruits, As I return, I will fetch off these justices: I do see the bottom
of Justice SHALLOW.
Lord, Lord, how subject we old men are to this vice of lying!
This same starved justice hath done nothing but prate to me of the
wildness of his youth, and the feats he hath done about Turnbull
Street; and every third word a lie, duer paid to the hearer than the
Turk's tribute. I do remember him at Clement's Inn like a man made
after supper of a cheeseparing: when a' was naked, he was, for all
the world, like a fork'd radish, with a head fantastically carved upon
it with a knife: a' was so forlorn, that his dimensions to any thick
sight were invincible: a' was the very genius of famine; yet lecherous
as a monkey, and the whores called him mandrake: a' came ever in the
rearward of the fashion, and sung those tunes to the overscutch'd
huswifes that he heard the carmen whistle, and sware they were his
fancies or his goodnights.
And now is this Vice's dagger become a squire, and talks as familiarly
of John a Gaunt as if he had been sworn brother to him; and I'll be
sworn a' ne'er saw him but once in the Tiltyard; and then he burst
his head for crowding among the marshal's men.
I saw it, and told John a Gaunt he beat his own name; for you might
have thrust him and all his apparel into an eelskin; the case of a
treble hautboy was a mansion for him, a court: and now has he land
and beefs.
Well, I'll be acquainted with him, if I return; and it shall go hard
but I'll make him a philosopher's two stones to me: if the young dace
be a bait for the old pike, I see no reason in the law of nature but I
may snap at him.
Let time shape, and there an end.
[Exit.]
ACT IV.
SCENE I. Yorkshire. Gaultree Forest.
[Enter the Archbishop of York, Mowbray, Hastings, and others.]
ARCHBISHOP.
What is this forest call'd?
HASTINGS.
'Tis Gaultree Forest, an 't shall please your grace.
ARCHBISHOP.
Here stand, my lords; and send discoverers forth
To know the numbers of our enemies.
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Page No 158
HASTINGS.
We have sent forth already.
ARCHBISHOP.
'Tis well done.
My friends and brethren in these great affairs,
I must acquaint you that I have received
Newdated letters from Northumberland;
Their cold intent, tenour and substance, thus:
Here doth he wish his person, with such powers
As might hold sortance with his quality,
The which he could not levy; whereupon
He is retired, to ripe his growing fortunes,
To Scotland: and concludes in hearty prayers
That your attempts may overlive the hazard
And fearful meeting of their opposite.
MOWBRAY.
Thus do the hopes we have in him touch ground
And dash themselves to pieces.
[Enter a Messenger.]
HASTINGS.
Now, what news?
MESSENGER.
West of this forest, scarcely off a mile,
In goodly form comes on the enemy;
And, by the ground they hide, I judge their number
Upon or near the rate of thirty thousand.
MOWBRAY.
The just proportion that we gave them out.
Let us sway on and face them in the field.
ARCHBISHOP.
What wellappointed leader fronts us here?
[Enter Westmoreland.]
MOWBRAY.
I think it is my Lord of WESTMORELAND.
WESTMORELAND.
Health and fair greeting from our general,
The prince, Lord John and Duke of LANCASTER.
ARCHBISHOP.
Say on, my Lord of Westmoreland, in peace:
What doth concern your coming?
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Page No 159
WESTMORELAND.
Then, my lord,
Unto your grace do I in chief address
The substance of my speech. If that rebellion
Came like itself, in base and abject routs,
Led on by bloody youth, guarded with rags,
And countenanced by boys and beggary,
I say, if damn'd commotion so appear'd,
In his true, native, and most proper shape,
You, reverend father, and these noble lords
Had not been here, to dress the ugly form
Of base and bloody insurrection
With your fair honours. You, lord archbishop,
Whose see is by a civil peace maintain'd,
Whose beard the silver hand of peace hath touch'd,
Whose learning and good letters peace hath tutor'd,
Whose white investments figure innocence,
The dove and very blessed spirit of peace,
Wherefore you do so ill translate yourself
Out of the speech of peace that bears such grace,
Into the harsh and boisterous tongue of war;
Turning your books to graves, your ink to blood,
Your pens to lances and your tongue divine
To a loud trumpet and a point of war?
ARCHBISHOP.
Wherefore do I this? so the question stands.
Briefly to this end: we are all diseased,
And with our surfeiting and wanton hours
Have brought ourselves into a burning fever,
And we must bleed for it; of which disease
Our late king, Richard, being infected, died.
But, my most noble Lord of Westmoreland,
I take not on me here as a physician,
Nor do I as an enemy to peace
Troop in the throngs of military men;
But rather show awhile like fearful war,
To diet rank minds sick of happiness,
And purge the obstructions which begin to stop
Our very veins of life. Hear me more plainly.
I have in equal balance justly weigh'd
What wrongs our arms may do, what wrongs we suffer,
And find our griefs heavier than our offences.
We see which way the stream of time doth run,
And are enforced from our most quiet there
By the rough torrent of occasion;
And have the summary of all our griefs,
When time shall serve, to show in articles;
Which long ere this we offer'd to the king,
And might by no suit gain our audience:
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Page No 160
When we are wrong'd and would unfold our griefs,
We are denied access unto his person
Even by those men that most have done us wrong.
The dangers of the days but newly gone,
Whose memory is written on the earth
With yet appearing blood, and the examples
Of every minute's instance, present now,
Hath put us in these illbeseeming arms,
Not to break peace or any branch of it,
But to establish here a peace indeed,
Concurring, both in name and quality.
WESTMORELAND.
When ever yet was your appeal denied?
Wherein have you been galled by the king?
What peer hath been suborn'd to grate on you,
That you should seal this lawless bloody book
Of forged rebellion with a seal divine
And consecrate commotion's bitter edge?
ARCHBISHOP.
My brother general, the commonwealth,
To brother born an household cruelty,
I make my quarrel in particular.
WESTMORELAND.
There is no need of any such redress;
Or if there were, it not belongs to you.
MOWBRAY.
Why not to him in part, and to us all
That feel the bruises of the days before,
And suffer the condition of these times
To lay a heavy and unequal hand
Upon our honours?
WESTMORELAND.
O, my good Lord Mowbray,
Construe the times to their necessities,
And you shall say indeed, it is the time,
And not the king, that doth you injuries.
Yet for your part, it not appears to me
Either from the king or in the present time
That you should have an inch of any ground
To build a grief on: were you not restored
To all the Duke of Norfolk's signories,
Your noble and right well rememb'red father's?
MOWBRAY.
What thing, in honour, had my father lost,
That need to be revived and breathed in me?
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Page No 161
The king that loved him, as the state stood then,
Was force perforce compell'd to banish him:
And then that Henry Bolingbroke and he,
Being mounted and both roused in their seats,
Their neighing coursers daring of the spur,
Their armed staves in charge, their beavers down,
Their eyes of fire sparkling through sights of steel,
And the loud trumpet blowing them together,
Then, then, when there was nothing could have stay'd
My father from the breast of Bolingbroke,
O, when the king did throw his warder down,
His own life hung upon the staff he threw;
Then threw he down himself and all their lives
That by indictment and by dint of sword
Have since miscarried under Bolingbroke.
WESTMORELAND.
You speak, Lord Mowbray, now you know not what.
The Earl of Hereford was reputed then
In England the most valiant gentleman:
Who knows on whom fortune would then have smiled?
But if your father had been victor there,
He ne'er had borne it out of Coventry:
For all the country in a general voice
Cried hate upon him; and all their prayers and love
Were set on Hereford, whom they doted on
And bless'd and graced indeed, more than the KING.
But this is mere digression from my purpose.
Here come I from our princely general
To know your griefs; to tell you from his grace
That he will give you audience; and wherein
It shall appear that your demands are just,
You shall enjoy them, everything set off
That might so much as think you enemies.
MOWBRAY.
But he hath forc'd us to compel this offer;
And it proceeds from policy, not love.
WESTMORELAND.
Mowbray, you overween to take it so;
This offer comes from mercy, not from fear:
For, lo! within a ken our army lies,
Upon mine honour, all too confident
To give admittance to a thought of fear.
Our battle is more full of names than yours,
Our men more perfect in the use of arms,
Our armour all as strong, our cause the best;
Then reason will our hearts should be as good:
Say you not then our offer is compell'd.
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Page No 162
MOWBRAY.
Well, by my will we shall admit no parley.
WESTMORELAND.
That argues but the shame of your offence:
A rotten case abides no handling.
HASTINGS.
Hath the Prince John a full commission,
In very ample virtue of his father,
To hear and absolutely to determine
Of what conditions we shall stand upon?
WESTMORELAND.
That is intended in the general's name:
I muse you make so slight a question.
ARCHBISHOP.
Then take, my Lord of Westmoreland, this schedule,
For this contains our general grievances:
Each several article herein redress'd,
All members of our cause, both here and hence,
That are insinew'd to this action,
Acquitted by a true substantial form
And present execution of our wills
To us and to our purposes confined,
We come within our awful banks again
And knit our powers to the arm of peace.
WESTMORELAND.
This will I show the general. Please you, lords,
In sight of both our battles we may meet;
And either end in peace, which God so frame!
Or to the place of difference call the swords
Which must decide it.
ARCHBISHOP.
My lord, we will do so.
[Exit Westmoreland.]
MOWBRAY.
There is a thing within my bosom tells me
That no conditions of our peace can stand.
HASTINGS.
Fear you not that: if we can make our peace
Upon such large terms and so absolute
As our conditions shall consist upon,
Our peace shall stand as firm as rocky mountains.
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Page No 163
MOWBRAY.
Yea, but our valuation shall be such
That every slight and falsederived cause,
Yea, every idle, nice and wanton reason
Shall to the king taste of this action;
That, were our royal faiths martyrs in love,
We shall be winnow'd with so rough a wind
That even our corn shall seem as light as chaff
And good from bad find no partition.
ARCHBISHOP.
No, no, my lord. Note this; the king is weary
Of dainty and such picking grievances:
For he hath found to end one doubt by death
Revives two greater in the heirs of life,
And therefore will he wipe his tables clean
And keep no telltale to his memory
That may repeat and history his loss
To new remembrance; for full well he knows
He cannot so precisely weed this land
As his misdoubts present occasion:
His foes are so enrooted with his friends
That, plucking to unfix an enemy,
He doth unfasten so and shake a friend:
So that this land, like an offensive wife
That hath enraged him on to offer strokes,
As he is striking, holds his infant up
And hangs resolved correction in the arm
That was uprear'd to execution.
HASTINGS.
Besides, the king hath wasted all his rods
On late offenders, that he now doth lack
The very instruments of chastisement:
So that his power, like to a fangless lion,
May offer, but not hold.
ARCHBISHOP.
'Tis very true:
And therefore be assured, my good lord marshal,
If we do now make our atonement well,
Our peace will, like a broken limb united,
Grow stronger for the breaKING.
MOWBRAY.
Be it so.
Here is return'd my Lord of WESTMORELAND.
[Reenter Westmoreland.]
WESTMORELAND.
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Page No 164
The prince is here at hand: pleaseth your lordship
To meet his grace just distance 'tween our armies.
MOWBRAY.
Your grace of York, in God's name then, set forward.
ARCHBISHOP.
Before, and greet his grace: my lord, we come.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE II. Another part of the forest.
[Enter, from one side, Mowbray, attended; afterwards, the
Archbishop, Hastings, and others; from the other side, Prince
John of Lancaster, and Westmoreland; Officers, and others with
them.]
LANCASTER.
You are well encounter'd here, my cousin Mowbray:
Good day to you, gentle lord Archbishop;
And so to you, Lord Hastings, and to all.
My Lord of York, it better show'd with you
When that your flock, assembled by the bell,
Encircled you to hear with reverence
Your exposition on the holy text
Than now to see you here an iron man,
Cheering a rout of rebels with your drum,
Turning the word to sword and life to death.
That man that sits within a monarch's heart,
And ripens in the sunshine of his favour,
Would he abuse the countenance of the king,
Alack, what mischiefs might he set abroach
In shadow of such greatness! With you, lord bishop,
It is even so. Who hath not heard it spoken
How deep you were within the books of God?
To us the speaker in his parliament;
To us the imagined voice of God himself;
The very opener and intelligencer
Between the grace, the sanctities of heaven
And our dull workings. O, who shall believe
But you misuse the reverence of your place,
Employ the countenance and grace of heaven,
As a false favourite doth his prince's name,
In deeds dishonourable? You have ta'en up,
Under the counterfeited zeal of God,
The subjects of his substitute, my father,
And both against the peace of heaven and him
Have here upswarm'd them.
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Page No 165
ARCHBISHOP.
Good my Lord of Lancaster,
I am not here against your father's peace;
But, as I told my Lord of Westmoreland,
The time misorder'd doth, in common sense,
Crowd us and crush us to this monstrous form
To hold our safety up. I sent your grace
The parcels and particulars of our grief,
The which hath been with scorn shoved from the court,
Whereon this Hydra son of war is born;
Whose dangerous eyes may well be charm'd asleep
With grant of our most just and right desires,
And true obedience, of this madness cured,
Stoop tamely to the foot of majesty.
MOWBRAY.
If not, we ready are to try our fortunes
To the last man.
HASTINGS.
And though we here fall down,
We have supplies to second our attempt:
If they miscarry, theirs shall second them;
And so success of mischief shall be born
And heir from heir shall hold this quarrel up
Whiles England shall have generation.
LANCASTER.
You are too shallow, Hastings, much to shallow,
To sound the bottom of the aftertimes.
WESTMORELAND.
Pleaseth your grace to answer them directly
How far forth you do like their articles.
LANCASTER.
I like them all, and do allow them well,
And swear here, by the honour of my blood,
My father's purposes have been mistook,
And some about him have too lavishly
Wrested his meaning and authority.
My lord, these griefs shall be with speed redress'd;
Upon my soul, they shall. If this may please you,
Discharge your powers unto their several counties,
As we will ours; and here between the armies
Let 's drink together friendly and embrace,
That all their eyes may bear those tokens home
Of our restored love and amity.
ARCHBISHOP.
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Page No 166
I take your princely word for these redresses.
LANCASTER.
I give it you, and will maintain my word:
And thereupon I drink unto your grace.
HASTINGS.
Go, captain, and deliver to the army
This news of peace: let them have pay, and part:
I know it will please them. Hie thee, captain.
[Exit Officer.]
ARCHBISHOP.
To you, my noble Lord of WESTMORELAND.
WESTMORELAND.
I pledge your grace; and, if you knew what pains
I have bestow'd to breed this present peace,
You would drink freely: but my love to ye
Shall show itself more openly hereafter.
ARCHBISHOP.
I do not doubt you.
WESTMORELAND.
I am glad of it.
Health to my lord and gentle cousin, MOWBRAY.
MOWBRAY.
You wish me health in very happy season,
For I am, on the sudden, something ill.
ARCHBISHOP.
Against ill chances men are ever merry;
But heaviness foreruns the good event.
WESTMORELAND.
Therefore be merry, coz; since sudden sorrow
Serves to say thus, "some good thing comes tomorrow."
ARCHBISHOP.
Believe me, I am passing light in spirit.
MOWBRAY.
So much the worse, if your own rule be true.
[Shouts within.]
LANCASTER.
The word of peace is render'd: hark, how they shout!
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MOWBRAY.
This had been cheerful after victory.
ARCHBISHOP.
A peace is of the nature of a conquest;
For then both parties nobly are subdued,
And neither party loser.
LANCASTER.
Go, my lord.
And let our army be discharged too.
[Exit Westmoreland.]
And, good my lord, so please you, let our trains
March by us, that we may peruse the men
We should have coped withal.
ARCHBISHOP.
Go, good Lord Hastings,
And, ere they be dismiss'd, let them march by.
[Exit Hastings.]
LANCASTER.
I trust, lords, we shall lie tonight together.
[Reenter Westmoreland.]
Now, cousin, wherefore stands our army still?
WESTMORELAND.
The leaders, having charge from you to stand,
Will not go off until they hear you speak.
LANCASTER.
They know their duties.
[Reenter Hastings.]
HASTINGS.
My lord, our army is dispersed already:
Like youthful steers unyoked, they take their courses
East, west, north, south; or, like a school broke up,
Each hurries toward his home and sportingplace.
WESTMORELAND.
Good tidings, my Lord Hastings; for the which
I do arrest thee, traitor, of high treason:
And you, lord archbishop, and you, Lord Mowbray,
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Of capital treason I attach you both.
MOWBRAY.
Is this proceeding just and honourable?
WESTMORELAND.
Is your assembly so?
ARCHBISHOP.
Will you thus break your faith?
LANCASTER.
I pawn'd thee none:
I promised you redress of these same grievances
Whereof you did complain; which, by mine honour,
I will perform with a most Christian care.
But for you, rebels, look to taste the due
Meet for rebellion and such acts as yours.
Most shallowly did you these arms commence,
Fondly brought here and foolishly sent hence.
Strike up our drums, pursue the scattr'd stray:
God, and not we, hath safely fought today.
Some guard these traitors to the block of death,
Treason's true bed and yielder up of breath.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE III. Another part of the forest.
[Alarum. Excursions. Enter Falstaff and Colevile, meeting.]
FALSTAFF.
What 's your name, sir? of what condition are you, and of
what place, I pray?
COLEVILE.
I am a knight sir; and my name is Colevile of the Dale.
FALSTAFF.
Well, then, Colevile is your name, a knight is your degree, and
your place the dale: Colevile shall be still your name, a traitor
your degree, and the dungeon your place, a place deep enough; so
shall you be still Colevile of the dale.
COLEVILE.
Are not you Sir John Falstaff?
FALSTAFF.
As good a man as he, sir, whoe'er I am. Do ye yield, sir? or shall I
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sweat for you? If I do sweat, they are the drops of thy lovers, and
they weep for thy death: therefore rouse up fear and trembling,
and do observance to my mercy.
COLEVILE.
I think you are Sir John Falstaff, and in that thought yield me.
FALSTAFF.
I have a whole school of tongues in this belly of mine, and not a
tongue of them all speaks any other word but my name. An I had but
a belly of any indifferency, I were simply the most active fellow in
Europe: my womb, my womb, my womb undoes me.
Here comes our general.
[Enter Prince John of Lancaster, Westmoreland, Blunt, and
others.]
LANCASTER.
The heat is past; follow no further now:
Call in the powers, good cousin WESTMORELAND.
[Exit Westmoreland.]
Now, Falstaff, where have you been all this while?
When everything is ended, then you come:
These tardy tricks of yours will, on my life,
One time or other break some gallows' back.
FALSTAFF.
I would be sorry, my lord, but it should be thus: I never knew yet
but rebuke and check was the reward of valour. Do you think me a
swallow, an arrow, or a bullet? have I, in my poor and old motion,
the expedition of thought? I have speeded hither with the very
extremest inch of possibility; I have foundered nine score and odd
posts: and here, traveltainted as I am, have, in my pure and
immaculate valour, taken Sir John Colevile of the dale, a most furious
knight and valorous enemy. But what of that? he saw me, and yielded;
that I may justly say, with the hooknosed fellow of Rome, "I came,
saw, and overcame."
LANCASTER.
It was more of his courtesy than your deserving.
FALSTAFF.
I know not: here he is, and here I yield him: and I beseech your
grace, let it be booked with the rest of this day's deeds; or, by the
Lord, I will have it in a particular ballad else, with mine own
picture on the top on't, Colevile kissing my foot: to the which
course if I be enforced, if you do not all show like gilt twopences to
me, and I in the clear sky of fame o'ershine you as much as the full
moon doth the cinders of the element, which show like pins' heads to
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her, believe not the word of the noble: therefore let me have right,
and let desert mount.
LANCASTER.
Thine 's too heavy to mount.
FALSTAFF.
Let it shine, then.
LANCASTER.
Thine 's too thick to shine.
FALSTAFF.
Let it do something, my good lord, that may do me good, and
call it what you will.
LANCASTER.
Is thy name Colevile?
COLEVILE.
It is, my lord.
LANCASTER.
A famous rebel art thou, COLEVILE.
FALSTAFF.
And a famous true subject took him.
COLEVILE.
I am, my lord, but as my betters are
That led me hither: had they been ruled by me,
You should have won them dearer than you have.
FALSTAFF.
I know not how they sold themselves: but thou, like a kind
fellow, gavest thyself away gratis; and I thank thee for thee.
[Reenter Westmoreland.]
LANCASTER.
Now, have you left pursuit?
WESTMORELAND.
Retreat is made and execution stay'd.
LANCASTER.
Send Colevile with his confederates
To York, to present execution.
Blunt, lead him hence; and see you guard him sure.
[Exeunt Blunt and others with Colevile.]
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And now dispatch we toward the court, my lords:
I hear the king my father is sore sick:
Our news shall go before us to his majesty,
Which, cousin, you shall bear to comfort him,
And we with sober speed will follow you.
FALSTAFF.
My lord, I beseech you, give me leave to go through Gloucestershire:
and, when you come to court, stand my good lord, pray, in your good
report.
LANCASTER.
Fare you well, Falstaff: I, in my condition,
Shall better speak of you than you deserve.
[Exeunt all but Falstaff.]
FALSTAFF.
I would you had but the wit: 'twere better than your dukedom.
Good faith, this same young soberblooded boy doth not love me;
nor a man cannot make him laugh; but that 's no marvel, he drinks
no wine. There 's never none of these demure boys come to any proof;
for thin drink doth so overcool their blood, and making many
fishmeals, that they fall into a kind of male greensickness; and
then, when they marry, they get wenches: they are generally fools
and cowards; which some of us should be too, but for inflammation.
A good sherrissack hath a twofold operation in it. It ascends me
into the brain; dries me there all the foolish and dull and crudy
vapours which environ it; makes it apprehensive, quick, forgetive,
full of nimble fiery and delectable shapes; which, delivered o'er to
the voice, the tongue, which is the birth, becomes excellent wit.
The second property of your excellent sherris is, the warming of the
blood; which, before cold and settled, left the liver white and pale,
which is the badge of pusillanimity and cowardice; but the sherris
warms it and makes it course from the inwards to the parts extremes:
it illumineth the face, which as a beacon gives warning to all
the rest of this little kingdom, man, to arm; and then the vital
commoners and inland petty spirits muster me all to their captain, the
heart, who, great and puffed up with this retinue, doth any deed of
courage; and this valour comes of sherris. So that skill in the weapon
is nothing without sack, for that sets it awork; and learning a mere
hoard of gold kept by a devil, till sack commences it and sets it in
act and use. Hereof comes it that Prince Harry is valiant; for the
cold blood he did naturally inherit of his father, he hath, like lean,
sterile and bare land, manured, husbanded and tilled with excellent
endeavour of drinking good and good store of fertile sherris, that he
is become very hot and valiant. If I had a thousand sons, the first
humane principle I would teach them should be, to forswear thin
potations and to addict themselves to sack.
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[Enter Bardolph.]
How now, Bardolph!
BARDOLPH.
The army is discharged all and gone.
FALSTAFF.
Let them go. I'll through Gloucestershire; and there will I visit
Master Robert Shallow, esquire: I have him already tempering between
my finger and my thumb, and shortly will I seal with him. Come away.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE IV. Westminster. The Jerusalem Chamber.
[Enter the King, the Princes Thomas of Clarence and Humphrey of
Gloucester, Warwick, and others.]
KING.
Now, lords, if God doth give successful end
To this debate that bleedeth at our doors,
We will our youth lead on to higher fields
And draw no swords but what are sanctified.
Our navy is address'd, our power collected,
Our substitutes in absence well invested,
And every thing lies level to our wish:
Only, we want a little personal strength;
And pause us, till these rebels, now afoot,
Come underneath the yoke of government.
WARWICK.
Both which we doubt not but your majesty
Shall soon enjoy.
KING.
Humphrey, my son of Gloucester,
Where is the prince your brother?
GLOUCESTER.
I think he 's gone to hunt, my lord, at Windsor.
KING.
And how accompanied?
GLOUCESTER.
I do not know, my lord.
KING.
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Is not his brother, Thomas of Clarence, with him?
GLOUCESTER.
No, my good lord; he is in presence here.
CLARENCE.
What would my lord and father?
KING.
Nothing but well to thee, Thomas of Clarence.
How chance thou art not with the prince thy brother?
He loves thee, and thou dost neglect him, Thomas;
Thou hast a better place in his affection
Than all thy brothers: cherish it, my boy,
And noble offices thou mayst effect
Of mediation, after I am dead,
Between his greatness and thy other brethren:
Therefore omit him not; blunt not his love,
Nor lose the good advantage of his grace
By seeming cold or careless of his will;
For he is gracious, if he be observed.
He hath a tear for pity and a hand
Open as day for melting charity:
Yet notwithstanding, being incensed, he 's flint;
As humorous as winter and as sudden
As flaws congealed in the spring of day.
His temper, therefore, must be well observed:
Chide him for faults, and do it reverently,
When you perceive his blood inclined to mirth;
But, being moody, give him line and scope,
Till that his passions, like a whale on ground,
Confound themselves with working. Learn this, Thomas,
And thou shalt prove a shelter to thy friends,
A hoop of gold to bind thy brothers in,
That the united vessel of their blood,
Mingled with venom of suggestion
As, force perforce, the age will pour it in
Shall never leak, though it do work as strong
As aconitum or rash gunpowder.
CLARENCE.
I shall observe him with all care and love.
KING.
Why art thou not at Windsor with him, Thomas?
CLARENCE.
He is not there today; he dines in London.
KING.
And how accompanied? canst thou tell that?
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CLARENCE.
With Poins, and other his continual followers.
KING.
Most subject is the fattest soil to weeds;
And he, the noble image of my youth,
Is overspread with them: therefore my grief
Stretches itself beyond the hour of death:
The blood weeps from my heart when I do shape
In forms imaginary the unguided days
And rotten times that you shall look upon
When I am sleeping with my ancestors.
For when his headstrong riot hath no curb,
When rage and hot blood are his counsellors,
When means and lavish manners meet together,
O, with what wings shall his affections fly
Towards fronting peril and opposed decay!
WARWICK.
