Act III, Scene I — Bangor. The Archdeacon's house.
Enter HOTSPUR, WORCESTER, MORTIMER, and GLENDOWER.[2590]
Mort. These promises are fair, the parties sure, And our induction full of prosperous hope.
Hot. Lord Mortimer, and cousin Glendower,[2591] Will you sit down?[2591] And uncle Worcester: a plague upon it![2591] 5 I have forgot the map.[2591][2592]
Glend. No, here it is.[2592] Sit, cousin Percy; sit, good cousin Hotspur,[2592] For by that name as oft as Lancaster[2592][2593] Doth speak of you, his cheek looks pale and with[2592][2594] A rising sigh he wisheth you in heaven.[2592][2595] 10
Hot. And you in hell, as oft as lie hears Owen[2596][2597] Glendower spoke of.[2596]
Glend. I cannot blame him: at my nativity[2598] The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes, Of burning cressets; and at my birth[2599][2600] 15 The frame and huge foundation of the earth[2599][2601] Shaked like a coward.[2599][2602]
Hot. Why, so it would have done at the same season,[2603][2604] if your mother's cat had but kittened, though yourself had[2603][2605] never been born.[2603][2606] 20
Glend. I say the earth did shake when I was born.
Hot. And I say the earth was not of my mind,[2607] If you suppose as fearing you it shook.
Glend. The heavens were all on fire, the earth did tremble.
Hot. O, then the earth shook to see the heavens on fire,[2608] 25 And not in fear of your nativity. Diseased nature oftentimes breaks forth In strange eruptions; oft the teeming earth[2609] Is with a kind of colic pinch'd and vex'd By the imprisoning of unruly wind 30 Within her womb; which, for enlargement striving, Shakes the old beldam earth and topples down[2610] Steeples and moss-grown towers. At your birth[2611] Our grandam earth, having this distemperature,[2612] In passion shook.
Glend. Cousin, of many men 35 I do not bear these crossings. Give me leave[2613] 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.[2614] 40 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.[2615] Where is he living, clipp'd in with the sea[2616] That chides the banks of England, Scotland, Wales,[2617] 45 Which calls me pupil, or hath read to me? And bring him out that is but woman's son[2618] Can trace me in the tedious ways of art[2619] And hold me pace in deep experiments.[2620]
Hot. I think there's no man speaks better Welsh.[2621][2622] 50 I'll to dinner.[2621][2623]
Mort. Peace, cousin Percy; you will make him mad.[2624]
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? 55
Glend. Why, I can teach you, cousin, to command[2625][2626] The devil.[2626]
Hot. And I can teach thee, coz, to shame the devil[2627] By telling truth: tell truth, and shame the devil.[2628] If thou have power to raise him, bring him hither, 60 And I 'll be sworn I have power to shame him hence. O, while you live, tell truth, and shame the devil!
Mort. Come, come, no more of this unprofitable chat.[2629]
Glend. Three times hath Henry Bolingbroke made head Against my power; thrice from the banks of Wye[2630] 65 And sandy-bottom'd Severn have I sent him[2631][2632] Bootless home and weather-beaten back.[2632][2633]
Hot. Home without boots, and in foul weather too![2634] How 'scapes he agues, in the devil's name?[2635]
Glend. Come, here's the map: shall we divide our right[2636] 70 According to our threefold order ta'en?
Mort. The archdeacon hath divided it[2637] Into three limits very equally: England, from Trent and Severn hitherto, By south and east is to my part assign'd: 75 All westward, Wales beyond the Severn shore. And all the fertile land within that bound. To Owen Glendower: and, dear coz, to you[2638] The remnant northward, lying off from Trent. And our indentures tripartite are drawn;[2639] 80 Which being sealed interchangeably, A business that this night may execute, To-morrow, cousin Percy, you and I[2640] And my good Lord of Worcester will set forth To meet your father and the Scottish power, 85 As is appointed us, at Shrewsbury. My father Glendower is not ready yet, Nor shall we need his help these fourteen days. Within that space you may have drawn together[2641] Your tenants, friends, and neighbouring gentlemen. 90
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[2642] Upon the parting of your wives and you. 95
Hot. Methinks my moiety, north from Burton here,[2643] In quantity equals not one of yours: See how this river comes me cranking in,[2644] And cuts me from the best of all my land A huge half-moon, a monstrous cantle out.[2645] 100 I'll have the current in this place damm'd up;[2646] And here the smug and silver 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. 105
Glend. Not wind? it shall, it must; you see it doth.
Mort. Yea, but[2647][2648] Mark how he bears his course, and runs me up[2647][2648] With like advantage on the other side;[2647] Gelding the opposed continent as much[2647] 110 As on the other side it takes from you.[2647]
Wor. Yea, but a little charge will trench him here And on this north side win this cape of land; And then he runs straight and even.[2649]
Hot. I'll have it so: a little charge will do it. 115
Glend. I'll not have it alter'd.[2650]
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[2651][2652] Welsh.[2651] 120
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[2653] Many an English ditty lovely well And gave the tongue a helpful ornament, 125 A virtue that was never seen in you.
Hot. Marry,[2654] And I am glad of it with all my heart:[2654] I had rather be a kitten and cry mew Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers;[2655] 130 I had rather hear a brazen canstick turn'd,[2656] Or a dry wheel grate on the axle-tree; And that would set my teeth nothing on edge,[2657] Nothing so much as mincing poetry: 'Tis like the forced gait of a shuffling nag. 135
Glend. Come, you shall have Trent turn'd.
Hot. I do not care: I'll give thrice so much land[2658] To any well-deserving friend;[2658][2659] But in the way of bargain, mark ye me, I'll cavil on the ninth part of a hair. 140 Are the indentures drawn? shall we be gone?
Glend. The moon shines fair; you may away by night:[2660] I'll haste the writer, and withal[2661][2662] Break with your wives of your departure hence:[2662] I am afraid my daughter will run mad, 145 So much she doteth on her Mortimer. [Exit.
Mort. Fie, cousin Percy! how you cross my father![2663]
Hot. I cannot choose: sometime he angers me[2664] With telling me of the moldwarp and the ant,[2665] Of the dreamer Merlin and his prophecies,[2666] 150 And of a dragon and a finless fish, A clip-wing'd griffin and a moulten raven,[2667] A couching lion and a ramping cat,[2668] And such a deal of skimble-skamble stuff As puts me from my faith. I tell you what,-- 155 He held me last night at least nine hours[2669] In reckoning up the several devils' names That were his lackeys: I cried 'hum,' and 'well, go to,'[2670] But mark'd him not a word. O, he is as tedious[2671] As a tired horse, a railing wife;[2672] 160 Worse than a smoky house: I had rather live With cheese and garlic in a windmill, far, Than feed on cates and have him talk to me In any summer-house in Christendom.
Mort. In faith, he is a worthy gentleman,[2673] 165 Exceedingly well read, and profited[2674] In strange concealments, valiant as a lion[2675] And wondrous affable and as bountiful[2675][2676] As mines of India. Shall I tell you, cousin?[2675][2677] He holds your temper in a high respect[2675] 170 And curbs himself even of his natural scope[2678] When you come 'cross his humour; faith, he does:[2679] I warrant you, that man is not alive Might so have tempted him as you have done, Without the taste of danger and reproof: 175 But do not use it oft, let me entreat you.
Wor. In faith, my lord, you are too wilful-blame;[2680] And since your coming hither have done enough To put him quite beside his patience.[2681] You must needs learn, lord, to amend this fault: 180 Though sometimes it show greatness, courage, blood,--[2682] 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: 185 The least of which haunting a nobleman[2683] Loseth men's hearts and leaves behind a stain[2684] Upon the beauty of all parts besides,[2685] Beguiling them of commendation.
Hot. Well, I am school'd: good manners be your speed![2686] 190 Here come our wives, and let us take our leave.
Re-enter GLENDOWER with the ladies.[2687]
Mort. This is the deadly spite that angers me;[2688] My wife can speak no English, I no Welsh.
Glend. My daughter weeps: she will not part with you;[2689] She'll be a soldier too, she'll to the wars. 195
Mort. Good father, tell her that she and my aunt Percy[2690] Shall follow in your conduct speedily.
[Glendower speaks to her in Welsh, and she answers him in the same.[2691]
Glend. She is desperate here; a peevish self-will'd harlotry,[2692][2693] one that no persuasion can do good upon.[2693][2694]
[The lady speaks in Welsh.
Mort. I understand thy looks: that pretty Welsh 200 Which thou pour'st down from these swelling heavens[2695] I am too perfect in; and, but for shame, In such a parley should I answer thee.
[The lady speaks again in Welsh.[2696]
I understand thy kisses and thou mine, And that's a feeling disputation:[2697] 205 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,[2698] Sung by a fair queen in a summer's bower, With ravishing division, to her lute. 210
Glend. Nay, if you melt, then will she run mad.[2699]
[The lady speaks again in Welsh.
Mort. O, I am ignorance itself in this!
Glend. She bids you on the wanton rushes lay you down[2700] And rest your gentle head upon her lap, And she will sing the song that pleaseth you 215 And on your eyelids crown the god of sleep, Charming your blood with pleasing heaviness, Making such difference 'twixt wake and sleep[2701] As is the difference betwixt day and night The hour before the heavenly-harness'd team 220 Begins his golden progress in the east.[2702]
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; And those musicians that shall play to you[2703] 225 Hang in the air a thousand leagues from hence,[2704] And straight they shall be here: sit, and attend.[2705]
Hot. Come, Kate, thou art perfect in lying down:[2706] come, quick, quick, that I may lay my head in thy lap.[2706]
Lady P. Go, ye giddy goose. 230
[The music plays.[2707]
Hot. Now I perceive the devil understands Welsh;[2708] And 'tis no marvel he is so humorous.[2708] By'r lady, he is a good musician.[2708]
Lady P. Then should you be nothing but musical, for[2708][2709] you are altogether governed by humours. Lie still, ye[2708][2710] 235 thief, and hear the lady sing in Welsh.[2708]
Hot. I had rather hear Lady, my brach, howl in Irish.[2711]
Lady P. Wouldst thou have thy head broken?[2712]
Hot. No.
Lady P. Then be still. 240
Hot. Neither; 'tis a woman's fault.
Lady P. Now God help thee!
Hot. To the Welsh lady's bed.
Lady P. What's that?
Hot. Peace! she sings. 245
[Here the lady sings a Welsh song.
Hot. Come, Kate, I'll have your song too.[2713]
Lady P. Not mine, in good sooth.
Hot. Not yours, in good sooth! Heart! you swear[2714][2715] like a comfit-maker's wife. 'Not you, in good sooth,' and[2716] 'as true as I live,' and 'as God shall mend me,' and 'as[2717] 250 sure as day,'[2714] And givest such sarcenet surety for thy oaths, As if thou never walk'st further than Finsbury.[2718] Swear me, Kate, like a lady as thou art, A good mouth-filling oath, and leave 'in sooth,' 255 And such protest of pepper-gingerbread,[2719] To velvet-guards and Sunday-citizens. Come, sing.
Lady P. I will not sing.
Hot. 'Tis the next way to turn tailor, or be red-breast[2720] 260 teacher. An the indentures be drawn, I'll away within these[2721] two hours; and so, come in when ye will.[2722] [Exit.
Glend. Come, come, Lord Mortimer; you are as slow[2723] As hot Lord Percy is on fire to go.[2724] By this our book is drawn; we'll but seal,[2725] 265 And then to horse immediately.[2725]
Mort. With all my heart. [Exeunt.
Act III, Scene II — London. The palace.[2726]
Enter the KING, PRINCE of WALES, and others.
King. Lords, give us leave; the Prince of Wales and I[2727] Must have some private conference: but be near at hand,[2727][2728] For we shall presently have need of you. [Exeunt Lords. I know not whether God will have it so,[2729] For some displeasing service I have done, 5 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[2730] Make me believe that thou art only mark'd For the hot vengeance and the rod of heaven 10 To punish my mistreadings. Tell me else, Could such inordinate and low desires, Such poor, such bare, such lewd, such mean attempts,[2731] Such barren pleasures, rude society, As thou art match'd withal and grafted to,[2732] 15 Accompany the greatness of thy blood And hold their level with thy princely heart?
Prince. So please your majesty, I would I could[2733] Quit all offences with as clear excuse As well as I am doubtless I can purge 20 Myself of many I am charged withal: Yet such extenuation let me beg, As, in reproof of many tales devised,[2734] Which oft the ear of greatness needs must hear, By smiling pick-thanks and base newsmongers, 25 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,[2735] At thy affections, which do hold a wing 30 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: 35 The hope and expectation of thy time Is ruin'd, and the soul of every man Prophetically do forethink thy fall.[2736] Had I so lavish of my presence been, So common-hackney'd in the eyes of men, 40 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. 45 By being seldom seen, I could not stir[2737] 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, 50 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.[2738] Thus did I keep my person fresh and new;[2739] 55 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 wan by rareness such solemnity.[2740] The skipping king, he ambled up and down 60 With shallow jesters and rash bavin wits,[2741] Soon kindled and soon burnt; carded his state,[2742] Mingled his royalty with capering fools,[2743] Had his great name profaned with their scorns And gave his countenance, against his name, 65 To laugh at gibing boys and stand the push[2744] Of every beardless vain comparative, Grew a companion to the common streets, Enfeoff'd himself to popularity;[2745] That, being daily swallow'd by men's eyes, 70 They surfeited with honey and began[2746] To loathe the taste of sweetness, whereof a little[2746][2747] 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, 75 Heard, not regarded; seen, but with such eyes As, sick and blunted with community, Afford no extraordinary gaze,[2748] Such as is bent on sun-like majesty When it shines seldom in admiring eyes; 80 But rather drowzed and hung their eyelids down,[2749] Slept in his face and render'd such aspect[2750] As cloudy men use to their adversaries,[2751] Being with his presence glutted, gorged and full. And in that very line, Harry, standest thou;[2752] 85 For thou hast lost thy princely privilege With vile participation: not an eye But is a-weary of thy common sight, Save mine, which hath desired to see thee more; Which now doth that I would not have it do,[2753] 90 Make blind itself with foolish tenderness.
Prince. I shall hereafter, my thrice gracious lord, Be more myself.
King. For all the world[2754] As thou art to this hour was Richard then[2755] When I from France set foot at Ravenspurgh,[2756] 95 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[2757] Than thou the shadow of succession;[2758] For of no right, nor colour like to right, 100 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[2759] To bloody battles and to bruising arms. 105 What never-dying honour hath he got Against renowned Douglas! whose high deeds,[2760] Whose hot incursions and great name in arms Holds from all soldiers chief majority[2761] And military title capital 110 Through all the kingdoms that acknowledge Christ: Thrice hath this Hotspur, Mars in swathling clothes,[2762] This infant warrior, in his enterprizes Discomfited great Douglas, ta'en him once,[2763] Enlarged him and made a friend of him, 115 To fill the mouth of deep defiance up[2764] And shake the peace and safety of our throne. And what say you to this? Percy, Northumberland, The Archbishop's grace of York, Douglas, Mortimer,[2765] Capitulate against us and are up. 120 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?[2766] Thou that art like enough, through vassal fear,[2767] Base inclination and the start of spleen, 125 To fight against me under Percy's pay, To dog his heels and curtsy at his frowns, o show how much thou art degenerate.[2768]
Prince. Do not think so; you shall not find it so: And God forgive them that so much have sway'd[2769] 130 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 135 And stain my favours in a bloody mask,[2770] 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 all-praised knight, 140 And your unthought-of Harry chance to meet. For every honour sitting on his helm,[2771] Would they were multitudes, and on my head[2772] My shames redoubled! for the time will come,[2773] That I shall make this northern youth exchange 145 His glorious deeds for my indignities. Percy is but my factor, good my lord, To engross up glorious deeds on my behalf;[2774] And I will call him to so strict account, That he shall render every glory up, 150 Yea, even the slightest worship of his time,[2775] Or I will tear the reckoning from his heart. This, in the name of God, I promise here:[2776] The which if He be pleased I shall perform,[2777] I do beseech your majesty may salve 155 The long-grown wounds of my intemperance:[2778] If not, the end of life cancels all bands;[2779] And I will die a hundred thousand deaths[2780] Ere break the smallest parcel of this vow.
King. A hundred thousand rebels die in this: 160 Thou shalt have charge and sovereign trust herein.
