And witch' the world with noble horsemanship.
Hot. No more, no more; worse than the sun
This praise doth nourish agues. Let them come:
They come like sacrifices in their trim,
And to the fire-ey'd maid of smoky war,
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 take my horse,
Who is to bear me, like a thunderbolt,
Against the bosom of the prince of Wales:
Harry to 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:
hearts in their bellies 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 5 ragged as Lazarus in the painted cloth, where the glutton's dogs lick'd his sores: and such as, indeed, were never soldiers; but discarded unjust servingmen, younger sons to younger brothers, revolted tapsters, and ostlers trade-fallen; the cankers of a 10 calm world, and a long peace; ten times more dishonourably ragged, than an old fac'd ancient'; and such have I to fill up the rooms of them that have bought out their services; that you would think, I had a hundred and fifty tatter'd prodigals, 15 lately come from swine-keeping, from eating draff and husks. A mad fellow met ine 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 though 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 half-shirt is two napkins, tack'd together, 25 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 inn-keeper of Daintry. But that's all one; they'll find linen enough on every hedge.
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. 20
Wor. Ay, by my faith, that bears a frosty sound.
Hot. What may the king's whole battle reach
Ver. To thirty thousand.
[unto?
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 half year.
[Exeunt.
Enter Prince Henry, and Westmoreland.
P. Henry. How now, blown Jack? how now,
Fal. What, Hal? how now, mad wag? what a devil dost thou in Warwickshire-My good 35 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 40 for us all; we must away all night.
Ful. Tut, never fear me; I am as vigilant, as a cat to steal cream.
P. Henry. I think, to steal cream indeed; for thy theft hath already made thee butter. But tell 45 me, Jack; Whose fellows are these that come after?
Bard. I will, captain: farewel. Ful. If I be not asham'd of my soldiers, I am a souc'd gurnet'. I have mis-us'd the king's press damnably. I have got, in exchange of a hundred and fifty soldiers, three hundred and odd pounds. 50 I press me none but good householders, yeomen's sons: enquire me out contracted bachelors, such as had been ask'd twice on the bans; such a commodity of warm slaves, as had as lief hear the devil as a drum; such as fear the report of a caliver, 55 worse than a struck fowl, or a hurt wild-duck.I prest me none but such toasts and butter', with
Fal. Mine, Hal, mine.
P. Henry. I did never see such pitiful rascals.
Ful. 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
'Witch for bewitch, charm. 2 Souc'd gurnet is an appellation of contempt very frequently employed in the old comedies. Another term of contempt. * Meaning, men of desperate fortune and wild adventure. 'Mr. Steevens has happily, we think, explained this passage:" An old fac'd ancient, is an old standard mended with a different colour. It should not be written in one word, as old and fac'd are distinct epithets. To face a gown is to trim it; an expression at present in use. In our author's time the facings of gowns were always of a different colour from the stuff itself." • i, e. shackles. That is, to toss upon a pike. Hh
Enter Hotspur, Worcester, Douglas, and Vernon.
Hot. We'll fight with him to-night.
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 advis'd; stir not to-night.
Ver. Do not, my lord.
Doug. You do not counsel well;
You speak it out of fear, and cold heart.
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,-
10 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 mis-led 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:
And,-when he was not six and twenty strong,
20 Sick in the world's regard, wretched and low,
A poor unminded out-ław sneaking home,-
My father gave him welcome to the shore:
And,-when he heard him swear, and vow to God,
He came but to be duke of Lancaster,
by my life, 25 To sue his livery, and beg his peace;
Ver. Do me no slander, Douglas:
(And I dare well maintain it with my life)
If well-respected 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 to-morrow in the battle,
Which of us fears.
Doug. Yea, or to-night.
Ver. Content.
Hot. To-night, say I.
With tears of innocency, and terms of zeal,-
My father, in kind heart and pity mov'd,
Swore him assistance, and perform'd it too.
Now, when the iords and barons of the realm
30 Perceiv'd 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,
Gave hun their heirs; as pages follow'd him,
Even at the heels, in golden multitudes.
He presently,- -as greatness knows itself,-
Steps me a little higher than his vow
Made to my father, while his blood was poor,
40 Upon the naked shore at Ravenspurg;
Ver. Come, come, it may not be. I wonder 35
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 to-day;
And now their pride and mettle is asleep,
Their courage with hard labour tame and dull,
That not a horse is halt the half of himself.