My gracious lord, you look beyond him quite:
The prince but studies his companions
Like a strange tongue, wherein, to gain the language,
'Tis needful that the most immodest word
Be look'd upon and learn'd; which once attain'd,
Your highness knows, comes to no further use
But to be known and hated. So, like gross terms,
The prince will in the perfectness of time
Cast off his followers; and their memory
Shall as a pattern or a measure live,
By which his grace must mete the lives of other,
Turning past evils to advantages.
KING.
'Tis seldom when the bee doth leave her comb
In the dead carrion.
[Enter Westmoreland.]
Who's here? Westmoreland?
WESTMORELAND.
Health to my sovereign, and new happiness
Added to that that I am to deliver!
Prince John your son doth kiss your grace's hand:
Mowbray, the Bishop Scroop, Hastings and all
Are brought to the correction of your law;
There is not now a rebel's sword unsheathed,
But Peace puts forth her olive every where.
The manner how this action hath been borne
Here at more leisure may your highness read,
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With every course in his particular.
KING.
O Westmoreland, thou art a summer bird,
Which ever in the haunch of winter sings
The lifting up of day.
[Enter Harcourt.]
Look, here 's more news.
HARCOURT.
From enemies heaven keep your majesty;
And, when they stand against you, may they fall
As those that I am come to tell you of!
The Earl Northumberland and the Lord Bardolph,
With a great power of English and of Scots,
Are by the sheriff of Yorkshire overthrown:
The manner and true order of the fight
This packet, please it you, contains at large.
KING.
And wherefore should these good news make me sick?
Will Fortune never come with both hands full,
But write her fair words still in foulest letters?
She either gives a stomach and no food;
Such are the poor, in health; or else a feast
And takes away the stomach; such are the rich,
That have abundance and enjoy it not.
I should rejoice now at this happy news;
And now my sight fails, and my brain is giddy:
O me! come near me; now I am much ill.
GLOUCESTER.
Comfort, your majesty!
CLARENCE.
O my royal father!
WESTMORELAND.
My sovereign lord, cheer up yourself, look up.
WARWICK.
Be patient, princes; you do know, these fits
Are with his highness very ordinary.
Stand from him, give him air; he'll straight be well.
CLARENCE.
No, no, he cannot long hold out these pangs:
The incessant care and labour of his mind
Hath wrought the mure that should confine it in
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So thin that life looks through and will break out.
GLOUCESTER.
The people fear me; for they do observe
Unfather'd heirs and loathly births of nature:
The seasons change their manners, as the year
Had found some months asleep, and leap'd them over.
CLARENCE.
The river hath thrice flow'd, no ebb between;
And the old folk, time's doting chronicles,
Say it did so a little time before
That our greatgrandsire, Edward, sick'd and died.
WARWICK.
Speak lower, princes, for the king recovers.
GLOUCESTER.
This apoplexy will certain be his end.
KING.
I pray you, take me up, and bear me hence
Into some other chamber: softly, pray.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE V. Another chamber.
[The King lying on a bed: Clarence, Gloucester, Warwick,
and others in attendance.]
KING.
Let there be no noise made, my gentle friends;
Unless some dull and favourable hand
Will whisper music to my weary spirit.
WARWICK.
Call for the music in the other room.
KING.
Set me the crown upon my pillow here.
CLARENCE.
His eye is hollow, and he changes much.
WARWICK.
Less noise! less noise!
[Enter Prince Henry.]
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PRINCE.
Who saw the Duke of Clarence?
CLARENCE.
I am here, brother, full of heaviness.
PRINCE.
How now! rain within doors, and none abroad!
How doth the king?
GLOUCESTER.
Exceeding ill.
PRINCE.
Heard he the good news yet? Tell it him.
GLOUCESTER.
He alt'red much upon the hearing it.
PRINCE.
If he be sick with joy, he'll recover without physic.
WARWICK.
Not so much noise, my lords: sweet prince, speak low;
The king your father is disposed to sleep.
CLARENCE.
Let us withdraw into the other room.
WARWICK.
Will't please your grace to go along with us?
PRINCE.
No; I will sit and watch here by the KING.
[Exeunt all but the Prince.]
Why doth the crown lie there upon his pillow,
Being so troublesome a bedfellow?
O polish'd perturbation! golden care!
That keep'st the ports of slumber open wide
To many a watchful night! sleep with it now!
Yet not so sound and half so deeply sweet
As he whose brow with homely biggen bound
Snores out the watch of night. O majesty!
When thou dost pinch thy bearer, thou dost sit
Like a rich armour worn in heat of day,
That scalds with safety. By his gates of breath
There lies a downy feather which stirs not:
Did he suspire, that light and weightless down
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Perforce must move. My gracious lord! my father!
This sleep is sound indeed; this is a sleep
That from this golden rigol hath divorced
So many English kings. Thy due from me
Is tears and heavy sorrows of the blood,
Which nature, love, and filial tenderness,
Shall, O dear father, pay thee plenteously:
My due from thee is this imperial crown,
Which, as immediate from thy place and blood,
Derives itself to me. Lo, here it sits,
Which God shall guard: and put the world's whole strength
Into one giant arm, it shall not force
This lineal honour from me: this from thee
Will I to mine leave, as 'tis left to me.
[Exit.]
KING.
Warwick! Gloucester! Clarence!
[Reenter Warwick, Gloucester, Clarence, and the rest.]
CLARENCE.
Doth the king call?
WARWICK.
What would your majesty? How fares your grace?
KING.
Why did you leave me here alone, my lords?
CLARENCE.
We left the prince my brother here, my liege,
Who undertook to sit and watch by you.
KING.
The Prince of Wales! Where is he? let me see him:
He is not here.
WARWICK.
This door is open; he is gone this way.
GLOUCESTER.
He came not through the chamber where we stay'd.
KING.
Where is the crown? who took it from my pillow?
WARWICK.
When we withdrew, my liege, we left it here.
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KING.
The prince hath ta'en it hence: go, seek him out.
Is he so hasty that he doth suppose
My sleep my death?
Find him, my lord of Warwick; chide him hither.
[Exit Warwick.]
This part of his conjoins with my disease,
And helps to end me. See, sons, what things you are!
How quickly nature falls into revolt
When gold becomes her object!
For this the foolish overcareful fathers
Have broke their sleep with thoughts, their brains with care,
Their bones with industry;
For this they have engross'd and piled up
The canker'd heaps of strangeachieved gold;
For this they have been thoughtful to invest
Their sons with arts and martial exercises;
When, like the bee, tolling from every flower
The virtuous sweets,
Our thighs pack'd with wax, our mouths with honey,
We bring it to the hive, and, like the bees,
Are murdered for our pains. This bitter taste
Yields his engrossments to the ending father.
[Reenter Warwick.]
Now where is he that will not stay so long
Till his friend sickness hath determin'd me?
WARWICK.
My lord, I found the prince in the next room,
Washing with kindly tears his gentle cheeks,
With such a deep demeanour in great sorrow
That tyranny, which never quaff'd but blood,
Would, by beholding him, have wash'd his knife
With gentle eyedrops. He is coming hither.
KING.
But wherefore did he take away the crown?
[ReEnter Prince Henry.]
Lo, where he comes. Come hither to me, Harry.
Depart the chamber, leave us here alone.
[Exeunt Warwick and the rest.]
PRINCE.
I never thought to hear you speak again.
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KING.
Thy wish was father, Harry, to that thought:
I stay too long by thee, I weary thee.
Dost thou so hunger for mine empty chair
That thou wilt needs invest thee with my honours
Before thy hour be ripe? O foolish youth!
Thou seek'st the greatness that will overwhelm thee.
Stay but a little; for my cloud of dignity
Is held from falling with so weak a wind
That it will quickly drop: my day is dim.
Thou hast stolen that which after some few hours
Were thine without offence; and at my death
Thou hast seal'd up my expectation:
Thy life did manifest thou lovedst me not,
And thou wilt have me die assured of it.
Thou hidest a thousand daggers in thy thoughts
Which thou hast whetted on thy stony heart,
To stab at half an hour of my life.
What! canst thou not forbear me half an hour?
Then get thee gone and dig my grave thyself,
And bid the merry bells ring to thine ear
That thou art crowned, not that I am dead.
Let all the tears that should bedew my hearse
Be drops of balm to sanctify thy head:
Only compound me with forgotten dust;
Give that which gave thee life unto the worms.
Pluck down my officers, break my decrees;
For now a time is come to mock at form:
Harry the Fifth is crown'd: up, vanity!
Down, royal state! all you sage counsellors, hence!
And to the English court assemble now,
From every region, apes of idleness!
Now, neighbour confines, purge you of your scum:
Have you a ruffian that will swear, drink, dance,
Revel the night, rob, murder, and commit
The oldest sins the newest kind of ways?
Be happy, he will trouble you no more;
England shall double gild his treble guilt,
England shall give him office, honour, might;
For the fifth Harry from curb'd license plucks
The muzzle of restraint, and the wild dog
Shall flesh his tooth on every innocent.
O my poor kingdom, sick with civil blows!
When that my care could not withhold thy riots,
What wilt thou do when riot is thy care?
O, thou wilt be a wilderness again,
Peopled with wolves, thy old inhabitants!
PRINCE.
O, pardon me, my liege! but for my tears,
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The moist impediments unto my speech,
I had forestall'd this dear and deep rebuke
Ere you with grief had spoke and I had heard
The course of it so far. There is your crown:
And He that wears the crown immortally
Long guard it yours! If I affect it more
Than as your honour and as your renown,
Let me no more from this obedience rise,
Which my most inward true and duteous spirit
Teacheth, this prostrate and exterior bending.
God witness with me, when I here came in,
And found no course of breath within your majesty,
How cold it struck my heart! If I do feign,
O, let me in my present wildness die
And never live to show the incredulous world
The noble change that I have purposed!
Coming to look on you, thinking you dead,
And dead almost, my liege, to think you were,
I spake unto this crown as having sense,
And thus upbraided it: "The care on thee depending
Hath fed upon the body of my father;
Therefore, thou best of gold art worst of gold:
Other, less fine in carat, is more precious,
Preserving life in medicine potable;
But thou, most fine, most honour'd, most renown'd,
Hast eat thy bearer up." Thus, my most royal liege,
Accusing it, I put it on my head,
To try with it, as with an enemy
That had before my face murder'd my father,
The quarrel of a true inheritor.
But if it did infect my blood with joy,
Or swell my thoughts to any strain of pride;
If any rebel or vain spirit of mine
Did with the least affection of a welcome
Give entertainment to the might of it,
Let God for ever keep it from my head
And make me as the poorest vassal is
That doth with awe and terror kneel to it!
KING.
O my son,
God put it in thy mind to take it hence,
That thou mightst win the more thy father's love,
Pleading so wisely in excuse of it!
Come hither, Harry, sit thou by my bed;
And hear, I think, the very latest counsel
That ever I shall breathe. God knows, my son,
By what bypaths and indirect crook'd ways
I met this crown; and I myself know well
How troublesome it sat upon my head.
To thee it shall descend with better quiet,
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Better opinion, better confirmation;
For all the soil of the achievement goes
With me into the earth. It seem'd in me
But as an honour snatch'd with boisterous hand,
And I had many living to upbraid
My gain of it by their assistances;
Which daily grew to quarrel and to bloodshed,
Wounding supposed peace: all these bold fears
Thou see'st with peril I have answered;
For all my reign hath been but as a scene
Acting that argument: and now my death
Changes the mode; for what in me was purchased,
Falls upon thee in a more fairer sort;
So thou the garland wear'st successivELY.
Yet, though thou stand'st more sure than I could do,
Thou art not firm enough, since griefs are green;
And all my friends, which thou must make thy friends,
Have but their stings and teeth newly ta'en out;
By whose fell working I was first advanced
And by whose power I well might lodge a fear
To be again displaced: which to avoid,
I cut them off; and had a purpose now
To lead out many to the Holy Land,
Lest rest and lying still might make them look
Too near unto my state. Therefore, my Harry,
Be it thy course to busy giddy minds
With foreign quarrels; that action, hence borne out,
May waste the memory of the former days.
More would I, but my lungs are wasted so
That strength of speech is utterly denied me.
How I came by the crown, O God, forgive;
And grant it may with thee in true peace live!
PRINCE.
My gracious liege,
You won it, wore it, kept it, gave it me;
Then plain and right must my possession be:
Which I with more than with a common pain
'Gainst all the world will rightfully maintain.
[Enter Lord John of Lancaster.]
KING.
Look, look, here comes my John of LANCASTER.
LANCASTER.
Health, peace, and happiness to my royal father!
KING.
Thou bring'st me happiness and peace, son John;
But health, alack, with youthful wings is flown
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From this bare wither'd trunk: upon thy sight
My worldly business makes a period.
Where is my Lord of Warwick?
PRINCE.
My Lord of Warwick!
[Reenter Warwick, and others.]
KING.
Doth any name particular belong
Unto the lodging where I first did swoon?
WARWICK.
'Tis call'd Jerusalem, my noble lord.
KING.
Laud be to God! even there my life must end.
It hath been prophesied to me many years,
I should not die but in Jerusalem;
Which vainly I supposed the Holy Land:
But bear me to that chamber; there I'll lie;
In that Jerusalem shall Harry die.
[Exeunt.]
ACT V.
SCENE 1. Gloucestershire. Shallow's house.
[Enter Shallow, Falstaff, Bardolph, and Page.]
SHALLOW.
By cock and pie, sir, you shall not away tonight.
What, Davy, I say!
FALSTAFF.
You must excuse me, Master Robert SHALLOW.
SHALLOW.
I will not excuse you; you shall not be excused; excuses
shall not be admitted; there is no excuse shall serve; you shall
not be excused. Why, Davy!
[Enter Davy.]
DAVY.
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Here, sir.
SHALLOW.
Davy, Davy, Davy, Davy, let me see, Davy; let me see,
Davy; let me see: yea, marry, William cook, bid him come hither.
Sir John, you shall not be excused.
DAVY.
Marry, sir, thus; those precepts cannot be served; and,
again, sir, shall we sow the headland with wheat?
SHALLOW.
With red wheat, Davy. But for William cook: are there no
young pigeons?
DAVY.
Yes, sir. Here is now the smith's note for shoeing and
ploughirons.
SHALLOW.
Let it be cast and paid. Sir John, you shall not be excused.
DAVY.
Now, sir, a new link to the bucket must needs be had: and, sir, do
you mean to stop any of William's wages, about the sack he lost the
other day at Hinckley fair?
SHALLOW.
A' shall answer it. Some pigeons, Davy, a couple of shortlegg'd
hens, a joint of mutton, and any pretty little tiny kickshaws,
tell William cook.
DAVY.
Doth the man of war stay all night, sir?
SHALLOW.
Yea, Davy. I will use him well: a friend i' the court is better
than a penny in purse. Use his men well, Davy; for they are
arrant knaves, and will backbite.
DAVY.
No worse than they are backbitten, sir; for they have marvellous
foul linen.
SHALLOW.
Well conceited, Davy: about thy business, Davy.
DAVY.
I beseech you, sir, to countenance William Visor of Woncot
against Clement Perkes of the hill.
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SHALLOW.
There is many complaints, Davy, against that Visor: that
Visor is an arrant knave, on my knowledge.
DAVY.
I grant your worship that he is a knave, sir; but yet, God forbid,
sir, but a knave should have some countenance at his friend's request.
An honest man, sir, is able to speak for himself, when a knave is not.
I have served your worship truly, sir, this eight years; and if I cannot
once or twice in a quarter bear out a knave against an honest man, I
have but a very little credit with your worship.
The knave is mine honest friend, sir; therefore, I beseech your worship,
let him be countenanced.
SHALLOW.
Go to; I say he shall have no wrong. Look about, Davy.
[Exit Davy.]
Where are you, Sir John? Come, come, come, off with your boots.
Give me your hand, Master BARDOLPH.
BARDOLPH.
I am glad to see your worship.
SHALLOW.
I thank thee with all my heart, kind Master Bardolph: and
welcome, my tall fellow [to the Page]. Come, Sir John.
FALSTAFF.
I'll follow you, good Master Robert SHALLOW.
[Exit SHALLOW.
]
Bardolph, look to our horses.
[Exeunt Bardolph and Page.]
If I were sawed into quantities, I should make four dozen of such
bearded hermits' staves as Master SHALLOW.
It is a wonderful thing to
see the semblable coherence of his men's spirits and his: they, by
observing of him, do bear themselves like foolish justices: he, by
conversing with them, is turned into a justicelike servingman:
their spirits are so married in conjunction with the participation of
society that they flock together in consent, like so many wildgeese.
If I had a suit to Master Shallow, I would humour his men with the
imputation of being near their master: if to his men, I would curry
with Master Shallow that no man could better command his servants.
It is certain that either wise bearing or ignorant carriage is
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caught, as men take diseases, one of another: therefore let men take
heed of their company. I will devise matter enough out of this Shallow
to keep Prince Harry in continual laughter the wearing out of six
fashions, which is four terms, or two actions; and a' shall laugh
without intervallums.
O, it is much that a lie with a slight oath and a jest with a sad brow
will do with a fellow that never had the ache in his shoulders!
O, you shall see him laugh till his face be like a wet cloak ill laid up!
SHALLOW.
[Within.] Sir John!
FALSTAFF.
I come, Master Shallow; I come, Master SHALLOW.
[Exit.]
SCENE II. Westminster. The palace.
[Enter Warwick and the Lord ChiefJustice, meeting.]
WARWICK.
How now, my lord chiefjustice! whither away?
CHIEF JUSTICE.
How doth the king?
WARWICK.
Exceeding well; his cares are now all ended.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
I hope, not dead.
WARWICK.
He 's walk'd the way of nature;
And to our purposes he lives no more.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
I would his Majesty had call'd me with him:
The service that I truly did his life
Hath left me open to all injuries.
WARWICK.
Indeed I think the young king loves you not.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
I know he doth not, and do arm myself
To welcome the condition of the time,
Which cannot look more hideously upon me
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Than I have drawn it in my fantasy.
[Enter Lancaster, Clarence, Gloucester, Westmoreland, and
others.]
WARWICK.
Here comes the heavy issue of dead Harry:
O that the living Harry had the temper
Of him, the worst of these three gentlemen!
How many nobles then should hold their places,
That must strike sail to spirits of vile sort!
CHIEF JUSTICE.
O God, I fear all will be overturn'd!
LANCASTER.
Good morrow, cousin Warwick, good morrow.
GLOUCESTER CLARENCE.
Good morrow, cousin.
LANCASTER.
We meet like men that had forgot to speak.
WARWICK.
We do remember; but our argument
Is all too heavy to admit much talk.
LANCASTER.
Well, peace be with him that hath made us heavy!
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Peace be with us, lest we be heavier!
GLOUCESTER.
O, good my lord, you have lost a friend indeed;
And I dare swear you borrow not that face
Of seeming sorrow, it is sure your own.
LANCASTER.
Though no man be assured what grace to find,
You stand in coldest expectation:
I am the sorrier; would 'twere otherwise.
CLARENCE.
Well, you must now speak Sir John Falstaff fair;
Which swims against your stream of quality.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Sweet Princes, what I did, I did in honour,
Led by the impartial conduct of my soul;
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And never shall you see that I will beg
A ragged and forestall'd remission.
If truth and upright innocency fail me,
I'll to the king my master that is dead,
And tell him who hath sent me after him.
WARWICK.
Here comes the PRINCE.
[Enter King Henry the Fifth, attended.]
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Good morrow; and God save your majesty!
KING.
This new and gorgeous garment, majesty,
Sits not so easy on me as you think.
Brothers, you mix your sadness with some fear:
This is the English, not the Turkish court;
Not Amurath an Amurath succeeds,
But Harry Harry. Yet be sad, good brothers,
For, by my faith, it very well becomes you:
Sorrow so royally in you appears
That I will deeply put the fashion on
And wear it in my heart: why then, be sad;
But entertain no more of it, good brothers,
Than a joint burden laid upon us all.
For me, by heaven, I bid you be assured,
I'll be your father and your brother too;
Let me but bear your love, I'll bear your cares:
Yet weep that Harry 's dead, and so will I;
But Harry lives, that shall convert those tears
By number into hours of happiness.
PRINCES.
We hope no otherwise from your majesty.
KING.
You all look strangely on me: and you most;
You are, I think, assured I love you not.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
I am assured, if I be measured rightly,
Your majesty hath no just cause to hate me.
KING.
No!
How might a prince of my great hopes forget
So great indignities you laid upon me?
What! rate, rebuke, and roughly send to prison
The immediate heir of England! Was this easy?
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Page No 189
May this be wash'd in Lethe, and forgotten?
CHIEF JUSTICE.
I then did use the person of your father;
The image of his power lay then in me;
And, in the administration of his law,
Whiles I was busy for the commonwealth,
Your highness pleased to forget my place,
The majesty and power of law and justice,
The image of the king whom I presented,
And struck me in my very seat of judgement;
Whereon, as an offender to your father,
I gave bold way to my authority
And did commit you. If the deed were ill,
Be you contented, wearing now the garland,
To have a son set your decrees at nought,
To pluck down justice from your awful bench,
To trip the course of law and blunt the sword
That guards the peace and safety of your person;
Nay, more, to spurn at your most royal image,
And mock your workings in a second body.
Question your royal thoughts, make the case yours;
Be now the father and propose a son,
Hear your own dignity so much profaned,
See your most dreadful laws so loosely slighted,
Behold yourself so by a son disdain'd;
And then imagine me taking your part
And in your power soft silencing your son:
After this cold considerance, sentence me;
And, as you are a king, speak in your state
What I have done that misbecame my place,
My person, or my liege's sovereignty.
KING.
You are right, justice, and you weigh this well;
Therefore still bear the balance and the sword:
And I do wish your honours may increase,
Till you do live to see a son of mine
Offend you and obey you, as I did.
So shall I live to speak my father's words:
"Happy am I, that have a man so bold,
That dares do justice on my proper son;
And not less happy, having such a son,
That would deliver up his greatness so
Into the hands of justice." You did commit me:
For which I do commit into your hand
The unstained sword that you have used to bear;
With this remembrance, that you use the same
With the like bold, just and impartial spirit
As you have done 'gainst me. There is my hand.
You shall be as a father to my youth:
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Page No 190
My voice shall sound as you do prompt mine ear,
And I will stoop and humble my intents
To your wellpractised wise directions.
And, princes all, believe me, I beseech you;
My father is gone wild into his grave,
For in his tomb lie my affections;
And with his spirit sadly I survive,
To mock the expectation of the world,
To frustrate prophecies and to raze out
Rotten opinion, who hath writ me down
After my seeming. The tide of blood in me
Hath proudly flow'd in vanity till now:
Now doth it turn and ebb back to the sea,
Where it shall mingle with the state of floods,
And flow henceforth in formal majesty.
Now call we our high court of parliament:
And let us choose such limbs of noble counsel,
That the great body of our state may go
In equal rank with the best govern'd nation;
That war, or peace, or both at once, may be
As things acquainted and familiar to us;
In which you, father, shall have foremost hand.
Our coronation done, we will accite,
As I before remember'd, all our state:
And, God consigning to my good intents,
No prince nor peer shall have just cause to say,
God shorten Harry's happy life one day!
[Exeunt.]
SCENE III. Gloucestershire. Shallow's orchard.
[Enter Falstaff, Shallow, Silence, Davy, Bardolph, and the Page.]
SHALLOW.
Nay, you shall see my orchard, where, in an arbour, we will eat
a last year's pippin of mine own graffing, with a dish of caraways,
and so forth: come, cousin Silence: and then to bed.
FALSTAFF.
'Fore God, you have here a goodly dwelling and a rich.
SHALLOW.
Barren, barren, barren; beggars all, beggars all, Sir John:
marry, good air. Spread, Davy; spread, Davy: well said, Davy.
FALSTAFF.
This Davy serves you for good uses; he is your servingman
and your husband.
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Page No 191
SHALLOW.
A good varlet, a good varlet, a very good varlet, Sir John:
by the mass, I have drunk too much sack at supper: a good
varlet. Now sit down, now sit down: come, cousin.
SILENCE.
Ah, sirrah! quotha, we shall
Do nothing but eat, and make good cheer,
[Singing.]
And praise God for the merry year;
When flesh is cheap and females dear,
And lusty lads roam here and there
So merrily,
And ever among so merrily.
FALSTAFF.
There's a merry heart! Good Master Silence, I'll give you
a health for that anon.
SHALLOW.
Give Master Bardolph some wine, Davy.
DAVY.
Sweet sir, sit; I'll be with you anon; most sweet sir, sit.
Master page, good master page, sit. Proface!
What you want in meat, we'll have in drink:
but you must bear; the heart 's all.
[Exit.]
SHALLOW.
Be merry, Master Bardolph; and, my little soldier there,
be merry.
SILENCE.
Be merry, be merry, my wife has all;
[Singing.]
For women are shrews, both short and tall;
'Tis merry in hall when beards wag all;
And welcome merry Shrovetide.
Be merry, be merry.
FALSTAFF.
I did not think Master Silence had been a man of this mettle.
SILENCE.
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Page No 192
Who, I? I have been merry twice and once ere now.
[Reenter Davy.]
DAVY.
There 's a dish of leathercoats for you. [To Bardolph.]
SHALLOW.
Davy!
DAVY.
Your worship! I'll be with you straight [To BARDOLPH.].
A cup of wine, sir?
SILENCE.
A cup of wine that 's brisk and fine,
[Singing.]
And drink unto the leman mine;
And a merry heart lives longa.
FALSTAFF.
Well said, Master Silence.
SILENCE.
An we shall be merry, now comes in the sweet o' the night.
FALSTAFF.
Health and long life to you, Master Silence!
SILENCE.
Fill the cup, and let it come,
[Singing.]
I'll pledge you a mile to the bottom.
SHALLOW.
Honest Bardolph, welcome: if thou wantest anything and
wilt not call, beshrew thy heart. Welcome, my little tiny thief
[to the Page],
and welcome indeed too. I'll drink to Master Bardolph, and to all
the cavaleros about London.
DAVY.
I hope to see London once ere I die.
BARDOLPH.
An I might see you there, Davy,
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Page No 193
SHALLOW.
By the mass, you'll crack a quart together, ha! will you not,
Master Bardolph?
BARDOLPH.