Enter BLUNT.[2781]
How now, good Blunt? thy looks are full of speed.[2782]
Blunt. So hath the business that I come to speak of.[2783] Lord Mortimer of Scotland hath sent word That Douglas and the English rebels met 165 The 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 to-day;[2784] 170 With him my son, Lord John of Lancaster; For this advertisement is five days old: On Wednesday next, Harry, you shall set forward;[2785] On Thursday we ourselves will march: our meeting[2786] Is Bridgenorth: and, Harry, you shall march[2786][2787] 175 Through Gloucestershire; by which account,[2786][2788] Our business valued, some twelve days hence[2788] Our general forces at Bridgenorth shall meet. Our hands are full of business: let's away; Advantage feeds him fat, while men delay.[2789] [Exeunt. 180
Act III, Scene III — Eastcheap. The Boar's-Head Tavern.[2790]
Enter FALSTAFF and BARDOLPH.
Fal. 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 apple-john. Well, I'll repent, and that suddenly, while I am in some liking; I shall be out of heart 5 shortly, and then I shall have no strength to repent. An[2791] 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, villanous company, hath been the spoil of me.
Bard. Sir John, you are so fretful, you cannot live long. 10
Fal. Why, there is it: come sing me a bawdy song; make me merry. I was as virtuously given as a gentleman[2792] need to be; virtuous enough; swore little; diced not above seven times a week; went to a bawdy-house not above once[2793] in a quarter--of an hour; paid money that I borrowed,[2794] 15 three or four times; lived well, and in good compass: and now I live out of all order, out of all compass.[2795]
Bard. Why, you are so fat, Sir John, that you must needs be out of all compass, out of all reasonable compass, Sir John. 20
Fal. Do thou amend thy face, and I'll amend my life:[2796] thou art our admiral, thou bearest the lantern in the poop,[2797] but 'tis in the nose of thee; thou art the Knight of the[2798] Burning Lamp.
Bard. Why, Sir John, my face does you no harm.[2799] 25
Fal. No, I'll be sworn; I make as good use of it as many a man doth of a Death's-head or a memento mori: I never see thy face but I think upon hell-fire, and Dives that lived in purple; for there he is in his robes, burning,[2800] burning. If thou wert any way given to virtue, I would swear[2801] 30 by thy face; my oath should be, 'By this fire, that's God's[2802] angel:' but thou art altogether given over; and wert indeed,[2802] but for the light in thy face, the son of utter darkness.[2803] When thou rannest up Gadshill in the night to catch my[2804] horse, if I did not think thou hadst been an ignis fatuus[2805] 35 or a ball of wildfire, there's no purchase in money. O, thou art a perpetual triumph, an everlasting bonfire-light! Thou[2806] 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 40 lights as good cheap at the dearest chandler's in Europe.[2807] I have maintained that salamander of yours with fire any[2808] time this two and thirty years; God reward me for it![2809]
Bard. 'Sblood, I would my face were in your belly![2810]
Fal. God-a-mercy! so should I be sure to be heartburned.[2811] 45
Enter HOSTESS.[2812]
How now, Dame Partlet the hen! have you inquired yet who picked my pocket?
Host. Why, Sir John, what do you think, Sir John? do you think I keep thieves in my house? I have searched, I 50 have inquired, so has my husband, man by man, boy by boy, servant by servant: the tithe of a hair was never lost[2813] in my house before.
Fal. Ye lie, hostess: Bardolph was shaved, and lost many a hair; and I'll be sworn my pocket was picked.[2814] 55 Go to, you are a woman, go.[2815]
Host. Who, I? no; I defy thee: God's light, I was[2816] never called 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. 60 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.[2817] 65
Host. Now, as I am a true woman, holland of eight[2818] shillings an ell. You owe money here besides, Sir John,[2818] for your diet and by-drinkings, and money lent you, four[2819][2820] and twenty pound.[2820][2821]
Fal. He had his part of it; let him pay. 70
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[2822] not pay a denier. What, will you make a younker of me? shall I not take mine ease in mine inn but I shall have my 75 pocket picked? I have lost a seal-ring of my grandfather's worth forty mark.
Host. O Jesu, I have heard the prince tell him, I know[2823] not how oft, that that ring was copper![2824]
Fal. How! the prince is a Jack, a sneak-cup: 'sblood,[2825] 80 an he were here, I would cudgel him like a dog, if he would[2826] say so.
Enter the PRINCE and PETO, marching, and FALSTAFF meets them playing on his truncheon like a fife.[2827]
How now, lad! is the wind in that door, i' faith? must we[2828][2829] all march?[2829]
Bard. Yea, two and two, Newgate fashion.[2830] 85
Host. My lord, I pray you, hear me.
Prince. What sayest thou, Mistress Quickly? How doth thy husband? I love him well; he is an honest man.[2831]
Host. Good my lord, hear me.
Fal. Prithee, let her alone, and list to me. 90
Prince. What sayest thou, Jack?
Fal. The other night I fell asleep here behind the arras, and had my pocket picked: this house is turned bawdy-house; they pick pockets.
Prince. What didst thou lose, Jack? 95
Fal. Wilt thou believe me, Hal? three or four bonds of forty pound a-piece, and a seal-ring of my grandfather's.[2832]
Prince. A trifle, some eight-penny matter.
Host. So I told him, my lord; and I said I heard your grace say so: and, my lord, he speaks most vilely of 100 you, like a foul-mouthed man as he is; and said he would[2833] cudgel you.
Prince. What! he did not?
Host. There's neither faith, truth, nor womanhood in me else. 105
Fal. There's no more faith in thee than in a stewed[2834] prune; nor no more truth in thee than in a drawn fox; and[2835] for womanhood, Maid Marian may be the deputy's wife of the ward to thee. Go, you thing, go.[2836]
Host. Say, what thing? what thing? 110
Fal. What thing! why, a thing to thank God on.[2837]
Host. I am no thing to thank God on, I would thou[2837][2838] shouldst know it; 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 115 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 120 not where to have her.
Host. Thou art an unjust man in saying so: thou or[2839] any man knows where to have me, thou knave, thou!
Prince. Thou sayest true, hostess; and he slanders thee most grossly. 125
Host. So he doth you, my lord; and said this other day you ought him a thousand pound.[2840]
Prince. Sirrah, do I owe you a thousand pound?
Fal. A thousand pound, Hal! a million: thy love is worth a million: thou owest me thy love. 130
Host. Nay, my lord, he called 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. 135
Prince. I say 'tis copper: darest thou be as good as thy word now?
Fal. Why, Hal, thou knowest, as thou art but man, I[2841] dare: but as thou art prince, I fear thee as I fear the roaring[2842] of the lion's whelp. 140
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,[2843] I pray God my girdle break.[2844]
Prince. O, if it should, how would thy guts fall about 145 thy knees! But, sirrah, there's no room for faith, truth, nor honesty in this bosom of thine; it is all filled up with[2845] guts and midriff. Charge an honest woman with picking[2846] thy pocket! why, thou whoreson, impudent, embossed rascal, if there were anything in thy pocket but 150 tavern-reckonings, memorandums of bawdy-houses, and one poor penny-worth of sugar-candy to make thee long-winded, if thy pocket were enriched with any other injuries but these, I am a villain: and yet you will stand to it; you will not pocket up wrong: art thou not ashamed? 155
Fal. Dost thou hear, Hal? thou knowest in the state of innocency Adam fell; and what should poor Jack Falstaff[2847] do in the days of villany? Thou seest I have more flesh than another man; and therefore more frailty. You confess then, you picked my pocket? 160
Prince. It appears so by the story.
Fal. Hostess, I forgive thee: go, make ready breakfast;[2848] love thy husband, look to thy servants, cherish thy[2848][2849] guests: thou shalt find me tractable to any honest reason:[2848][2850] thou seest I am pacified still. Nay, prithee, be gone.[2848][2851] 165 [Exit Hostess.] Now, Hal, to the news at court: for the[2852] robbery, lad, how is that answered?
Prince. O, my sweet beef, I must still be good angel[2853][2854] to thee: the money is paid back again.[2853]
Fal. O, I do not like that paying back; 'tis a double 170 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 unwashed hands too. 175
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[2855] two and twenty or thereabouts! I am heinously[2856] 180 unprovided. Well, God be thanked for these rebels, they offend[2857] 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,[2858] 185 to my brother John; this to my Lord of Westmoreland.[2858][2859] [Exit Bardolph.] Go, Peto, to horse, to horse; for thou and[2858][2860] I have thirty miles to ride yet ere dinner time. [_Exit Peto._][2858][2861] Jack, meet me to-morrow in the temple hall at two o'clock[2858] in the afternoon.[2858][2862] 190 There shalt thou know thy charge; and there receive[2863] Money and order for their furniture.[2863] The land is burning; Percy stands on high; And either we or they must lower lie. [Exit.[2864]
Fal. Rare words! brave world! Hostess, my breakfast, come![2865] 195 O, I could wish this tavern were my drum! [Exit.[2866]
FOOTNOTES:
[2590] SC. I. Bangor....] The Archdeacon of Bangor's house in Wales. Theobald. Wales. Pope.
Mortimer, and Glendower.] Lord Mortimer, Owen Glendower. Qq Ff.
[2591] Arranged as in Ff. As two lines, ending down?... map. in Qq.
[2592] As in Pope. As prose in Qq. As five lines, ending _is ... Hotspurre: ... you, ... sigh, ... heaven_ in Ff.
[2593] oft] often Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[2594] cheek looks] Qq. cheekes looke Ff.
[2595] sigh] sight Q₂ Q₃ Q₄.
[2596] And ... spoke of.] As prose in Qq Ff. As two lines, the first ending hears, in Pope.
[2597] oft] Qq Ff. often Pope.
[2598] cannot blame him] blame him not Pope.
[2599] Of.... coward] Keightley would read as two lines, the first ending frame.
[2600] and] know that Pope. ay, and Capell.
[2601] huge] Q₁. The rest omit. the Rowe (ed. 2).
[2602] Shaked] Shook Pope.
[2603] Why ... born.] As prose in Qq Ff. As verse, the lines ending don't ... cat ... born, in Pope.
[2604] Why] om. Pope.
[2605] but] om. Pope.
[2606] never] ne'er Pope.
[2607] And I ... earth] I ... earth then Pope.
[2608] As in Qq. As two lines, the first ending shooke, in Ff.
[2609] oft] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. of Q₄. and Q₅ Q₆ Ff Q₇ Q₈.
[2610] topples] Qq (toples Q₅ Q₆). tombles F₁ F₂. tumbles F₃ F₄.
[2611] Steeples ... towers] High tow'rs and moss-grown steeples Pope.
[2612] having] with Pope.
[2613] crossings] crossing Q₃ Q₄.
[2614] to] in Pope.
[2615] common] commen Q₁.
[2616] he] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. The rest the.
[2617] Scotland, Wales] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest Scotland and Wales. Wales, or Scotland Pope.
[2618] son] senne Q₇. soone F₂.
[2619] ways] way Q₇ Q₈.
[2620] And] Or Pope.
[2621] As verse, the first line ending Welsh, in Qq Ff.
[2622] there's] there is Pope.
[2623] I'll] I will Staunton.
[2624] cousin] brother Capell.
[2625] you] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. The rest thee.
cousin] om. Pope.
[2626] Why ... dead] As one line in Qq. As prose in Ff.
[2627] coz] coose Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. coosen Q₅ Q₆. The rest cousin.
[2628] tell ... devil] Printed in italics in Ff.
[2629] Come ... chat] As one line in Qq. As prose in Ff. As two lines, the first Come, come, in Pope.
[2630] banks] banke Q₈.
[2631] sent] hent Q₅ F₁ F₂.
[2632] sent him Bootless] sent Him bootless Pope.
[2633] Bootless ... back] Bootless, and weather-beaten, home. Capell.
[2634] Home ... too] As two lines, the first ending boots, in Ff.
[2635] 'scapes] 'scaped Collier (Collier MS.).
agues] ague S. Walker conj.
[2636] Come ... right] As two lines, the first ending map, in Ff.
[2637] divided it] divided it already Hanmer. divided it for us Keightley conj.
[2638] coz] brother Capell.
[2639] drawn] drawing Theobald conj.
[2640] cousin] brother Capell.
[2641] [to Gle. Capell.
[2642] For] Or S. Walker conj.
[2643] moiety] portion Hanmer.
[2644] cranking] crankling Pope.
[2645] monstrous] mostrous Q₅. monstorous Q₈.
cantle] Ff. scantle Qq.
[2646] damm'd] damnd Q₁ Q₂ Q₆. damd Q₃ Q₄ Q₅. damn'd Ff. dam'd Q₇ Q₈.
[2647] Arranged as in Capell. As prose in Qq. As four lines, ending course, ... side, ... much, ... you, in Ff.
[2648] Yea, but Mark how he] But mark he Pope. Yea, But mark how he Steevens. Yea but mark How he Malone.
[2649] And then] Then Hanmer.
runs] runs me Staunton conj. runs on Keightley conj. runneth Anon. conj.
straight and even] straightly and evenly Capell. all straight and evenly Collier (Collier MS.).
[2650] I'll] I will Pope.
[2651] Let ... Welsh] As one line in Qq. As prose in Ff. As verse, the first line ending then, in Pope.
[2652] you] om. Steevens conj.
[2653] but] om. Pope.
[2654] Marry, And I am glad of it] Dyce (S. Walker conj.). Marry, and I am glad of it Qq Ff. Marry, I'm glad of it Pope. Marry and I'm glad of it Theobald. Marry, and I'm glad on't Capell.
[2655] metre] miter Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄ Q₅ Q₆ Q₇. meeter Ff. meter Q₈.
ballad-] Ff. ballet Q₁. The rest ballet-.
[2656] canstick] Qq. candlestick Ff.
turn'd] tun'd F₄.
[2657] set my teeth nothing on] Q₃ Q₄. set my teeth nothing an Q₁ Q₂ Q₅ Q₆ F₁ Q₇ Q₈. set my teeth on F₂ F₃ F₄. nothing set my teeth on Pope.
[2658] I do ... friend;] I do not care: To any well-deserving friend I'll give Thrice so much land. Capell conj.
[2659] To any] As that to any Hanmer. To any worthy S. Walker conj.
[2660] As two lines, the first ending faire, in Ff.
[2661] I'll haste] I will go haste Hanmer. I'll in and haste Rann (Steevens conj.).
I'll ... writer] I'll ... writer forward Capell.
[2662] withal Break with your] withal I'll break With your young Collier MS.
[2663] SCENE II. Pope.
cousin] brother Capell.
[2664] sometime] sometimes Q₈.
[2665] me] om. Pope.
of] of of Q₄ Q₅.
[2666] the] om. Pope.
[2667] moulten] molten Q₁. moulting Pope.
[2668] lion] leon Q₁.
and] om. F₂ F₃ F₄.
[2669] last] the last Pope. but last Steevens (1793). yester Anon. conj.
least] the least Capell.
[2670] As two lines, the first ending lacqueyes: in Ff.
go to] om. Pope.
[2671] he is] he's Pope.
[2672] As ... horse, a] As a tyred horse, a QqFf. As a tir'd horse, or as a Pope. As is a tired horse, a Capell.
[2673] he is] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. The rest he was.
a worthy] an honest F₃ F₄.
[2674] Exceedingly] Q₁ Q₂. The rest Exceeding.
[2675] As four lines, ending concealments: ... affable, ... India ... cousin, in Ff.
[2676] and as] as Pope.
[2677] cousin] brother Capell.
[2678] curbs] cubs Q₇.
[2679] come 'cross] come crosse Qq. doe crosse F₁ F₂. do crosse F₃. do cross F₄.
[2680] my lord ... wilful-blame] my wilful lord, you are to blame Collier (Collier MS.).
too wilful-blame] Theobald. too willful blame Qq Ff. too wilful-blunt or too wilful-bent or to blame, too wilful Johnson conj. to wilful-blame Steevens conj. too wilful-blameable Keightley conj.
[2681] beside] Q₂. The rest besides.
[2682] show] shews Pope.
[2683] nobleman] noble man Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄ F₂.
[2684] Loseth] Looseth Q₁.
[2685] parts] his parts Long MS.
besides] beside Capell conj.
[2686] be] by Q₇ Q₈.
As two lines, the first ending school'd, in Ff.
[2687] our] Q₁ Q₂ Q₆ Q₇ Q₈. your Q₃ Q₄ Q₅ Ff.
leave] leaves Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
Re-enter....] Enter.... Qq Ff.
[2688] SCENE III. Pope.
[2689] she will] Pope. The rest shee'le or sheele or she'll.
[2690] that] om. Pope.
aunt] sister Capell.
[2691] [Glendower....] Qq Ff.
her in] him in F₂. her F₃ F₄.
[2692] She is] She's Pope, reading as verse.
[2693] She is ...upon] She is ... here as one line; the rest as prose in Qq. As three lines, ending heere: ... harlotry ... upon, in Ff.
[2694] one] om. Pope. and one Collier (Collier MS.), reading 196, 197 as three lines, ending here ... one ... upon.
that] om. Steevens (1793).