Hot. So are the horses of the enemy
In general, journey-bated, 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 my 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;
Because you are not of our quality,
But stand against us like an enemy.
And now, forsooth, takes on him to reform
Some certain edicts, and some straight decrees,
That lie too heavy on the commonwealth:
Cries out upon abuses, seems to weep
43 Over his country's wrongs; and, by this face,
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
50 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 depos'd the king;
55 Soon after that, depriv'd 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 plac'd,
Indeed his king) to be incag'd in Wales,
Blunt. And heaven defend, but still I should 60 There without ransom to lie forfeited;
1i. e. such experience in martial business.
Disgrac'd me in my happy victories;
This is a law-phrase; meaning, to sue out the delivery or possession of his lands from the Court of Wards, which, on the death of any of the tenants of the crown, seized their lands, 'till the heir sued out his livery. i. e. the greater and the less. *Task'd is here used for taxed; it was once common to employ these words indiscriminately.
FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV.
Sought to entrap me by intelligence;
Rated my uncle from the council-board;
In rage disiniss'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 we find
Too indirect for long continuance.
Blunt. Shall I return this answer to the king?
Hot. Not so, sir Walter; we'll withdraw a while. 10
Go to the king; and let there be impawn'd
Some surety for a safe return again,
And in the morning early shall
Bring him our purposes: and so farewel. [love.
Blunt. I would, you would accept of grace and 15
Hot. And, may be, so we shall.
Blunt. Pray heaven, you do!
York. The Archbishop's Palace.
Enter the Archbishop of York, and Sir Michael.
York. Hie, good Sir Michael; bear this sealed
With winged haste, to the lord mareshal; [brief',
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 Mich. My good lord,
York. Like enough, you do.
To-morrow, 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 quick-raised power,
Meets with lord Harry: and 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 sinew3 too,
And comes not in, o'er-rul'd by prophecies)→→
I fear, the power of Percy is too weak
To wage an instant trial with the king.
Sir Mich. Why, my good lord, you need not
There's Douglas and lord Mortimer.
York. No, Mortimer is not there.
Sir Mich. But there is Mordake, Vernon, lor
Harry Percy,
[drawn
York. And so there is: but yet the king hath
The special head of all the land together;-
The prince of Wales, lord John of Lancaster,
20 The noble Westmoreland, and warlike Blunt;
And many more corrivals, and dear men
Of estimation and command in arms.
And there's my lord of Worcester, and a head
Of gallant warriors, noble gentlemen.
Sir Mich. Doubt not, my lord, they shall be
well oppos'd.
York. 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,-
30 And 'tis but wisdom to make strong against him;
Therefore, make haste: I must go write again
To other friends; and so farewel, Sir Michael,
[Exeunt,
SCENE I.
The Camp at Shrewsbury.
ACT V.
To crush our old limbs in ungentle steel :
This is not well, my lord, this is not well.
What say you to't? Will you again unknit
This churlish knot of all-abhorred war?
And move in that obedient orb again,
Where you did give a fair and natural light;
And be no more an exhal'd meteor,
A prodigy of fear, and a portent
50 Of broached mischief to the unborn times?
Wor. Hear me, my liege:
Enter King Henry, Prince of Wales, Lord John|
of Lancaster, Earl of Westmoreland, Sir Walter 45
Blunt, and Sir John Falstaff.
K. Henry. HOW bloodily the sun begins to peer
Above yon busky hill! the day
looks pale
P. Henry. 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.
K.Henry. Then with the losers let it sympathize;
For nothing can seem foul to those that win.-
Trumpet. 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 deceiv'd our trust;
And made us doff our easy robes of peace,
For mine own part, I could be well content
To entertain the lag-end of my life
With quiet hours; for, I do protest,
I have not sought the day of this dislike.
K. Henry. You have not sought it! how comes
it then?
Fal. Rebellion lay in his way, and he found it.
P. Henry. Peace, chewet', peace.
60 Wor. It pleas'd your majesty, to turn your looks
Of favour from myself, and all our house;
Meaning, this army, from which I hope for protection. i. e. woody, from bosquet, Fr. accounted a strong aid.
3 i. e. A brief is simply a letter. Theobald explains chewet, or chuet, to
mean, a noisy chattering bird, a pie; while Mr. Steevens thinks it alludes to a kind of fat greasy pud
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,—
5 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.