Yea, sir, in a pottlepot.
SHALLOW.
By God's liggens, I thank thee: the knave will stick by thee, I
can assure thee that. A' will not out; he is true bred.
BARDOLPH.
And I'll stick by him, sir.
SHALLOW.
Why, there spoke a king. Lack nothing: be merry.
[Knocking within.]
Look who 's at door there, ho! who knocks?
[Exit Davy.]
FALSTAFF.
Why, now you have done me right.
[To Silence, seeing him take off a bumper.]
SILENCE.
Do me right,
[Singing.]
And dub me knight:
Samingo.
Is't not so?
FALSTAFF.
'Tis so.
SILENCE.
Is't so? Why then, say an old man can do somewhat.
[Reenter Davy.]
DAVY.
An't please your worship, there 's one Pistol come from the
court with news.
FALSTAFF.
From the court? Let him come in.
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Page No 194
[Enter PISTOL.
]
How now, Pistol!
PISTOL.
Sir John, God save you!
FALSTAFF.
What wind blew you hither, Pistol?
PISTOL.
Not the ill wind which blows no man to good. Sweet knight,
thou art now one of the greatest men in this realm.
SILENCE.
By'r lady, I think a' be, but goodman Puff of Barson.
PISTOL.
Puff!
Puff in thy teeth, most recreant coward base!
Sir John, I am thy Pistol and thy friend,
And helterskelter have I rode to thee,
And tidings do I bring and lucky joys
And golden times and happy news of price.
FALSTAFF.
I pray thee now, deliver them like a man of this world.
PISTOL.
A foutre for the world and worldlings base!
I speak of Africa and golden joys.
FALSTAFF.
O base Assyrian knight, what is thy news?
Let King Cophetua know the truth thereof.
SILENCE.
And Robin Hood, Scarlet, and John. [Singing.]
PISTOL.
Shall dunghill curs confront the Helicons?
And shall good news be baffled?
Then, Pistol, lay thy head in Furies' lap.
SHALLOW.
Honest gentleman, I know not your breeding.
PISTOL.
Why then, lament therefore.
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Page No 195
SHALLOW.
Give me pardon, sir: if, sir, you come with news from the
court, I take it there 's but two ways, either to utter them, or
conceal them.
I am, sir, under the king, in some authority.
PISTOL.
Under which king, Besonian? speak, or die.
SHALLOW.
Under King Harry.
PISTOL.
Harry the Fourth? or Fifth?
SHALLOW.
Harry the Fourth.
PISTOL.
A foutre for thine office!
Sir John, thy tender lambkin now is king;
Harry the Fifth's the man. I speak the truth.
When Pistol lies, do this; and fig me, like
The bragging Spaniard.
FALSTAFF.
What, is the old king dead?
PISTOL.
As nail in door: the things I speak are just.
FALSTAFF.
Away, Bardolph! saddle my horse. Master Robert Shallow,
choose what office thou wilt in the land, 'tis thine. Pistol, I
will doublecharge thee with dignities.
BARDOLPH.
O joyful day!
I would not take a knighthood for my fortune.
PISTOL.
What! I do bring good news.
FALSTAFF.
Carry Master Silence to bed. Master Shallow, my Lord Shallow,
be what thou wilt; I am fortune's stewardget on thy boots:
we'll ride all night. O sweet Pistol! Away, Bardolph!
[Exit Bardolph.]
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Page No 196
Come, Pistol, utter more to me; and withal devise something to do
thyself good. Boot, boot, Master Shallow: I know the young king is
sick for me. Let us take any man's horses; the laws of England are at
my commandment. Blessed are they that have been my friends; and woe
to my lord chiefjustice!
PISTOL.
Let vultures vile seize on his lungs also!
"Where is the life that late I led?" say they:
Why, here it is; welcome these pleasant days!
[Exeunt.]
SCENE IV. London. A street.
[Enter Beadles, dragging in Hostess Quickly and Doll Tearsheet.]
HOSTESS.
No, thou arrant knave; I would to God that I might die,
that I might have thee hanged: thou hast drawn my shoulder out
of joint.
FIRST BEADLE.
The constables have delivered her over to me; and she shall have
whippingcheer enough, I warrant her: there hath been a man
or two lately killed about her.
DOLL.
Nuthook, nuthook, you lie. Come on; I'll tell thee what, thou
damned tripevisaged rascal, an the child I now go with do
miscarry, thou wert better thou hadst struck thy mother, thou
paperfaced villain.
HOSTESS.
O the Lord, that Sir John were come! he would make this a
bloody day to somebody. But I pray God the fruit of her womb
miscarry!
FIRST BEADLE.
If it do, you shall have a dozen of cushions again; you
have but eleven now. Come, I charge you both go with me; for the
man is dead that you and Pistol beat amongst you.
DOLL.
I'll tell you what, you thin man in a censer, I will have you as
soundly swinged for this,you bluebottle rogue, you filthy famished
correctioner, if you be not swinged, I'll forswear halfkirtles.
FIRST BEADLE.
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Page No 197
Come, come, you she knighterrant, come.
HOSTESS.
O God, that right should thus overcome might! Well, of
sufferance comes ease.
DOLL.
Come, you rogue, come; bring me to a justice.
HOSTESS.
Ay, come, you starved bloodhound.
DOLL.
Goodman death, goodman bones!
HOSTESS.
Thou atomy, thou!
DOLL.
Come, you thin thing; come, you rascal!
FIRST BEADLE.
Very well.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE V. A public place near Westminster Abbey.
[Enter two Grooms, strewing rushes.]
FIRST GROOM.
More rushes, more rushes.
SECOND GROOM.
The trumpets have sounded twice.
FIRST GROOM.
'Twill be two o'clock ere they come from the
coronation: dispatch, dispatch.
[Exeunt.]
[Enter Falstaff, Shallow, Pistol, Bardolph, and Page.]
FALSTAFF.
Stand here by me, Master Robert Shallow; I will make the
king do you grace: I will leer upon him as a' comes by; and do
but mark the countenance that he will give me.
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Page No 198
PISTOL.
God bless thy lungs, good knight!
FALSTAFF.
Come here, Pistol; stand behind me. O, if I had had to have
made new liveries, I would have bestowed the thousand pound I
borrowed of you. But 'tis no matter; this poor show doth better:
this doth infer the zeal I had to see him.
SHALLOW.
It doth so.
FALSTAFF.
It shows my earnestness of affection,
SHALLOW.
It doth so.
FALSTAFF.
My devotion,
SHALLOW.
It doth, it doth, it doth.
FALSTAFF.
As it were, to ride day and night; and not to deliberate, not to
remember, not to have patience to shift me,
SHALLOW.
It is best, certain.
FALSTAFF.
But to stand stained with travel, and sweating with desire to
see him; thinking of nothing else, putting all affairs else in
oblivion, as if there were nothing else to be done but to see him.
PISTOL.
'Tis "semper idem," for "obsque hoc nihil est:" 'tis all in
every part.
SHALLOW.
'Tis so, indeed.
PISTOL.
My knight, I will inflame thy noble liver,
And make thee rage.
Thy Doll, and Helen of thy noble thoughts,
Is in base durance and contagious prison;
Haled thither
By most mechanical and dirty hand:
Rouse up revenge from ebon den with fell Alecto's snake,
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Page No 199
For Doll is in. Pistol speaks nought but truth.
FALSTAFF.
I will deliver her.
[Shouts, within, and the trumpets sound.]
PISTOL.
There roar'd the sea, and trumpetclangor sounds.
[Enter the King and his train, the Lord ChiefJustice among
them.]
FALSTAFF.
God save thy grace, King Hal; my royal Hal!
PISTOL.
The heavens thee guard and keep, most royal imp of fame!
FALSTAFF.
God save thee, my sweet boy!
KING.
My lord chiefjustice, speak to that vain man.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Have you your wits? know you what 'tis you speak?
FALSTAFF.
My king! my Jove! I speak to thee, my heart!
KING.
I know thee not, old man: fall to thy prayers;
How ill white hairs become a fool and jester!
I have long dream'd of such a kind of man,
So surfeitswell'd, so old, and so profane;
But, being awaked, I do despise my dream.
Make less thy body hence, and more thy grace;
Leave gormandizing; know the grave doth gape
For thee thrice wider than for other men.
Reply not to me with a foolborn jest:
Presume not that I am the thing I was;
For God doth know, so shall the world perceive,
That I have turn'd away my former self;
So will I those that kept me company.
When thou dost hear I am as I have been,
Approach me, and thou shalt be as thou wast,
The tutor and the feeder of my riots:
Till then, I banish thee, on pain of death,
As I have done the rest of my misleaders,
Not to come near our person by ten mile.
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Page No 200
For competence of life I will allow you,
That lack of means enforce you not to evils:
And, as we hear you do reform yourselves,
We will, according to your strengths and qualities,
Give you advancement. Be it your charge, my lord,
To see perform'd the tenour of our word.
Set on.
[Exeunt King,
FALSTAFF.
Master Shallow, I owe you a thousand pounds.
SHALLOW.
Yea, marry, Sir John; which I beseech you to let me have
home with me.
FALSTAFF.
That can hardly be, Master Shallow.
Do not you grieve at this;
I shall be sent for in private to him: look you, he must seem
thus to the world: fear not your advancements; I will be the man yet
that shall make you great.
SHALLOW.
I cannot perceive how, unless you give me your doublet
and stuff me out with straw. I beseech you, good Sir John, let me
have five hundred of my thousand.
FALSTAFF.
Sir, I will be as good as my word: this that you heard was
but a colour.
SHALLOW.
A colour that I fear you will die in, Sir John.
FALSTAFF.
Fear no colours: go with me to dinner: come, Lieutenant
Pistol; come, Bardolph: I shall be sent for soon at night.
[Reenter Prince John, the Lord ChiefJustice; Officers with
them.]
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Go, carry Sir John Falstaff to the Fleet:
Take all his company along with him.
FALSTAFF.
My lord, my lord,
CHIEF JUSTICE.
I cannot now speak: I will hear you soon.
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Page No 201
Take them away.
PISTOL.
Si fortuna me tormenta, spero me contenta.
[Exeunt all but Prince John and the Lord ChiefJustice.]
LANCASTER.
I like this fair proceeding of the king's:
He hath intent his wonted followers
Shall all be very well provided for;
But all are banish'd till their conversations
Appear more wise and modest to the world.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
And so they are.
LANCASTER.
The king hath call'd his parliament, my lord.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
He hath.
LANCASTER.
I will lay odds that, ere this year expire,
We bear our civil swords and native fire
As far as France: I heard a bird so sing,
Whose music, to my thinking, pleased the KING.
Come, will you hence?
[Exeunt.]
EPILOGUE.
Spoken by a Dancer.
First my fear; then my courtesy; last my speech. My fear is, your
displeasure; my courtesy, my duty; and my speech, to beg your
pardons. If you look for a good speech now, you undo me: for
what I have to say is of mine own making; and what indeed I
should say will, I doubt, prove mine own marring. But to the
urpose, and so to the venture. Be it known to you, as it is very
well, I was lately here in the end of a displeasing play, to pray
your patience for it and to promise you a better. I meant indeed to
pay you with this; which, if like an ill venture it come unluckily
home, I break, and you, my gentle creditors, lose. Here I promised
you I would be and here I commit my body to your mercies: bate me
some and I will pay you some and, as most debtors do, promise you
infinitELY.
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If my tongue cannot entreat you to acquit me, will you command me to
use my legs? and yet that were but light payment, to dance out of
your debt. But a good conscience will make any possible satisfaction,
and so would I. All the gentlewomen here have forgiven me: if the
gentlemen will not, then the gentlemen do not agree with the
gentlewomen, which was never seen before in such an assembly.
One word more, I beseech you. If you be not too much cloy'd with fat
meat, our humble author will continue the story, with Sir John in it,
and make you merry with fair Katharine of France: where, for any
thing I know, Falstaff shall die of a sweat, unless already a' be
killed with your hard opinions; for Oldcastle died a martyr, and this
is not the man.
My tongue is weary; when my legs are too, I will bid you good night:
and so kneel down before you; but, indeed, to pray for the queen.
THE LIFE OF KING HENRY V
by William Shakespeare
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
KING HENRY V.
DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, brother to the KING.
DUKE OF BEDFORD, brother to the KING.
DUKE OF EXETER, uncle to the KING.
DUKE OF YORK, cousin to the KING.
EARL OF SALISBURY.
EARL OF WESTMORELAND.
EARL OF WARWICK.
ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.
BISHOP OF ELY.
EARL OF CAMBRIDGE.
LORD SCROOP.
SIR THOMAS GREY.
SIR THOMAS ERPINGHAM, officer in King Henry's army.
GOWER, officer in King Henry's army.
FLUELLEN, officer in King Henry's army.
MACMORRIS, officer in King Henry's army.
JAMY, officer in King Henry's army.
BATES, soldier in the same.
COURT, soldier in the same.
WILLIAMS, soldier in the same.
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Page No 203
PISTOL.
NYM.
BARDOLPH.
BOY.
A HERALD.
CHARLES VI, king of France.
LEWIS, the Dauphin.
DUKE OF BURGUNDY.
DUKE OF ORLEANS.
DUKE OF BOURBON.
The Constable of France.
RAMBURES, French Lord.
GRANDPRE, French Lord.
Governor of Harfleur
MONTJOY, a French HERALD.
Ambassadors to the King of England.
ISABEL, queen of France.
KATHARINE, daughter to Charles and Isabel.
ALICE, a lady attending on her.
HOSTESS of a tavern in Eastcheap, formerly Mistress Quickly,
and now married to PISTOL.
CHORUS.
Lords, Ladies, Officers, Soldiers, Citizens, Messengers, and
Attendants.
SCENE: England; afterwards France.
PROLOGUE.
[Enter CHORUS.
]
CHORUS.
O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act,
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!
Then should the warlike Harry, like himself,
Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels,
Leash'd in like hounds, should famine, sword, and fire
Crouch for employment. But pardon, gentles all,
The flat unraised spirits that hath dar'd
On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth
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So great an object. Can this cockpit hold
The vasty fields of France? Or may we cram
Within this wooden O the very casques
That did affright the air at Agincourt?
O, pardon! since a crooked figure may
Attest in little place a million;
And let us, ciphers to this great accompt,
On your imaginary forces work.
Suppose within the girdle of these walls
Are now confin'd two mighty monarchies,
Whose high upreared and abutting fronts
The perilous narrow ocean parts asunder;
Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts:
Into a thousand parts divide one man,
And make imaginary puissance;
Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them
Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth.
For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings,
Carry them here and there, jumping o'er times,
Turning the accomplishment of many years
Into an hourglass: for the which supply,
Admit me Chorus to this history;
Who, prologuelike, your humble patience pray,
Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play.
[Exit.]
ACT FIRST.
SCENE I. London. An antechamber in the King's palace.
[Enter the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of ELY.
]
CANTERBURY.
My lord, I'll tell you: that self bill is urg'd,
Which in the eleventh year of the last king's reign
Was like, and had indeed against us pass'd,
But that the scambling and unquiet time
Did push it out of farther question.
ELY.
But how, my lord, shall we resist it now?
CANTERBURY.
It must be thought on. If it pass against us,
We lose the better half of our possession;
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For all the temporal lands, which men devout
By testament have given to the Church,
Would they strip from us; being valu'd thus:
As much as would maintain, to the King's honour,
Full fifteen earls and fifteen hundred knights,
Six thousand and two hundred good esquires;
And, to relief of lazars and weak age,
Of indigent faint souls, past corporal toil,
A hundred almshouses right well suppli'd;
And to the coffers of the King beside,
A thousand pounds by the year. Thus runs the bill.
ELY.
This would drink deep.
CANTERBURY.
'Twould drink the cup and all.
ELY.
But what prevention?
CANTERBURY.
The King is full of grace and fair regard.
ELY.
And a true lover of the holy Church.
CANTERBURY.
The courses of his youth promis'd it not.
The breath no sooner left his father's body,
But that his wildness, mortifi'd in him,
Seem'd to die too; yea, at that very moment
Consideration like an angel came
And whipp'd the offending Adam out of him,
Leaving his body as a paradise
To envelope and contain celestial spirits.
Never was such a sudden scholar made;
Never came reformation in a flood
With such a heady currance, scouring faults;
Nor never Hydraheaded wilfulness
So soon did lose his seat, and all at once,
As in this KING.
ELY.
We are blessed in the change.
CANTERBURY.
Hear him but reason in divinity,
And, alladmiring, with an inward wish
You would desire the King were made a prelate;
Hear him debate of commonwealth affairs,
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You would say it hath been all in all his study;
List his discourse of war, and you shall hear
A fearful battle rend'red you in music;
Turn him to any cause of policy,
The Gordian knot of it he will unloose,
Familiar as his garter; that, when he speaks,
The air, a charter'd libertine, is still,
And the mute wonder lurketh in men's ears,
To steal his sweet and honey'd sentences;
So that the art and practic' part of life
Must be the mistress to this theoric:
Which is a wonder how his Grace should glean it,
Since his addiction was to courses vain,
His companies unletter'd, rude, and shallow,
His hours fill'd up with riots, banquets, sports,
And never noted in him any study,
Any retirement, any sequestration
From open haunts and popularity.
ELY.
The strawberry grows underneath the nettle,
And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best
Neighbour'd by fruit of baser quality;
And so the Prince obscur'd his contemplation
Under the veil of wildness; which, no doubt,
Grew like the summer grass, fastest by night,
Unseen, yet crescive in his faculty.
CANTERBURY.
It must be so; for miracles are ceas'd,
And therefore we must needs admit the means
How things are perfected.
ELY.
But, my good lord,
How now for mitigation of this bill
Urg'd by the commons? Doth his Majesty
Incline to it, or no?
CANTERBURY.
He seems indifferent,
Or rather swaying more upon our part
Than cherishing the exhibiters against us;
For I have made an offer to his Majesty,
Upon our spiritual convocation
And in regard of causes now in hand,
Which I have open'd to his Grace at large,
As touching France, to give a greater sum
Than ever at one time the clergy yet
Did to his predecessors part withal.
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ELY.
How did this offer seem receiv'd, my lord?
CANTERBURY.
With good acceptance of his Majesty;
Save that there was not time enough to hear,
As I perceiv'd his Grace would fain have done,
The severals and unhidden passages
Of his true titles to some certain dukedoms,
And generally to the crown and seat of France
Deriv'd from Edward, his greatgrandfather.
ELY.
What was the impediment that broke this off?
CANTERBURY.
The French ambassador upon that instant
Crav'd audience; and the hour, I think, is come
To give him hearing. Is it four o'clock?
ELY.
It is.
CANTERBURY.
Then go we in, to know his embassy;
Which I could with a ready guess declare,
Before the Frenchman speak a word of it.
ELY.
I'll wait upon you, and I long to hear it.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE II. The same. The presence chamber.
[Enter King Henry, Gloucester, Bedford, Exeter, Warwick,
Westmoreland [and Attendants.]
KING HENRY.
Where is my gracious Lord of Canterbury?
EXETER.
Not here in presence.
KING HENRY.
Send for him, good uncle.
WESTMORELAND.
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Page No 208
Shall we call in the ambassador, my liege?
KING HENRY.
Not yet, my cousin. We would be resolv'd,
Before we hear him, of some things of weight
That task our thoughts, concerning us and France.
[Enter the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of ELY.
]
CANTERBURY.
God and his angels guard your sacred throne
And make you long become it!
KING HENRY.
Sure, we thank you.
My learned lord, we pray you to proceed
And justly and religiously unfold
Why the law Salique that they have in France
Or should, or should not, bar us in our claim;
And God forbid, my dear and faithful lord,
That you should fashion, wrest, or bow your reading,
Or nicely charge your understanding soul
With opening titles miscreate, whose right
Suits not in native colours with the truth;
For God doth know how many now in health
Shall drop their blood in approbation
Of what your reverence shall incite us to.
Therefore take heed how you impawn our person,
How you awake our sleeping sword of war.
We charge you, in the name of God, take heed;
For never two such kingdoms did contend
Without much fall of blood, whose guiltless drops
Are every one a woe, a sore complaint
'Gainst him whose wrongs gives edge unto the swords
That makes such waste in brief mortality.
Under this conjuration speak, my lord;
For we will hear, note, and believe in heart
That what you speak is in your conscience wash'd
As pure as sin with baptism.
CANTERBURY.
Then hear me, gracious sovereign, and you peers,
That owe yourselves, your lives, and services
To this imperial throne. There is no bar
To make against your Highness' claim to France
But this, which they produce from Pharamond:
"In terram Salicam mulieres ne succedant,"
"No woman shall succeed in Salique land;"
Which Salique land the French unjustly gloze
To be the realm of France, and Pharamond
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Page No 209
The founder of this law and female bar.
Yet their own authors faithfully affirm
That the land Salique is in Germany,
Between the floods of Sala and of Elbe;
Where Charles the Great, having subdu'd the Saxons,
There left behind and settled certain French;
Who, holding in disdain the German women
For some dishonest manners of their life,
Establish'd then this law, to wit, no female
Should be inheritrix in Salique land;
Which Salique, as I said, 'twixt Elbe and Sala,
Is at this day in Germany call'd Meisen.
Then doth it well appear the Salique law
Was not devised for the realm of France;
Nor did the French possess the Salique land
Until four hundred one and twenty years
After defunction of King Pharamond,
Idly suppos'd the founder of this law,
Who died within the year of our redemption
Four hundred twentysix; and Charles the Great
Subdu'd the Saxons, and did seat the French
Beyond the river Sala, in the year
Eight hundred five. Besides, their writers say,
King Pepin, which deposed Childeric,
Did, as heir general, being descended
Of Blithild, which was daughter to King Clothair,
Make claim and title to the crown of France.
Hugh Capet also, who usurp'd the crown
Of Charles the Duke of Lorraine, sole heir male
Of the true line and stock of Charles the Great,
To find his title with some shows of truth,
Though, in pure truth, it was corrupt and naught,
Convey'd himself as the heir to the Lady Lingare,
Daughter to Charlemain, who was the son
To Lewis the Emperor, and Lewis the son
Of Charles the Great. Also, King Lewis the Tenth,
Who was sole heir to the usurper Capet,
Could not keep quiet in his conscience,
Wearing the crown of France, till satisfied
That fair Queen Isabel, his grandmother,
Was lineal of the Lady Ermengare,
Daughter to Charles, the foresaid Duke of Lorraine;
By the which marriage the line of Charles the Great
Was reunited to the crown of France.
So that, as clear as is the summer's sun,
King Pepin's title and Hugh Capet's claim,
King Lewis his satisfaction, all appear
To hold in right and title of the female.
So do the kings of France unto this day,
Howbeit they would hold up this Salique law
To bar your Highness claiming from the female,
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Page No 210
And rather choose to hide them in a net
Than amply to imbar their crooked titles
Usurp'd from you and your progenitors.
KING HENRY.
May I with right and conscience make this claim?
CANTERBURY.
The sin upon my head, dread sovereign!
For in the book of Numbers is it writ,
When the man dies, let the inheritance
Descend unto the daughter. Gracious lord,
Stand for your own! Unwind your bloody flag!
Look back into your mighty ancestors!
Go, my dread lord, to your greatgrandsire's tomb,
From whom you claim; invoke his warlike spirit,
And your greatuncle's, Edward the Black Prince,
Who on the French ground play'd a tragedy,
Making defeat on the full power of France,
Whiles his most mighty father on a hill
Stood smiling to behold his lion's whelp
Forage in blood of French nobility.
O noble English, that could entertain
With half their forces the full pride of France
And let another half stand laughing by,
All out of work and cold for action!
ELY.
Awake remembrance of these valiant dead,
And with your puissant arm renew their feats.
You are their heir; you sit upon their throne;
The blood and courage that renowned them
Runs in your veins; and my thricepuissant liege
Is in the very Maymorn of his youth,
Ripe for exploits and mighty enterprises.
EXETER.
Your brother kings and monarchs of the earth
Do all expect that you should rouse yourself,
As did the former lions of your blood.
WESTMORELAND.
They know your Grace hath cause and means and might;
So hath your Highness. Never King of England
Had nobles richer, and more loyal subjects,
Whose hearts have left their bodies here in England
And lie pavilion'd in the fields of France.
CANTERBURY.
O, let their bodies follow, my dear liege,
With blood and sword and fire to win your right;
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In aid whereof we of the spiritualty
Will raise your Highness such a mighty sum
As never did the clergy at one time
Bring in to any of your ancestors.
KING HENRY.
We must not only arm to invade the French,
But lay down our proportions to defend
Against the Scot, who will make road upon us
With all advantages.
CANTERBURY.
They of those marches, gracious sovereign,
Shall be a wall sufficient to defend
Our inland from the pilfering borderers.
KING HENRY.
We do not mean the coursing snatchers only,
But fear the main intendment of the Scot,
Who hath been still a giddy neighbour to us;
For you shall read that my greatgrandfather
Never went with his forces into France
But that the Scot on his unfurnish'd kingdom
Came pouring, like the tide into a breach,
With ample and brim fullness of his force,
Galling the gleaned land with hot assays,
Girdling with grievous siege castles and towns;
That England, being empty of defence,
Hath shook and trembled at the ill neighbourhood.
CANTERBURY.
She hath been then more fear'd than harm'd, my liege;
For hear her but exampl'd by herself:
When all her chivalry hath been in France,
And she a mourning widow of her nobles,
She hath herself not only well defended
But taken and impounded as a stray
The King of Scots; whom she did send to France
To fill King Edward's fame with prisoner kings,
And make her chronicle as rich with praise
As is the ooze and bottom of the sea
With sunken wreck and sumless treasuries.
WESTMORELAND.
But there's a saying very old and true,
"If that you will France win,
Then with Scotland first begin."
For once the eagle England being in prey,
To her unguarded nest the weasel Scot
Comes sneaking and so sucks her princely eggs,
Playing the mouse in absence of the cat,
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To tear and havoc more than she can eat.
EXETER.
It follows then the cat must stay at home;
Yet that is but a crush'd necessity,
Since we have locks to safeguard necessaries,
And pretty traps to catch the petty thieves.