[2695] pour'st] powrest Qq. powr'st Ff.
pour'st down] pour'st down too Capell. down pourest Edd. conj.
these] those too Pope.
swelling] welling Singer (Collier MS.).
[2696] should I] I Q₇. I could Q₈.
speaks] om. Qq Ff.
[2697] feeling] feeble F₂ F₃ F₄.
[2698] sweet] sweets Q₅ Q₆.
[2699] Nay, if] Nay, an if Hanmer. Nay, nay, if Keightley conj.
you] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. The rest thou.
then] why, then Steevens conj.
run] e'en run Collier MS.
mad] quite mad Capell.
[2700] She ... down] As one line in Qq. As two, the first ending bids you, in Ff.
bids you on] bids you All on Pope. bids you Upon Steevens.
wanton] om. Capell.
[2701] 'twixt] twixt Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. The rest betwixt.
[2702] Begins his] Begin their Capell conj.
[2703] And those] And tho' th' Hanmer (Warburton). An those Rann conj.
[2704] hence] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₈. The rest thence.
[2705] And straight] Yet straight Rowe.
attend] attent Q₆.
[2706] As verse, the first line ending downe: in Qq Ff. First as prose by Pope.
[2707] [The music plays.] Qq Ff. Glendower mutters some Incantations in Welsh and a Musick plays. Capell.
[2708] As six lines, ending Welsh, ... humorous, ... musition ... musicall, ... humors, ... Welsh, in Qq Ff. First as prose by Pope.
[2709] should] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. The rest would.
[2710] governed] om. Q₇ Q₈.
[2711] hear Lady, my] heare lady my Q₁. heare, lady, my Q₂ Q₃ Q₇ Q₈. heare Lady, my Q₄ Q₅ Q₆ (Lady in italics), heare (Lady) my Ff.
brach] breech Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[2712] thou] Q₁ Q₂. The rest omit.
[2713] Kate] Q₁ Q₂. The rest omit.
[2714] Not ... day,'] As prose in Qq. As four lines, ending sooth?... wife: ... live; ... day: in Ff. Pope prints as prose to Finsbury (253).
[2715] Heart] om. Ff.
[2716] like] like to Collier MS.
you] yours Collier (Collier MS).
[2717] and 'as] as Collier MS.
[2718] As if] As Steevens conj.
walk'st] walk'dst Pope.
further] fur' S. Walker conj.
[2719] protest] protests Hanmer.
[2720] red-breast] Robin-Red-Breast Pope.
[2721] An] Capell. and Qq Ff. if Pope.
[2722] ye] you Q₈.
[2723] Come, come] Come on Collier MS.
as slow] slow Q₄ Q₅ Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[2724] hot Lord] Ff. Hot. Lord Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. Hot, Lord Q₄. Hot Lord Q₅ Q₆ Q₇ Q₈ (Hot in italics).
[2725] By ... immediately] As in Qq Ff.
book is] book's Steevens.
we'll] we will Rowe (ed. 2).
we'll ... to] we'll seal and then To Capell. we'll but seal and then To Malone, we'll seal and part To Collier (Collier MS.). we'll but seal, then start Keightley conj.
[2726] SCENE II.] SCENE IV. Pope.
London.] Capell. Windsor. Pope.
The palace.] A room in the Palace. Capell.
[2727] Lords, ... hand] As four lines in Ff.
[2728] at hand] om. Pope.
[2729] God] Qq. Heaven Ff.
[2730] thy] Q₁ Ff. The rest the.
[2731] bare] base Rowe.
attempts] attaints Hanmer.
[2732] to] Qq. too Ff.
[2733] would] wish Pope.
[2734] in] on] Johnson conj.
[2735] God] Qq. Heaven Ff.
God ... Harry] As two lines in Ff.
[2736] do] does Rowe. doth Anon. conj.
[2737] By] But Warburton.
[2738] the presence] presence Q₂.
[2739] did I] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest I did.
[2740] wan] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄ Q₅ Q₆. wanne Q₇ Q₈. wonne F₁ F₂ F₃. won F₄.
[2741] bavin] braine Dering MS. baven Hanmer.
[2742] carded his] ‘scarded his Hanmer (Warburton). discarded his Heath conj. discarded Collier MS. candled his Jackson conj.
[2743] capering] capring Q₁. The rest carping. catering Jackson conj.
[2744] at] with Hanmer.
[2745] Enfeoff’d] Ff. Enfeoft Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄ Q₅. Enforc’t Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[2746] They ... loathe] Arranged as in Pope. As one line in Qq Ff.
[2747] sweetness] sweets Capell.
a little] little Pope. a little pleases Long MS.
[2748] Afford] Offer'd Heath conj.
[2749] But] They Hanmer.
[2750] render'd] rendring Q₈.
[2751] use] do Capell conj.
to] Q₁ Q₂. to doe to Q₃ Q₄ Q₅ Q₆ F₁ Q₇ Q₈. to do F₂ F₃ F₄.
[2752] standest] Qq Ff (stanedst Q₄). stand'st Rowe (ed. 2).
[2753] that] what Pope.
Do] done Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[2754] myself.] myself than I-- Seymour conj.
For] Harry, for Hanmer.
[2755] to] at Pope.
[2756] foot at] forth at F₂ F₃ F₄. forth to Rowe (ed. 2).
[2757] to] in Mason conj.
[2758] thou the] Q₁. The rest thou, the.
[2759] reverend] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. The rest reverent.
[2760] renowned] renowmed Q₁ Q₂ Q₃.
[2761] soldiers] souldiours, Q₂. souldier: Q₃.
[2762] this] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest the.
Hotspur, Mars] Warburton. Hotspur Mars Qq. Hotspur Mars, Ff.
swathling] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. The rest swathing.
[2763] him once] his son Theobald conj.
[2764] deep] the deep F₂.
[2765] Mortimer] and Mortimer Rowe.
[2766] near’st] Q₅ Q₆ Ff. The rest nearest or neerest.
near'st and] nearest, Anon. conj.
[2767] Thou that] That thou Q₆ Q₇ Q₈. Thou F₂ F₃ F₄.
[2768] thou art degenerate] degenerate thou art. Reed (1803).
[2769] God] Qq. Heaven Ff.
so much have] have so much Reed (1803).
[2770] stain] hide Capell conj.
favours] favour Hanmer. features Capell conj.
[2771] sitting] Q₁ Q₂ Q₇ Q₈ F₂ F₃ F₄. fitting Q₃ Q₄ Q₅ Q₆ F₁.
[2772] on] one Q₆.
[2773] shames] shame Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[2774] up] Q₁ Q₂ Ff. The rest my.
[2775] his] the Mason conj.
[2776] God] Qq. Heaven Ff.
[2777] if ... perform,] Qq (performe: Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. performe. Q₇ Q₈). if I performe, and doe survive, F₁. if I promise, and doe survive, F₂ F₃ F₄. if I perform't and do survive, Hanmer. my promise if I do survive Long MS.
perform] perform it Keightley conj.
[2778] intemperance] Qq. intemperature Ff.
[2779] bands] bonds Rowe.
[2780] a] an Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
thousand] thousands Q₄ Q₆.
[2781] Enter Blunt.] Ff. Qq place it after line 162.
[2782] Blunt? thy] blunt thy Q₁.
[2783] hath] is Rowe (ed. 2).
[2784] forth] fourth Q₆.
[2785] Harry] son Harry Capell.
you shall] Q₁ Q₂. The rest thou shalt.
[2786] On ... account] Arranged as by Steevens. See note (XV).
[2787] Is] Is at Pope.
[2788] account ... valued] Omitted by Pope.
[2789] him] them F₂ F₃ F₄.
men] we Pope (ed. 2).
[2790] SCENE III.] SCENE V. Pope.
Eastcheap....] A Tavern in East-cheap. Pope.
[2791] An] Pope. And Qq Ff.
[2792] make] to make Mason conj.
[2793] to a] to Q₆ Q₇.
[2794] quarter--] Hanmer. quarter Qq Ff.
[2795] all compass] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest compass.
[2796] my] thy F₁ F₂.
[2797] thou bearest] that bears Bubier conj.
in] not in Theobald conj.
[2798] Knight] King Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[2799] harm] harmee Q₇.
[2800] burning, burning] burning F₃ F₄.
[2801] given] give Q₈.
[2802] that's ... angel] that ... angel Q₁ Q₂. Omitted in Ff.
[2803] son] Q₄. sonne Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. sunne Q₅ Q₆ F₁ Q₇ F₂ Q₈. sun F₃ F₄.
[2804] rannest] runst Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
Gadshill] Gads-Head F₂.
[2805] thou] Q₁ Q₂ F₃ F₄. The rest that thou.
[2806] an] and Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[2807] at] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. as Q₅ Q₆ Ff. of Q₇ Q₈.
[2808] yours] thine Hanmer.
[2809] God] Qq. Heaven Ff.
[2810] 'Sblood] om. Ff.
[2811] God-a-mercy] om. Ff.
sure to be] om. Q₇ Q₈.
[2812] Enter Hostess.] Enter Hotspurre F₂.
[2813] tithe] Theobald. tight Qq Ff.
[2814] a hair] haires Q₈.
[2815] woman] false woman Anon. conj.
[2816] no] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest omit.
God's light] Omitted in Ff.
[2817] they] Qq. and they Ff.
[2818] eight shillings] Ff. viii. s. Qq.
[2819] by-drinkings] Q₄ Q₅ Ff Q₇ Q₈. bydrinkings Q₁. by drinkings Q₂ Q₃ Q₆.
[2820] four and twenty] Ff. xxiiii. Qq.
[2821] pound] Qq. pounds Ff.
[2822] them ... them] him ... him F₃ F₄.
[2823] O Jesu] om. Ff.
[2824] that that] that Q₈. that the Pope.
[2825] sneak-cup] sneak-cap Q₈.
'sblood] om. Ff.
[2826] an] Boswell. and Qq. and if Ff.
[2827] ... and Peto,] Theobald, om. Qq Ff. and Pointz, Steevens. See note (XVI).
them] Theobald. him Qq Ff.
[2828] i' faith] om. Ff.
[2829] As two lines in Q₅ Q₆ Q₇ Q₈. the first ending i' faith.
[2830] fashion.] Qq Ff. fashion? Reed (1803).
[2831] doth] Q₁ Q₄. doeth Q₂ Q₃. dow Q₅ Q₆. does Ff Q₇ Q₈.
[2832] forty] a forty Capell (corrected in MS.).
pound] pounds Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[2833] as] om. F₂.
[2834] in a] Q₁ F₃ F₄. The rest a.
[2835] drawn] train'd Theobald conj.
[2836] thing] Qq. nothing Ff.
[2837] God] Qq. Heaven Ff.
[2838] nothing] Q₅ Q₆ F₁ Q₇ Q₈. The rest nothing.
[2839] an] om. F₁ F₂.
[2840] ought] Qq Ff. ow'd Rowe.
[2841] man] Q₁ Q₂. The rest a man.
[2842] prince] Qq. a prince Ff.
[2843] an] Capell. and Qq. if Ff. an if Steevens.
[2844] I pray God] Qq. let Ff.
[2845] all] om. Reed, Collier, Delius.
[2846] midriff] midriffes Q₇ Q₈.
[2847] should] would F₂ F₃ F₄.
[2848] Hostess ... gone] As six lines in Ff.
[2849] cherish] Qq. and cherish Ff.
[2850] guests] Ff. ghesse Q₁. The rest ghests or ghestes.
[2851] pacified still.] Ff. pacified still: Qq. pacify'd,--still?-- Hanmer.
prithee] prethee Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. The rest I prethee.
[2852] [Exit....] Qq Ff. Exit Hostess weeping. Hanmer.
court: for] Theobald, court for Qq Ff.
[2853] As three lines in Ff.
[2854] beef] beoffe Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄.
[2855] the age of] om. Ff.
[2856] two and twenty] xxii. Qq.
thereabouts] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. The rest thereabout.
[2857] God] Qq. Heaven Ff.
[2858] Go bear ... afternoon.] As prose by Pope. As six lines, ending Lancaster ... Westmoreland ... and I ... time ... hall ... afternoon, in Qq Ff.
[2859] to my brother] My brother Capell.
[2860] [Exit Bardolph.] Dyce.
Go,] go,-- Johnson, om. Capell.
Peto] Poins Steevens (Johnson conj.). See note (XVI).
to horse, to horse] Q₁ Q₂. The rest to horse.
[2861] yet] om. Capell. See note (XVII).
[Exit Peto.] Edd. Exit Pointz. Dyce.
[2862] afternoon] afternoon precisely Keightley conj.
[2863] There ... furniture.] As in Qq Ff. As prose by Pope.
[2864] we or they] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. The rest they or we.
[Exit.] Dyce. Exeunt Prince, Peto, and Bar. Capell.
[2865] Rare ... come]As two lines in Ff.
[2866] [Exit.] Capell. Exeunt. Qq. Exeunt omnes. Ff.
Act IV, Scene I — The Rebel Camp near Shrewsbury.
Enter HOTSPUR, WORCESTER, and DOUGLAS.[2867]
Hot. Well said, my noble Scot: if speaking truth[2868] In this fine age were not thought flattery,[2869] Such attribution should the Douglas have, As not a soldier of this season's stamp Should go so general current through the world. 5 By God, I cannot flatter; I do defy[2870] The tongues of soothers; but a braver place[2871] 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:[2872] 10 No man so potent breathes upon the ground[2873] But I will beard him.[2873]
Hot. Do so, and 'tis well.[2874][2875]
Enter a Messenger with letters.[2875][2876]
What letters hast thou there?--I can but thank you.[2875][2877]
Mess. These letters come from your father.[2878]
Hot. Letters from him! why comes he not himself?[2879] 15
Mess. He cannot come, my lord; he is grievous sick.[2879][2880]
Hot. 'Zounds! how has he the leisure to be sick[2881] In such a justling time? Who leads his power? Under whose government come they along?
Mess. His letters bear his mind, not I, my lord.[2882] 20
Wor. I prithee, 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.[2883]
Wor. I would the state of time had first been whole[2884] 25 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 life-blood of our enterprise; 'Tis catching hither, even to our camp. 30 He writes me here, that inward sickness--[2885] And that his friends by deputation could not[2886] So soon be drawn, nor did he think it meet[2886] To lay so dangerous and dear a trust On any soul removed but on his own. 35 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 40 Of all our purposes. What say you to it?
Wor. Your father's sickness is a maim to us.
Hot. A perilous gash, a very limb lopp'd off: And yet, in faith, it is not; his present want[2887] Seems more than we shall find it: were it good[2888] 45 To set the exact wealth of all our states[2888][2889] All at one cast? to set so rich a main[2889][2890] On the nice hazard of one doubtful hour?[2891] It were not good; for therein should we read[2892][2893] The very bottom and the soul of hope,[2893][2894] 50 The very list, the very utmost bound Of all our fortunes.[2895]
Doug. Faith, and so we should;[2895][2896] Where now remains a sweet reversion:[2895] We may boldly spend upon the hope of what[2895][2897][2898] Is to come in:[2895][2898] 55 A comfort of retirement lives in this.[2899]
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. 60 The quality and hair of our attempt[2900] Brooks no division: it will be thought[2901] By some, that know not why he is away, That wisdom, loyalty and mere dislike Of our proceedings kept the earl from hence: 65 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[2902] Must keep aloof from strict arbitrement, 70 And stop all sight-holes, every loop from whence The eye of reason may pry in upon us: This absence of your father's draws a curtain,[2903] That shows the ignorant a kind of fear Before not dreamt of.
Hot. You strain too far.[2904] 75 I rather of his absence make this use: It lends a lustre and more great opinion, A larger dare to our great enterprise,[2905] Than if the earl were here; for men must think, If we without his help can make a head 80 To push against a kingdom, with his help[2906] We shall o'erturn it topsy-turvy down.[2907] Yet all goes well, yet all our joints are whole.
Doug. As heart can think: there is not such a word[2908] Spoke of in Scotland as this term of fear.[2908][2909] 85
Enter SIR RICHARD VERNON.
Hot. My cousin Vernon! welcome, by my soul.[2910]
Ver. Pray God my news be worth a welcome, lord. The Earl of Westmoreland, seven thousand strong, Is marching hitherwards; with him Prince John.[2911]
Hot. No harm: what more?
Ver. And further, I have 90 The king himself in person is set forth,[2912] Or hitherwards intended speedily,[2913] With strong and mighty preparation.
Hot. He shall be welcome too. Where is his son,[2914] The nimble-footed madcap Prince of Wales,[2915] 95 And his comrades, that daff'd the world aside,[2916] And bid it pass?