K. Henry. And, prince of Wales, so dare we
Albeit, considerations infinite
Do make against it :-No, good Worcester, no,
We love our people well; even those we love,
That are mis-led upon your cousin's part:
15 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 bring me word
What he will do:-But if he will not yield,
20 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.
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 new-fall'n right,
The seat of Gaunt, dukedom of Lancaster:
To this we sware 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 bore;
And the contrarious winds, that held the king
So long in his unlucky Irish wars,
That all in England did repute him dead;-
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 us'd us so
As that ungentle gull, the cuckow's bird,
Useth the sparrow2: did oppress our nest;
Grew by our feeding to so great a bulk,
That even our love durst not come near your sight,
For fear of swallowing; but with nimble wing
We were enforc'd, for safety sake, to fly
Out of your sight, and raise this present head:
Whereby we stand opposed' by such means
As you yourself have forg'd against yourself;
By unkind usage, dangerous countenance,
And violation of all faith and troth
Sworn to us in your younger enterprise. [lated', 40
K. Henry.These things, indeed, you have articu-
Proclaim'd at market-crosses, 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 hurly-burly innovation:
And never yet did insurrection want
Such water-colours to impaint his cause;
Nor moody beggars, starving for a time
Of pell-mell havock and confusion.
P. Henry. In both our armies, there is many
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 enterprize set off his head,-
I do not think, a braver gentleman,
More active-valiant, or more valiant-young,
More daring, or more bold, is now alive,
To grace this latter age with noble deeds.
[Exe. Worcester and Vernon. 25 P. Henry. It will not be accepted, on my life: The Douglas and the Hotspur both together Are confident against the world in arms.
K. Henry. Hence, therefore, every leader to his
charge;
30 For, on their answer, we will set on them:
And God befriend us, as our cause is just !
[Exe. King, Blunt, and Prince John. Fal. Hal, if thou see me down in the battle, and bestride me, so; 'tis a point of friendship.
P. Henry. Nothing but a colossus can do thee that friendship. Say thy prayers, and farewell. Fal. I would it were bed-time, Hal, and all well. P. Henry. Why, thou owest heaven a death. [Exit Prince Henry.
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? 45 Can honour set to a leg? 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. trim reckoning!-Who hath it? He that dy'd o' 50 Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. Doth he 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 55 catechism. [Exit.
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i. e. the injuries done by king Richard in the wantonness of prosperity.
chicken, who, being hatched and fed by the sparrow, in whose nest the cuckow's egg was laid, grows in time able to devour her murse. i. e. we stand in opposition to you.
The liberal kind offer of the king,
Ver. 'Twere best, he did.
Wor. Then we are 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 the excuse of youth, and heat of blood;
And an adopted name of privilege,—
A hair-brain'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.
Enter Hotspur, and Douglas.
Hot. My uncle is return'd,-Deliver up
[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, valu'd with
5 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.
10 There did he pause: But let nie tell the world,—
If he out-live 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
15 Upon his follies; never did I hear
Of
any prince so wild, at 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.-
20 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.
Mes. 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,
My lord of Westmoreland.-Uncle, what news: 30 If lite did ride upon a dial's point,
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, and shall, and very willingly.
[Exit Douglas. 35
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 oath-breaking; which he mended thus,
By now forswearing that he is forsworn.
He calls us, rebels, traitors; and will scourge
With haughty arms this hateful name in us.
Re-enter Douglas.
Doug. Arm, gentlemen, to arms! for I have
And, nephew, challeng'd you to single fight.
Still ending at the 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 for bearing them is just.
Enter another Messenger,
Mes. My lord, prepare; the king comes on
Hot. I thank him, that he cuts me from my tale, 40 For I profess not talking; Only this—
Hot. O, would the quarrel lay upon our heads;
And that no man might draw short breath to-day,
But I and Harry Monmouth! Tell me, tell me,
How shew'd his tasking? seem'd it in contempt? 55
Ver. No, by my soul; I never in my life
Did hear a challenge urg'd 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;
'Engag'd is deliver'd as an hostage.
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 trumpet sounds. They embrace, then exc.
SCENE III.
Plain near Shrewsbury.
The King entereth with his power. Alarum to
the battle. Then enter Douglas and Blunt.
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;
160 And I do haunt thee in the battle thus,
* i. e: of any prince who played such pranks, and was not confined as a madman. "This was the word of battle on Percy's side, and has always been the motto of the Percy family. Esperance en Dieu is the present motto of the duke of Northumberland, and has been long used by his predecessors. i. e. one might wager heaven to earth.
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