While that the armed hand doth fight abroad,
The advised head defends itself at home;
For government, though high and low and lower,
Put into parts, doth keep in one consent,
Congreeing in a full and natural close,
Like music.
CANTERBURY.
Therefore doth heaven divide
The state of man in divers functions,
Setting endeavour in continual motion,
To which is fixed, as an aim or butt,
Obedience; for so work the honeybees,
Creatures that by a rule in nature teach
The act of order to a peopled kingdom.
They have a king and officers of sorts,
Where some, like magistrates, correct at home,
Others like merchants, venture trade abroad,
Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings,
Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds,
Which pillage they with merry march bring home
To the tentroyal of their emperor;
Who, busied in his majesty, surveys
The singing masons building roofs of gold,
The civil citizens kneading up the honey,
The poor mechanic porters crowding in
Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate,
The sadeyed justice, with his surly hum,
Delivering o'er to executors pale
The lazy yawning drone. I this infer,
That many things, having full reference
To one consent, may work contrariously.
As many arrows, loosed several ways,
Come to one mark; as many ways meet in one town;
As many fresh streams meet in one salt sea;
As many lines close in the dial's centre;
So many a thousand actions, once afoot,
End in one purpose, and be all well borne
Without defeat. Therefore to France, my liege!
Divide your happy England into four,
Whereof take you one quarter into France,
And you withal shall make all Gallia shake.
If we, with thrice such powers left at home,
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Cannot defend our own doors from the dog,
Let us be worried and our nation lose
The name of hardiness and policy.
KING HENRY.
Call in the messengers sent from the DAUPHIN.
[Exeunt some Attendants.]
Now are we well resolv'd; and, by God's help,
And yours, the noble sinews of our power,
France being ours, we'll bend it to our awe,
Or break it all to pieces. Or there we'll sit,
Ruling in large and ample empery
O'er France and all her almost kingly dukedoms,
Or lay these bones in an unworthy urn,
Tombless, with no remembrance over them.
Either our history shall with full mouth
Speak freely of our acts, or else our grave,
Like Turkish mute, shall have a tongueless mouth,
Not worshipp'd with a waxen epitaph.
[Enter Ambassadors of France.]
Now are we well prepar'd to know the pleasure
Of our fair cousin Dauphin; for we hear
Your greeting is from him, not from the KING.
FIRST AMBASSADOR.
May't please your Majesty to give us leave
Freely to render what we have in charge,
Or shall we sparingly show you far off
The Dauphin's meaning and our embassy?
KING HENRY.
We are no tyrant, but a Christian king,
Unto whose grace our passion is as subject
As is our wretches fett'red in our prisons;
Therefore with frank and with uncurbed plainness
Tell us the Dauphin's mind.
AMBASSADOR.
Thus, then, in few.
Your Highness, lately sending into France,
Did claim some certain dukedoms, in the right
Of your great predecessor, King Edward the Third.
In answer of which claim, the prince our master
Says that you savour too much of your youth,
And bids you be advis'd there's nought in France
That can be with a nimble galliard won.
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Page No 214
You cannot revel into dukedoms there.
He therefore sends you, meeter for your spirit,
This tun of treasure; and, in lieu of this,
Desires you let the dukedoms that you claim
Hear no more of you. This the Dauphin speaks.
KING HENRY.
What treasure, uncle?
EXETER.
Tennisballs, my liege.
KING HENRY.
We are glad the Dauphin is so pleasant with us.
His present and your pains we thank you for.
When we have match'd our rackets to these balls,
We will, in France, by God's grace, play a set
Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard.
Tell him he hath made a match with such a wrangler
That all the courts of France will be disturb'd
With chaces. And we understand him well,
How he comes o'er us with our wilder days,
Not measuring what use we made of them.
We never valu'd this poor seat of England;
And therefore, living hence, did give ourself
To barbarous licence; as 'tis ever common
That men are merriest when they are from home.
But tell the Dauphin I will keep my state,
Be like a king, and show my sail of greatness
When I do rouse me in my throne of France.
For that I have laid by my majesty
And plodded like a man for working days,
But I will rise there with so full a glory
That I will dazzle all the eyes of France,
Yea, strike the Dauphin blind to look on us.
And tell the pleasant prince this mock of his
Hath turn'd his balls to gunstones, and his soul
Shall stand sore charged for the wasteful vengeance
That shall fly with them; for many a thousand widows
Shall this his mock mock out of their dear husbands,
Mock mothers from their sons, mock castles down;
And some are yet ungotten and unborn
That shall have cause to curse the Dauphin's scorn.
But this lies all within the will of God,
To whom I do appeal; and in whose name
Tell you the Dauphin I am coming on
To venge me as I may, and to put forth
My rightful hand in a wellhallow'd cause.
So get you hence in peace; and tell the Dauphin
His jest will savour but of shallow wit,
When thousands weep more than did laugh at it.
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Convey them with safe conduct.Fare you well.
[Exeunt Ambassadors.]
EXETER.
This was a merry message.
KING HENRY.
We hope to make the sender blush at it.
Therefore, my lords, omit no happy hour
That may give furtherance to our expedition;
For we have now no thought in us but France,
Save those to God, that run before our business.
Therefore, let our proportions for these wars
Be soon collected, and all things thought upon
That may with reasonable swiftness add
More feathers to our wings; for, God before,
We'll chide this Dauphin at his father's door.
Therefore let every man now task his thought,
That this fair action may on foot be brought.
[Exeunt.]
ACT II.
PROLOGUE.
[Flourish. Enter CHORUS.
]
CHORUS.
Now all the youth of England are on fire,
And silken dalliance in the wardrobe lies.
Now thrive the armourers, and honour's thought
Reigns solely in the breast of every man.
They sell the pasture now to buy the horse,
Following the mirror of all Christian kings,
With winged heels, as English Mercuries.
For now sits Expectation in the air,
And hides a sword from hilts unto the point
With crowns imperial, crowns, and coronets,
Promis'd to Harry and his followers.
The French, advis'd by good intelligence
Of this most dreadful preparation,
Shake in their fear, and with pale policy
Seek to divert the English purposes.
O England! model to thy inward greatness,
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Like little body with a mighty heart,
What mightst thou do, that honour would thee do,
Were all thy children kind and natural!
But see thy fault! France hath in thee found out
A nest of hollow bosoms, which he fills
With treacherous crowns; and three corrupted men,
One, Richard Earl of Cambridge, and the second,
Henry Lord Scroop of Masham, and the third,
Sir Thomas Grey, knight of Northumberland,
Have, for the gilt of France,O guilt indeed!
Confirm'd conspiracy with fearful France;
And by their hands this grace of kings must die,
If hell and treason hold their promises,
Ere he take ship for France, and in Southampton.
Linger your patience on, and we'll digest
The abuse of distance, force a play.
The sum is paid; the traitors are agreed;
The King is set from London; and the scene
Is now transported, gentles, to Southampton.
There is the playhouse now, there must you sit;
And thence to France shall we convey you safe,
And bring you back, charming the narrow seas
To give you gentle pass; for, if we may,
We'll not offend one stomach with our play.
But, till the King come forth, and not till then,
Unto Southampton do we shift our scene.
[Exit.]
SCENE I. London. A street.
[Enter Corporal Nym and Lieutenant Bardolph.]
BARDOLPH.
Well met, Corporal NYM.
NYM.
Good morrow, Lieutenant BARDOLPH.
BARDOLPH.
What, are Ancient Pistol and you friends yet?
NYM.
For my part, I care not. I say little; but when time shall
serve, there shall be smiles; but that shall be as it may. I dare
not fight, but I will wink and hold out mine iron. It is a simple
one, but what though? It will toast cheese, and it will endure
cold as another man's sword will; and there's an end.
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Page No 217
BARDOLPH.
I will bestow a breakfast to make you friends; and we'll
be all three sworn brothers to France. Let it be so, good
Corporal NYM.
NYM.
Faith, I will live so long as I may, that's the certain of it; and
when I cannot live any longer, I will do as I may. That is my rest,
that is the rendezvous of it.
BARDOLPH.
It is certain, corporal, that he is married to Nell Quickly; and
certainly she did you wrong, for you were trothplight to her.
NYM.
I cannot tell. Things must be as they may. Men may sleep, and
they may have their throats about them at that time; and some say
knives have edges. It must be as it may. Though patience be a
tired mare, yet she will plod. There must be conclusions. Well, I
cannot tell.
[Enter Pistol and Hostess.]
BARDOLPH.
Here comes Ancient Pistol and his wife. Good Corporal, be
patient here. How now, mine host Pistol!
PISTOL.
Base tike, call'st thou me host?
Now, by this hand, I swear I scorn the term;
Nor shall my Nell keep lodgers.
HOSTESS.
No, by my troth, not long; for we cannot lodge and board a
dozen or fourteen gentlewomen that live honestly by the prick of
their needles, but it will be thought we keep a bawdy house
straight. [Nym and Pistol draw.] O well a day, Lady, if he be not
drawn now! We shall see wilful adultery and murder committed.
BARDOLPH.
Good Lieutenant! good corporal! offer nothing here.
NYM.
Pish!
PISTOL.
Pish for thee, Iceland dog! thou prickear'd cur of Iceland!
HOSTESS.
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Good Corporal Nym, show thy valour, and put up your sword.
NYM.
Will you shog off? I would have you solus.
PISTOL.
"Solus," egregious dog! O viper vile!
The "solus" in thy most mervailous face;
The "solus" in thy teeth, and in thy throat,
And in thy hateful lungs, yea, in thy maw, perdy,
And, which is worse, within thy nasty mouth!
I do retort the "solus" in thy bowels;
For I can take, and Pistol's cock is up,
And flashing fire will follow.
NYM.
I am not Barbason; you cannot conjure me. I have an humour to
knock you indifferently well. If you grow foul with me, Pistol, I
will scour you with my rapier, as I may, in fair terms. If you
would walk off, I would prick your guts a little, in good terms,
as I may; and that's the humour of it.
PISTOL.
O braggart vile and damned furious wight!
The grave doth gape, and doting death is near,
Therefore exhale.
BARDOLPH.
Hear me, hear me what I say. He that strikes the first
stroke I'll run him up to the hilts, as I am a soldier.
[Draws.]
PISTOL.
An oath of mickle might; and fury shall abate.
Give me thy fist, thy forefoot to me give.
Thy spirits are most tall.
NYM.
I will cut thy throat, one time or other, in fair terms:
that is the humour of it.
PISTOL.
"Couple a gorge!"
That is the word. I thee defy again.
O hound of Crete, think'st thou my spouse to get?
No! to the spital go,
And from the powdering tub of infamy
Fetch forth the lazar kite of Cressid's kind,
Doll Tearsheet she by name, and her espouse.
I have, and I will hold, the quondam Quickly
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For the only she; andpauca, there's enough.
Go to.
[Enter the Boy.]
BOY.
Mine host Pistol, you must come to my master, and you,
hostess. He is very sick, and would to bed. Good Bardolph, put
thy face between his sheets, and do the office of a warmingpan.
Faith, he's very ill.
BARDOLPH.
Away, you rogue!
HOSTESS.
By my troth, he'll yield the crow a pudding one of these days.
The King has kill'd his heart.
Good husband, come home presently.
[Exeunt Hostess and Boy.]
BARDOLPH.
Come, shall I make you two friends? We must to France
together; why the devil should we keep knives to cut one
another's throats?
PISTOL.
Let floods o'erswell, and fiends for food howl on!
NYM.
You'll pay me the eight shillings I won of you at betting?
PISTOL.
Base is the slave that pays.
NYM.
That now I will have: that's the humour of it.
PISTOL.
As manhood shall compound. Push home.
[They draw.]
BARDOLPH.
By this sword, he that makes the first thrust, I'll kill
him; by this sword, I will.
PISTOL.
Sword is an oath, and oaths must have their course.
BARDOLPH.
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Corporal Nym, and thou wilt be friends, be friends; an
thou wilt not, why, then, be enemies with me too. Prithee,
put up.
NYM.
I shall have my eight shillings I won from you at betting?
PISTOL.
A noble shalt thou have, and present pay;
And liquor likewise will I give to thee,
And friendship shall combine, and brotherhood.
I'll live by Nym, and Nym shall live by me.
Is not this just? For I shall sutler be
Unto the camp, and profits will accrue.
Give me thy hand.
NYM.
I shall have my noble?
PISTOL.
In cash most justly paid.
NYM.
Well, then, that's the humour of't.
[Reenter Hostess.]
HOSTESS.
As ever you come of women, come in quickly to Sir John.
Ah, poor heart! he is so shak'd of a burning quotidian tertian,
that it is most lamentable to behold. Sweet men, come to him.
NYM.
The King hath run bad humours on the knight; that's the even
of it.
PISTOL.
Nym, thou hast spoke the right.
His heart is fracted and corroborate.
NYM.
The King is a good king; but it must be as it may; he
passes some humours and careers.
PISTOL.
Let us condole the knight; for, lambkins, we will live.
[Exeunt.]
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SCENE II. Southampton. A councilchamber.
[Enter Exeter, Bedford, and Westmoreland.]
BEDFORD.
'Fore God, his Grace is bold, to trust these traitors.
EXETER.
They shall be apprehended by and by.
WESTMORELAND.
How smooth and even they do bear themselves!
As if allegiance in their bosoms sat
Crowned with faith and constant loyalty.
BEDFORD.
The King hath note of all that they intend,
By interception which they dream not of.
EXETER.
Nay, but the man that was his bedfellow,
Whom he hath dull'd and cloy'd with gracious favours,
That he should, for a foreign purse, so sell
His sovereign's life to death and treachery.
[Trumpets sound. Enter King Henry, Scroop, Cambridge,
and Grey.]
KING HENRY.
Now sits the wind fair, and we will aboard.
My Lord of Cambridge, and my kind Lord of Masham,
And you, my gentle knight, give me your thoughts.
Think you not that the powers we bear with us
Will cut their passage through the force of France,
Doing the execution and the act
For which we have in head assembled them?
SCROOP.
No doubt, my liege, if each man do his best.
KING HENRY.
I doubt not that, since we are well persuaded
We carry not a heart with us from hence
That grows not in a fair consent with ours,
Nor leave not one behind that doth not wish
Success and conquest to attend on us.
CAMBRIDGE.
Never was monarch better fear'd and lov'd
Than is your Majesty. There's not, I think, a subject
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That sits in heartgrief and uneasiness
Under the sweet shade of your government.
GREY.
True; those that were your father's enemies
Have steep'd their galls in honey, and do serve you
With hearts create of duty and of zeal.
KING HENRY.
We therefore have great cause of thankfulness,
And shall forget the office of our hand
Sooner than quittance of desert and merit
According to the weight and worthiness.
SCROOP.
So service shall with steeled sinews toil,
And labour shall refresh itself with hope,
To do your Grace incessant services.
KING HENRY.
We judge no less. Uncle of Exeter,
Enlarge the man committed yesterday,
That rail'd against our person. We consider
It was excess of wine that set him on,
And on his more advice we pardon him.
SCROOP.
That's mercy, but too much security.
Let him be punish'd, sovereign, lest example
Breed, by his sufferance, more of such a kind.
KING HENRY.
O, let us yet be merciful.
CAMBRIDGE.
So may your Highness, and yet punish too.
GREY.
Sir,
You show great mercy if you give him life
After the taste of much correction.
KING HENRY.
Alas, your too much love and care of me
Are heavy orisons 'gainst this poor wretch!
If little faults, proceeding on distemper,
Shall not be wink'd at, how shall we stretch our eye
When capital crimes, chew'd, swallow'd, and digested,
Appear before us? We'll yet enlarge that man,
Though Cambridge, Scroop, and Grey, in their dear care
And tender preservation of our person,
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Would have him punish'd. And now to our French causes.
Who are the late commissioners?
CAMBRIDGE.
I one, my lord.
Your Highness bade me ask for it today.
SCROOP.
So did you me, my liege.
GREY.
And I, my royal sovereign.
KING HENRY.
Then, Richard Earl of Cambridge, there is yours;
There yours, Lord Scroop of Masham; and, sir knight,
Grey of Northumberland, this same is yours.
Read them, and know I know your worthiness.
My Lord of Westmoreland, and uncle Exeter,
We will aboard tonight.Why, how now, gentlemen!
What see you in those papers that you lose
So much complexion?Look ye, how they change!
Their cheeks are paper.Why, what read you there,
That have so cowarded and chas'd your blood
Out of appearance?
CAMBRIDGE.
I do confess my fault,
And do submit me to your Highness' mercy.
GREY, SCROOP.
To which we all appeal.
KING HENRY.
The mercy that was quick in us but late,
By your own counsel is suppress'd and kill'd.
You must not dare, for shame, to talk of mercy,
For your own reasons turn into your bosoms,
As dogs upon their masters, worrying you.
See you, my princes and my noble peers,
These English monsters! My Lord of Cambridge here,
You know how apt our love was to accord
To furnish him with an appertinents
Belonging to his honour; and this man
Hath, for a few light crowns, lightly conspir'd
And sworn unto the practices of France
To kill us here in Hampton; to the which
This knight, no less for bounty bound to us
Than Cambridge is, hath likewise sworn. But, O
What shall I say to thee, Lord Scroop? thou cruel,
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Page No 224
Ingrateful, savage, and inhuman creature!
Thou that didst bear the key of all my counsels,
That knew'st the very bottom of my soul,
That almost mightst have coin'd me into gold,
Wouldst thou have practis'd on me for thy use,
May it be possible that foreign hire
Could out of thee extract one spark of evil
That might annoy my finger? 'Tis so strange,
That, though the truth of it stands off as gross
As black and white, my eye will scarcely see it.
Treason and murder ever kept together,
As two yokedevils sworn to either's purpose,
Working so grossly in a natural cause
That admiration did not whoop at them;
But thou, 'gainst all proportion, didst bring in
Wonder to wait on treason and on murder;
And whatsoever cunning fiend it was
That wrought upon thee so preposterously
Hath got the voice in hell for excellence;
And other devils that suggest by treasons
Do botch and bungle up damnation
With patches, colours, and with forms being fetch'd
From glist'ring semblances of piety.
But he that temper'd thee bade thee stand up,
Gave thee no instance why thou shouldst do treason,
Unless to dub thee with the name of traitor.
If that same demon that hath gull'd thee thus
Should with his lion gait walk the whole world,
He might return to vasty Tartar back,
And tell the legions, "I can never win
A soul so easy as that Englishman's."
O, how hast thou with jealousy infected
The sweetness of affiance! Show men dutiful?
Why, so didst thou. Seem they grave and learned?
Why, so didst thou. Come they of noble family?
Why, so didst thou. Seem they religious?
Why, so didst thou. Or are they spare in diet,
Free from gross passion or of mirth or anger,
Constant in spirit, not swerving with the blood,
Garnish'd and deck'd in modest complement,
Not working with the eye without the ear,
And but in purged judgement trusting neither?
Such and so finely bolted didst thou seem.
And thus thy fall hath left a kind of blot
To mark the fullfraught man and best indued
With some suspicion. I will weep for thee;
For this revolt of thine, methinks, is like
Another fall of man. Their faults are open.
Arrest them to the answer of the law;
And God acquit them of their practices!
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Page No 225
EXETER.
I arrest thee of high treason, by the name of Richard Earl of
Cambridge. I arrest thee of high treason, by the name of Henry
Lord Scroop of Masham. I arrest thee of high treason, by the name
of Thomas Grey, knight, of Northumberland.
SCROOP.
Our purposes God justly hath discover'd,
And I repent my fault more than my death,
Which I beseech your Highness to forgive,
Although my body pay the price of it.
CAMBRIDGE.
For me, the gold of France did not seduce,
Although I did admit it as a motive
The sooner to effect what I intended.
But God be thanked for prevention,
Which I in sufferance heartily will rejoice,
Beseeching God and you to pardon me.
GREY.
Never did faithful subject more rejoice
At the discovery of most dangerous treason
Than I do at this hour joy o'er myself,
Prevented from a damned enterprise.
My fault, but not my body, pardon, sovereign.
KING HENRY.
God quit you in his mercy! Hear your sentence.
You have conspir'd against our royal person,
Join'd with an enemy proclaim'd, and from his coffers
Received the golden earnest of our death;
Wherein you would have sold your king to slaughter,
His princes and his peers to servitude,
His subjects to oppression and contempt,
And his whole kingdom into desolation.
Touching our person seek we no revenge;
But we our kingdom's safety must so tender,
Whose ruin you have sought, that to her laws
We do deliver you. Get you therefore hence,
Poor miserable wretches, to your death,
The taste whereof God of his mercy give
You patience to endure, and true repentance
Of all your dear offences! Bear them hence.
[Exeunt Cambridge, Scroop, and Grey, guarded.]
Now, lords, for France; the enterprise whereof
Shall be to you, as us, like glorious.
We doubt not of a fair and lucky war,
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Page No 226
Since God so graciously hath brought to light
This dangerous treason lurking in our way
To hinder our beginnings. We doubt not now
But every rub is smoothed on our way.
Then forth, dear countrymen! Let us deliver
Our puissance into the hand of God,
Putting it straight in expedition.
Cheerly to sea! The signs of war advance!
No king of England, if not king of France!
[Flourish.]
[Exeunt.]
SCENE III. London. Before a tavern.
[Enter Pistol, Nym, Bardolph, Boy, and Hostess.]
HOSTESS.
Prithee, honey, sweet husband, let me bring thee to Staines.
PISTOL.
No; for my manly heart doth yearn.
Bardolph, be blithe; Nym, rouse thy vaunting veins;
Boy, bristle thy courage up; for Falstaff he is dead,
And we must yearn therefore.
BARDOLPH.
Would I were with him, wheresome'er he is, either in
heaven or in hell!
HOSTESS.
Nay, sure, he's not in hell. He's in Arthur's bosom, if ever
man went to Arthur's bosom. 'A made a finer end and went
away an it had been any christom child. 'A parted even just
between twelve and one, even at the turning o' the tide: for
after I saw him fumble with the sheets, and play with flowers,
and smile upon his fingers' ends, I knew there was but one way;
for his nose was as sharp as a pen, and 'a babbled of green
fields. "How now, Sir John!" quoth I; "what, man! be o' good
cheer." So 'a cried out, "God, God, God!" three or four times.
Now I, to comfort him, bid him 'a should not think of God; I
hop'd there was no need to trouble himself with any such thoughts
yet. So 'a bade me lay more clothes on his feet. I put my hand
into the bed and felt them, and they were as cold as any stone;
then I felt to his knees, [and they were as cold as any stone;]
and so upward and upward, and all was as cold as any stone.
NYM.
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Page No 227
They say he cried out of sack.
HOSTESS.
Ay, that 'a did.
BARDOLPH.
And of women.
HOSTESS.
Nay, that 'a did not.
BOY.
Yes, that 'a did; and said they were devils incarnate.
HOSTESS.
'A could never abide carnation; 'twas a colour he never liked.
BOY.
'A said once, the devil would have him about women.
HOSTESS.
'A did in some sort, indeed, handle women; but then he was
rheumatic, and talk'd of the whore of Babylon.
BOY.
Do you not remember, 'a saw a flea stick upon Bardolph's nose,
and 'a said it was a black soul burning in hellfire?
BARDOLPH.
Well, the fuel is gone that maintain'd that fire. That's all the
riches I got in his service.
NYM.
Shall we shog? The King will be gone from Southampton.
PISTOL.
Come, let's away. My love, give me thy lips.
Look to my chattels and my movables.
Let senses rule; the word is "Pitch and Pay."
Trust none;
For oaths are straws, men's faiths are wafercakes
And holdfast is the only dog, my duck;
Therefore, Caveto be thy counsellor.
Go, clear thy crystals. Yokefellows in arms,
Let us to France; like horseleeches, my boys,
To suck, to suck, the very blood to suck!
BOY.
And that's but unwholesome food, they say.
PISTOL.
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Page No 228
Touch her soft mouth, and march.
BARDOLPH.
Farewell, HOSTESS.
[Kissing her.]
NYM.
I cannot kiss; that is the humour of it; but, adieu.
PISTOL.
Let housewifery appear. Keep close, I thee command.
HOSTESS.
Farewell; adieu.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE IV. France. The King's palace.
[Flourish. Enter the French King, the Dauphin, the Dukes of Berri
and Bretagne [the Constable, and others.]
FRENCH KING.
Thus comes the English with full power upon us,
And more than carefully it us concerns
To answer royally in our defences.
Therefore the Dukes of Berri and of Bretagne,
Of Brabant and of Orleans, shall make forth,
And you, Prince Dauphin, with all swift dispatch,
To line and new repair our towns of war
With men of courage and with means defendant;
For England his approaches makes as fierce
As waters to the sucking of a gulf.
It fits us then to be as provident
As fears may teach us out of late examples
Left by the fatal and neglected English
Upon our fields.
DAUPHIN.
My most redoubted father,
It is most meet we arm us 'gainst the foe;
For peace itself should not so dull a kingdom,
Though war nor no known quarrel were in question,
But that defences, musters, preparations,
Should be maintain'd, assembled, and collected,
As were a war in expectation.
Therefore, I say, 'tis meet we all go forth
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Page No 229
To view the sick and feeble parts of France.
And let us do it with no show of fear;
No, with no more than if we heard that England
Were busied with a Whitsun morrisdance;
For, my good liege, she is so idly king'd,
Her sceptre so fantastically borne
By a vain, giddy, shallow, humorous youth,
That fear attends her not.
CONSTABLE.
O peace, Prince Dauphin!
You are too much mistaken in this KING.
Question your Grace the late ambassadors
With what great state he heard their embassy,
How well supplied with noble counsellors,
How modest in exception, and withal
How terrible in constant resolution,
And you shall find his vanities forespent
Were but the outside of the Roman Brutus,
Covering discretion with a coat of folly;
As gardeners do with ordure hide those roots
That shall first spring and be most delicate.
DAUPHIN.
Well, 'tis not so, my Lord High Constable;
But though we think it so, it is no matter.
In cases of defence 'tis best to weigh
The enemy more mighty than he seems,
So the proportions of defence are fill'd;
Which, of a weak and niggardly projection,
Doth, like a miser, spoil his coat with scanting
A little cloth.
FRENCH KING.