Ver. All furnish'd, all in arms;[2917] All plumed like estridges that with the wind[2918][2919] Baited like eagles having lately bathed;[2919][2920] Glittering in golden coats, like images; 100 As full of spirit as the month of May, And gorgeous as the sun at midsummer; Wanton as youthful goats, wild as young bulls.[2921] I saw young Harry, with his beaver on,[2922] His cuisses on his thighs, gallantly arm'd,[2923] 105 Rise from the ground like feather'd Mercury, And vaulted with such ease into his seat,[2924] As if an angel dropp'd down from the clouds,[2925] To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus And witch the world with noble horsemanship. 110
Hot. No more, no more: worse than the sun in March,[2926] This praise doth nourish agues. Let them come; They come like sacrifices in their trim, And to the fire-eyed maid of smoky war All hot and bleeding will we offer them: 115 The mailed Mars shall on his altar sit[2927] 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,[2928] Who is to bear me like a thunderbolt 120 Against the bosom of the Prince of Wales: Harry to Harry shall, hot horse to horse,[2929] 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, 125 He cannot draw his power this fourteen days.[2930]
Doug. That's the worst tidings that I hear of yet.[2931]
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: 130 My father and Glendower being both away, The powers of us may serve so great a day.[2932] Come, let us take a muster speedily:[2933] Doomsday is near; die all, die merrily.
Doug. Talk not of dying: I am out of fear 135 Of death or death's hand for this one half-year. [Exeunt.[2934]
Act IV, Scene II — A public road near Coventry.[2935]
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 Sutton Co'fil' to-night.[2936]
Bard. Will you give me money, captain?
Fal. Lay out, lay out. 5
Bard. This bottle makes an angel.
Fal. An if it do, take it for thy labour; and if it[2937] make twenty, take them all; I'll answer the coinage. Bid my lieutenant Peto meet me at town's end.[2938]
Bard. I will, captain: farewell. [Exit. 10
Fal. If I be not ashamed of my soldiers, I am a soused[2939] gurnet. I have misused the king's press damnably. I have got, in exchange of a hundred and fifty soldiers, three hundred[2940] and odd pounds. I press me none but good householders,[2941] yeoman's sons; inquire me out contracted bachelors,[2941] 15 such as had been asked twice on the banns; such a[2942] commodity of warm slaves, as had as lieve hear the devil as a drum; such as fear the report of a caliver worse than a[2943] struck fowl or a hurt wild-duck. I pressed me none but[2944] such toasts-and-butter, with hearts in their bellies no bigger 20 than pins'-heads, and they have bought out their services;[2945] 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[2946] his sores; and such as indeed were never soldiers, but 25 discarded unjust serving-men, younger sons to younger brothers, revolted tapsters and ostlers trade-fallen, the cankers[2947] of a calm world and a long peace, ten times more[2948] dishonourable ragged than an old faced ancient: and such have I, to[2949] fill up the rooms of them that have bought out their[2950] 30 services, that you would think that I had a hundred and fifty[2951] tattered prodigals lately come from swine-keeping, from[2952] eating draff and husks. A mad fellow met me on the way and told me I had unloaded all the gibbets and pressed the dead bodies. No eye hath seen such scarecrows. I'll 35 not march through Coventry with them, that's flat: nay,[2953] and the villains march wide betwixt the legs, as if they had[2954] 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[2955] half shirt is two napkins tacked together and thrown over 40 the shoulders like an herald's coat without sleeves; and the shirt, to say the truth, stolen from my host at Saint Alban's,[2956] or the red-nose innkeeper of Daventry. But that's all one;[2957] they'll find linen enough on every hedge.
Enter the PRINCE and WESTMORELAND.[2958]
Prince. How now, blown Jack! how now, quilt! 45
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 50 there, and you too; but my powers are there already. The king, I can tell you, looks for us all: we must away all night.[2959]
Fal. Tut, never fear me: I am as vigilant as a cat to[2960] steal cream.
Prince. I think, to steal cream indeed, for thy theft 55 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, 60 food for powder; they'll fill a pit as well as better: tush,[2961] 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 65 had that; and for their bareness, I am sure they never learned 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[2962] in the field. 70
Fal. What, is the king encamped?
West. He is, Sir John: I fear we shall stay too long.[2963]
Fal. Well,[2964] To the latter end of a fray and the beginning of a feast[2965] Fits a dull fighter and a keen guest.[2964] [Exeunt. 75
Act IV, Scene III — The Rebel Camp near Shrewsbury.[2966]
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.[2967]
Wor. Good cousin, be advised; stir not to-night. 5
Ver. Do not, my lord.
Doug. You do not counsel well: You speak it out of fear and cold heart.[2968]
Ver. Do me no slander, Douglas: by my life,[2969] And I dare well maintain it with my life, If well-respected honour bid me on,[2970] 10 I hold as little counsel with weak fear As you, my lord, or any Scot that this day lives:[2971] Let it be seen to-morrow in the battle[2972][2973] Which of us fears.[2972]
Doug. Yea, or to-night.[2974]
Ver. Content.
Hot. To-night, say I. 15
Ver. Come, come, it may not be. I wonder much,[2975] Being men of such great leading as you are,[2975][2976] That you foresee not what impediments Drag back our expedition: certain horse[2977] Of my cousin Vernon's are not yet come up: 20 Your uncle Worcester's horse came but to-day;[2978] And now their pride and mettle is asleep, Their courage with hard labour tame and dull, That not a horse is half the half of himself.[2979]
Hot. So are the horses of the enemy 25 In general, journey-bated and brought low: The better part of ours are full of rest.
Wor. The number of the king exceedeth ours:[2980] 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,[2981] 30 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, 35 Because you are not of our quality, But stand against us like an enemy.
Blunt. And God defend but still I should stand so,[2982] So long as out of limit and true rule You stand against anointed majesty. 40 But to my charge. The king hath sent to know[2983] The nature of your griefs, and whereupon You conjure from the breast of civil peace[2984] Such bold hostility, teaching his duteous land[2985] Audacious cruelty. If that the king 45 Have any way your good deserts forgot,[2986] Which he confesseth to be manifold, He bids you name your griefs; and with all speed[2987] You shall have your desires with interest[2988] And pardon absolute for yourself and these 50 Herein misled by your suggestion.
Hot. The king is kind; and well we know the king[2989] Knows at what time to promise, when to pay. My father and my uncle and myself[2990] Did give him that same royalty he wears; 55 And when he was not six and twenty strong, Sick in the world's regard, wretched and low, A poor unminded outlaw sneaking home, My father gave him welcome to the shore; And when he heard him swear and vow to God 60 He came but to be Duke of Lancaster,[2991] To sue his livery and beg his peace,[2992] With tears of innocency and terms of zeal,[2993] My father, in kind heart and pity moved,[2994] Swore him assistance and perform'd it too.[2995] 65 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;[2996] Met him in boroughs, cities, villages, Attended him on bridges, stood in lanes,[2997] 70 Laid gifts before him, proffer'd him their oaths, Gave him their heirs, as pages follow'd him[2998] Even at the heels in golden multitudes. He presently, as greatness knows itself, Steps me a little higher than his vow 75 Made to my father, while his blood was poor, Upon the naked shore at Ravenspurgh; And now, forsooth, takes on him to reform Some certain edicts and some strait decrees That lie too heavy on the commonwealth,[2999] 80 Cries out upon abuses, seems to weep Over his country's wrongs; and by this face,[3000] This seeming brow of justice, did he win The hearts of all that he did angle for; Proceeded further; cut me off the heads 85 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.[3001]
Hot. Then to the point. In short time after, he deposed the king; 90 Soon after that, deprived him of his life; And in the neck of that, task'd the whole state;[3002] To make that worse, suffer'd his kinsman March, Who is, if every owner were well placed,[3003] Indeed his king, to be engaged in Wales,[3004] 95 There without ransom to lie forfeited; Disgraced me in my happy victories, Sought to entrap me by intelligence; Rated mine uncle from the council-board;[3005] In rage dismiss'd my father from the court; 100 Broke oath on oath, committed wrong on wrong,[3006] And in conclusion drove us to seek out This head of safety; and withal to pry Into his title, the which we find[3007] Too indirect for long continuance. 105
Blunt. Shall I return this answer to the king?
Hot. Not so, Sir Walter: we'll withdraw awhile.[3008] Go to the king; and let there be impawn'd Some surety for a safe return again,[3009] And in the morning early shall my uncle 110 Bring him our purposes: and so farewell.[3010]
Blunt. I would you would accept of grace and love.
Hot. And may be so we shall.
Blunt. Pray God you do. [Exeunt.[3011]
Act IV, Scene IV — York. The ARCHBISHOP'S palace
Enter the ARCHBISHOP of YORK and SIR MICHAEL.[3012]
Arch. Hie, good Sir Michael; bear this sealed brief[3013] With winged haste to the lord marshal;[3014] This to my cousin Scroop, and all the rest To whom they are directed. If you knew[3015] How much they do import, you would make haste.[3015] 5
Sir M. My good lord,[3016][3017] I guess their tenour.[3017]
Arch. Like enough you do.[3018] To-morrow, good Sir Michael, is a day Wherein the fortune of ten thousand men Must bide the touch; for, sir, at Shrewsbury, 10 As I am truly given to understand, The king with mighty and quick-raised power Meets with Lord Harry: and, I fear, Sir Michael, What with the sickness of Northumberland, Whose power was in the first proportion, 15 And what with Owen Glendower's absence thence,[3019] Who with them was a rated sinew too[3020] And comes not in, o'er-ruled by prophecies,[3021] I fear the power of Percy is too weak To wage an instant trial with the king. 20
Sir M. Why, my good lord, you need not fear;[3022][3023] There is Douglas and Lord Mortimer.[3022][3024][3025]
Arch. No, Mortimer is not there.[3025]
Sir M. But there is Mordake, Vernon, Lord Harry Percy,[3026] And there is my Lord of Worcester and a head[3027][3028] 25 Of gallant warriors, noble gentlemen.[3027]
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; 30 And many moe corrivals and dear men[3029] Of estimation and command in arms.
Sir M. Doubt not, my lord, they shall be well opposed.[3030]
Arch. I hope no less, yet needful 'tis to fear; And, to prevent the worst, Sir Michael, speed: 35 For if Lord Percy thrive not, ere the king[3031] Dismiss his power, he means to visit us, For he hath heard of our confederacy,[3032] And 'tis but wisdom to make strong against him: Therefore make haste. I must go write again 40 To other friends; and so farewell, Sir Michael. [Exeunt.
FOOTNOTES:
[2867] SC. I.: The....] Malone. At Shrewsbury. Pope. The rebel camp before Shrewsbury. Capell.
Enter Hotspur....] Q₂ Q₃ Q₄ Q₅ Q₆ Q₇ Q₈. Omitted in Q₁. Enter Harrie Hotspurre.... Ff.
[2868] Hot.] Per. Q₁ (and throughout the scene).]
[2869] thought] through Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[2870] God] Qq. heaven Ff.
do] Q₁. The rest omit.
[2871] tongues] tongue Q₇ Q₈.
[2872] Thou] I doubt it not; thou Seymour conj.
[2873] ground But] ground.--But Staunton conj.
[2874] Do so] Do Pope.
[2875] Do so ... you.]Arranged as by Capell. As prose in Qq. As two lines, ending there?... you, in Ff.
[2876] Enter....] Enter one with letters. Qq. Enter a messenger. Ff (after beard him).
[2877] hast thou] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄ Q₅ F₂ F₃ F₄. have you Q₆ Q₇ Q₈. hast F₁.
[2878] These letters] These Pope. These letters, my good lord, Capell.
come] om. Steevens conj.
father.] father,-- Malone.
[2879] Letters ... grievous sick.] As four lines in Ff.
[2880] he is] he's Pope.
[2881] 'Zounds! how has he] Qq (has Q₃ Q₄ Q₅ Q₆ Q₇ Q₈). How? haz he F₁ F₂. How? has he F₃ F₄. Heav'ns! how has he Pope.
sick] Qq. sick now Ff.
[2882] bear] beare Q₇ Q₈. beares Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄ Q₅ Q₆ F₁ F₂ F₃. bears F₄.
not I, my lord] Capell. not I my mind Q₁ Q₂. The rest not I his mind (minde F₁ F₂ F₃). not I. Hot. His mind! Hanmer (Warburton).
[Hotspur opens them and reads. Capell.
[2883] physicians] Phisitions Q₁ Q₃. Phisicions Q₂. Phisition Q₄ Q₅ Q₆. Physician Ff. Phisicion Q₇. Physicion Q₈.
[2884] time] times Q₆.
[2885] inward] an inward Keightley conj.
sickness--] Rowe. sicknesse. Q₆. sicknesse, the rest. sickness holds him; Capell. Malone supposes a line lost.
[2886] Arranged as by Capell. Qq Ff end line 32 at deputation.
[2887] it is not; his] it is not, his Q₁. it is not his Q₂ Q₃ Q₄ Q₅ Q₆ F₁ F₂ Q₇ Q₈. 'tis not his F₃. 'tis not, his F₄.
[2888] Arranged as in Qq. Line 45 ends at finde it in Ff.
[2889] set ... set] S. Walker conjectures that one of these is corrupt.
[2890] main] mine F₃ F₄.
[2891] hour?] houre? Q₇ Q₈. houre, or hour, the rest.
[2892] read] reade Q₃ F₁ F₂. risque or rend Johnson conj. tread Malone conj. reap Jackson conj. dare Mitford conj. reach Grant White conj.
[2893] read ... bottom] rend ... blossom Bullock conj.
[2894] soul] sound Staunton conj.
[2895] Of ... in] Keightley would read as three lines, ending now ... boldly ... in.
[2896] Faith] I' faith S. Walker conj. ending lines 52-55 at fortunes ... remains ... spend ... come in.
[2897] We may] We now may Pope. And we may Capell. We may thus Grant White. We Anon. conj. See note (XVIII).
[2898] We may ... come in:] As in Steevens. As one line in Qq. As two, the first ending hope, in Ff.
what Is] what tis Q₁. What t'is Q₂ Q₃ Q₄ Q₅ Q₆. what is Ff. What 'tis Q₇. what's Q₈.
[2899] retirement] retrievement Becket conj.
[2900] hair] haire Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. heaire Q₄. heire Q₅ Q₆ F₁ F₂ Q₇ Q₈. heir F₃ F₄. air Boswell conj. dare Staunton conj. hour Bubier conj. air Carleton conj.
[2901] it] if F₂.
[2902] offering] offending Pope. ofterring Jackson conj.
[2903] father's] fathers Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest father.
[2904] of] upon Pope.
You] Come, you Capell.
[2905] dare] glare Pope.
our] Q₁ Q₂. The rest your.
[2906] a kingdom] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest the kingdom.
[2907] shall o'erturn] shal oreturne Q₁. shall or'eturne Q₂. shall or turne Q₃. shall, or turn Q₄ Q₅ Q₆ Q₇ Q₈. shall o're-turne Ff (o'return F₄). should o'erturn Collier MS.
[2908] As in Qq. As three lines, ending thinke: ... Scotland ... feare., in Ff.
[2909] term] tearme Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. deame Q₅ Q₆. dreame F₁ Q₇ F₂ Q₈. dream F₃ F₄.
[2910] SCENE II. Pope.
[2911] hitherwards] hitherward Q₈. hither Pope.
with him Prince John] Q₁. The rest _with Prince John. with Prince John of Lancaster_ Pope.
[2912] is] Q₁ Q₂. The rest hath.
[2913] Or] And Keightley conj.
intended] intendeth Collier MS.
[2914] As two lines in Ff.
[2915] madcap Prince] Q₁. The rest madcap, Prince.
[2916] daff'd] daft Qq Ff. daffe Hanmer.
[2917] furnish'd, ... arms;] furnisht? ... armes? Q₅ Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[2918] plumed] plumde Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄ Q₅. plumpe Q₆ Q₇ Q₈. plum'd Ff.
that with] that wing Rowe. and with Hanmer. that whisk Tyrwhitt conj.
wind] wind are fann'd Keightley conj.
[2919] plumed ... wind Baited] plum'd!... wind Bated: Johnson conj.
[2920] Baited] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄ F₃ F₄. Bayted Q₅ Q₆ F₁ Q₇ Q₈ F₂. Baiting Hanmer. Bated Malone. See note (XIX).
[2921] Wanton ... bulls] Placed by Capell after line 101.
[2922] on] up Hanmer (Warburton).
[2923] cuisses] Pope. cushes Qq Ff.
[2924] vaulted with such] vault with such an Capell. vault it with such Malone.
[2925] dropp'd] drop Q₁. The rest dropt.
[2926] As two lines in Ff.
[2927] altar] altars Q₁ Q₂ Q₃.
[2928] taste] Q₂. tast Q₁. The rest take. test Anon. conj.
[2929] to Harry shall, hot] Capell. to Harry shal hot Q₁. to Harry, shall hot Q₂. The rest to Harry, shall not. to Harry shall, and Rowe (ed. 2). to Harry shall (not ... horse) Theobald.