Think we King Harry strong;
And, Princes, look you strongly arm to meet him.
The kindred of him hath been flesh'd upon us;
And he is bred out of that bloody strain
That haunted us in our familiar paths.
Witness our too much memorable shame
When Cressy battle fatally was struck,
And all our princes captiv'd by the hand
Of that black name, Edward, Black Prince of Wales;
Whiles that his mountain sire, on mountain standing,
Up in the air, crown'd with the golden sun,
Saw his heroical seed, and smil'd to see him,
Mangle the work of nature and deface
The patterns that by God and by French fathers
Had twenty years been made. This is a stem
Of that victorious stock; and let us fear
The native mightiness and fate of him.
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Page No 230
[Enter a Messenger.]
MESSENGER.
Ambassadors from Harry King of England
Do crave admittance to your Majesty.
FRENCH KING.
We'll give them present audience. Go, and bring them.
[Exeunt Messenger and certain Lords.]
You see this chase is hotly follow'd, friends.
DAUPHIN.
Turn head and stop pursuit; for coward dogs
Most spend their mouths when what they seem to threaten
Runs far before them. Good my sovereign,
Take up the English short, and let them know
Of what a monarchy you are the head.
Selflove, my liege, is not so vile a sin
As selfneglecting.
[Enter EXETER.
]
FRENCH KING.
From our brother of England?
EXETER.
From him; and thus he greets your Majesty:
He wills you, in the name of God Almighty,
That you divest yourself, and lay apart
The borrowed glories that by gift of heaven,
By law of nature and of nations, longs
To him and to his heirs; namely, the crown
And all widestretched honours that pertain
By custom and the ordinance of times
Unto the crown of France. That you may know
'Tis no sinister nor no awkward claim
Pick'd from the wormholes of longvanish'd days,
Nor from the dust of old oblivion rak'd,
He sends you this most memorable line,
In every branch truly demonstrative;
Willing you overlook this pedigree;
And when you find him evenly deriv'd
From his most fam'd of famous ancestors,
Edward the Third, he bids you then resign
Your crown and kingdom, indirectly held
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Page No 231
From him, the native and true challenger.
FRENCH KING.
Or else what follows?
EXETER.
Bloody constraint; for if you hide the crown
Even in your hearts, there will he rake for it.
Therefore in fierce tempest is he coming,
In thunder and in earthquake, like a Jove,
That, if requiring fail, he will compel;
And bids you, in the bowels of the Lord,
Deliver up the crown, and to take mercy
On the poor souls for whom this hungry war
Opens his vasty jaws; and on your head
Turning the widows' tears, the orphans' cries,
The dead men's blood, the pining maidens' groans,
For husbands, fathers, and betrothed lovers,
That shall be swallowed in this controversy.
This is his claim, his threat'ning, and my message;
Unless the Dauphin be in presence here,
To whom expressly I bring greeting too.
FRENCH KING.
For us, we will consider of this further.
Tomorrow shall you bear our full intent
Back to our brother of England.
DAUPHIN.
For the Dauphin,
I stand here for him. What to him from England?
EXETER.
Scorn and defiance. Slight regard, contempt,
And anything that may not misbecome
The mighty sender, doth he prize you at.
Thus says my king: an if your father's Highness
Do not, in grant of all demands at large,
Sweeten the bitter mock you sent his Majesty,
He'll call you to so hot an answer of it
That caves and womby vaultages of France
Shall chide your trespass and return your mock
In second accent of his ordinance.
DAUPHIN.
Say, if my father render fair return,
It is against my will; for I desire
Nothing but odds with England. To that end,
As matching to his youth and vanity,
I did present him with the Paris balls.
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Page No 232
EXETER.
He'll make your Paris Louvre shake for it,
Were it the mistresscourt of mighty Europe;
And, be assur'd, you'll find a difference,
As we his subjects have in wonder found,
Between the promise of his greener days
And these he masters now. Now he weighs time
Even to the utmost grain. That you shall read
In your own losses, if he stay in France.
FRENCH KING.
Tomorrow shall you know our mind at full.
[Flourish.]
EXETER.
Dispatch us with all speed, lest that our king
Come here himself to question our delay;
For he is footed in this land already.
FRENCH KING.
You shall be soon dispatch'd with fair conditions.
A night is but small breath and little pause
To answer matters of this consequence.
[Exeunt.]
ACT THIRD.
PROLOGUE.
[Flourish. Enter CHORUS.
]
CHORUS.
Thus with imagin'd wing our swift scene flies,
In motion of no less celerity
Than that of thought. Suppose that you have seen
The wellappointed king at [Hampton] pier
Embark his royalty, and his brave fleet
With silken streamers the young Phoebus fanning.
Play with your fancies; and in them behold
Upon the hempen tackle shipboys climbing;
Hear the shrill whistle which doth order give
To sounds confus'd; behold the threaden sails,
Borne with the invisible and creeping wind,
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Page No 233
Draw the huge bottoms through the furrow'd sea,
Breasting the lofty surge. O, do but think
You stand upon the rivage and behold
A city on the inconstant billows dancing;
For so appears this fleet majestical,
Holding due course to Harfleur. Follow, follow!
Grapple your minds to sternage of this navy,
And leave your England, as dead midnight still,
Guarded with grandsires, babies, and old women,
Either past or not arriv'd to pith and puissance.
For who is he, whose chin is but enrich'd
With one appearing hair, that will not follow
These cull'd and choicedrawn cavaliers to France?
Work, work your thoughts, and therein see a siege;
Behold the ordnance on their carriages,
With fatal mouths gaping on girded Harfleur.
Suppose the ambassador from the French comes back,
Tells Harry that the King doth offer him
Katharine his daughter, and with her, to dowry,
Some petty and unprofitable dukedoms.
The offer likes not; and the nimble gunner
With linstock now the devilish cannon touches,
[Alarum, and chambers go off.]
And down goes all before them. Still be kind,
And eke out our performance with your mind.
[Exit.]
SCENE I. France. Before Harfleur.
[Alarum. Enter King Henry, Exeter, Bedford, Gloucester,
[and Soldiers, with] scalingladders.]
KING HENRY.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility;
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hardfavour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let it pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as does a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
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Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath, and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English,
Whose blood is fet from fathers of warproof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought,
And sheath'd their swords for lack of argument.
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeomen,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding, which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot!
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry, "God for Harry! England and Saint George!"
[Exeunt. Alarum, and chambers go off.]
SCENE II. The same.
[Enter Nym, Bardolph, Pistol, and Boy.]
BARDOLPH.
On, on, on, on, on! To the breach, to the breach!
NYM.
Pray thee, corporal, stay. The knocks are too hot; and, for
mine own part, I have not a case of lives. The humour of it is
too hot; that is the very plainsong of it.
PISTOL.
The plainsong is most just, for humours do abound.
"Knocks go and come; God's vassals drop and die;
And sword and shield,
In bloody field,
Doth win immortal fame."
BOY.
Would I were in an alehouse in London! I would give all my
fame for a pot of ale and safety.
PISTOL.
And I.
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"If wishes would prevail with me,
My purpose should not fail with me,
But thither would I hie."
BOY.
"As duly, but not as truly,
As bird doth sing on bough."
[Enter Fluellen.]
FLUELLEN.
Up to the breach, you dogs! Avaunt, you cullions!
[Driving them forward.]
PISTOL.
Be merciful, great Duke, to men of mould.
Abate thy rage, abate thy manly rage,
Abate thy rage, great Duke!
Good bawcock, bate thy rage; use lenity, sweet chuck!
NYM.
These be good humours! Your honour wins bad humours.
[Exeunt [all but Boy.]
BOY.
As young as I am, I have observ'd these three swashers. I am
boy to them all three; but all they three, though they would
serve me, could not be man to me; for indeed three such antics
do not amount to a man. For Bardolph, he is whiteliver'd and
redfac'd; by the means whereof 'a faces it out, but fights not.
For Pistol, he hath a killing tongue and a quiet sword; by the
means whereof 'a breaks words, and keeps whole weapons. For
Nym, he hath heard that men of few words are the best men; and
therefore he scorns to say his prayers, lest 'a should be thought
a coward. But his few bad words are match'd with as few good
deeds; for 'a never broke any man's head but his own, and that
was against a post when he was drunk. They will steal anything,
and call it purchase. Bardolph stole a lutecase, bore it twelve
leagues, and sold it for three halfpence. Nym and Bardolph are
sworn brothers in filching, and in Calais they stole a
fireshovel.
I knew by that piece of service the men would carry coals. They
would have me as familiar with men's pockets as their gloves or
their handkerchers; which makes much against my manhood, if I
should take from another's pocket to put into mine; for it is
plain pocketing up of wrongs. I must leave them, and seek some
better service. Their villainy goes against my weak stomach,
and therefore I must cast it up.
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[Exit.]
[Enter Gower [and Fluellen.]
GOWER.
Captain Fluellen, you must come presently to the mines.
The Duke of Gloucester would speak with you.
FLUELLEN.
To the mines! Tell you the Duke, it is not so good to come
to the mines; for, look you, the mines is not according to the
disciplines of the war. The concavities of it is not sufficient;
for, look you, the athversary, you may discuss unto the Duke,
look you, is digt himself four yard under the countermines. By
Cheshu, I think 'a will plow up all, if there is not better
directions.
GOWER.
The Duke of Gloucester, to whom the order of the siege is
given, is altogether directed by an Irishman, a very valiant
gentleman, i' faith.
FLUELLEN.
It is Captain Macmorris, is it not?
GOWER.
I think it be.
FLUELLEN.
By Cheshu, he is an ass, as in the world. I will verify as
much in his beard. He has no more directions in the true
disciplines of the wars, look you, of the Roman disciplines,
than is a puppydog.
[Enter Macmorris and Captain Jamy.]
GOWER.
Here 'a comes; and the Scots captain, Captain Jamy, with him.
FLUELLEN.
Captain Jamy is a marvellous falorous gentleman, that is
certain; and of great expedition and knowledge in the aunchient
wars, upon my particular knowledge of his directions. By Cheshu,
he will maintain his argument as well as any military man in the
world, in the disciplines of the pristine wars of the Romans.
JAMY.
I say gudday, Captain FLUELLEN.
FLUELLEN.
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Godden to your worship, good Captain James.
GOWER.
How now, Captain Macmorris! have you quit the mines?
Have the pioneers given o'er?
MACMORRIS.
By Chrish, la! 'tish ill done! The work ish give over, the
trompet sound the retreat. By my hand I swear, and my
father's soul, the work ish ill done; it ish give over. I would
have blowed up the town, so Chrish save me, la! in an hour.
O, 'tish ill done, 'tish ill done; by my hand, 'tish ill done!
FLUELLEN.
Captain Macmorris, I beseech you now, will you voutsafe me,
look you, a few disputations with you, as partly touching or
concerning the disciplines of the war, the Roman wars, in the way
of argument, look you, and friendly communication; partly to
satisfy my opinion, and partly for the satisfaction, look you, of
my mind, as touching the direction of the military discipline;
that is the point.
JAMY.
It sall be vary gud, gud feith, gud captains bath: and I sall
quit you with gud leve, as I may pick occasion; that sall I,
marry.
MACMORRIS.
It is no time to discourse, so Chrish save me. The day is hot,
and the weather, and the wars, and the King, and the Dukes. It
is no time to discourse. The town is beseech'd, and the trumpet
call us to the breach, and we talk, and, be Chrish, do nothing.
'Tis shame for us all. So God sa' me, 'tis shame to stand still;
it is shame, by my hand; and there is throats to be cut, and works
to be done; and there ish nothing done, so Chrish sa' me, la!
JAMY.
By the mess, ere theise eyes of mine take themselves to slomber,
I'll de gud service, or I'll lig i' the grund for it; ay, or go to
death; and I'll pay't as valorously as I may, that sall I suerly do,
that is the breff and the long. Marry, I wad full fain heard some
question 'tween you tway.
FLUELLEN.
Captain Macmorris, I think, look you, under your correction, there
is not many of your nation
MACMORRIS.
Of my nation! What ish my nation? Ish a villain, and a bastard,
and a knave, and a rascal? What ish my nation? Who talks of my
nation?
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FLUELLEN.
Look you, if you take the matter otherwise than is meant, Captain
Macmorris, peradventure I shall think you do not use me with that
affability as in discretion you ought to use me, look you, being
as good a man as yourself, both in the disciplines of war, and in
the derivation of my birth, and in other particularities.
MACMORRIS.
I do not know you so good a man as myself. So Chrish save me,
I will cut off your head.
GOWER.
Gentlemen both, you will mistake each other.
JAMY.
Ah! that's a foul fault.
[A parley [sounded.]
GOWER.
The town sounds a parley.
FLUELLEN.
Captain Macmorris, when there is more better opportunity to be
required, look you, I will be so bold as to tell you I know the
disciplines of war; and there is an end.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE III. Before the gates.
[The Governor and some citizens on the walls; the English forces
below. Enter King Henry and his train.]
KING HENRY.
How yet resolves the governor of the town?
This is the latest parle we will admit;
Therefore to our best mercy give yourselves,
Or like to men proud of destruction
Defy us to our worst; for, as I am a soldier,
A name that in my thoughts becomes me best,
If I begin the battery once again,
I will not leave the halfachieved Harfleur
Till in her ashes she lie buried.
The gates of mercy shall be all shut up,
And the flesh'd soldier, rough and hard of heart,
In liberty of bloody hand shall range
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Henry IV Parts III, Henry V 236
Page No 239
With conscience wide as hell, mowing like grass
Your fresh fair virgins and your flow'ring infants.
What is it then to me, if impious War,
Array'd in flames like to the prince of fiends,
Do with his smirch'd complexion all fell feats
Enlink'd to waste and desolation?
What is't to me, when you yourselves are cause,
If your pure maidens fall into the hand
Of hot and forcing violation?
What rein can hold licentious wickedness
When down the hill he holds his fierce career?
We may as bootless spend our vain command
Upon the enraged soldiers in their spoil
As send precepts to the leviathan
To come ashore. Therefore, you men of Harfleur,
Take pity of your town and of your people,
Whiles yet my soldiers are in my command,
Whiles yet the cool and temperate wind of grace
O'erblows the filthy and contagious clouds
Of heady murder, spoil, and villainy.
If not, why, in a moment look to see
The blind and bloody soldier with foul hand
Defile the locks of your shrillshrieking daughters;
Your fathers taken by the silver beards,
And their most reverend heads dash'd to the walls;
Your naked infants spitted upon pikes,
Whiles the mad mothers with their howls confus'd
Do break the clouds, as did the wives of Jewry
At Herod's bloodyhunting slaughtermen.
What say you? Will you yield, and this avoid,
Or, guilty in defence, be thus destroy'd?
GOVERNOR.
Our expectation hath this day an end.
The Dauphin, whom of succours we entreated,
Returns us that his powers are yet not ready
To raise so great a siege. Therefore, great King,
We yield our town and lives to thy soft mercy.
Enter our gates; dispose of us and ours;
For we no longer are defensible.
KING HENRY.
Open your gates. Come, uncle Exeter,
Go you and enter Harfleur; there remain,
And fortify it strongly 'gainst the French.
Use mercy to them all. For us, dear uncle,
The winter coming on, and sickness growing
Upon our soldiers, we will retire to Calais.
Tonight in Harfleur will we be your guest;
Tomorrow for the march are we addrest.
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Henry IV Parts III, Henry V 237
Page No 240
[Flourish. [The King and his train] enter the town.]
SCENE IV. The French King's palace.
[Enter Katharine and [Alice,] an old Gentlewoman.]
KATHARINE.
Alice, tu as ete en Angleterre, et tu parles bien le langage.
ALICE.
Un peu, madame.
KATHARINE.
Je te prie, m'enseignez; il faut que j'apprenne a parler.
Comment appelezvous la main en Anglois?
ALICE.
La main? Elle est appelee de hand.
KATHARINE.
De hand. Et les doigts?
ALICE.
Les doigts? Ma foi, j'oublie les doigts; mais je me
souviendrai. Les doigts? Je pense qu'ils sont appeles de
fingres; oui, de fingres.
KATHARINE.
La main, de hand; les doigts, de fingres. Je pense que
je suis le bon ecolier; j'ai gagne deux mots d'Anglois
vitement. Comment appelezvous les ongles?
ALICE.
Les ongles? Nous les appelons de nails.
KATHARINE.
De nails. Ecoutez; ditesmoi, si je parle bien: de hand,
de fingres, et de nails.
ALICE.
C'est bien dit, madame; il est fort bon Anglois.
KATHARINE.
Ditesmoi l'Anglois pour le bras.
ALICE.
De arm, madame.
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Henry IV Parts III, Henry V 238
Page No 241
KATHARINE.
Et le coude?
ALICE.
D'elbow.
KATHARINE.
D'elbow. Je m'en fais la repetition de tous les mots
que vous m'avez appris des a present.
ALICE.
Il est trop difficile, madame, comme je pense.
KATHARINE.
Excusezmoi, Alice; ecoutez: d'hand, de fingres, de
nails, d'arma, de bilbow.
ALICE.
D'elbow, madame.
KATHARINE.
O Seigneur Dieu, je m'en oublie! D'elbow.
Comment appelezvous le col?
ALICE.
De nick, madame.
KATHARINE.
De nick. Et le menton?
ALICE.
De chin.
KATHARINE.
De sin. Le col, de nick; le menton, de sin.
ALICE.
Oui. Sauf votre honneur, en verite, vous prononcez les
mots aussi droit que les natifs d'Angleterre.
KATHARINE.
Je ne doute point d'apprendre, par la grace de Dieu,
et en peu de temps.
ALICE.
N'avezvous pas deja oublie ce que je vous ai enseigne?
KATHARINE.
Non, je reciterai a vous promptement: d'hand, de
fingres, de mails,
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Henry IV Parts III, Henry V 239
Page No 242
ALICE.
De nails, madame.
KATHARINE.
De nails, de arm, de ilbow.
ALICE.
Sauf votre honneur, de elbow.
KATHARINE.
Ainsi disje; d'elbow, de nick, et de sin. Comment
appelezvous le pied et la robe?
ALICE.
De foot, madame; et de coun.
KATHARINE.
De foot et de coun! O Seigneur Dieu! ce sont mots de son
mauvais, corruptible, gros, et impudique, et non pour les
dames d'honneur d'user. Je ne voudrais prononcer ces mots
devant les seigneurs de France pour tout le monde. Foh! le
foot et le coun! Neanmoins, je reciterai une autre fois ma lecon
ensemble: d' hand, de fingres, de nails, d'arm, d'elbow, de
nick, de sin, de foot, de coun.
ALICE.
Excellent, madame!
KATHARINE.
C'est assez pour une fois: allonsnous a diner.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE V. The same.
[Enter the King of France, the Dauphin, [the Duke of Bourbon,]
the Constable of France, and others.]
FRENCH KING.
'Tis certain he hath pass'd the river Somme.
CONSTABLE.
And if he be not fought withal, my lord,
Let us not live in France; let us quit all
And give our vineyards to a barbarous people.
DAUPHIN.
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Henry IV Parts III, Henry V 240
Page No 243
O Dieu vivant! shall a few sprays of us,
The emptying of our fathers' luxury,
Our scions put in wild and savage stock,
Spirt up so suddenly into the clouds,
And overlook their grafters?
BOURBON.
Normans, but bastard Normans, Norman bastards!
Mort de ma vie! if they march along
Unfought withal, but I will sell my dukedom,
To buy a slobbery and a dirty farm
In that nookshotten isle of Albion.
CONSTABLE.
Dieu de batailles! where have they this mettle?
Is not their climate foggy, raw, and dull,
On whom, as in despite, the sun looks pale,
Killing their fruit with frowns? Can sodden water,
A drench for surrein'd jades, their barleybroth,
Decoct their cold blood to such valiant heat?
And shall our quick blood, spirited with wine,
Seem frosty? O, for honour of our land,
Let us not hang like roping icicles
Upon our houses' thatch, whiles a more frosty people
Sweat drops of gallant youth in our rich fields!
Poor we may call them in their native lords.
DAUPHIN.
By faith and honour,
Our madams mock at us, and plainly say
Our mettle is bred out, and they will give
Their bodies to the lust of English youth
To newstore France with bastard warriors.
BOURBON.
They bid us to the English dancingschools,
And teach lavoltas high, and swift corantos;
Saying our grace is only in our heels,
And that we are most lofty runaways.
FRENCH KING.
Where is Montjoy the herald? Speed him hence.
Let him greet England with our sharp defiance.
Up, princes! and, with spirit of honour edged
More sharper than your swords, hie to the field!
Charles Delabreth, High Constable of France;
You Dukes of Orleans, Bourbon, and of Berri,
Alencon, Brabant, Bar, and Burgundy;
Jacques Chatillon, Rambures, Vaudemont,
Beaumont, Grandpre, Roussi, and Fauconberg,
Foix, Lestrale, Bouciqualt, and Charolois;
Henry IV Parts III, Henry V
Henry IV Parts III, Henry V 241
Page No 244
High dukes, great princes, barons, lords, and knights,
For your great seats now quit you of great shames.
Bar Harry England, that sweeps through our land
With pennons painted in the blood of Harfleur.
Rush on his host, as doth the melted snow
Upon the valleys, whose low vassal seat
The Alps doth spit and void his rheum upon.
Go down upon him, you have power enough,
And in a captive chariot into Rouen
Bring him our prisoner.
CONSTABLE.
This becomes the great.
Sorry am I his numbers are so few,
His soldiers sick and famish'd in their march;
For I am sure, when he shall see our army,
He'll drop his heart into the sink of fear
And for achievement offer us his ransom.
FRENCH KING.
Therefore, Lord Constable, haste on Montjoy,
And let him say to England that we send
To know what willing ransom he will give.
Prince Dauphin, you shall stay with us in Rouen.
DAUPHIN.
Not so, I do beseech your Majesty.
FRENCH KING.
Be patient, for you shall remain with us.
Now forth, Lord Constable and princes all,
And quickly bring us word of England's fall.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE VI. The English camp in Picardy.
[Enter Gower and Fluellen, meeting.]
GOWER.
How now, Captain Fluellen! come you from the bridge?
FLUELLEN.
I assure you, there is very excellent services committed at the
bridge.
GOWER.
Is the Duke of Exeter safe?
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Page No 245
FLUELLEN.
The Duke of Exeter is as magnanimous as Agamemnon; and a
man that I love and honour with my soul, and my heart, and my
duty, and my live, and my living, and my uttermost power. He
is notGod be praised and blessed!any hurt in the world; but
keeps the bridge most valiantly, with excellent discipline. There
is an aunchient lieutenant there at the pridge, I think in my
very conscience he is as valiant a man as Mark Antony; and he is
a man of no estimation in the world, but I did see him do as
gallant service.
GOWER.
What do you call him?
FLUELLEN.
He is call'd Aunchient PISTOL.
GOWER.
I know him not.
[Enter PISTOL.
]
FLUELLEN.
Here is the man.
PISTOL.
Captain, I thee beseech to do me favours.
The Duke of Exeter doth love thee well.
FLUELLEN.
Ay, I praise God; and I have merited some love at his hands.
PISTOL.
Bardolph, a soldier, firm and sound of heart,
And of buxom valour, hath by cruel fate
And giddy Fortune's furious fickle wheel,
That goddess blind,
That stands upon the rolling restless stone
FLUELLEN.
By your patience, Aunchient PISTOL.
Fortune is painted
blind, with a muffler afore his eyes, to signify to you that
Fortune is blind; and she is painted also with a wheel, to
signify to you, which is the moral of it, that she is turning,
and inconstant, and mutability, and variation; and her foot,
look you, is fixed upon a spherical stone, which rolls, and
rolls, and rolls. In good truth, the poet makes a most excellent
description of it. Fortune is an excellent moral.
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Page No 246
PISTOL.
Fortune is Bardolph's foe, and frowns on him;
For he hath stolen a pax, and hanged must 'a be,
A damned death!
Let gallows gape for dog; let man go free,
And let not hemp his windpipe suffocate.
But Exeter hath given the doom of death
For pax of little price.
Therefore, go speak; the Duke will hear thy voice;
And let not Bardolph's vital thread be cut
With edge of penny cord and vile reproach.
Speak, captain, for his life, and I will thee requite.
FLUELLEN.
Aunchient Pistol, I do partly understand your meaning.
PISTOL.
Why then, rejoice therefore.
FLUELLEN.
Certainly, aunchient, it is not a thing to rejoice at; for if,
look you, he were my brother, I would desire the Duke
to use his good pleasure, and put him to execution; for
discipline ought to be used.
PISTOL.
Die and be damn'd! and figo for thy friendship!
FLUELLEN.
It is well.
PISTOL.
The fig of Spain.
[Exit.]
FLUELLEN.
Very good.
GOWER.
Why, this is an arrant counterfeit rascal. I remember
him now; a bawd, a cutpurse.
FLUELLEN.
I'll assure you, 'a uttered as prave words at the pridge as you
shall see in a summer's day. But it is very well; what he has
spoke to me, that is well, I warrant you, when time is serve.
GOWER.
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Henry IV Parts III, Henry V 244
Page No 247
Why, 't is a gull, a fool, a rogue, that now and then goes to
the wars, to grace himself at his return into London under the
form of a soldier. And such fellows are perfect in the great
commanders' names; and they will learn you by rote where services
were done; at such and such a sconce, at such a breach, at such a
convoy; who came off bravely, who was shot, who disgrac'd, what
terms the enemy stood on; and this they con perfectly in the
phrase of war, which they trick up with newtuned oaths: and what
a beard of the general's cut and a horrid suit of the camp will
do among foaming bottles and alewash'd wits, is wonderful to be
thought on. But you must learn to know such slanders of the age,
or else you may be marvellously mistook.
FLUELLEN.
I tell you what, Captain Gower; I do perceive he is not the man
that he would gladly make show to the world he is. If I find a
hole in his coat, I will tell him my mind. [Drum heard.] Hark
you, the King is coming, and I must speak with him from the pridge.
[Drum and colours. Enter King Henry, [Gloucester,] and his poor
soldiers.]
God bless your Majesty!
KING HENRY.
How now, Fluellen! cam'st thou from the bridge?
FLUELLEN.