[2930] cannot] can Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄.
[2931] of yet] of it Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄.
[2932] powers] power Rowe.
[2933] take a muster] muster Q₇ Q₈. make a muster Reed (1803).
[2934] [Exeunt] Qq. Exeunt omnes. Ff.
[2935] SCENE II.] SCENE III. Pope. A ... Coventry. Theobald.
[2936] Co'fil] Edd. cophill or cop-hill Qq Ff. colfield Hanmer.
[2937] An if it do] Hanmer. And if it do Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄ Q₅ Ff. And it do Q₆ Q₇ Q₈. An it do Capell.
[2938] at] Qq. at the Ff.
[2939] not] Q₁ Q₂ Ff. The rest omit.
[2940] a hundred and fifty] Ff. 150. Qq.
three hundred] Ff. 300. Qq.
[2941] press ... inquire] pressed ... inquired Collier MS.
[2942] banns] Johnson. banes Qq Ff.
[2943] caliver] culverin Pope.
[2944] fowl] Rowe (ed. 2). foule Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. The rest foole or fool. deer Hanmer. sorel Johnson conj. wolf Jackson conj.
wild-duck] wild fowl Hanmer.
pressed] prest Qq Ff. press Rowe (ed. 2).
[2945] bought] brought Q₈.
[2946] licked] lick Anon. conj.
[2947] ostlers] ostlers, Q₁ Ff Q₇ Q₈.
[2948] a long] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest long.
ten] om. Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
dishonourable] dishonourably Pope.
[2949] old faced] Steevens. olde fazd Q₁ Q₂. old fazde Q₃. olde fazde Q₄. old faczde Q₅. old fac'd Q₆ Q₇ Q₈. old-fac'd Ff. old-feast Warburton. old pieced Collier MS. old patch'd Grant White conj.
[2950] that have] Ff. as have Qq.
[2951] that I had] I had Pope.
[2952] tattered] tottered Qq. totter'd F₁ F₂. tatter'd F₃ F₄.
[2953] through] thorow Q₇ Q₈.
[2954] betwixt] between Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[2955] but] Rowe. not Qq Ff. not but Keightley conj.
[2956] at] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest of.
[2957] red-nose] red nos'd Pope.
Daventry] F₂. Davintry Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄ Q₅ F₁. Daintry Q₆ Q₇ Q₈. Dayntry F₃ F₄.
[2958] Westmoreland.] Lord of Westmerland. Qq Ff.
[2959] all night] Qq. all to night Ff.
[2960] me] tell me Q₅ Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[2961] better] a better Q₂.
[2962] on the ribs] in the ribs Q₁ Q₂.
[2963] Sir John] John F₂ F₃ F₄.
we shall] we'll or we S. Walker conj.
[2964] As prose in Qq Ff. As verse first by Pope.
[2965] To the] the Q₈.
latter] later O₄.
the beginning] beginning Pope.
[2966] SCENE III.] SCENE IV. Pope.
The Rebel....] Malone. At Shrewsbury.
[2967] So ... His is] And so ... His Anon. conj.
His] He Theobald.
[2968] You speak] Then speake Q₆. Thou speak'st Q₇ Q₈.
and] and from Pope. and a Collier (Collier MS.).
[2969] Do me no] Do not Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[2970] bid] bids Capell.
[2971] my lord] om. Capell.
this day] om. Pope.
[2972] Let ... fears] As one line in Qq.
[2973] it] om. Q₂ Q₃ Q₄.
[2974] Doug.] om. Q₃ Q₄.
[2975] I wonder ... are] Arranged as by Pope. As one line in Qq Ff.
[2976] as you are] om. Steevens, 1793 (Ritson conj.), reading I wonder ... leading as one line.
[2977] horse] horses Q₇ Q₈.
[2978] horse] horses Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄.
[2979] half the half] half, half Pope. half half Theobald.
of himself] of him himselfe Q₇ Q₈. himself Steevens (1793).
[2980] ours] Q₆ Ff Q₇ Q₈. The rest our.
[2981] SCENE V. Pope.
offers] offer Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[2982] God] Qq. Heaven Ff.
[2983] But ... know] As two lines in Ff.
[2984] breast] rest Capell conj.
[2985] teaching his] teaching's S. Walker conj.
[2986] Have] Hath Capell conj.
[2987] griefs] griefe Q₇ Q₈.
[2988] desires] desire Q₇ Q₈.
[2989] The king ... king] As two lines in Ff.
[2990] and my] Q₁ Q₂. The rest my. with my Collier MS.
[2991] but to be] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₅ F₁. but to the Q₄ Q₆ Q₇ Q₈. to be but F₂ F₃ F₄.
[2992] sue] sue out F₃ F₄.
[2993] With ... zeal] Capell proposed to insert after line 60.
innocency] innocence Pope.
[2994] pity moved] pity-moved Anon. conj.
[2995] him] his Q₈.
[2996] The more] They more F₄.
[2997] Attended] Attend Q₄ Q₅ Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[2998] heirs, as pages] heirs, as pages, F₄. heirs as pages; Rann (Malone conj.). heirs as pledges, Long MS.
follow'd] following Pope.
[2999] lie] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest lay.
[3000] country's] Rowe. countries Q₅ Q₆ F₁ Q₇ F₂ Q₈. countreys F₃ F₄. country Q₄. countrey Q₁. countrie Q₂ Q₃.
[3001] Tut] om. Pope.
[3002] task'd] tax'd Johnson conj.
[3003] well] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. om. Q₅ Q₆ F₁ Q₇ F₂ Q₈. right F₃ F₄. due Collier MS.
[3004] engaged] encag'd Pope ed. 2, (Theobald).
[3005] mine] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest my.
[3006] committed] committing F₂ F₃ F₄.
[3007] title] title too Pope.
the which we find] which we find to be Keightley conj.
[3008] Not ... awhile] As two lines in Ff.
[3009] a safe] the safe Q₇ Q₈.
[3010] purposes] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. The rest purpose.
[3011] And] And't Ff Q₇ Q₈. It Pope.
God] Qq. Heaven Ff.
[3012] SCENE IV.] SCENE VI. Pope. York....] The Archbishop of York's palace. Theobald.
Sir Michael.] A gentleman. Capell.
[3013] Michael] Mighell or Mighel or Michell or Michael Qq Ff.
[3014] marshal] mareshal Pope.
[3015] If ... import] As one line in F₁.
[3016] My good lord] My lord Pope; omitted by Capell.
[3017] My ... tenour] As in Steevens; as one line in Qq Ff.
[3018] you do] om. Pope.
[3019] with] Q₁ Q₂ Ff. The rest omit.
[3020] a rated sinew] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. rated firmely Q₅ Q₆ Ff Q₇ Q₈.
[3021] o'er-ruled] Pope. over-rulde Qq (over rulde Q₁). over-rul'd Ff.
[3022] Why ... There is] Keightley would read as one line.
[3023] you need not fear] Omitted by Pope, reading as prose. I think, you need not fear Capell.
[3024] Douglas] the Douglas Capell, ending lines 21-23 at fear; ... No there. See note (XX).
Lord] om. Steevens.
[3025] Douglas ... there] As one line, Keightley conj.
[3026] Lord] L. Q₆ Q₇ Q₈. om. Pope.
[3027] And ... gentlemen] As in Qq. As three lines in Ff, ending Worcester, ... warriors, ... gentlemen.
[3028] there is] there's Pope.
[3029] moe] Qq Ff. more Rowe.
corrivals] Ff. corivals Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. corivales Q₄ Q₅ Q₆. corrivales Q₇ Q₈.
[3030] they] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. The rest he.
[3031] not,] Q₂ Q₃. not The rest.
[3032] of] om. F₂.
Act V, Scene I — The KING'S camp near Shrewsbury
Enter the KING, PRINCE of WALES, LORD JOHN OF LANCASTER, EARL of WESTMORELAND, SIR WALTER BLUNT, and FALSTAFF.[3033]
King. How bloodily the sun begins to peer Above yon busky hill! the day looks pale[3034] At his distemperature.
Prince. The southern wind Doth play the trumpet to his purposes, And by his hollow whistling in the leaves[3035] 5 Foretells a tempest and a blustering day.
King. Then with the losers let it sympathise, For nothing can seem foul to those that win.
[The trumpet sounds.
Enter WORCESTER and VERNON.[3036]
How now, my Lord of Worcester! 'tis not well That you and I should meet upon such terms 10 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:[3037] This is not well, my lord, this is not well. What say you to it? will you again unknit 15 This churlish knot of all-abhorred war? And move in that obedient orb again[3038] Where you did give a fair and natural light, And be no more an exhaled meteor, A prodigy of fear and a portent 20 Of broached mischief to the unborn times?
Wor. Hear me, my liege: For mine own part, I could be well content To entertain the lag-end of my life With quiet hours; for, I do protest,[3039] 25 I have not sought the day of this dislike.
King. You have not sought it! how comes it, then?[3040]
Fal. Rebellion lay in his way, and he found it.
Prince. Peace, chewet, peace![3041]
Wor. It pleased your majesty to turn your looks 30 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 35 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[3042] 40 The dangers of the time. You swore to us,[3043] And you did swear that oath at Doncaster,[3044] That you did nothing purpose 'gainst the state;[3045] Nor claim no further than your new-fall'n right, The seat of Gaunt, dukedom of Lancaster: 45 To this we swore our aid. But in short space[3046] 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,[3047] 50 The seeming sufferances that you had borne, And the contrarious winds that held the king So long in his unlucky Irish wars[3048] That all in England did repute him dead: And from this swarm of fair advantages[3049] 55 You took occasion to be quickly woo'd To gripe the general sway into your hand; Forgot your oath to us at Doncaster;[3050] And being fed by us you used us so As that ungentle gull, the cuckoo's bird,[3051] 60 Useth the sparrow; 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 enforced, for safety sake, to fly 65 Out of your sight and raise this present head; Whereby we stand opposed by such means[3052] As you yourself have forged against yourself By unkind usage, dangerous countenance, And violation of all faith and troth 70 Sworn to us in your younger enterprise.[3053]
King. These things indeed you have articulate,[3054] Proclaim'd at market-crosses, read in churches, To face the garment of rebellion With some fine colour that may please the eye 75 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 water-colours to impaint his cause; 80 Nor moody beggars, starving for a time[3055] Of pellmell havoc and confusion.
Prince. In both your armies there is many a soul[3056] Shall pay full dearly for this encounter,[3057] If once they join in trial. Tell your nephew, 85 The Prince of Wales doth join with all the world In praise of Henry Percy: by my hopes,[3058] This present enterprise set off his head,[3059] I do not think a braver gentleman, More active-valiant or more valiant-young,[3060] 90 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; 95 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.[3061] 100
King. And, Prince of Wales, so dare we venture thee,[3062] Albeit considerations infinite Do make against it. No, good Worcester, no,[3063] We love our people well; even those we love That are misled upon your cousin's part; 105 And, will they take the offer of our grace,[3064] Both he and they and you, yea, every man Shall be my friend again and I'll be his:[3065] So tell your cousin, and bring me word[3066] What he will do: but if he will not yield,[3067] 110 Rebuke and dread correction wait on us[3068] And they shall do their office. So, be gone; We will not now be troubled with reply: We offer fair; take it advisedly.
[Exeunt Worcester and Vernon.[3069]
Prince. It will not be accepted, on my life: 115 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! 120
[Exeunt all but the Prince of Wales and Falstaff.[3070]
Fal. Hal, if thou see me down in the battle, and[3071][3072] bestride me, so; 'tis a point of friendship.[3072][3073]
Prince. Nothing but a colossus can do thee that[3072] friendship. Say thy prayers, and farewell.[3072]
Fal. I would 'twere bed-time, Hal, and all well.[3072][3074] 125
Prince. Why, thou owest God a death. [Exit.[3075]
Fal. 'Tis not due yet; I would be loath 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?[3076] 130 how then? Can honour set to a leg? no: or an arm? no:[3077] or take away the grief of a wound? no. Honour hath no skill in surgery, then? no. What is honour? a word. What[3078] is in that word honour? what is that honour? air. A trim[3078] reckoning! Who hath it? he that died o' Wednesday.[3079] 135 Doth he feel it? no. Doth he hear it? no. 'Tis insensible,[3080] then. Yea, to the dead. But will it not live with the living?[3081] no. Why? detraction will not suffer it. Therefore I'll none of it. Honour is a mere scutcheon: and so ends my catechism. [Exit. 140
Act V, Scene II — The Rebel Camp.
Enter WORCESTER and VERNON.[3082]
Wor. O, no, my nephew must not know, Sir Richard, The liberal and kind offer of the king.[3083]
Ver. 'Twere best he did.
Wor. Then are we all undone.[3084] It is not possible, it cannot be, The king should keep his word in loving us;[3085] 5 He will suspect us still, and find a time To punish this offence in other faults:[3086] Suspicion all our lives shall be stuck full of eyes;[3087] For treason is but trusted like the fox,[3088] Who, ne'er so tame, so cherish'd and lock'd up,[3089] 10 Will have a wild trick of his ancestors. Look how we can, or sad or merrily,[3090] Interpretation will misquote our looks, And we shall feed like oxen at a stall, The better cherish'd, still the nearer death.[3091] 15 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 hare-brain'd Hotspur, govern'd by a spleen: All his offences live upon my head 20 And on his father's; we did train him on, And, his corruption being ta'en from us,[3092] 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. 25
Ver. Deliver what you will; I'll say 'tis so.[3093][3094] Here comes your cousin.[3093]
Enter HOTSPUR and DOUGLAS.[3095]
Hot. My uncle is return'd:[3096] Deliver up my Lord of Westmoreland.[3096] Uncle, what news?[3096] 30
Wor. The king will bid you battle presently.
Doug. Defy him by the Lord of Westmoreland.[3097]
Hot. Lord Douglas, go you and tell him so.[3097][3098]
Doug. Marry, and shall, and very willingly.[3099] [Exit.
Wor. There is no seeming mercy in the king. 35
Hot. Did you beg any? God forbid![3100][3101]
Wor. I told him gently of our grievances,[3101][3102] Of his oath-breaking; which he mended thus, By now forswearing that he is forsworn:[3103] He calls us rebels, traitors; and will scourge 40 With haughty arms this hateful name in us.
Re-enter DOUGLAS.[3104]
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. 45
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 to-day But I and Harry Monmouth! Tell me, tell me, 50 How show'd his tasking? seem'd it in contempt?[3105]
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. 55 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:[3106] 60 And, which became him like a prince indeed, He made a blushing cital of himself; And chid his truant youth with such a grace[3107] As if he master'd there a double spirit[3108] Of teaching and of learning instantly. 65 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 70 On his follies: never did I hear[3109] Of any prince so wild a libertine.[3110] 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. 75 Arm, arm with speed: and, fellows, soldiers, friends,[3111] Better consider what you have to do Than I, that have not well the gift of tongue,[3112] Can lift your blood up with persuasion.
Enter a Messenger.
Mess. My lord, here are letters for you.[3113] 80
Hot. I cannot read them now.[3113] O gentlemen, the time of life is short! To spend that shortness basely were too long,[3114] If life did ride upon a dial's point,[3115] Still ending at the arrival of an hour.[3116] 85 An if we live, we live to tread on kings;[3117] If die, brave death, when princes die with us! Now, for our consciences, the arms are fair,[3118] When the intent of bearing them is just.
Enter another Messenger.[3119]
Mess. My Lord, prepare; the king comes on apace. 90
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[3120][3121] A sword, whose temper I intend to stain[3121][3122] With the best blood that I can meet withal 95 In the adventure of this perilous day. Now, Esperance! Percy! and set on.[3123] Sound all the lofty instruments of war, And by that music let us all embrace; For, heaven to earth, some of us never shall[3124] 100 A second time do such a courtesy.
[The trumpets sound. They embrace, and exeunt.[3125]
Act V, Scene III — Plain between the camps.[3126]
_The King enters with his power. Alarum to the battle. Then enter_ DOUGLAS and SIR WALTER BLUNT.
Blunt. What is thy name, that in the battle thus[3127][3128][3129] Thou crossest me? what honour dost thou seek[3127][3129][3130] Upon my head?[3127]
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.[3131] 5
Blunt. They tell thee true.
Doug. The Lord of Stafford dear to-day hath bought[3132] Thy likeness, for instead of thee, King Harry, This sword hath ended him: so shall it thee, Unless thou yield thee as my prisoner.[3133] 10
Blunt. I was not born a yielder, thou proud Scot;[3134] And thou shalt find a king that will revenge Lord Stafford's death. [They fight. Douglas kills Blunt.
Enter HOTSPUR.[3135]
Hot. O Douglas, hadst thou fought at Holmedon thus,[3136] I never had triumph'd upon a Scot.[3137] 15
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:[3138] A gallant knight he was, his name was Blunt; 20 Semblably furnish'd like the king himself.
Doug. A fool go with thy soul, whither it goes![3139] A borrowed title hast thou bought too dear:[3140] Why didst thou tell me that thou wert a king?
Hot. The king hath many marching in his coats.[3141] 25
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.
Alarum. Enter FALSTAFF, solus.[3142]
Fal. Though I could 'scape shot-free at London, I fear 30 the shot here; here's no scoring but upon the pate. Soft! who are you? Sir Walter Blunt: there's honour for you![3143] 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[3144] weight than mine own bowels. I have led my ragamuffins[3145] 35 where they are peppered: there's not three of my hundred[3146][3147] and fifty left alive; and they are for the town's end, to beg[3147][3148] during life. But who comes here?
Enter the PRINCE.
Prince. What, stand'st thou idle here? lend me thy sword:[3149] Many a nobleman lies stark and stiff[3150] 40 Under the hoofs of vaunting enemies, Whose deaths are yet unrevenged: I prithee, lend me thy sword.[3151]
Fal. O Hal, I prithee, 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.[3152] 45
Prince. He is, indeed; and living to kill thee. I[3153] prithee, lend me thy sword.[3154]
Fal. Nay, before God, Hal, if Percy be alive, thou[3155] get'st not my sword; but take my pistol, if thou wilt.[3156]
Prince. Give it me: what, is it in the case?[3157] 50
Fal. Ay, Hal; 'tis hot, 'tis hot; there's that will sack a[3158] city.
[_The Prince draws it out, and finds it to be a bottle of sack._[3159]
Prince. What, is it a time to jest and dally now?
[He throws the bottle at him. Exit.[3160]
Fal. Well, if Percy be alive, I'll pierce him. If he do[3161] come in my way, so: if he do not, if I come in his willingly,[3162] 55 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.
Act V, Scene IV — Another part of the field.
Alarum. Excursions. Enter the KING, the PRINCE, LORD JOHN OF LANCASTER, and EARL of WESTMORELAND.[3163]
King. I prithee,[3164] Harry, withdraw thyself; thou bleed'st too much.[3164][3165] Lord John of Lancaster, go you with him.[3164]
Lan. Not I, my lord, unless I did bleed too.
Prince. I beseech your majesty, make up,[3166] 5 Lest your retirement do amaze your friends.[3167]
King. I will do so.[3168] My Lord of Westmoreland, lead him to his tent.[3168]
West. Come, my lord, I'll lead you to your tent.[3169]
Prince. Lead me, my lord? I do not need your help: 10 And God forbid a shallow scratch should drive[3170] The Prince of Wales from such a field as this, Where stain'd nobility lies trodden on,[3171] And rebels' arms triumph in massacres!
Lan. We breathe too long: come, cousin Westmoreland, 15 Our duty this way lies; for God's sake, come.
[Exeunt Prince John and Westmoreland.[3172]
Prince. By God, thou hast deceived me, Lancaster;[3170] 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. 20
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[3173] Lends mettle to us all![3173] [Exit.
Enter DOUGLAS.[3174]
Doug. Another king! they grow like Hydra's heads: 25 I am the Douglas, fatal to all those That wear those colours on them: what art thou, That counterfeit'st the person of a king?
K. Hen. The king himself; who, Douglas, grieves at heart So many of his shadows thou hast met 30 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.[3175]
Doug. I fear thou art another counterfeit; 35 And yet, in faith, thou bear'st thee like a king: But mine I am sure thou art, whoe'er thou be, And thus I win thee.
[They fight; the King being in danger, re-enter Prince of Wales.[3176]
Prince. Hold up thy head, vile Scot, or thou art like[3177] Never to hold it up again! the spirits 40 Of valiant Shirley, Stafford, Blunt, are in my arms:[3178] It is the Prince of Wales that threatens thee;[3179] 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, 45 And so hath Clifton: I'll to Clifton straight.
King. Stay, and breathe awhile:[3180] Thou hast redeem'd thy lost opinion,[3181] And show'd thou makest some tender of my life, In this fair rescue thou hast brought to me. 50
Prince. O God! they did me too much injury[3182] That ever said I hearken'd for your death.[3183] If it were so, I might have let alone The insulting hand of Douglas over you, Which would have been as speedy in your end 55 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.[3184] [Exit.
Enter HOTSPUR.
Hot. If I mistake not, thou art Harry Monmouth.[3185]
Prince. Thou speak'st as if I would deny my name.[3186] 60
Hot. My name is Harry Percy.
Prince. Why, then I see[3187] A very valiant rebel of the name.[3187][3188] 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; 65 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[3189] Thy name in arms were now as great as mine! 70
Prince. I'll make it greater ere I part from thee; And all the budding honours on thy crest[3190] I'll crop, to make a garland for my head.
Hot. I can no longer brook thy vanities. [They fight.[3191]
Enter FALSTAFF.
Fal. Well said, Hal! to it, Hal! Nay, you shall find 75 no boy's play here, I can tell you.
Re-enter DOUGLAS; he fights with FALSTAFF, who falls down as if he were dead, and exit DOUGLAS. HOTSPUR is wounded, and falls.[3192]
Hot. O, Harry, thou hast robb'd me of my youth![3193] I better brook the loss of brittle life[3194] Than those proud titles thou hast won of me; They wound my thoughts worse than thy sword my flesh:[3195] 80 But thought's the slave of life, and life time's fool;[3196] 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[3197] Lies on my tongue: no, Percy, thou art dust, 85 And food for-- [Dies.
Prince. For worms, brave Percy: fare thee well, great heart![3198] Ill-weaved ambition, how much art thou shrunk! When that this body did contain a spirit, A kingdom for it was too small a bound; 90 But now two paces of the vilest earth Is room enough: this earth that bears thee dead[3199] Bears not alive so stout a gentleman. If thou wert sensible of courtesy, I should not make so dear a show of zeal:[3200] 95 But let my favours hide thy mangled face;[3201] And, even in thy behalf, I'll thank myself For doing these fair rites of tenderness.[3202] Adieu, and take thy praise with thee to heaven! Thy ignominy sleep with thee in the grave,[3203] 100 But not remember'd in thy epitaph!
[He spieth Falstaff on the ground.[3204]
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, 105 If I were much in love with vanity! Death hath not struck so fat a deer to-day,[3205] Though many dearer, in this bloody fray. Embowell'd will I see thee by and by: Till then in blood by noble Percy lie. [Exit. 110
Fal. [Rising up] Embowelled! if thou embowel me[3206] to-day, I'll give you leave to powder me and eat me too to-morrow. 'Sblood, 'twas time to counterfeit, or that hot[3207] termagant Scot had paid me scot and lot too. Counterfeit? I[3208] lie, I am no counterfeit: to die, is to be a counterfeit; for[3208] 115 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. 'Zounds, I am[3209] 120 afraid of this gunpowder Percy, though he be dead: how, if[3210] he should counterfeit too, and rise? by my faith, I am[3211] afraid he would prove the better counterfeit. Therefore I'll make him sure; yea, and I'll swear I killed him. Why[3212] may not he rise as well as I? Nothing confutes me but 125 eyes, and nobody sees me. Therefore, sirrah [stabbing[3213] him], with a new wound in your thigh, come you along[3214] with me. [Takes up Hotspur on his back.
Re-enter the PRINCE of WALES and LORD JOHN OF LANCASTER.[3215]
Prince. Come, brother John; full bravely hast thou flesh'd[3216] Thy maiden sword.
Lan. But, soft! whom have we here?[3217] 130 Did you not tell me this fat man was dead?
Prince. I did; I saw him dead,[3218] Breathless and bleeding on the ground. Art thou alive?[3218][3219] Or is it fantasy that plays upon our eyesight?[3218] I prithee, speak; we will not trust our eyes[3218] 135 Without our ears: thou art not what thou seem'st.[3218]
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[3220] [throwing the body down]: if your father will do me any[3221] honour, so; if not, let him kill the next Percy himself. I[3222] 140 look to be either earl or duke, I can assure you.
Prince. Why, Percy I killed myself, and saw thee dead.[3223]
Fal. Didst thou? Lord, Lord, how this world is given[3224] 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 145 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[3225] wound in the thigh: if the man were alive, and would deny it, 'zounds, I would make him eat a piece of my sword.[3226] 150
Lan. This is the strangest tale that ever I heard.[3227]
Prince. This is the strangest fellow, brother John. 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. 155
[A retreat is sounded.[3228]
The trumpet sounds retreat; the day is ours.[3229] Come, brother, let us to the highest of the field, To see what friends are living, who are dead.[3230]
[Exeunt Prince of Wales 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[3231] 160 less; for I'll purge, and leave sack, and live cleanly as a nobleman should do. [Exit.[3232]
Act V, Scene V — Another part of the field.
The trumpets sound. Enter the KING, PRINCE of WALES, LORD JOHN OF LANCASTER, EARL of WESTMORELAND, with WORCESTER and VERNON prisoners.[3233]
King. Thus ever did rebellion find rebuke.[3234] Ill-spirited Worcester! did not we send grace,[3235] Pardon and terms of love to all of you? And wouldst thou turn our offers contrary? Misuse the tenour of thy kinsman's trust? 5 Three knights upon our party slain to-day, A noble earl and many a creature else Had been alive this hour,[3236] If like a Christian thou hadst truly borne Betwixt our armies true intelligence. 10
Wor. What I have done my safety urged me to; And I embrace this fortune patiently, Since not to be avoided it falls on me.[3237]
King. Bear Worcester to the death, and Vernon too:[3238] Other offenders we will pause upon. 15
[Exeunt Worcester and Vernon, guarded.[3239]
How goes the field?
Prince. The noble Scot, Lord Douglas, when he saw[3240] The fortune of the day quite turn'd from him,[3241] The noble Percy slain, and all his men Upon the foot of fear, fled with the rest; 20 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[3242] 25 This honourable bounty shall belong:[3242] Go to the Douglas, and deliver him Up to his pleasure, ransomless and free: His valour shown upon our crests to-day[3243] Hath taught us how to cherish such high deeds[3243][3244] 30 Even in the bosom of our adversaries.
Lan. I thank your grace for this high courtesy,[3245] Which I shall give away immediately.[3245][3246]
King. Then this remains, that we divide our power. You, son John, and my cousin Westmoreland 35 Towards York shall bend you with your dearest speed,[3247] To meet Northumberland and the prelate Scroop,[3248] Who, as we hear, are busily in arms: Myself and you, son Harry, will towards Wales,[3249] To fight with Glendower and the Earl of March. 40 Rebellion in this land shall lose his sway,[3250] Meeting the check of such another day: And since this business so fair is done,[3251] Let us not leave till all our own be won. [Exeunt.
FOOTNOTES:
[3033] ACT V. SCENE I.
The King's....] The camp at Shrewsbury. Theobald. Shrewsbury. Pope.
Enter....] See note (XXI).
[3034] busky] bosky Capell conj.
[3035] by his] Q₁ Q₂ Ff. by the Q₃. The rest by.
[3036] foul] soure F₂. sowre F₃ F₄.
and Vernon] and Sir Richard Vernon. Theobald. om. Qq Ff.
[3037] old] old uneasie Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[3038] move] more Q₈.
[3039] do] Ff. om. Qq.
[3040] it] it, sir Pope. it, say Collier (Collier MS.).
[3041] chewet] chevet Pope.
[3042] outdare] Q₁ Ff. The rest outdate or out-date.
[3043] dangers] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest danger.
[3044] Doncaster] Ff Q₈. The rest Dancaster.
[3045] purpose] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest of purpose.
[3046] swore] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. sweare Q₅ Q₆ Q₇. sware Ff Q₈.
[3047] a wanton] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest wanton.
[3048] his] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest the.
[3049] And] As Capell.
this] his Q₆ Q₇.
[3050] Doncaster] Q₆ Ff Q₇ Q₈. The rest Dancaster.
[3051] cuckoo's bird] cuckoo-bird S. Walker conj.
[3052] we stand] you stand Capell.
[3053] sworn] swore Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
your] om. F₁ F₂.
[3054] things] thihges Q₅.
articulate] Qq. articulated Ff.
[3055] moody] muddy Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[3056] your] Qq. our Ff.
armies] armes Q₆.
[3057] this] this bold Pope. this day's Seymour conj.
[3058] Henry] Harry Q₇ Q₈.
[3059] off] Ff. of Qq.
[3060] active-valiant] Theobald. active, valiant Q₁ Q₂ Ff. The rest active, more valiant.
valiant-young] Theobald. valiant yong or valiant young Qq Ff. valued young Hanmer. valiant tough Heath conj.
[3061] a single] single Q₂ Q₃ Q₄ Q₅.
[3062] venture] Qq F₄. venter F₁ F₂ F₃.
[3063] No ... no] Know ... know Mason conj.
Worcester] Qq. Worster Ff.
[3064] And, will they ... grace,] And will, they ... grace; Pope.
[3065] friend] griend Q₆.
[3066] So ... cousin] Go, ... cousin so Anon. conj.
and bring] and return Pope. and then bring Capell. go, and bring Seymour conj.
word] word again Keightley conj.
[3067] yield] yeelds Q₆.
[3068] wait] waight Q₁.
[3069] Exeunt W....] Exit W. with Vernon. Theobald. Exit W. Qq Ff.
[3070] Exeunt....] Exeunt: manent Prince, Falst. Qq. Exeunt: Manet Prince and Falstaffe. Ff.
[3071] SCENE II. Pope.
[3072] As four lines in QQ Ff, ending battel ... friendship ... friendship ... farewell.
[3073] me, so;] Ff. me, so, Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. me, so. Q₄. me so, the rest.
[3074] 'twere] twere Q₁. The rest it were.
[3075] God] Qq. Heaven Ff.
[Exit.] Exit Prince. Hanmer. om. Qq Ff.
[3076] Yea] om. Ff.
[3077] how then? Can] Q₂ Q₃ F₁ F₂. how then can Q₁ Q₄ Q₅ Q₆. how then can, Q₇. how then; can F₃ F₄.
set to] set too F₁ F₂.
[3078] What is in ... that honour?] Q₁ Q₃. What is in that word? honor: what is that honour? Q₂. what is that word honor? what is that honor? Q₄. what is that word honour? Q₅ Q₆ Ff Q₇ Q₈. what is that word? Capell conj.
[3079] o'] Hanmer. a QQ Ff.
[3080] 'Tis] Tis Qq. Is it Ff.
[3081] will it not] will not Q₁.
[3082] SCENE II.] SCENE III. Pope.
The Rebel Camp.] Percy's Camp. Theobald.
Vernon.] Sir Richard Vernon. Qq Ff.
[3083] liberal and kind] liberal-kind S. Walker conj. kind and liberal Anon. conj.
and kind] Q₁. The rest kind.
[3084] are we all undone] Q₅ Q₆ Q₇ Q₈. are we all under one Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. we are all undone Ff.
[3085] should] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. The rest would.
[3086] other] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest others.
[3087] Suspicion] Rowe (ed. 2). Supposition Qq Ff. Suppose then Rowe (ed. 1). S. Walker conjectures that four syllables are lost before Suspicion.
all our lives shall be] shall be all Steevens (Farmer conj.).
[3088] treason] reason Q₈.
[3089] ne'er] ne're Ff. never Qq.
[3090] we] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. The rest he.
merrily] merely Q₁. merily Q₂.
[3091] cherish'd, still] Q₁ omits the comma.
[3092] ta'en] a taint Warbtirton conj.
[3093] Deliver ... cousin] As one line in Qq.
[3094] 'tis] om. Q₇ Q₈.
[3095] your] you Q₅.
Enter....] Rowe. Enter Percy. Q₁. The rest, Enter Hotspurre (Hotspur F₄).
[3096] My ... news?] Arranged as in Qq Ff. As two lines by Capell, ending up ... news?
[3097] Defy ... so] Given to Hotspur by Capell.
[3098] go you] go you then Theobald. do you go Capell. go you too or go yourself Keightley conj.
[3099] and shall] I shall Pope.
and very] very Q₇ Q₈.
[3100] any? God forbid] any of him? God forbid Hanmer.
[3101] God forbid! Wor. I told] Wor. God forbid! I told S. Walker conj.
[3102] our] your Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[3103] now forswearing] new-forswearing S. Walker conj.
[3104] Re-enter D.] Enter D. Qq Ff.
[3105] tasking] Q₁. The rest talking. taking Jackson conj.
[3106] By still ... you] Omitted by Pope. Put in brackets by Warburton.
[3107] with such] with F₂. so with F₃ F₄.
[3108] there] then Collier (Collier MS.).
[3109] On his] Qq Ff. Upon his Pope. Ev'n on his or on H.'s (i.e. Harry's) Anon. conj.