Ay, so please your Majesty. The Duke of Exeter has very
gallantly maintain'd the pridge. The French is gone off, look
you; and there is gallant and most prave passages. Marry, th'
athversary was have possession of the pridge; but he is enforced
to retire, and the Duke of Exeter is master of the pridge. I can
tell your Majesty, the Duke is a prave man.
KING HENRY.
What men have you lost, Fluellen?
FLUELLEN.
The perdition of the athversary hath been very great, reasonable
great. Marry, for my part, I think the Duke hath lost never a
man, but one that is like to be executed for robbing a church, one
Bardolph, if your Majesty know the man. His face is all bubukles,
and whelks, and knobs, and flames o' fire; and his lips blows at
his nose, and it is like a coal of fire, sometimes plue and
sometimes red; but his nose is executed, and his fire's out.
KING HENRY.
We would have all such offenders so cut off; and we give express
charge, that in our marches through the country, there be nothing
compell'd from the villages, nothing taken but paid for, none of
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Henry IV Parts III, Henry V 245
Page No 248
the French upbraided or abused in disdainful language; for when
lenity and cruelty play for a kingdom, the gentler gamester is the
soonest winner.
[Tucket. Enter Montjoy.]
MONTJOY.
You know me by my habit.
KING HENRY.
Well then I know thee. What shall I know of thee?
MONTJOY.
My master's mind.
KING HENRY.
Unfold it.
MONTJOY.
Thus says my King: Say thou to Harry of England: Though we
seem'd dead, we did but sleep; advantage is a better soldier
than rashness. Tell him we could have rebuk'd him at Harfleur,
but that we thought not good to bruise an injury till it were
full ripe. Now we speak upon our cue, and our voice is imperial.
England shall repent his folly, see his weakness, and admire our
sufferance. Bid him therefore consider of his ransom; which must
proportion the losses we have borne, the subjects we have lost,
the disgrace we have digested; which in weight to reanswer, his
pettishness would bow under. For our losses, his exchequer is too
poor; for the effusion of our blood, the muster of his kingdom
too faint a number; and for our disgrace, his own person, kneeling
at our feet, but a weak and worthless satisfaction. To this add
defiance; and tell him, for conclusion, he hath betrayed his
followers, whose condemnation is pronounc'd. So far my King and
master; so much my office.
KING HENRY.
What is thy name? I know thy quality.
MONTJOY.
MONTJOY.
KING HENRY.
Thou dost thy office fairly. Turn thee back,
And tell thy King I do not seek him now,
But could be willing to march on to Calais
Without impeachment; for, to say the sooth,
Though 'tis no wisdom to confess so much
Unto an enemy of craft and vantage,
My people are with sickness much enfeebled,
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My numbers lessen'd, and those few I have
Almost no better than so many French;
Who when they were in health, I tell thee, herald,
I thought upon one pair of English legs
Did march three Frenchmen. Yet, forgive me, God,
That I do brag thus! This your air of France
Hath blown that vice in me. I must repent.
Go therefore, tell thy master here I am;
My ransom is this frail and worthless trunk,
My army but a weak and sickly guard;
Yet, God before, tell him we will come on,
Though France himself and such another neighbour
Stand in our way. There's for thy labour, MONTJOY.
Go, bid thy master well advise himself.
If we may pass, we will; if we be hind'red,
We shall your tawny ground with your red blood
Discolour; and so, Montjoy, fare you well.
The sum of all our answer is but this:
We would not seek a battle, as we are;
Nor, as we are, we say we will not shun it.
So tell your master.
MONTJOY.
I shall deliver so. Thanks to your Highness.
[Exit.]
GLOUCESTER.
I hope they will not come upon us now.
KING HENRY.
We are in God's hands, brother, not in theirs.
March to the bridge; it now draws toward night.
Beyond the river we'll encamp ourselves,
And on tomorrow bid them march away.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE VII. The French camp, near AginCOURT.
[Enter the Constable of France, the Lord Rambures,
Orleans, Dauphin, with others.]
CONSTABLE.
Tut! I have the best armour of the world.
Would it were day!
ORLEANS.
You have an excellent armour; but let my horse have his due.
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CONSTABLE.
It is the best horse of Europe.
ORLEANS.
Will it never be morning?
DAUPHIN.
My Lord of Orleans, and my Lord High Constable, you talk of
horse and armour?
ORLEANS.
You are as well provided of both as any prince in the world.
DAUPHIN.
What a long night is this! I will not change my horse with
any that treads but on four pasterns. Ca, ha! he bounds from the
earth, as if his entrails were hairs; le cheval volant, the
Pegasus, chez les narines de feu! When I bestride him, I soar, I
am a hawk. he trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it;
the basest horn of his hoof is more musical than the pipe of Hermes.
ORLEANS.
He's of the colour of the nutmeg.
DAUPHIN.
And of the heat of the ginger. It is a beast for Perseus. He is
pure air and fire; and the dull elements of earth and water never
appear in him, but only in patient stillness while his rider mounts
him. He is indeed a horse, and all other jades you may call beasts.
CONSTABLE.
Indeed, my lord, it is a most absolute and excellent horse.
DAUPHIN.
It is the prince of palfreys; his neigh is like the bidding of a
monarch, and his countenance enforces homage.
ORLEANS.
No more, cousin.
DAUPHIN.
Nay, the man hath no wit that cannot, from the rising of the
lark to the lodging of the lamb, vary deserved praise on my
palfrey. It is a theme as fluent as the sea; turn the sands into
eloquent tongues, and my horse is argument for them all. 'Tis
a subject for a sovereign to reason on, and for a sovereign's
sovereign to ride on; and for the world, familiar to us and
unknown, to lay apart their particular functions and wonder at
him. I once writ a sonnet in his praise and began thus: "Wonder
of nature,"
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ORLEANS.
I have heard a sonnet begin so to one's mistress.
DAUPHIN.
Then did they imitate that which I compos'd to my courser,
for my horse is my mistress.
ORLEANS.
Your mistress bears well.
DAUPHIN.
Me well; which is the prescript praise and perfection of a
good and particular mistress.
CONSTABLE.
Nay, for methought yesterday your mistress shrewdly shook
your back.
DAUPHIN.
So perhaps did yours.
CONSTABLE.
Mine was not bridled.
DAUPHIN.
O then belike she was old and gentle; and you rode, like a
kern of Ireland, your French hose off, and in your strait
strossers.
CONSTABLE.
You have good judgment in horsemanship.
DAUPHIN.
Be warn'd by me, then; they that ride so and ride not warily,
fall into foul bogs. I had rather have my horse to my mistress.
CONSTABLE.
I had as lief have my mistress a jade.
DAUPHIN.
I tell thee, Constable, my mistress wears his own hair.
CONSTABLE.
I could make as true a boast as that, if I had a sow to
my mistress.
DAUPHIN.
"Le chien est retourne a son propre vomissement, et la
truie lavee au bourbier." Thou mak'st use of anything.
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CONSTABLE.
Yet do I not use my horse for my mistress, or any such
proverb so little kin to the purpose.
RAMBURES.
My Lord Constable, the armour that I saw in your tent
tonight, are those stars or suns upon it?
CONSTABLE.
Stars, my lord.
DAUPHIN.
Some of them will fall tomorrow, I hope.
CONSTABLE.
And yet my sky shall not want.
DAUPHIN.
That may be, for you bear a many superfluously, and 'twere
more honour some were away.
CONSTABLE.
Even as your horse bears your praises; who would trot as
well, were some of your brags dismounted.
DAUPHIN.
Would I were able to load him with his desert! Will it never
be day? I will trot tomorrow a mile, and my way shall be
paved with English faces.
CONSTABLE.
I will not say so, for fear I should be fac'd out of my way.
But I would it were morning; for I would fain be about
the ears of the English.
RAMBURES.
Who will go to hazard with me for twenty prisoners?
CONSTABLE.
You must first go yourself to hazard, ere you have them.
DAUPHIN.
'Tis midnight; I'll go arm myself.
[Exit.]
ORLEANS.
The Dauphin longs for morning.
RAMBURES.
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He longs to eat the English.
CONSTABLE.
I think he will eat all he kills.
ORLEANS.
By the white hand of my lady, he's a gallant PRINCE.
CONSTABLE.
Swear by her foot that she may tread out the oath.
ORLEANS.
He is simply the most active gentleman of France.
CONSTABLE.
Doing is activity; and he will still be doing.
ORLEANS.
He never did harm, that I heard of.
CONSTABLE.
Nor will do none tomorrow. He will keep that good
name still.
ORLEANS.
I know him to be valiant.
CONSTABLE.
I was told that by one that knows him better than you.
ORLEANS.
What's he?
CONSTABLE.
Marry, he told me so himself; and he said he car'd not
who knew it.
ORLEANS.
He needs not; it is no hidden virtue in him.
CONSTABLE.
By my faith, sir, but it is; never anybody saw it but his
lackey. 'Tis a hooded valour; and when it appears, it will
bate.
ORLEANS.
"Ill will never said well."
CONSTABLE.
I will cap that proverb with "There is flattery in friendship."
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ORLEANS.
And I will take up that with "Give the devil his due."
CONSTABLE.
Well plac'd. There stands your friend for the devil; have at
the very eye of that proverb with "A pox of the devil."
ORLEANS.
You are the better at proverbs, by how much "A fool's
bolt is soon shot."
CONSTABLE.
You have shot over.
ORLEANS.
'Tis not the first time you were oversHOT.
[Enter a Messenger.]
MESSENGER.
My Lord High Constable, the English lie within fifteen
hundred paces of your tents.
CONSTABLE.
Who hath measur'd the ground?
MESSENGER.
The Lord Grandpre.
CONSTABLE.
A valiant and most expert gentleman. Would it were day!
Alas, poor Harry of England, he longs not for the dawning as
we do.
ORLEANS.
What a wretched and peevish fellow is this King of England,
to mope with his fatbrain'd followers so far out of his
knowledge!
CONSTABLE.
If the English had any apprehension, they would run away.
ORLEANS.
That they lack; for if their heads had any intellectual armour,
they could never wear such heavy headpieces.
RAMBURES.
That island of England breeds very valiant creatures. Their
mastiffs are of unmatchable courage.
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ORLEANS.
Foolish curs, that run winking into the mouth of a Russian bear
and have their heads crush'd like rotten apples! You may as well
say, that's a valiant flea that dare eat his breakfast on the lip
of a lion.
CONSTABLE.
Just, just; and the men do sympathize with the mastiffs in
robustious and rough coming on, leaving their wits with their wives;
and then, give them great meals of beef and iron and steel, they
will eat like wolves and fight like devils.
ORLEANS.
Ay, but these English are shrewdly out of beef.
CONSTABLE.
Then shall we find tomorrow they have only stomachs to
eat and none to fight. Now is it time to arm. Come, shall we
about it?
ORLEANS.
It is now two o'clock; but, let me see, by ten
We shall have each a hundred Englishmen.
[Exeunt.]
ACT IV.
PROLOGUE.
[Enter CHORUS.
]
CHORUS.
Now entertain conjecture of a time
When creeping murmur and the poring dark
Fills the wide vessel of the universe.
From camp to camp through the foul womb of night
The hum of either army stilly sounds,
That the fix'd sentinels almost receive
The secret whispers of each other's watch;
Fire answers fire, and through their paly flames
Each battle sees the other's umber'd face;
Steed threatens steed, in high and boastful neighs
Piercing the night's dull ear; and from the tents
The armourers, accomplishing the knights,
With busy hammers closing rivets up,
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Give dreadful note of preparation.
The country cocks do crow, the clocks do toll,
And the third hour of drowsy morning name.
Proud of their numbers and secure in soul,
The confident and overlusty French
Do the lowrated English play at dice;
And chide the cripple tardygaited Night
Who, like a foul and ugly witch, doth limp
So tediously away. The poor condemned English,
Like sacrifices, by their watchful fires
Sit patiently and inly ruminate
The morning's danger; and their gesture sad,
Investing lanklean cheeks and warworn coats,
Presented them unto the gazing moon
So many horrid ghosts. O now, who will behold
The royal captain of this ruin'd band
Walking from watch to watch, from tent to tent,
Let him cry, "Praise and glory on his head!"
For forth he goes and visits all his host,
Bids them good morrow with a modest smile,
And calls them brothers, friends, and countrymen.
Upon his royal face there is no note
How dread an army hath enrounded him;
Nor doth he dedicate one jot of colour
Unto the weary and allwatched night,
But freshly looks, and overbears attaint
With cheerful semblance and sweet majesty;
That every wretch, pining and pale before,
Beholding him, plucks comfort from his looks.
A largess universal like the sun
His liberal eye doth give to every one,
Thawing cold fear, that mean and gentle all
Behold, as may unworthiness define,
A little touch of Harry in the night.
And so our scene must to the battle fly,
WhereO for pity!we shall much disgrace
With four or five most vile and ragged foils,
Right illdispos'd in brawl ridiculous,
The name of Agincourt. Yet sit and see,
Minding true things by what their mock'ries be.
[Exit.]
SCENE I. The English camp at AginCOURT.
[Enter King Henry, Bedford, and Gloucester.]
KING HENRY.
Gloucester, 'tis true that we are in great danger;
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The greater therefore should our courage be.
Good morrow, brother Bedford. God Almighty!
There is some soul of goodness in things evil,
Would men observingly distil it out;
For our bad neighbour makes us early stirrers,
Which is both healthful and good husbandry.
Besides, they are our outward consciences,
And preachers to us all, admonishing
That we should dress us fairly for our end.
Thus may we gather honey from the weed,
And make a moral of the devil himself.
[Enter Erpingham.]
Good morrow, old Sir Thomas Erpingham:
A good soft pillow for that good white head
Were better than a churlish turf of France.
ERPINGHAM.
Not so, my liege; this lodging likes me better,
Since I may say, "Now lie I like a king."
KING HENRY.
'Tis good for men to love their present pains
Upon example; so the spirit is eased;
And when the mind is quick'ned, out of doubt,
The organs, though defunct and dead before,
Break up their drowsy grave and newly move,
With casted slough and fresh legerity.
Lend me thy cloak, Sir Thomas. Brothers both,
Commend me to the princes in our camp;
Do my good morrow to them, and anon
Desire them all to my pavilion.
GLOUCESTER.
We shall, my liege.
ERPINGHAM.
Shall I attend your Grace?
KING HENRY.
No, my good knight;
Go with my brothers to my lords of England.
I and my bosom must debate a while,
And then I would no other company.
ERPINGHAM.
The Lord in heaven bless thee, noble Harry!
[Exeunt [all but King.]
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Page No 258
KING HENRY.
Godamercy, old heart! thou speak'st cheerfully.
[Enter PISTOL.
]
PISTOL.
Qui va la?
KING HENRY.
A friend.
PISTOL.
Discuss unto me; art thou officer?
Or art thou base, common, and popular?
KING HENRY.
I am a gentleman of a company.
PISTOL.
Trail'st thou the puissant pike?
KING HENRY.
Even so. What are you?
PISTOL.
As good a gentleman as the Emperor.
KING HENRY.
Then you are a better than the KING.
PISTOL.
The King's a bawcock, and a heart of gold,
A lad of life, an imp of fame;
Of parents good, of fist most valiant.
I kiss his dirty shoe, and from heartstring
I love the lovely bully. What is thy name?
KING HENRY.
Harry le Roy.
PISTOL.
Le Roy! a Cornish name. Art thou of Cornish crew?
KING HENRY.
No, I am a Welshman.
PISTOL.
Know'st thou Fluellen?
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KING HENRY.
Yes.
PISTOL.
Tell him I'll knock his leek about his pate
Upon Saint Davy's day.
KING HENRY.
Do not you wear your dagger in your cap that day, lest
he knock that about yours.
PISTOL.
Art thou his friend?
KING HENRY.
And his kinsman too.
PISTOL.
The figo for thee, then!
KING HENRY.
I thank you. God be with you!
PISTOL.
My name is Pistol call'd.
[Exit.]
KING HENRY.
It sorts well with your fierceness.
[Enter Fluellen and Gower.]
GOWER.
Captain Fluellen!
FLUELLEN.
So! in the name of Jesu Christ, speak lower. It is the greatest
admiration in the universal world, when the true and aunchient
prerogatifes and laws of the wars is not kept. If you would take
the pains but to examine the wars of Pompey the Great, you
shall find, I warrant you, that there is no tiddle taddle nor
pibble pabble in Pompey's camp. I warrant you, you shall find the
ceremonies of the wars, and the cares of it, and the forms of it,
and the sobriety of it, and the modesty of it, to be otherwise.
GOWER.
Why, the enemy is loud; you hear him all night.
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FLUELLEN.
If the enemy is an ass and a fool and a prating coxcomb, is it
meet, think you, that we should also, look you, be an ass and a
fool and a prating coxcomb? In your own conscience, now?
GOWER.
I will speak lower.
FLUELLEN.
I pray you and beseech you that you will.
[Exeunt [Gower and Fluellen.]
KING HENRY.
Though it appear a little out of fashion,
There is much care and valour in this Welshman.
[Enter three soldiers, John Bates, Alexander Court,
And Michael Williams.]
COURT.
Brother John Bates, is not that the morning which breaks
yonder?
BATES.
I think it be; but we have no great cause to desire the
approach of day.
WILLIAMS.
We see yonder the beginning of the day, but I think
we shall never see the end of it. Who goes there?
KING HENRY.
A friend.
WILLIAMS.
Under what captain serve you?
KING HENRY.
Under Sir Thomas ERPINGHAM.
WILLIAMS.
A good old commander and a most kind gentleman. I
pray you, what thinks he of our estate?
KING HENRY.
Even as men wreck'd upon a sand, that look to be
wash'd off the next tide.
BATES.
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Page No 261
He hath not told his thought to the King?
KING HENRY.
No; nor it is not meet he should. For though I speak it to you,
I think the King is but a man as I am. The violet smells to him
as it doth to me; the element shows to him as it doth to me; all
his senses have but human conditions. His ceremonies laid by,
in his nakedness he appears but a man; and though his affections
are higher mounted than ours, yet, when they stoop, they stoop
with the like wing. Therefore, when he sees reason of fears as we
do, his fears, out of doubt, be of the same relish as ours are;
yet, in reason, no man should possess him with any appearance of
fear, lest he, by showing it, should dishearten his army.
BATES.
He may show what outward courage he will; but I believe, as
cold a night as 'tis, he could wish himself in Thames up to the
neck; and so I would he were, and I by him, at all adventures, so
we were quit here.
KING HENRY.
By my troth, I will speak my conscience of the King: I think he
would not wish himself anywhere but where he is.
BATES.
Then I would he were here alone; so should he be sure to be
ransomed, and a many poor men's lives saved.
KING HENRY.
I dare say you love him not so ill, to wish him here alone,
howsoever you speak this to feel other men's minds. Methinks
I could not die anywhere so contented as in the King's company,
his cause being just and his quarrel honourable.
WILLIAMS.
That's more than we know.
BATES.
Ay, or more than we should seek after; for we know enough, if
we know we are the King's subjects. If his cause be wrong, our
obedience to the King wipes the crime of it out of us.
WILLIAMS.
But if the cause be not good, the King himself hath a heavy
reckoning to make, when all those legs and arms and heads, chopp'd
off in a battle, shall join together at the latter day and cry all,
"We died at such a place"; some swearing, some crying for a
surgeon, some upon their wives left poor behind them, some upon the
debts they owe, some upon their children rawly left. I am afeard
there are few die well that die in a battle; for how can they
charitably dispose of anything, when blood is their argument?
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Page No 262
Now, if these men do not die well, it will be a black matter
for the King that led them to it; who to disobey were against
all proportion of subjection.
KING HENRY.
So, if a son that is by his father sent about merchandise do
sinfully miscarry upon the sea, the imputation of his wickedness,
by your rule, should be imposed upon his father that sent him; or
if a servant, under his master's command transporting a sum of
money, be assailed by robbers and die in many irreconcil'd
iniquities, you may call the business of the master the author of
the servant's damnation. But this is not so. The King is not
bound to answer the particular endings of his soldiers, the father
of his son, nor the master of his servant; for they purpose not
their death, when they purpose their services. Besides, there is
no king, be his cause never so spotless, if it come to the
arbitrement of swords, can try it out with all unspotted soldiers.
Some peradventure have on them the guilt of premeditated and
contrived murder; some, of beguiling virgins with the broken seals
of perjury; some, making the wars their bulwark, that have before
gored the gentle bosom of Peace with pillage and robbery. Now, if
these men have defeated the law and outrun native punishment,
though they can outstrip men, they have no wings to fly from God.
War is his beadle, war is his vengeance; so that here men are
punish'd for beforebreach of the King's laws in now the King's
quarrel. Where they feared the death, they have borne life away;
and where they would be safe, they perish. Then if they die
unprovided, no more is the King guilty of their damnation than he
was before guilty of those impieties for the which they are now
visited. Every subject's duty is the King's; but every subject's
soul is his own. Therefore should every soldier in the wars do as
every sick man in his bed, wash every mote out of his conscience;
and dying so, death is to him advantage; or not dying, the time was
blessedly lost wherein such preparation was gained; and in him that
escapes, it were not sin to think that, making God so free an
offer, He let him outlive that day to see His greatness and to
teach others how they should prepare.
WILLIAMS.
'Tis certain, every man that dies ill, the ill upon his own head,
the King is not to answer for it.
BATES.
I do not desire he should answer for me; and yet I determine to
fight lustily for him.
KING HENRY.
I myself heard the King say he would not be ransom'd.
WILLIAMS.
Ay, he said so, to make us fight cheerfully; but when our
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Page No 263
throats are cut, he may be ransom'd, and we ne'er the wiser.
KING HENRY.
If I live to see it, I will never trust his word after.
WILLIAMS.
You pay him then. That's a perilous shot out of an eldergun,
that a poor and a private displeasure can do against a monarch!
You may as well go about to turn the sun to ice with fanning in
his face with a peacock's feather. You'll never trust his word
after! Come, 'tis a foolish saying.
KING HENRY.
Your reproof is something too round. I should be angry with
you, if the time were convenient.
WILLIAMS.
Let it be a quarrel between us if you live.
KING HENRY.
I embrace it.
WILLIAMS.
How shall I know thee again?
KING HENRY.
Give me any gage of thine, and I will wear it in my bonnet;
then, if ever thou dar'st acknowledge it, I will make it my
quarrel.
WILLIAMS.
Here's my glove; give me another of thine.
KING HENRY.
There.
WILLIAMS.
This will I also wear in my cap. If ever thou come to me
and say, after tomorrow, "This is my glove," by this hand I
will take thee a box on the ear.
KING HENRY.
If ever I live to see it, I will challenge it.
WILLIAMS.
Thou dar'st as well be hang'd.
KING HENRY.
Well, I will do it, though I take thee in the King's company.
WILLIAMS.
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Keep thy word; fare thee well.
BATES.
Be friends, you English fools, be friends. We have
French quarrels enow, if you could tell how to reckon.
[Exeunt soldiers.]
KING HENRY.
Indeed, the French may lay twenty French crowns to one
they will beat us, for they bear them on their shoulders; but it
is no English treason to cut French crowns, and tomorrow the
King himself will be a clipper.
Upon the King! Let us our lives, our souls,
Our debts, our careful wives,
Our children, and our sins lay on the King!
We must bear all. O hard condition,
Twinborn with greatness, subject to the breath
Of every fool, whose sense no more can feel
But his own wringing! What infinite heart'sease
Must kings neglect, that private men enjoy!
And what have kings, that privates have not too,
Save ceremony, save general ceremony?
And what art thou, thou idol Ceremony?
What kind of god art thou, that suffer'st more
Of mortal griefs than do thy worshippers?
What are thy rents? What are thy comings in?
O Ceremony, show me but thy worth!
What is thy soul of adoration?
Art thou aught else but place, degree, and form,
Creating awe and fear in other men?
Wherein thou art less happy being fear'd
Than they in fearing.
What drink'st thou oft, instead of homage sweet,
But poison'd flattery? O, be sick, great greatness,
And bid thy Ceremony give thee cure!
Think'st thou the fiery fever will go out
With titles blown from adulation?
Will it give place to flexure and low bending?
Canst thou, when thou command'st the beggar's knee,
Command the health of it? No, thou proud dream,
That play'st so subtly with a king's repose;
I am a king that find thee, and I know
'Tis not the balm, the sceptre, and the ball,
The sword, the mace, the crown imperial,
The intertissued robe of gold and pearl,
The farced title running 'fore the King,
The throne he sits on, nor the tide of pomp
That beats upon the high shore of this world,
No, not all these, thricegorgeous Ceremony,
Not all these, laid in bed majestical,
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Page No 265
Can sleep so soundly as the wretched slave,
Who with a body fill'd and vacant mind
Gets him to rest, cramm'd with distressful bread,
Never sees horrid night, the child of hell,
But, like a lackey, from the rise to set
Sweats in the eye of Phoebus, and all night
Sleeps in Elysium; next day after dawn,
Doth rise and help Hyperion to his horse,
And follows so the everrunning year,
With profitable labour, to his grave:
And, but for ceremony, such a wretch,
Winding up days with toil and nights with sleep,
Had the forehand and vantage of a KING.
The slave, a member of the country's peace,
Enjoys it, but in gross brain little wots
What watch the King keeps to maintain the peace,
Whose hours the peasant best advantages.
[Enter Erpingham.]
ERPINGHAM.
My lord, your nobles, jealous of your absence,
Seek through your camp to find you.
KING HENRY.
Good old knight,
Collect them all together at my tent.
I'll be before thee.
ERPINGHAM.
I shall do't, my lord.
[Exit.]
KING HENRY.
O God of battles! steel my soldiers' hearts.
Possess them not with fear. Take from them now
The sense of reckoning, if the opposed numbers
Pluck their hearts from them. Not today, O Lord,
O, not today, think not upon the fault
My father made in compassing the crown!
I Richard's body have interred new,
And on it have bestow'd more contrite tears
Than from it issued forced drops of blood.
Five hundred poor I have in yearly pay,
Who twice a day their wither'd hands hold up
Toward heaven, to pardon blood; and I have built
Two chantries, where the sad and solemn priests
Sing still for Richard's soul. More will I do;
Though all that I can do is nothing worth,
Since that my penitence comes after all,
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Imploring pardon.
[Enter Gloucester.]
GLOUCESTER.
My liege!
KING HENRY.
My brother Gloucester's voice? Ay;
I know thy errand, I will go with thee.
The day, my friends, and all things stay for me.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE II. The French camp.
[Enter the Dauphin, Orleans, Rambures, and others.]
ORLEANS.
The sun doth gild our armour; up, my lords!
DAUPHIN.
Montez a cheval! My horse, varlet! lackey! ha!
ORLEANS.
O brave spirit!
DAUPHIN.
Via! les eaux et la terre.
ORLEANS.
Rien puis? L'air et le feu.
DAUPHIN.
Ciel, cousin ORLEANS.
[Enter Constable.]
Now, my Lord Constable!
CONSTABLE.
Hark, how our steeds for present service neigh!
DAUPHIN.
Mount them, and make incision in their hides,
That their hot blood may spin in English eyes,
And dout them with superfluous courage, ha!
RAMBURES.
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What, will you have them weep our horses' blood?
How shall we, then, behold their natural tears?
[Enter a Messenger.]
MESSENGER.
The English are embattl'd, you French peers.
CONSTABLE.
To horse, you gallant princes! straight to horse!
Do but behold yon poor and starved band,
And your fair show shall suck away their souls,
Leaving them but the shales and husks of men.
There is not work enough for all our hands;
Scarce blood enough in all their sickly veins
To give each naked curtleaxe a stain,
That our French gallants shall today draw out,
And sheathe for lack of sport. Let us but blow on them,
The vapour of our valour will o'erturn them.
'Tis positive 'gainst all exceptions, lords,
That our superfluous lackeys and our peasants,
Who in unnecessary action swarm
About our squares of battle, were enow
To purge this field of such a hilding foe,
Though we upon this mountain's basis by
Took stand for idle speculation,
But that our honours must not. What's to say?
A very little little let us do,
And all is done. Then let the trumpets sound
The tucket sonance and the note to mount;
For our approach shall so much dare the field
That England shall crouch down in fear and yield.
[Enter Grandpre.]
GRANDPRE.
Why do you stay so long, my lords of France?
Yond island carrions, desperate of their bones,
Illfavouredly become the morning field.
Their ragged curtains poorly are let loose,
And our air shakes them passing scornfully.
Big Mars seems bankrupt in their beggar'd host,
And faintly through a rusty beaver peeps;
The horsemen sit like fixed candlesticks
With torchstaves in their hand; and their poor jades
Lob down their heads, drooping the hides and hips,
The gum downroping from their paledead eyes,
And in their pale dull mouths the gimmal bit
Lies foul with chew'd grass, still, and motionless;
And their executors, the knavish crows,
Fly o'er them, all impatient for their hour.
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Description cannot suit itself in words
To demonstrate the life of such a battle,
In life so lifeless as it shows itself.
CONSTABLE.
They have said their prayers, and they stay for death.
DAUPHIN.
Shall we go send them dinners and fresh suits
And give their fasting horses provender,
And after fight with them?
CONSTABLE.
I stay but for my guard; on to the field!
I will the banner from a trumpet take,
And use it for my haste. Come, come, away!
The sun is high, and we outwear the day.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE III. The English camp.
[Enter Gloucester, Bedford, Exeter, Erpingham, with all his host:
Salisbury and Westmoreland.]
GLOUCESTER.
Where is the King?
BEDFORD.
The King himself is rode to view their battle.
WESTMORELAND.
Of fighting men they have full threescore thousand.
EXETER.
There's five to one; besides, they all are fresh.
SALISBURY.
God's arm strike with us! 'tis a fearful odds.
God be wi' you, princes all; I'll to my charge.
If we no more meet till we meet in heaven,
Then, joyfully, my noble Lord of Bedford,
My dear Lord Gloucester, and my good Lord Exeter,
And my kind kinsman, warriors all, adieu!
BEDFORD.
Farewell, good Salisbury, and good luck go with thee!
EXETER.
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Farewell, kind lord; fight valiantly today!
And yet I do thee wrong to mind thee of it,
For thou art fram'd of the firm truth of valour.
[Exit Salisbury.]
BEDFORD.
He is as full of valour as of kindness,
Princely in both.
[Enter the King.]
WESTMORELAND.
O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work today!
KING.
What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin.
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires;
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more, methinks, would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart. His passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse.
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tiptoe when this day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say, "Tomorrow is Saint Crispian."
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say, "These wounds I had on Crispian's day."
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
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What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words,
Harry the King, Bedford, and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered,
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now abed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
[Reenter Salisbury.]
SALISBURY.
My sovereign lord, bestow yourself with speed.
The French are bravely in their battles set,
And will with all expedience charge on us.
KING HENRY.
All things are ready, if our minds be so.
WESTMORELAND.
Perish the man whose mind is backward now!
KING HENRY.
Thou dost not wish more help from England, coz?
WESTMORELAND.
God's will! my liege, would you and I alone,
Without more help, could fight this royal battle!
KING HENRY.
Why, now thou hast unwish'd five thousand men,
Which likes me better than to wish us one.
You know your places. God be with you all!
[Tucket. Enter Montjoy.]
MONTJOY.
Once more I come to know of thee, King Harry,
If for thy ransom thou wilt now compound,
Before thy most assured overthrow;
For certainly thou art so near the gulf,
Thou needs must be englutted. Besides, in mercy,
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The Constable desires thee thou wilt mind
Thy followers of repentance; that their souls
May make a peaceful and a sweet retire
From off these fields, where, wretches, their poor bodies
Must lie and fester.
KING HENRY.
Who hath sent thee now?
MONTJOY.
The Constable of France.
KING HENRY.
I pray thee, bear my former answer back:
Bid them achieve me and then sell my bones.
Good God! why should they mock poor fellows thus?
The man that once did sell the lion's skin
While the beast liv'd, was kill'd with hunting him.
A many of our bodies shall no doubt
Find native graves, upon the which, I trust,
Shall witness live in brass of this day's work;
And those that leave their valiant bones in France,
Dying like men, though buried in your dunghills,
They shall be fam'd; for there the sun shall greet them,
And draw their honours reeking up to heaven;
Leaving their earthly parts to choke your clime,
The smell whereof shall breed a plague in France.
Mark then abounding valour in our English,
That being dead, like to the bullet's grazing,
Break out into a second course of mischief,
Killing in relapse of mortality.
Let me speak proudly: tell the Constable
We are but warriors for the workingday.
Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd
With rainy marching in the painful field;
There's not a piece of feather in our host
Good argument, I hope, we will not fly
And time hath worn us into slovenry;
But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim;
And my poor soldiers tell me, yet ere night
They'll be in fresher robes, or they will pluck
The gay new coats o'er the French soldiers' heads
And turn them out of service. If they do this
As, if God please, they shall,my ransom then
Will soon be levied. Herald, save thou thy labour.
Come thou no more for ransom, gentle HERALD.
They shall have none, I swear, but these my joints;
Which if they have as I will leave 'em them,
Shall yield them little, tell the CONSTABLE.
MONTJOY.
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I shall, King Harry. And so fare thee well;
Thou never shalt hear herald any more.
[Exit.]
KING HENRY.
I fear thou'lt once more come again for ransom.
[Enter York.]
YORK.
My lord, most humbly on my knee I beg
The leading of the vaward.
KING HENRY.
Take it, brave York. Now, soldiers, march away;
And how thou pleasest, God, dispose the day!
[Exeunt.]
SCENE IV. The field of battle.
[Alarum. Excursions. Enter Pistol, French Soldier, and Boy.]
PISTOL.
Yield, cur!
FRENCH SOLDIER.
Je pense que vous etes le gentilhomme de bonne qualite.
PISTOL.
Qualitie calmie custure me! Art thou a gentleman?
What is thy name? Discuss.
FRENCH SOLDIER.
O Seigneur Dieu!
PISTOL.
O, Signieur Dew should be a gentleman.
Perpend my words, O Signieur Dew, and mark:
O Signieur Dew, thou diest on point of fox,
Except, O signieur, thou do give to me
Egregious ransom.
FRENCH SOLDIER.
O, prenez misericorde! ayez pitie de moi!
PISTOL.
Moy shall not serve; I will have forty moys,
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Or I will fetch thy rim out at thy throat
In drops of crimson blood.
FRENCH SOLDIER.
Estil impossible d'echapper la force de ton bras?
PISTOL.
Brass, cur!
Thou damned and luxurious mountain goat,
Offer'st me brass?
FRENCH SOLDIER.
O pardonnez moi!
PISTOL.
Say'st thou me so? Is that a ton of moys?
Come hither, boy; ask me this slave in French
What is his name.
BOY.
Ecoutez: comment etesvous appele?
FRENCH SOLDIER.
Monsieur le Fer.
BOY.
He says his name is Master Fer.
PISTOL.
Master Fer! I'll fer him, and firk him, and ferret him.
Discuss the same in French unto him.
BOY.
I do not know the French for fer, and ferret, and firk.
PISTOL.
Bid him prepare; for I will cut his throat.
FRENCH SOLDIER.
Que ditil, monsieur?
BOY.
Il me commande a vous dire que vous faites vous pret; car
ce soldat ici est dispose tout a cette heure de couper votre
gorge.
PISTOL.
Owy, cuppele gorge, permafoy,
Peasant, unless thou give me crowns, brave crowns;
Or mangled shalt thou be by this my sword.
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FRENCH SOLDIER.
O, je vous supplie, pour l'amour de Dieu, me pardonner!
Je suis gentilhomme de bonne maison; gardez ma vie, et
je vous donnerai deux cents ecus.
PISTOL.
What are his words?
BOY.
He prays you to save his life. He is a gentleman of a good
house; and for his ransom he will give you two hundred
crowns.
PISTOL.
Tell him my fury shall abate, and I
The crowns will take.
FRENCH SOLDIER.
Petit monsieur, que ditil?
BOY.
Encore qu'il est contre son jurement de pardonner aucun
prisonnier; neanmoins, pour les ecus que vous l'avez promis, il
est content de vous donner la liberte, le franchisement.
FRENCH SOLDIER.
Sur mes genoux je vous donne mille remercimens; et je m'estime
heureux que je suis tombe entre les mains d'un chevalier, je
pense, le plus brave, vaillant, et tres distingue seigneur
d'Angleterre.
PISTOL.
Expound unto me, BOY.
BOY.
He gives you upon his knees, a thousand thanks; and he esteems
himself happy that he hath fallen into the hands of one, as he
thinks, the most brave, valorous, and thriceworthy signieur of
England.
PISTOL.
As I suck blood, I will some mercy show.
Follow me!
[Exit.]
BOY.
Suivezvous le grand capitaine.
[Exeunt Pistol, and French Soldier.]
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I did never know so full a voice issue from so empty a heart; but
the saying is true, "The empty vessel makes the greatest sound."
Bardolph and Nym had ten times more valour than this roaring
devil i' the old play, that every one may pare his nails with a
wooden dagger; and they are both hang'd; and so would this be,
if he durst steal anything adventurously. I must stay with the
lackeys with the luggage of our camp. The French might have a
good prey of us, if he knew of it; for there is none to guard it
but boys.
[Exit.]
SCENE V. Another part of the field.
[Enter Constable, Orleans, Bourbon, Dauphin, and Rambures.]
CONSTABLE.
O diable!
ORLEANS.
O Seigneur! le jour est perdu, tout est perdu!
DAUPHIN.
Mort de ma vie! all is confounded, all!
Reproach and everlasting shame
Sits mocking in our plumes.
[A short alarum.]
O mechante fortune! Do not run away.
CONSTABLE.
Why, all our ranks are broke.
DAUPHIN.
O perdurable shame! let's stab ourselves,
Be these the wretches that we play'd at dice for?
ORLEANS.
Is this the king we sent to for his ransom?
BOURBON.
Shame and eternal shame, nothing but shame!
Let's die in honour! Once more back again!
And he that will not follow Bourbon now,
Let him go hence, and with his cap in hand,
Like a base pandar, hold the chamber door
Whilst by a slave, no gentler than my dog,
His fairest daughter is contaminated.
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CONSTABLE.
Disorder, that hath spoil'd us, friend us now!
Let us on heaps go offer up our lives.
ORLEANS.
We are enow yet living in the field
To smother up the English in our throngs,
If any order might be thought upon.
BOURBON.
The devil take order now! I'll to the throng.
Let life be short, else shame will be too long.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE VI. Another part of the field.
[Alarum. Enter King Henry and his train, with prisoners.]
KING HENRY.
Well have we done, thrice valiant countrymen.
But all's not done; yet keep the French the field.
EXETER.
The Duke of York commends him to your Majesty.
KING HENRY.
Lives he, good uncle? Thrice within this hour
I saw him down; thrice up again, and fighting.
From helmet to the spur all blood he was.
EXETER.
In which array, brave soldier, doth he lie,
Larding the plain; and by his bloody side,
Yokefellow to his honourowing wounds,
The noble Earl of Suffolk also lies.
Suffolk first died; and York, all haggled over,
Comes to him, where in gore he lay insteeped,
And takes him by the beard; kisses the gashes
That bloodily did yawn upon his face.
He cries aloud, "Tarry, my cousin Suffolk!
My soul shall thine keep company to heaven;
Tarry, sweet soul, for mine, then fly abreast,
As in this glorious and wellfoughten field
We kept together in our chivalry."
Upon these words I came and cheer'd him up.
He smil'd me in the face, raught me his hand,
And, with a feeble gripe, says, "Dear my lord,
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Commend my service to my sovereign."
So did he turn and over Suffolk's neck
He threw his wounded arm and kiss'd his lips;
And so espous'd to death, with blood he seal'd
A testament of nobleending love.
The pretty and sweet manner of it forc'd
Those waters from me which I would have stopp'd;
But I had not so much of man in me,
And all my mother came into mine eyes
And gave me up to tears.
KING HENRY.
I blame you not;
For, hearing this, I must perforce compound
With mistful eyes, or they will issue too.
[Alarum.]
But hark! what new alarum is this same?
The French have reinforc'd their scatter'd men.
Then every soldier kill his prisoners;
Give the word through.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE VII. Another part of the field.
[Enter Fluellen and Gower.]
FLUELLEN.
Kill the poys and the luggage! 'Tis expressly against the
law of arms. 'Tis as arrant a piece of knavery, mark you now,
as can be offer't; in your conscience, now, is it not?
GOWER.
'Tis certain there's not a boy left alive; and the cowardly
rascals that ran from the battle ha' done this slaughter.
Besides, they have burned and carried away all that was in the
King's tent; wherefore the King, most worthily, hath caus'd every
soldier to cut his prisoner's throat. O, 'tis a gallant king!
FLUELLEN.
Ay, he was porn at Monmouth, Captain Gower. What call you
the town's name where Alexander the Pig was born?
GOWER.
Alexander the Great.
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FLUELLEN.
Why, I pray you, is not pig great? The pig, or the great, or the
mighty, or the huge, or the magnanimous, are all one reckonings,
save the phrase is a little variations.
GOWER.
I think Alexander the Great was born in Macedon. His father
was called Philip of Macedon, as I take it.
FLUELLEN.
I think it is in Macedon where Alexander is porn. I tell you,
Captain, if you look in the maps of the 'orld, I warrant you
sall find, in the comparisons between Macedon and Monmouth,
that the situations, look you, is both alike. There is a river in
Macedon; and there is also moreover a river at Monmouth; it is
call'd Wye at Monmouth; but it is out of my prains what is the
name of the other river; but 'tis all one, 'tis alike as my fingers
is to my fingers, and there is salmons in both. If you mark
Alexander's life well, Harry of Monmouth's life is come after it
indifferent well; for there is figures in all things. Alexander,
God knows, and you know, in his rages, and his furies, and his
wraths, and his cholers, and his moods, and his displeasures, and
his indignations, and also being a little intoxicates in his prains,
did, in his ales and his angers, look you, kill his best friend,
Cleitus.
GOWER.
Our King is not like him in that. He never kill'd any of
his friends.
FLUELLEN.
It is not well done, mark you now, to take the tales out
of my mouth, ere it is made and finished. I speak but in the
figures and comparisons of it. As Alexander kill'd his friend
Cleitus, being in his ales and his cups; so also Harry Monmouth,
being in his right wits and his good judgements, turn'd away the
fat knight with the great belly doublet. He was full of jests,
and gipes, and knaveries, and mocks; I have forgot his name.
GOWER.
Sir John FALSTAFF.
FLUELLEN.
That is he. I'll tell you there is good men porn at Monmouth.
GOWER.
Here comes his Majesty.
[Alarum. Enter King Henry and [forces; Warwick, Gloucester,
Exeter, with prisoners. Flourish.]
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KING HENRY.
I was not angry since I came to France
Until this instant. Take a trumpet, herald;
Ride thou unto the horsemen on yond hill.
If they will fight with us, bid them come down,
Or void the field; they do offend our sight.
If they'll do neither, we will come to them,
And make them skirr away, as swift as stones
Enforced from the old Assyrian slings.
Besides, we'll cut the throats of those we have,
And not a man of them that we shall take
Shall taste our mercy. Go and tell them so.
[Enter Montjoy.]
EXETER.
Here comes the herald of the French, my liege.
GLOUCESTER.
His eyes are humbler than they us'd to be.
KING HENRY.
How now! what means this, herald? Know'st thou not
That I have fin'd these bones of mine for ransom?
Com'st thou again for ransom?
MONTJOY.
No, great King;
I come to thee for charitable license,
That we may wander o'er this bloody field
To book our dead, and then to bury them;
To sort our nobles from our common men.
For many of our princeswoe the while!
Lie drown'd and soak'd in mercenary blood;
So do our vulgar drench their peasant limbs
In blood of princes; and their wounded steeds
Fret fetlock deep in gore, and with wild rage
Yerk out their armed heels at their dead masters,
Killing them twice. O, give us leave, great King,
To view the field in safety, and dispose
Of their dead bodies!
KING HENRY.
I tell thee truly, herald,
I know not if the day be ours or no;
For yet a many of your horsemen peer
And gallop o'er the field.
MONTJOY.
The day is yours.
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KING HENRY.
Praised be God, and not our strength, for it!
What is this castle call'd that stands hard by?
MONTJOY.
They call it Agincourt.
KING HENRY.
Then call we this the field of Agincourt,
Fought on the day of Crispin Crispianus.
FLUELLEN.
Your grandfather of famous memory, an't please your
Majesty, and your greatuncle Edward the Plack Prince of
Wales, as I have read in the chronicles, fought a most prave
pattle here in France.
KING HENRY.
They did, Fluellen.
FLUELLEN.
Your Majesty says very true. If your Majesties is rememb'red of
it, the Welshmen did good service in garden where leeks did grow,
wearing leeks in their Monmouth caps; which, your Majesty know,
to this hour is an honourable badge of the service; and I do
believe your Majesty takes no scorn to wear the leek upon Saint
Tavy's day.
KING HENRY.
I wear it for a memorable honour;
For I am Welsh, you know, good countryman.
FLUELLEN.
All the water in Wye cannot wash your Majesty's Welsh plood out
of your pody, I can tell you that. Got pless it and preserve it,
as long as it pleases His grace, and His majesty too!
KING HENRY.
Thanks, good my countryman.
FLUELLEN.
By Jeshu, I am your Majesty's countryman, I care not who know it.
I will confess it to all the 'orld. I need not be asham'd of your
Majesty, praised be God, so long as your Majesty is an honest man.
KING HENRY.
God keep me so!
[Enter Williams.]
Our heralds go with him;
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Bring me just notice of the numbers dead
On both our parts. Call yonder fellow hither.
[Exeunt Heralds with Montjoy.]
EXETER.
Soldier, you must come to the KING.
KING HENRY.
Soldier, why wear'st thou that glove in thy cap?
WILLIAMS.
An't please your Majesty, 'tis the gage of one that I
should fight withal, if he be alive.
KING HENRY.
An Englishman?
WILLIAMS.
An't please your Majesty, a rascal that swagger'd with me
last night; who, if alive and ever dare to challenge this
glove, I have sworn to take him a box o' the ear; or if I can
see my glove in his cap, which he swore, as he was a soldier,
he would wear if alive, I will strike it out soundly.
KING HENRY.
What think you, Captain Fluellen? Iis it fit this soldier keep
his oath?
FLUELLEN.
He is a craven and a villain else, an't please your Majesty, in
my conscience.
KING HENRY.
It may be his enemy is a gentlemen of great sort, quite from
the answer of his degree.
FLUELLEN.
Though he be as good a gentleman as the devil is, as Lucifier
and Belzebub himself, it is necessary, look your Grace, that he
keep his vow and his oath. If he be perjur'd, see you now, his
reputation is as arrant a villain and a Jacksauce, as ever his
black shoe trod upon God's ground and His earth, in my
conscience, la!
KING HENRY.
Then keep thy vow, sirrah, when thou meet'st the fellow.
WILLIAMS.
So I will, my liege, as I live.
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Page No 282
KING HENRY.
Who serv'st thou under?
WILLIAMS.
Under Captain Gower, my liege.
FLUELLEN.
Gower is a good captain, and is good knowledge and
literatured in the wars.
KING HENRY.
Call him hither to me, soldier.
WILLIAMS.
I will, my liege.
[Exit.]
KING HENRY.
Here, Fluellen; wear thou this favour for me and stick it in thy
cap. When Alencon and myself were down together, I pluck'd
this glove from his helm. If any man challenge this, he is a
friend to Alencon, and an enemy to our person. If thou encounter
any such, apprehend him, an thou dost me love.
FLUELLEN.
Your Grace doo's me as great honours as can be desir'd in the
hearts of his subjects. I would fain see the man, that has but
two legs, that shall find himself aggrief'd at this glove; that
is all. But I would fain see it once, an please God of His grace
that I might see.
KING HENRY.
Know'st thou Gower?
FLUELLEN.
He is my dear friend, an please you.
KING HENRY.
Pray thee, go seek him, and bring him to my tent.
FLUELLEN.
I will fetch him.
[Exit.]
KING HENRY.
My Lord of Warwick, and my brother Gloucester,
Follow Fluellen closely at the heels.
The glove which I have given him for a favour
May haply purchase him a box o' the ear.
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It is the soldier's; I by bargain should
Wear it myself. Follow, good cousin Warwick.
If that the soldier strike him, as I judge
By his blunt bearing he will keep his word,
Some sudden mischief may arise of it;
For I do know Fluellen valiant
And, touch'd with choler, hot as gunpowder,
And quickly will return an injury.
Follow, and see there be no harm between them.
Go you with me, uncle of EXETER.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE VIII. Before King Henry's pavilion.
[Enter Gower and Williams.]
WILLIAMS.
I warrant it is to knight you, Captain.
[Enter Fluellen.]
FLUELLEN.
God's will and his pleasure, captain, I beseech you now,
come apace to the King. There is more good toward you
peradventure than is in your knowledge to dream of.
WILLIAMS.
Sir, know you this glove?
FLUELLEN.
Know the glove! I know the glove is a glove.
WILLIAMS.
I know this; and thus I challenge it.
[Strikes him.]
FLUELLEN.
'Sblood! an arrant traitor as any is in the universal
world, or in France, or in England!
GOWER.
How now, sir! you villain!
WILLIAMS.
Do you think I'll be forsworn?
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Page No 284
FLUELLEN.
Stand away, Captain Gower. I will give treason his
payment into plows, I warrant you.
WILLIAMS.
I am no traitor.
FLUELLEN.
That's a lie in thy throat. I charge you in his Majesty's
name, apprehend him; he's a friend of the Duke Alencon's.
[Enter Warwick and Gloucester.]
WARWICK.
How now, how now! what's the matter?
FLUELLEN.
My lord of Warwick, here ispraised be God for it!a most
contagious treason come to light, look you, as you shall
desire in a summer's day. Here is his Majesty.
[Enter King Henry and EXETER.
]
KING HENRY.
How now! what's the matter?
FLUELLEN.
My liege, here is a villain and a traitor, that, look your Grace,
has struck the glove which your Majesty is take out of the
helmet of Alencon.
WILLIAMS.
My liege, this was my glove; here is the fellow of it; and he
that I gave it to in change promis'd to wear it in his cap. I
promis'd to strike him, if he did. I met this man with my
glove in his cap, and I have been as good as my word.
FLUELLEN.
Your Majesty hear now, saving your Majesty's manhood,
what an arrant, rascally, beggarly, lousy knave it is. I hope
your Majesty is pear me testimony and witness, and will
avouchment, that this is the glove of Alencon that your
Majesty is give me; in your conscience, now?
KING HENRY.
Give me thy glove, soldier. Look, here is the fellow of it.
'Twas I, indeed, thou promisedst to strike;
And thou hast given me most bitter terms.
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Page No 285
FLUELLEN.
An it please your Majesty, let his neck answer for it, if
there is any martial law in the world.
KING HENRY.
How canst thou make me satisfaction?
WILLIAMS.
All offences, my lord, come from the heart. Never came
any from mine that might offend your Majesty.
KING HENRY.
It was ourself thou didst abuse.
WILLIAMS.
Your Majesty came not like yourself. You appear'd to me
but as a common man; witness the night, your garments, your
lowliness; and what your Highness suffer'd under that shape, I
beseech you take it for your own fault and not mine; for had you
been as I took you for, I made no offence; therefore, I beseech
your Highness, pardon me.
KING HENRY.
Here, uncle Exeter, fill this glove with crowns,
And give it to this fellow. Keep it, fellow;
And wear it for an honour in thy cap
Till I do challenge it. Give him his crowns;
And, captain, you must needs be friends with him.
FLUELLEN.
By this day and this light, the fellow has mettle enough in his
belly. Hold, there is twelve pence for you; and I pray you to
serve God, and keep you out of prawls, and prabbles, and
quarrels, and dissensions, and, I warrant you, it is the better
for you.
WILLIAMS.
I will none of your money.
FLUELLEN.
It is with a good will; I can tell you, it will serve you to mend
your shoes. Come, wherefore should you be so pashful? Your
shoes is not so good. 'Tis a good silling, I warrant you, or I
will change it.
[Enter [an English] Herald.]