[3110] a libertine] Capell. a libertie Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. at libertie Q₅. at liberty Q₆ Ff Q₇ Q₈. in liberty Hanmer. o' liberty Collier. of liberty Collier MS. See note (XXII).
[3111] fellows,] F₄. fellowes, Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. fellows Q₄. fellow's Q₅. fellowes Q₆. fellow's F₁ F₂ F₃. fellow Q₇ Q₈.
[3112] Thou] F₂ F₄. Then Q₁ Q₂ F₃. The rest That.
[3113] here are ... cannot] Here's ... can't S. Walker conj.
[3114] were] 'twere Hanmer.
[3115] If] Tho' Rowe.
[3116] ending] ended Q₇ Q₈.
hour.] hour-- Keightley conj, or he supposes a line may have been lost.
[3117] An if] Capell. And if Qq Ff.
if we live] if he live Q₆ Q₇.
[3118] are] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest is.
[3119] of] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest for.
Enter ... Messenger.] Ff. Enter another. Qq.
[3120] draw I] Qq. I draw Ff.
[3121] Arranged as by Pope. Line 93 ends at sword in Qq Ff.
[3122] A sword] my sword F₄.
whose temper] Whose worthy temper Ff.
[3123] Esperance] Esperanza Theobald.
and set on] and so set on Hanmer.
[3124] For, heaven to earth,] For (heaven to earth) Pope. For heaven to earth, Qq Ff. From heaven to earth Dering MS. 'Fore heaven and earth Collier MS. For here on earth Singer.
[3125] second] sucond F₁.
[The trumpets ... exeunt] See note (XXIII).
[3126] SCENE III.] Capell. SCENE VI. Pope. om. Ff.
Plain....] Capell.
[3127] What ... head?] Arranged as by Capell. As two lines, ending me?... head? in Qq Ff.
[3128] the] Hanmer. om. Qq Ff.
[3129] in the battle thus Thou] thus in battle Pope.
[3130] Thou crossest] Do'st cross Hanmer.
what] and what Hanmer.
[3131] a king] the king Seymour conj.
[3132] dear] deare or deere Qq F₁. heere F₂. here F₃ F₄.
[3133] my] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest a.
[3134] a yielder, thou proud] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. to yeeld, thou proud Q₅ Q₆ Q₇ Q₈. to yeeld, thou haughty Ff.
Scot] Sot Q₅.
[3135] Lord] Lords F₁.
[They ... Hotspur.] They fight, Douglas kils Blunt, then enter Hotspur. Qq (enters Q₄ Q₅ Q₆ Q₇ Q₈). Fight, Blunt is slaine, then enters Hotspur. Ff.
[3136] Holmedon] Holmsdon Q₈.
[3137] triumph'd upon] triumpht upon Q₁ Q₂. triumpht over Q₃ Q₄ Q₅ Q₆ Q₇ Q₈. triumphed o're Ff.
[3138] this face] his face Theobald.
[3139] A fool go] Capell. Ah foole, go Qq. Ah foole: go Ff (fool: F₄).
whither] whether F₁. wheree'er Capell.
[3140] borrowed] borrow'd Rowe.
[3141] marching] masking Dyce (Collier MS.).
[3142] Alarum] Ff Q₇ Q₈. The rest Alarme.
[3143] are you?] art thou? F₂ F₃ F₄.
[3144] God] Qq. heaven Ff.
[3145] ragamuffins] rag of Muffins Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄ Q₅ F₁ F₂. rag of Muffians Q₆ Q₇ Q₈ F₃ F₄.
[3146] not three] but three Rann (Capell conj.). not but three Keightley conj.
[3147] hundred and fifty] 150. QQ Ff.
[3148] they are] Qq. they Ff.
[3149] stand'st] stands Q₁.
[3150] nobleman] Nobleman Ff Q₇ Q₈. noble man Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. Noble man Q₅ Q₆.
[3151] yet] Qq. om. Ff. as yet Dyce conj.
Whose ... sword.] As one line in Qq Ff.
I prithee] I prethee Qq (pree'the Q₁). Prethy F₁ F₂. Prethee F₃ F₄. om. Pope.
lend me] lend Steevens.
[3152] sure.] sure; Percy's safe enough Johnson conj.
[3153] He ... thee] As one line in Qq Ff. First as prose by Steevens.
[3154] lend] now, lend Capell.
[3155] before God, Hal] Hal Ff. Hal, 'Fore God Capell.
[3156] get'st] gets Q₁.
[3157] is it] is't Capell (reading as verse).
[3158] 'tis hot, 'tis hot] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest tis hot.
[3159] draws ... sack] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. drawes out a Bottle of Sacke. Ff.
to be] om. Q₅ Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[3160] is it] is't Hanmer.
[He....] Qq. Exit. Throwes it at him. Ff.
[3161] Well,] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest omit.
I'll] he'll Hanmer (Warburton).
[3162] way, so:] way so, Q₁. way: so, Q₂.
willingly,] (willingly) Ff.
[3163] SCENE IV.] Capell. Scena Tertia. Ff. SCENE VIII. Pope.
Another....] Capell.
Alarum.] Ff. Alarme. Qq.
[3164] I prithee ... him.] Arranged as by Steevens (1793). As prose in Qq Ff. First as verse by Capell (omitting I prithee).
[3165] bleed'st] Capell. bleedest Qq Ff.
[3166] beseech] do beseech Pope.
[3167] your retirement] yon retirement F₁ F₂.
[3168] As one line in Qq.
[3169] my lord] my good lord Keightley conj.
[3170] God] Qq. heaven Ff.
[3171] stain'd] slain Capell conj.
[3172] God's] Qq. heavens Ff.
[Exeunt....] Capell.
[3173] O ... all!] Arranged as by Pope. As one line in Qq Ff.
[3174] Enter D.] Alarums. Enter D. Capell.
[3175] so ... thyself] Ff. and ... thy selfe Qq. and so ... thyself Keightley conj. and ... myself Anon. conj.
[3176] re-enter....] Enter Prince of Wales. Qq. Enter Prince. Ff.
[3177] thy] they F₁.
[3178] valiant] om. Pope.
Blunt ... arms] Massy, Blunt ... arm S. Walker conj., reading Are ... arm as a separate line.
[3179] threatens] threates F₂. threats F₃ F₄.
he] om. F₂ F₃ F₄.
flies] flieth or flyeth Qq Ff.
[3180] and] om. Capell.
[3181] thy] my Rowe.
[3182] God] Qq. heaven Ff.
[3183] hearken'd] hunger'd or hanker'd Anon. conj.
for] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. The rest to.
[3184] Sir] Ff. S. Qq.
[3185] SCENE IX. Pope.
[3186] speak'st] speakest F₂ F₃ F₄.
[3187] Why, then ... name.] As one line in Qq Ff. Pope omits Why and ends line 61 at see.
[3188] the] Q₁ Q₂. The rest that.
[3189] God] Qq. heaven Ff.
[3190] the] thy Q₅ Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[3191] [They fight.] Qq. Fight. Ff.
[3192] Re-enter Douglas ... dead] Enter D.... dead. Ff.
fights] fighteth Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄.
who falls] he falls Qq.
and exit ... falls] Capell. The Prince killeth Percie. Qq Ff.
[3193] youth] worth Theobald conj. growth Warburton conj.
[3194] brook] broke Q₅.
[3195] thy] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest the.
sword] word Q₈.
[3196] thought's the slave] thoughts the slaves Q₁.
[3197] earthy and] Q₁. The other Quartos earth and. earth, and the Ff.
[3198] For] om. Pope.
thee] om. Ff.
great heart] om. Pope.
[3199] thee] Q₇ Q₈. The rest the.
[3200] dear] deare Q₁. The rest great.
[3201] favours] favour Warburton.
[3202] rites] rights Q₁.
[3203] ignominy] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₈ F₃ F₄. The rest ignomy.
[3204] But] Be Capell.
[He spieth....] Qq. om. Ff.
[3205] fat] Q₁ Ff. The rest fair.
[3206] SCENE X. Pope.
[Rising up] riseth up. Qq Ff.
[3207] 'Sblood] Zloud Q₅ Q₆ Q₇ Q₈. om. Ff.
[3208] I lie] om. Q₅ Q₆ Ff Q₇ Q₈.
[3209] 'Zounds] om. Ff.
[3210] afraid] afeard Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[3211] by my faith] om. Ff.
[3212] killed] slew Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[3213] [stabbing him] om. Qq Ff.
[3214] with] om. F₁ F₂.
[Takes up....] He takes up.... Qq. Takes.... Ff.
[3215] Re-enter....] Enter Prince John of Lancaster. Q₁. The rest, Enter Prince and John of Lancaster.
[3216] SCENE XI. Pope.
[3217] whom] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃. whome Q₄. The rest who.
[3218] I did ... seem'st] Arranged as in Qq Ff. See note (XXIV).
[3219] Breathless and bleeding] And breathless Pope.
[3220] be not] am not F₂ F₃ F₄.
[3221] [throwing ...] om. Qq Ff.
[3222] kill] slay Q₆. slay Q₇ Q₈.
[3223] Why] om. Anon. conj. MS.
killed] slew Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[3224] this] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest the.
[3225] take it upon] Qq. take't on Ff.
[3226] 'zounds] om. Ff.
would] will Q₈.
[3227] ever] Qq. e're Ff.
[3228] [A retreat....] Qq Ff (retraite Q₁ Q₂ Q₃).
[3229] trumpet sounds] trumpets sound Q₄ Q₅ Q₆ Ff.
ours] our Q₁.
[3230] [Exeunt....] Exeunt. Qq Ff.
[3231] God] Qq. Heaven Ff.
great] Qq. great again Ff.
[3232] nobleman] Q₄ Q₅ Q₆ F₁ Q₇ Q₈. The rest noble man.
[Exit.] Exit, bearing off the body. Capell.
[3233] SCENE V.] Scæna Ouinta. F₂. Scæna Quarta. F₁ F₃ F₄. Scene XII. Pope.
Another....] Capell. The trumpets ... prisoners.] Qq Ff.
Westmoreland] Westmoreland, and others. Capell.
[3234] rebuke.] rebuke, Q₁.
[3235] not we] Qq. we not Ff.
[3236] Had] Now stiff in death, had Seymour conj.
[3237] Since ... it falls] Which ... falls Collier (Collier MS.).
[3238] the death] Qq. death Ff.
[3239] [Exeunt ... guarded.] Theobald. Exit Worcester and Vernon. Ff. om. Qq.
[3240] noble] gallant Pope.
[3241] quite turn'd] turn'd quite Q₆ Q₇ Q₈.
[3242] to you ... belong] Arranged as by Pope. As one line in Qq Ff.
[3243] valour ... Hath] valours ... Have Q₁ Q₂ Q₃.
[3244] taught] shown Malone. See note (XXV).
[3245] I thank ... immediately] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. Omitted in all the rest.
[3246] give away immediately] put in act without delay Collier MS.
[3247] Towards] Toward Q₇ Q₈.
bend you] bend, you Q₁ Q₂ Q₃.
[3248] the] om. Pope.
[3249] you] om. F₂ F₃ F₄.
towards] toward Q₇ Q₈.
[3250] sway] Q₁ Q₂ Q₃ Q₄. The rest way.
[3251] so fair is] so far is Rowe. so far fair is Pope. is so fairly Capell.
NOTES.
NOTE I.
A list of Dramatis Personæ in MS. of an early time is prefixed to Capell's copy of the sixth Quarto.
'Falstaff' is spelt 'Falstaffe' or 'Falstalffe' in the Quartos, but consistently 'Falstaffe' in the first Folio.
'Poins' is spelt 'Poines' or 'Poynes' in the Quartos, and occasionally, in the Folio, 'Pointz,' as it is in The Merry Wives of Windsor, III. 2. 63.
'Bardolph,' spelt thus, or 'Bardolfe,' in the Folio, is 'Bardoll' or 'Bardol' in the Quartos. We retain the spelling which is most familiar in names so well known.
NOTE II.
I. 1. 28. Mr Staunton says that 'now is twelve months old' is the reading of the first Quarto. Capell's copy has 'now is twelue month old.'
NOTE III.
I. 1. 62. We take this opportunity of reminding our readers that we have not recorded minute variations of spelling except where they seemed to have importance as helping to determine the text. We give as a general rule the spelling of the earliest copy.
NOTE IV.
I. 1. 73. Capell says: "Too hasty a perusal of a passage in Holinshed betray'd Shakespeare into a mistake in this place. The 'earl of Fife' was not 'son to Douglas' but to a duke of Albany, as the same chronicler tells us soon after; and in this passage too, was it rightly pointed, and a little attended to: for that duke was then governour; i.e. of Scotland; and the word governour should have a comma after it, or (rather) a semi-colon." He goes on to say that the mistake is repeated I. 3. 261, and proposes to give historical truth to both these passages by reading:
(1) 'Prisoners to Hotspur are Mordake the earl of Fife; and he himself The beaten Douglas; and with him, &c.'
(2) 'And make the regent's son your only mean For powers in Scotland.'
That is (says Capell) by delivering him, as it appears they did by some words of the Poet himself, p. 85 (i.e. IV. 4. 23), where the earl of Fife is spoken of as making a part of Hotspur's army at Shrewsbury.
NOTE V.
I. 1. 75-77. The first and second Quartos read:
'A gallant prize? Ha coosen, is it not? In faith it is.
West. A conquest for a Prince to boast of,'
leaving a blank between 'not?' and 'In faith.' The subsequent Quartos and the Folios have the same reading without the blank. Pope reads:
'A gallant prize? ha, cousin, is it not?
West. In faith, a conquest for a prince to boast of.'
Rann has, for the second line,
'West. 'Faith 'tis a conquest for a prince to boast of,'
a reading which Malone by mistake assigns to Pope.
Malone himself gives:
'West. In faith, it is a conquest for a prince To boast of.'
Capell reads:
'West. It is a conquest for a prince to boast of.'
Dr Nicholson proposes:
'A gallant prize? ha, cousin, is it not, In faith?
West. A conquest for a prince to boast of.'
For, he says, 'In faith' sounds too familiar to be addressed by a subject to his king.
NOTE VI.
I. 2. 56. "Here," says Mr Dyce, "all the old copies, I believe, have '--when thou art a king' &c. but erroneously." Four of the Quartos, the first, second, seventh and eighth, have 'when thou art king,' which is unquestionably the right reading.
NOTE VII.
I. 2. 97. The first and second Quartos read as in the text. The third and following Quartos and the Folios print Poines in italics, as if the words 'Now shall we know ... true man' were spoken by him.
NOTE VIII.
I. 2. 148. Theobald was the first to suggest that Harvey and Rossill were the names of the actors who performed the parts of Peto and Bardolph. But in II. 4. 165, 167, 171 for 'Ross.' which is found in the Quartos the Folios substitute not 'Bard.' but 'Gad.' i.e. 'Gadshill.'
NOTE IX.
I. 2. 175. Steevens claimed as his own conjecture the reading 'to-night,' which Capell had adopted in his text. Mr Knight punctuates, 'and meet me. To-morrow night, &c.'
NOTE X.
II. I. 6, 11. Either the article or the pronoun was intentionally omitted in these passages, in order to give rusticity to the carriers' language. The Folios supply the article in the former passage, but leave the latter untouched.
NOTE XI.
II. I. 72. We have recorded Jackson's conjecture in this passage as a curiosity. Its full value can only be appreciated by reading his own explanation. In many other cases the emendations of Becket and Jackson are quoted as amusing instances of the licence which they permitted themselves.
NOTE XII.
II. 2. 46, 47. The first and second Quartos here read 'Bardoll, what newes?' as part of Poins's speech, and in the same line with it. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth have, 'Bardol what newes?' the seventh and eighth, Bardol, what newes?' Bardol being in italics. In the Folios, 'Bardolfe, what newes?' is put in a separate line, and this arrangement appears to have suggested Johnson's conjecture. We have omitted, as unnecessary, many of the stage directions which editors have introduced into this scene, because the whole affair takes place in the dark.
NOTE XIII.
II. 4. 245. Capell's misprint, 'how plain a tale,' which he corrected in MS. as well as in his notes, was followed by Malone and other editors.
NOTE XIV.
II. 4. 481. Johnson was the first to suggest that Poins and not Peto should remain with the Prince. 'I cannot but suspect,' he says, 'that for Peto we should read Poins: what had Peto done that his place should be honourable, or that he should be trusted with the plot against Falstaff? Poins has the prince's confidence, and is a man of courage. This alteration clears the whole difficulty, they all retired but Poins, who, with the prince, having only robbed the robbers, had no need to conceal himself from the travellers.' Johnson's last-mentioned reason for the alteration has less weight when we consider that they all wore vizards. In favour of his conjecture we find that the Dering MS. has 'Poynes' for 'Peto' in line 523, and in the stage directions to lines 504, 508, 524. On the other hand, the formal 'Good morrow, good my lord' is appropriate to Peto rather than to Poins, who was on much more familiar terms with the prince, and rarely addresses him in this play except as 'Hal.' We have therefore left the old text undisturbed.