KING HENRY.
Now, herald, are the dead numb'red?
HERALD.
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Here is the number of the slaught'red French.
KING HENRY.
What prisoners of good sort are taken, uncle?
EXETER.
Charles Duke of Orleans, nephew to the King;
John Duke of Bourbon, and Lord Bouciqualt:
Of other lords and barons, knights and squires,
Full fifteen hundred, besides common men.
KING HENRY.
This note doth tell me of ten thousand French
That in the field lie slain; of princes, in this number,
And nobles bearing banners, there lie dead
One hundred twentysix; added to these,
Of knights, esquires, and gallant gentlemen,
Eight thousand and four hundred; of the which,
Five hundred were but yesterday dubb'd knights;
So that, in these ten thousand they have lost,
There are but sixteen hundred mercenaries;
The rest are princes, barons, lords, knights, squires,
And gentlemen of blood and quality.
The names of those their nobles that lie dead:
Charles Delabreth, High Constable of France;
Jacques of Chatillon, Admiral of France;
The master of the crossbows, Lord Rambures;
Great Master of France, the brave Sir Guichard Dauphin,
John Duke of Alencon, Anthony Duke of Brabant,
The brother to the Duke of Burgundy,
And Edward Duke of Bar; of lusty earls,
Grandpre and Roussi, Fauconberg and Foix,
Beaumont and Marle, Vaudemont and Lestrale.
Here was a royal fellowship of death!
Where is the number of our English dead?
[Herald shows him another paper.]
Edward the Duke of York, the Earl of Suffolk,
Sir Richard Ketly, Davy Gam, esquire;
None else of name; and of all other men
But five and twenty.O God, thy arm was here;
And not to us, but to thy arm alone,
Ascribe we all! When, without stratagem,
But in plain shock and even play of battle,
Was ever known so great and little loss
On one part and on the other? Take it, God,
For it is none but thine!
EXETER.
'Tis wonderful!
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KING HENRY.
Come, go we in procession to the village;
And be it death proclaimed through our host
To boast of this or take that praise from God
Which is His only.
FLUELLEN.
Is it not lawful, an please your Majesty, to tell how
many is kill'd?
KING HENRY.
Yes, Captain; but with this acknowledgment,
That God fought for us.
FLUELLEN.
Yes, my conscience, He did us great good.
KING HENRY.
Do we all holy rites.
Let there be sung Non nobis and Te Deum,
The dead with charity enclos'd in clay,
And then to Calais; and to England then,
Where ne'er from France arriv'd more happy men.
[Exeunt.]
ACT FIFTH.
PROLOGUE.
[Enter CHORUS.
]
CHORUS.
Vouchsafe to those that have not read the story,
That I may prompt them; and of such as have,
I humbly pray them to admit the excuse
Of time, of numbers, and due course of things,
Which cannot in their huge and proper life
Be here presented. Now we bear the King
Toward Calais; grant him there; there seen,
Heave him away upon your winged thoughts
Athwart the sea. Behold, the English beach
Pales in the flood with men, with wives and boys,
Whose shouts and claps outvoice the deepmouth'd sea,
Which like a mighty whiffler 'fore the King
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Page No 288
Seems to prepare his way. So let him land,
And solemnly see him set on to London.
So swift a pace hath thought that even now
You may imagine him upon Blackheath,
Where that his lords desire him to have borne
His bruised helmet and his bended sword
Before him through the city. He forbids it,
Being free from vainness and selfglorious pride;
Giving full trophy, signal, and ostent
Quite from himself to God. But now behold,
In the quick forge and workinghouse of thought,
How London doth pour out her citizens!
The mayor and all his brethren in best sort,
Like to the senators of the antique Rome,
With the plebeians swarming at their heels,
Go forth and fetch their conquering Caesar in;
As, by a lower but loving likelihood,
Were now the general of our gracious empress,
As in good time he may, from Ireland coming,
Bringing rebellion broached on his sword,
How many would the peaceful city quit,
To welcome him! Much more, and much more cause,
Did they this Harry. Now in London place him;
As yet the lamentation of the French
Invites the King of England's stay at home,
The Emperor's coming in behalf of France,
To order peace between them;and omit
All the occurrences, whatever chanc'd,
Till Harry's backreturn again to France.
There must we bring him; and myself have play'd
The interim, by rememb'ring you 'tis past.
Then brook abridgment, and your eyes advance
After your thoughts, straight back again to France.
[Exit.]
SCENE I. France. The English camp.
[Enter Fluellen and Gower.]
GOWER.
Nay, that's right; but why wear you your leek today?
Saint Davy's day is past.
FLUELLEN.
There is occasions and causes why and wherefore in all
things. I will tell you asse my friend, Captain Gower. The
rascally, scald, beggarly, lousy, pragging knave, Pistol, which
you and yourself and all the world know to be no petter than a
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Page No 289
fellow, look you now, of no merits, he is come to me and prings
me pread and salt yesterday, look you, and bid me eat my leek.
It was in a place where I could not breed no contention with him;
but I will be so bold as to wear it in my cap till I see him once
again, and then I will tell him a little piece of my desires.
[Enter PISTOL.
]
GOWER.
Why, here he comes, swelling like a turkeycock.
FLUELLEN.
'Tis no matter for his swellings nor his turkeycocks. God
pless you, Aunchient Pistol! you scurvy, lousy knave, God
pless you!
PISTOL.
Ha! art thou bedlam? Dost thou thirst, base Troyan,
To have me fold up Parca's fatal web?
Hence! I am qualmish at the smell of leek.
FLUELLEN.
I peseech you heartily, scurfy, lousy knave, at my desires,
and my requests, and my petitions, to eat, look you, this
leek. Because, look you, you do not love it, nor your
affections and your appetites and your digestions doo's not
agree with it, I would desire you to eat it.
PISTOL.
Not for Cadwallader and all his goats.
FLUELLEN.
There is one goat for you. [Strikes him.] Will you be so
good, scald knave, as eat it?
PISTOL.
Base Troyan, thou shalt die.
FLUELLEN.
You say very true, scald knave, when God's will is. I will
desire you to live in the mean time, and eat your victuals.
Come, there is sauce for it. [Strikes him.] You call'd me
yesterday mountainsquire; but I will make you today a
squire of low degree. I pray you, fall to; if you can mock
a leek, you can eat a leek.
GOWER.
Enough, captain; you have astonish'd him.
FLUELLEN.
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Page No 290
I say, I will make him eat some part of my leek, or I will
peat his pate four days. Bite, I pray you; it is good for
your green wound and your ploody coxcomb.
PISTOL.
Must I bite?
FLUELLEN.
Yes, certainly, and out of doubt and out of question
too, and ambiguities.
PISTOL.
By this leek, I will most horribly revenge. I eat and
eat, I swear
FLUELLEN.
Eat, I pray you. Will you have some more sauce to
your leek? There is not enough leek to swear by.
PISTOL.
Quiet thy cudgel; thou dost see I eat.
FLUELLEN.
Much good do you, scald knave, heartily. Nay, pray you,
throw none away; the skin is good for your broken coxcomb.
When you take occasions to see leeks herefter, I pray you,
mock at 'em; that is all.
PISTOL.
Good.
FLUELLEN.
Ay, leeks is good. Hold you, there is a groat to heal
your pate.
PISTOL.
Me a groat!
FLUELLEN.
Yes, verily and in truth you shall take it; or I have
another leek in my pocket, which you shall eat.
PISTOL.
I take thy groat in earnest of revenge.
FLUELLEN.
If I owe you anything I will pay you in cudgels. You
shall be a woodmonger, and buy nothing of me but cudgels.
God be wi' you, and keep you, and heal your pate.
[Exit.]
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Page No 291
PISTOL.
All hell shall stir for this.
GOWER.
Go, go; you are a couterfeit cowardly knave. Will you mock
at an ancient tradition, begun upon an honourable respect, and
worn as a memorable trophy of predeceased valour, and dare not
avouch in your deeds any of your words? I have seen you gleeking
and galling at this gentleman twice or thrice. You thought,
because he could not speak English in the native garb, he could
not therefore handle an English cudgel. You find it otherwise;
and henceforth let a Welsh correction teach you a good English
condition. Fare ye well.
[Exit.]
PISTOL.
Doth Fortune play the huswife with me now?
News have I, that my Doll is dead i' the spital
Of malady of France;
And there my rendezvous is quite cut off.
Old I do wax; and from my weary limbs
Honour is cudgell'd. Well, bawd I'll turn,
And something lean to cutpurse of quick hand.
To England will I steal, and there I'll steal;
And patches will I get unto these cudgell'd scars,
And swear I got them in the Gallia wars.
[Exit.]
SCENE II. France. A royal palace.
[Enter, at one door, King Henry, Exeter, Bedford, [Gloucester,]
Warwick, [Westmoreland,] and other Lords; at another, the French
King, Queen Isabel, [the Princess Katharine, Alice, and other
Ladies;] the Duke of Burgundy, and other French.]
KING HENRY.
Peace to this meeting, wherefore we are met!
Unto our brother France, and to our sister,
Health and fair time of day; joy and good wishes
To our most fair and princely cousin Katharine;
And, as a branch and member of this royalty,
By whom this great assembly is contriv'd,
We do salute you, Duke of Burgundy;
And, princes French, and peers, health to you all!
FRENCH KING.
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Page No 292
Right joyous are we to behold your face,
Most worthy brother England; fairly met!
So are you, princes English, every one.
QUEEN ISABEL.
So happy be the issue, brother England,
Of this good day and of this gracious meeting
As we are now glad to behold your eyes;
Your eyes, which hitherto have borne in them
Against the French that met them in their bent
The fatal balls of murdering basilisks.
The venom of such looks, we fairly hope,
Have lost their quality; and that this day
Shall change all griefs and quarrels into love.
KING HENRY.
To cry amen to that, thus we appear.
QUEEN ISABEL.
You English princes all, I do salute you.
BURGUNDY.
My duty to you both, on equal love,
Great Kings of France and England! That I have labour'd,
With all my wits, my pains, and strong endeavours,
To bring your most imperial Majesties
Unto this bar and royal interview,
Your mightiness on both parts best can witness.
Since then my office hath so far prevail'd
That, face to face and royal eye to eye,
You have congreeted, let it not disgrace me
If I demand, before this royal view,
What rub or what impediment there is,
Why that the naked, poor, and mangled Peace,
Dear nurse of arts, plenties, and joyful births,
Should not in this best garden of the world,
Our fertile France, put up her lovely visage?
Alas, she hath from France too long been chas'd,
And all her husbandry doth lie on heaps,
Corrupting in it own fertility.
Her vine, the merry cheerer of the heart,
Unpruned dies; her hedges evenpleach'd,
Like prisoners wildly overgrown with hair,
Put forth disorder'd twigs; her fallow leas
The darnel, hemlock, and rank fumitory,
Doth root upon, while that the coulter rusts
That should deracinate such savagery;
The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth
The freckled cowslip, burnet, and green clover,
Wanting the scythe, all uncorrected, rank,
Conceives by idleness, and nothing teems
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Page No 293
But hateful docks, rough thistles, kexes, burs,
Losing both beauty and utility;
And as our vineyards, fallows, meads, and hedges,
Defective in their natures, grow to wildness.
Even so our houses and ourselves and children
Have lost, or do not learn for want of time,
The sciences that should become our country;
But grow like savages,as soldiers will
That nothing do but meditate on blood,
To swearing and stern looks, diffus'd attire,
And everything that seems unnatural.
Which to reduce into our former favour
You are assembled; and my speech entreats
That I may know the let, why gentle Peace
Should not expel these inconveniences
And bless us with her former qualities.
KING HENRY.
If, Duke of Burgundy, you would the peace,
Whose want gives growth to the imperfections
Which you have cited, you must buy that peace
With full accord to all our just demands;
Whose tenours and particular effects
You have enschedul'd briefly in your hands.
BURGUNDY.
The King hath heard them; to the which as yet
There is no answer made.
KING HENRY.
Well, then, the peace,
Which you before so urg'd, lies in his answer.
FRENCH KING.
I have but with a cursorary eye
O'erglanc'd the articles. Pleaseth your Grace
To appoint some of your council presently
To sit with us once more, with better heed
To resurvey them, we will suddenly
Pass our accept and peremptory answer.
KING HENRY.
Brother, we shall. Go, uncle Exeter,
And brother Clarence, and you, brother Gloucester,
Warwick, and Huntington, go with the King;
And take with you free power to ratify,
Augment, or alter, as your wisdoms best
Shall see advantageable for our dignity,
Anything in or out of our demands,
And we'll consign thereto. Will you, fair sister,
Go with the princes, or stay here with us?
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Page No 294
QUEEN ISABEL.
Our gracious brother, I will go with them.
Haply a woman's voice may do some good,
When articles too nicely urg'd be stood on.
KING HENRY.
Yet leave our cousin Katharine here with us:
She is our capital demand, compris'd
Within the forerank of our articles.
QUEEN ISABEL.
She hath good leave.
[Exeunt all except Henry, Katharine [and Alice.]
KING HENRY.
Fair Katharine, and most fair,
Will you vouchsafe to teach a soldier terms
Such as will enter at a lady's ear
And plead his lovesuit to her gentle heart?
KATHARINE.
Your Majesty shall mock me; I cannot speak your
England.
KING HENRY.
O fair Katharine, if you will love me soundly with your
French heart, I will be glad to hear you confess it brokenly
with your English tongue. Do you like me, Kate?
KATHARINE.
Pardonnezmoi, I cannot tell wat is "like me."
KING HENRY.
An angel is like you, Kate, and you are like an angel.
KATHARINE.
Que ditil? Que je suis semblable a les anges?
ALICE.
Oui, vraiment, sauf votre grace, ainsi ditil.
KING HENRY.
I said so, dear Katharine; and I must not blush to affirm it.
KATHARINE.
O bon Dieu! les langues des hommes sont pleines de tromperies.
KING HENRY.
What says she, fair one? That the tongues of men are full of
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Page No 295
deceits?
ALICE.
Oui, dat de tongues of de mans is be full of deceits: dat is de
Princess.
KING HENRY.
The Princess is the better Englishwoman. I' faith, Kate, my
wooing is fit for thy understanding: I am glad thou canst
speak no better English; for if thou couldst, thou wouldst
find me such a plain king that thou wouldst think I had sold my
farm to buy my crown. I know no ways to mince it in love, but
directly to say, "I love you"; then if you urge me farther than
to say, "Do you in faith?" I wear out my suit. Give me your
answer; i' faith, do; and so clap hands and a bargain. How say
you, lady?
KATHARINE.
Sauf votre honneur, me understand well.
KING HENRY.
Marry, if you would put me to verses, or to dance for your
sake, Kate, why you undid me; for the one, I have neither
words nor measure, and for the other I have no strength in
measure, yet a reasonable measure in strength. If I could win a
lady at leapfrog, or by vaulting into my saddle with my armour
on my back, under the correction of bragging be it spoken, I
should quickly leap into a wife. Or if I might buffet for my
love, or bound my horse for her favours, I could lay on like a
butcher and sit like a jackanapes, never off. But, before God,
Kate, I cannot look greenly, nor gasp out my eloquence, nor I
have no cunning in protestation; only downright oaths, which I
never use till urg'd, nor never break for urging. If thou canst
love a fellow of this temper, Kate, whose face is not worth
sunburning, that never looks in his glass for love of anything
he sees there, let thine eye be thy cook. I speak to thee plain
soldier. If thou canst love me for this, take me; if not, to say
to thee that I shall die, is true; but for thy love, by the Lord,
no; yet I love thee too. And while thou liv'st, dear Kate, take a
fellow of plain and uncoined constancy; for he perforce must do
thee right, because he hath not the gift to woo in other places;
for these fellows of infinite tongue, that can rhyme themselves
into ladies' favours, they do always reason themselves out again.
What! a speaker is but a prater: a rhyme is but a ballad. A good
leg will fall; a straight back will stoop; a black beard will turn
white; a curl'd pate will grow bald; a fair face will wither; a
full eye will wax hollow; but a good heart, Kate, is the sun and
the moon; or rather the sun and not the moon; for it shines bright
and never changes, but keeps his course truly. If thou would have
such a one, take me; and take me, take a soldier; take a soldier,
take a king. And what say'st thou then to my love? Speak, my fair,
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and fairly, I pray thee.
KATHARINE.
Is it possible dat I should love de enemy of France?
KING HENRY.
No; it is not possible you should love the enemy of France, Kate;
but, in loving me, you should love the friend of France; for I
love France so well that I will not part with a village of it, I
will have it all mine; and, Kate, when France is mine and I am
yours, then yours is France and you are mine.
KATHARINE.
I cannot tell wat is dat.
KING HENRY.
No, Kate? I will tell thee in French; which I am sure will hang
upon my tongue like a newmarried wife about her husband's
neck, hardly to be shook off. Je quand sur le possession de
France, et quand vous avez le possession de moi,let me see,
what then? Saint Denis be my speed!donc votre est France
et vous etes mienne. It is as easy for me, Kate, to conquer the
kingdom as to speak so much more French. I shall never move
thee in French, unless it be to laugh at me.
KATHARINE.
Sauf votre honneur, le Francais que vous parlez, il est meilleur
que l'Anglois lequel je parle.
KING HENRY.
No, faith, is't not, Kate; but thy speaking of my tongue, and I
thine, most trulyfalsely, must needs be granted to be much at
one. But, Kate, dost thou understand thus much English: canst
thou love me?
KATHARINE.
I cannot tell.
KING HENRY.
Can any of your neighbours tell, Kate? I'll ask them. Come, I
know thou lovest me; and at night, when you come into your
closet, you'll question this gentlewoman about me; and I know,
Kate, you will to her dispraise those parts in me that you love
with your heart. But, good Kate, mock me mercifully; the
rather, gentle princess, because I love thee cruelly. If ever
thou beest mine, Kate, as I have a saving faith within me tells
me thou shalt, I get thee with scambling, and thou must therefore
needs prove a good soldierbreeder. Shall not thou and I, between
Saint Denis and Saint George, compound a boy, half French, half
English, that shall go to Constantinople and take the Turk by the
beard? Shall we not? What say'st thou, my fair flowerdeluce?
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KATHARINE.
I do not know dat.
KING HENRY.
No; 'tis hereafter to know, but now to promise. Do but now
promise, Kate, you will endeavour for your French part of
such a boy; and for my English moiety, take the word of a king
and a bachelor. How answer you, la plus belle Katherine du monde,
mon tres cher et divin deesse?
KATHARINE.
Your Majestee ave fausse French enough to deceive de most
sage damoiselle dat is en France.
KING HENRY.
Now, fie upon my false French! By mine honour, in true English,
I love thee, Kate; by which honour I dare not swear thou lovest
me; yet my blood begins to flatter me that thou dost,
notwithstanding the poor and untempering effect of my visage.
Now, beshrew my father's ambition! he was thinking of civil wars
when he got me; therefore was I created with a stubborn outside,
with an aspect of iron, that, when I come to woo ladies, I fright
them. But, in faith, Kate, the elder I wax, the better I shall
appear. My comfort is, that old age, that ill layer up of beauty,
can do no more spoil upon my face. Thou hast me, if thou hast me,
at the worst; and thou shalt wear me, if thou wear me, better and
better; and therefore tell me, most fair Katharine, will you have
me? Put off your maiden blushes; avouch the thoughts of your heart
with the looks of an empress; take me by the hand, and say, Harry
of England, I am thine; which word thou shalt no sooner bless mine
ear withal, but I will tell thee aloud, England is thine, Ireland
is thine, France is thine, and Henry Plantagenet is thine; who,
though I speak it before his face, if he be not fellow with the
best king, thou shalt find the best king of good fellows.
Come, your answer in broken music; for thy voice is music and thy
English broken; therefore, queen of all, Katharine, break thy mind
to me in broken English. Wilt thou have me?
KATHARINE.
Dat is as it shall please de roi mon pere.
KING HENRY.
Nay, it will please him well, Kate; it shall please him, Kate.
KATHARINE.
Den it sall also content me.
KING HENRY.
Upon that I kiss your hand, and call you my queen.
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KATHARINE.
Laissez, mon seigneur, laissez, laissez! Ma foi, je ne veux point
que vous abaissez votre grandeur en baisant la main d'une indigne
serviteur. Excusezmoi, je vous supplie, mon trespuissant seigneur.
KING HENRY.
Then I will kiss your lips, Kate.
KATHARINE.
Les dames et demoiselles pour etre baisees devant leur noces, il
n'est pas la coutume de France.
KING HENRY.
Madame my interpreter, what says she?
ALICE.
Dat it is not be de fashion pour les ladies of France,I cannot
tell wat is baiser en Anglish.
KING HENRY.
To kiss.
ALICE.
Your Majestee entendre bettre que moi.
KING HENRY.
It is not a fashion for the maids in France to kiss before they
are married, would she say?
ALICE.
Oui, vraiment.
KING HENRY.
O Kate, nice customs curtsy to great kings. Dear Kate, you and I
cannot be confined within the weak list of a country's fashion.
We are the makers of manners, Kate; and the liberty that follows
our places stops the mouth of all findfaults, as I will do yours,
for upholding the nice fashion of your country in denying me a kiss;
therefore, patiently and yielding. [Kissing her.] You have
witchcraft in your lips, Kate; there is more eloquence in a sugar
touch of them than in the tongues of the French council; and they
should sooner persuade Harry of England than a general petition of
monarchs. Here comes your father.
[Reenter the French Power and the English Lords.]
BURGUNDY.
God save your Majesty! My royal cousin, teach you our princess
English?
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KING HENRY.
I would have her learn, my fair cousin, how perfectly I love her;
and that is good English.
BURGUNDY.
Is she not apt?
KING HENRY.
Our tongue is rough, coz, and my condition is not smooth; so
that, having neither the voice nor the heart of flattery about
me, I cannot so conjure up the spirit of love in her, that he
will appear in his true likeness.
BURGUNDY.
Pardon the frankness of my mirth, if I answer you for that. If
you would conjure in her, you must make a circle; if conjure up
Love in her in his true likeness, he must appear naked and blind.
Can you blame her then, being a maid yet ros'd over with the virgin
crimson of modesty, if she deny the appearance of a naked blind boy
in her naked seeing self? It were, my lord, a hard condition for a
maid to consign to.
KING HENRY.
Yet they do wink and yield, as love is blind and enforces.
BURGUNDY.
They are then excus'd, my lord, when they see not what they do.
KING HENRY.
Then, good my lord, teach your cousin to consent winKING.
BURGUNDY.
I will wink on her to consent, my lord, if you will teach her to
know my meaning; for maids, well summer'd and warm kept, are like
flies at Bartholomewtide, blind, though they have their eyes; and
then they will endure handling, which before would not abide
looking on.
KING HENRY.
This moral ties me over to time and a hot summer; and so I shall
catch the fly, your cousin, in the latter end, and she must be blind
too.
BURGUNDY.
As love is, my lord, before it loves.
KING HENRY.
It is so; and you may, some of you, thank love for my blindness,
who cannot see many a fair French city for one fair French maid
that stands in my way.
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FRENCH KING.
Yes, my lord, you see them perspectively, the cities turn'd into
a maid; for they are all girdled with maiden walls that war hath
[never] ent'red.
KING HENRY.
Shall Kate be my wife?
FRENCH KING.
So please you.
KING HENRY.
I am content, so the maiden cities you talk of may wait on her;
so the maid that stood in the way for my wish shall show me the
way to my will.
FRENCH KING.
We have consented to all terms of reason.
KING HENRY.
Is't so, my lords of England?
WESTMORELAND.
The king hath granted every article;
His daughter first, and then in sequel all,
According to their firm proposed natures.
EXETER.
Only he hath not yet subscribed this: where your Majesty demands,
that the King of France, having any occasion to write for matter
of grant, shall name your Highness in this form and with this
addition, in French, Notre trescher fils Henri, Roi d'Angleterre,
Heritier de France; and thus in Latin, Praeclarissimus filius noster
Henricus, Rex Angliae et Haeres Franciae.
FRENCH KING.
Nor this I have not, brother, so denied
But our request shall make me let it pass.
KING HENRY.
I pray you then, in love and dear alliance,
Let that one article rank with the rest;
And thereupon give me your daughter.
FRENCH KING.
Take her, fair son, and from her blood raise up
Issue to me; that the contending kingdoms
Of France and England, whose very shores look pale
With envy of each other's happiness,
May cease their hatred; and this dear conjunction
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Plant neighbourhood and Christianlike accord
In their sweet bosoms, that never war advance
His bleeding sword 'twixt England and fair France.
LORDS.
Amen!
KING HENRY.
Now, welcome, Kate; and bear me witness all,
That here I kiss her as my sovereign queen.
[Flourish]
QUEEN ISABEL.
God, the best maker of all marriages,
Combine your hearts in one, your realms in one!
As man and wife, being two, are one in love,
So be there 'twixt your kingdoms such a spousal,
That never may ill office, or fell jealousy,
Which troubles oft the bed of blessed marriage,
Thrust in between the paction of these kingdoms,
To make divorce of their incorporate league;
That English may as French, French Englishmen,
Receive each other. God speak this Amen!
ALL.
Amen!
KING HENRY.
Prepare we for our marriage; on which day,
My Lord of Burgundy, we'll take your oath,
And all the peers', for surety of our leagues,
Then shall I swear to Kate, and you to me;
And may our oaths well kept and prosperous be!
[Sennet. Exeunt.]
EPILOGUE.
[Enter CHORUS.
]
CHORUS.
Thus far, with rough and allunable pen,
Our bending author hath pursu'd the story,
In little room confining mighty men,
Mangling by starts the full course of their glory.
Small time, but in that small most greatly lived
This star of England. Fortune made his sword,
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By which the world's best garden he achieved,
And of it left his son imperial lord.
Henry the Sixth, in infant bands crown'd King
Of France and England, did this king succeed;
Whose state so many had the managing,
That they lost France and made his England bleed:
Which oft our stage hath shown; and, for their sake,
In your fair minds let this acceptance take.
[Exit.]
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Bookmarks
1. Table of Contents, page = 3
2. Henry IV Parts I-II, Henry V, page = 4
3. William Shakespeare, page = 4