NOTE XV.
III. 2. 174-176. The first Quarto, whose arrangement is followed in all the other Quartos, reads:
'On thursday we our selues will march. Our meeting Is Bridgenorth, and Harry, you shall march Through Glocestershire, by which account ...'
The first Folio has:
'On Thursday, wee our selues will march. Our meeting is Bridgenorth: and Harry, you shall march Through Glocestershire: by which account....'
Pope altered the passage thus:
'On Thursday we ourselves will march: our meeting Is at Bridgenorth; and Harry, you shall march Through Glo'stershire: by which, some twelve days hence Our general forces at Bridgenorth shall meet.'
Capell's arrangement, taking in the previous line, is as follows:
'On Wednesday next, son Harry, you shall set Forward; on thursday, we ourselves will march. Our meeting is Bridgnorth and, Harry, you Shall march through Glocestershire; by which account....'
NOTE XVI.
III. 3. 81. Theobald was the first to insert the words 'and Peto' in the stage directions. They are omitted in the Quartos and Folios, and Steevens following Johnson's conjecture, changed them to 'and Pointz.' This alteration is supported by the reading of the Dering MS. in line 186, 'Poynes' for 'Peto.' But 'Peto' is found in the text in III. 3. 186. It is true, as Johnson points out, that Peto is afterwards (IV. 2. 9) mentioned as Falstaff's lieutenant, but this may be the honourable place which the prince had promised him (II. 4. 519).
NOTE XVII.
III. 3. 187. Steevens adopted, without acknowledgement, Capell's arrangement:
'Jack, Meet me to-morrow in the Temple hall.'
NOTE XVIII.
IV. 1. 54. It is not improbable that a line may have been lost after reversion.
NOTE XIX.
IV. 1. 99. We leave this obscure passage as it stands in the old copies. Possibly, as Steevens suggested, a line has dropped out after wind. The phrase 'wing the wind' seems to apply to ostriches (for such is unquestionably the meaning of 'estridges') less than to any other birds. Mr Dyce quotes a passage from Claudian (In Eutropium, II. 310-313) to justify it:
'Vasta velut Libyæ venantum vocibus ales Cum premitur, calidas cursu transmittit arenas, Inque modum veli sinuatis flamine pennis Pulverulenta volat.'
But this means that the bird spreads its wings like a sail bellying with the wind--a different thing from 'winging the wind.'
Malone, agreeing with Steevens that a line might have been lost, suggested the following:
'All plum'd like estridges, that with the wind Run on, in gallant trim they now advance: Bated like eagles, &c.'
NOTE XX.
IV. 4. 22. We leave these lines as they are in the Quartos and Folios. Pope read the passage, perhaps rightly, as prose. Steevens smoothed the lines thus:
'Gent. Why, good my lord, you need not fear; there's Douglas, And Mortimer.
Arch. No, Mortimer's not there.'
NOTE XXI.
V. 1. We have followed the Quartos, Folios, and all editors till Capell's time, in leaving the 'Earl of Westmoreland' among the persons entering. He does not speak, indeed, but it might be intended that he should be present as a mute person for the nonce. On the same principle we have left 'Lord John of Lancaster' in the stage direction of I. 1.
NOTE XXII.
V. 2. 72. Mr Collier reads 'wild o' liberty,' observing in a note that the three oldest Quartos have this reading. The true reading of these Quartos, and the fourth, is what we have given in the foot-note, 'wild a libertie.' Mr Grant White retains it in his text, interpreting 'never did I hear so wild a liberty reported of any prince.' Pope also adopted this reading without any note of explanation. Theobald restored what he called 'the reading of the old copies' and punctuated thus: 'Of any prince, so wild, at liberty.'
NOTE XXIII.
V. 2. 101. The stage direction of the first Quarto is literally as follows: Here they embrace the trumpets sound, the King enters with his power, alarme to the battel, then enter Douglas, and Sir Walter Blunt. The Folios have substantially the same, omitting the word 'Here.' They indicate no change of scene in this place. The Quartos do not, either here or elsewhere, mark any division into act or scene.
NOTE XXIV.
V. 4. 136, sqq. Pope reads thus:
'I did, I saw him dead And breathless on the ground: art thou alive, Or is it Fancy plays upon our eye-sight? I pr'ythee speak, we will not trust our eyes Without our ears: thou art not what thou seem'st.'
Capell thus:
'I did; I saw him dead, breathless and bleeding Upon the ground.-- Art thou alive? or is it fantasy, That plays upon our eye-sight? I pr'ythee, speak; We will not trust our eyes without our ears: Thou art not what thou seem'st.'
NOTE XXV.
V. 5. 30. Malone reads 'shewn' on the authority of the Quarto of 1598. But Capell's copy of that edition has 'taught,' and this is the reading of Malone's own copy, now in the Bodleian Library.
THE SECOND PART OF
KING HENRY THE FOURTH.
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ[J].
RUMOUR, the Presenter. KING HENRY the Fourth. HENRY, PRINCE of WALES, afterwards King Henry V., } THOMAS, DUKE of CLARENCE, } his sons. 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 Chief-Justice. EARL of NORTHUMBERLAND. SCROOP, Archbishop of York. LORD MOWBRAY. LORD HASTINGS. LORD BARDOLPH. SIR JOHN COLVILLE.. TRAVERS and MORTON, retainers of Northumberland. SIR JOHN FALSTAFF. His Page. BARDOLPH. PISTOL. POINS. PETO. SHALLOW, } country justices. SILENCE, } 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[K], Drawers, Beadles, Grooms, &c.
A Dancer, speaker of the epilogue.
SCENE: England.
[J] DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.] THE ACTORS NAMES. Ff (at the end of the play). om. Q. See note (I).
[K] Lords ... Porter] om. Ff.
THE SECOND PART OF
KING HENRY IV.
Induction
Warkworth. Before the castle.
Enter Rumour, painted full of tongues.[3252]
Rum. 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 post-horse, still unfold The acts commenced on this ball of earth: 5 Upon my tongues continual slanders ride,[3253] The which in every language I pronounce, Stuffing the ears of men with false reports.[3254] I speak of peace, while covert enmity Under the smile of safety wounds the world: 10 And who but Rumour, who but only I, Make fearful musters and prepared defence, Whiles the big year, swoln with some other grief,[3255] Is thought with child by the stern tyrant war, And no such matter? Rumour is a pipe 15 Blown by surmises, jealousies, conjectures,[3256] And of so easy and so plain a stop That the blunt monster with uncounted heads, The still-discordant wavering multitude,[3257] Can play upon it. But what need I thus 20 My well-known body to anatomize[3258] 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, 25 Quenching the flame of bold rebellion Even with the rebels' blood. But what mean I To speak so true at first? my office is[3259] To noise abroad that Harry Monmouth fell Under the wrath of noble Hotspur's sword, 30 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[3260] Between that royal field of Shrewsbury[3261] And this worm-eaten hold of ragged stone,[3262] 35 Where Hotspur's father, old Northumberland,[3263] Lies crafty-sick: the posts come tiring on,[3264] And not a man of them brings other news Than they have learn'd of me: from Rumour's tongues[3265] They bring smooth comforts false, worse than true wrongs.[3266] 40
[Exit.
FOOTNOTES:
[3252] Induction.] Ff. See note (II).
Warkworth ... castle.] Capell.
Enter ... tongues.] Q. Enter Rumour. Ff.
[3253] tongues] Q. tongue Ff.
[3254] men] Q. them Ff.
[3255] Whiles] Q. Whil'st Ff.
year] ear Hanmer.
grief] griefe Q. griefes F₁ F₂. griefs F₃ F₄.
[3256] surmises] Q F₁. surmise F₂ F₃ F₄.
[3257] still-discordant wavering] still-discordant-wavering Pope.
[3258] anatomize] F₄. anothomize Q. anathomize F₁ F₂ F₃.
[3259] so true] Q F₁. of truth F₂ F₃ F₄.
[3260] peasant towns] peasant townes Q. peasant-Townes F₁ F₂. peasant-Towns F₃. Peasant Towns F₄. pleasant towns Collier MS.
[3261] that] Q. the Ff.
[3262] worm-eaten hold] Theobald. worme-eaten hole Q. Worm-eaten-Hole Ff.
[3263] Where] Ff. When Q.
[3264] crafty-sick] Pope. crafty sicke Q F₁ F₂. crafty sick F₃ F₄.
[3265] me:] me, Q. me. Ff.
[3266] [Exit.] Ff. Exit Rumours. Q.
Act I, Scene I — The same.
Enter LORD BARDOLPH.[3267]
L. Bard. Who keeps the gate here, ho?[3268]
The Porter opens the gate.
Where is the earl?
Port. What shall I say you are?
L. Bard. Tell thou the earl That the Lord Bardolph doth attend him here.
Port. His lordship is walk'd forth into the orchard: Please it your honour, knock but at the gate, 5 And he himself will answer.
Enter NORTHUMBERLAND.
L. Bard. Here comes the earl.
[Exit Porter.[3269]
North. 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 10 And bears down all before him.
L. Bard. Noble earl, I bring you certain news from Shrewsbury.
North. Good, an God will![3270]
L. Bard. As good as heart can wish: The king is almost wounded to the death; And, in the fortune of my lord your son, 15 Prince Harry slain outright; and both the Blunts Kill'd by the hand of Douglas; young Prince John 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, 20 So fought, so follow'd and so fairly won. Came not till now to dignify the times, Since Cæsar's fortunes!
North. How is this derived? Saw you the field? came you from Shrewsbury?
L. Bard. I spake with one, my lord, that came from thence,[3271] 25 A gentleman well bred and of good name, That freely render'd me these news for true.
North. Here comes my servant Travers, whom I sent[3272] On Tuesday last to listen after news.
Enter TRAVERS.[3273]
L. Bard. My lord, I over-rode him on the way; 30 And he is furnish'd with no certainties More than he haply may retail from me.[3274]
North. Now, Travers, what good tidings comes with you?[3275]
Tra. My lord, Sir John Umfrevile turn'd me back[3276] With joyful tidings; and, being better horsed, 35 Out-rode me. After him came spurring hard[3277] 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: 40 He told me that rebellion had bad luck[3278] 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[3279] Against the panting sides of his poor jade 45 Up to the rowel-head, and starting so He seem'd in running to devour the way, Staying no longer question.
North. Ha! Again: Said he young Harry Percy's spur was cold? Of Hotspur Coldspur? that rebellion[3280] 50 Had met ill luck?[3280]
L. Bard. My lord, I'll tell you what;[3281] 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.[3282]
North. Why should that gentleman that rode by Travers[3283] 55 Give then such instances of loss?
L. Bard. Who, he? He was some hilding fellow that had stolen[3284] The horse he rode on, and, upon my life, Spoke at a venture. Look, here comes more news.[3285]
Enter MORTON.
North. Yea, this man's brow, like to a title-leaf,[3286] 60 Foretells the nature of a tragic volume: So looks the strond whereon the imperious flood[3287] Hath left a witness'd usurpation. Say, Morton, didst thou come from Shrewsbury?
Mor. I ran from Shrewsbury, my noble lord; 65 Where hateful death put on his ugliest mask To fright our party.
North. 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, 70 So dull, so dead in look, so woe-begone,[3288] 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,[3289] And I my Percy's death ere thou report'st it. 75 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,[3290] Thou hast a sigh to blow away this praise, 80 Ending with 'Brother, son, and all are dead.'
Mor. Douglas is living, and your brother, yet;[3291] But, for my lord your son,--
North. Why, he is dead.[3292] See what a ready tongue suspicion hath! He that but fears the thing he would not know 85 Hath by instinct knowledge from others' eyes[3293] That what he fear'd is chanced. Yet speak, Morton;[3294] Tell thou an earl his divination lies,[3295] And I will take it as a sweet disgrace, And make thee rich for doing me such wrong. 90
Mor. You are too great to be by me gainsaid: Your spirit is too true, your fears too certain.
North. Yet, for all this, say not that Percy's dead.[3296] I see a strange confession in thine eye:[3296] Thou shakest thy head, and hold'st it fear or sin[3296] 95 To speak a truth. If he be slain, say so;[3296][3297] The tongue offends not that reports his death:[3296] And he doth sin that doth belie the dead;[3296] Not he which says the dead is not alive.[3296] Yet the first bringer of unwelcome news[3296] 100 Hath but a losing office, and his tongue[3296] Sounds ever after as a sullen bell,[3296] Remember'd tolling a departing friend.[3296][3298]
L. Bard. I cannot think, my lord, your son is dead.
Mor. I am sorry I should force you to believe[3299] 105 That which I would to God I had not seen;[3300] But these mine eyes saw him in bloody state, Rendering faint quittance, wearied and outbreathed, To Harry Monmouth; whose swift wrath beat down[3301] The never-daunted Percy to the earth, 110 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 best-temper'd courage in his troops; 115 For from his metal was his party steel'd;[3302] Which once in him abated, all the rest[3303] Turn'd on themselves, like dull and heavy lead: And as the thing that's heavy in itself, Upon enforcement flies with greatest speed, 120 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[3304] Than did our soldiers, aiming at their safety, Fly from the field. Then was that noble Worcester[3305] 125 Too soon ta'en prisoner; and that furious Scot,[3306] The bloody Douglas, whose well-labouring 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, 130 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. 135
North. For this I shall have time enough to mourn. In poison there is physic; and these news,[3307] Having been well, that would have made me sick,[3308] Being sick, have in some measure made me well:[3309] And as the wretch, whose fever-weaken'd joints, 140 Like strengthless hinges, buckle under life,[3310] 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,[3311] Are thrice themselves. Hence, therefore, thou nice crutch![3312] 145 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.[3313] Now bind my brows with iron; and approach 150 The ragged'st hour that time and spite dare bring[3314] 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[3315] 155 To feed contention in a lingering act; But let one spirit of the first-born 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! 160
Tra. This strained passion doth you wrong, my lord.[3316]
L. Bard. Sweet earl, divorce not wisdom from your honour.
Mor. The lives of all your loving complices Lean on your health; the which, if you give o'er[3317] To stormy passion, must perforce decay. 165 You cast the event of war, my noble lord,[3318] And summ'd the account of chance, before you said[3318] 'Let us make head.' It was your presurmise,[3318] That, in the dole of blows, your son might drop:[3318] You knew he walk'd o'er perils, on an edge,[3318] 170 More likely to fall in than to get o'er;[3318] You were advised his flesh was capable[3318] Of wounds and scars and that his forward spirit[3318] Would lift him where most trade of danger ranged:[3318] Yet did you say 'Go forth;' and none of this,[3318] 175 Though strongly apprehended, could restrain[3318] The stiff-borne action: what hath then befallen,[3318] Or what hath this bold enterprise brought forth,[3318][3319] More than that being which was like to be?[3318]
L. Bard. We all that are engaged to this loss 180 Knew that we ventured on such dangerous seas That if we wrought out life 'twas ten to one;[3320] And yet we ventured, for the gain proposed[3321] Choked the respect of likely peril fear'd; And since we are o'erset, venture again. 185 Come, we will all put forth, body and goods.[3322]
Mor. 'Tis more than time: and, my most noble lord, I hear for certain, and do speak the truth,[3323] The gentle Archbishop of York is up[3324] With well-appointed powers: he is a man[3324] 190 Who with a double surety binds his followers.[3324] My lord your son had only but the corpse,[3324][3325] But shadows and the shows of men, to fight;[3324] For that same word, rebellion, did divide[3324] The action of their bodies from their souls;[3324] 195 And they did fight with queasiness, constrain'd,[3324] As men drink potions, that their weapons only[3324] Seem'd on our side; but, for their spirits and souls,[3324] This word, rebellion, it had froze them up,[3324] As fish are in a pond. But now the bishop[3324][3326] 200 Turns insurrection to religion:[3324] Supposed sincere and holy in his thoughts,[3324] He's followed both with body and with mind;[3324] And doth enlarge his rising with the blood[3324][3327] Of fair King Richard, scraped from Pomfret stones;[3324] 205 Derives from heaven his quarrel and his cause;[3324] Tells them he doth bestride a bleeding land,[3324] Gasping for life under great Bolingbroke;[3324] And more and less do flock to follow him.[3324]
North. I knew of this before; but, to speak truth, 210 This present grief had wiped it from my mind. Go in with me; and counsel every man The aptest way for safety and revenge: Get posts and letters, and make friends with speed: Never so few, and never yet more need.[3328] [Exeunt. 215