My fault, but not my body, pardon, sovereign.
K. Hen. God quit you in his mercy ! Hear your sentence.
You have conspir'd against our royal person,
Join'd with an enemy proclaim'd, and from his coffers
Receiv'd the golden earnest of our death ;
Wherein you would have sold your king to slaughter.
His princes and his peers to servitude.
His subjects to oppression and contempt.
And his whole kingdom into desolation.
Touching our person, seek we no revenge ;
But we our kingdom's safety must so tender,
Whose ruin you have sought, that to her laws
We do deliver you. Go you, therefore, hence,
Poor miserable wretches, to your death :
The taste whereof, God of his mercy give
You patience to endure, and true repentance
Of all your dear offenses ! — Bear them hence.
[Exetait Cambridge, Scroop, and Grey, guarded.
Now, lords, for France ; the enterprise whereof
Shall be to you as us like glorious.
We doubt not of a fair and lucky war.
Since God so graciously hath brought to light
This dangerous treason, lurking in our way
To hinder our beginnings ; we doubt not now
But every rub is smoothed on our way.
Then, forth, dear countrymen : let us deliver
Our puissance into the hand of God,
Putting it straight in expedition.
Cheerly to sea ; the signs of war advance :
No king of England, if not king of France. {Exeunt.
Scene HI. London. Before the Boar' s-head Tavern,
Eastcheap.
Enter PiSTOL, Hostess, Nym, Bardolph, and Boy,
Host. Prithee, honey-sweet husband, let me bring thee
to Staines,
IV. i86. [k.h.v. 24.
Ac///.] K/NG HENRY y [Scene///.
Pist. No ; for my manly heart doth yearn. —
Bardolph, be bHthe ; — Nym, rouse tliy vaunting veins;—
Boy, bristle thy courage up ; — for Falstaff he is dead,
And we must yearn therefore.
Bard. Would I were with him, wheresome'er he is,
either in heaven or in hell !
Host. Nay, sure, he's not in hell : he's in Arthur's bo-
som, if ever man went to Arthur's bosom. 'A made a
fine end, and went away, an it had been any christom
child ; 'a parted even just between twelve and one, even
at the turning o' the tide : for after I saw him fumble with
tiie sheets, and play with flowers, and smile upon his lin-
gers' ends, I knew there was but one way ; for his nose
was as sharp as a pen, and 'a babbled of green fields.
" How now. Sir John ! " quoth I : " what, man ! be o'
good cheer." So 'a cried out " God, God, God ! " three
or four times. Now I, to comfort him, bid him 'a should
not think of God ; I hoped there was no need to trouble
himself with any such thoughts yet. So 'a bade me lay
more clothes on his feet : I put my hand into the bed
and felt them, and they were as cold as any stone ; then
I felt to his knees, and so upward and upward, and all
was as cold as any stone.
Nytn. They say he cried out of sack.
Host Ay, that 'a did.
Bard. And of women.
Host. Nay, that 'a did not.
Boy. Yes, that 'a did ; and said they were devilc incar-
nate.
Hosf. 'A could never abide carnation ; 'twas a color he
never liked.
Boy. 'A said once, the devil would have him about
women.
Host. 'A did in some sort, indeed, handle women ; but
then he was rheumatic, and talked of the whore of Babylon.
Boy. Do you not remember, 'a saw a flea stick upon
Bardolph's nose, and 'a said it was a black soul burning
in hell-fire ?
Bard. Well, the fuel is gone that maintained tliat fire :
that's all the riches I got in his service.
Nym. Shall we shog.-* the king will be gone from
Southampton.
K.H.V. 25.] IV. 187.
4 a//.] KING HENRY V. IScene IV.
Pist. Come, let's away.^ My love, give me thy lips.
Look to my chattels and my movables :
Let senses rule ; the word is " Pitch and pay ; "
Trust none ;
For oaths are straws, men's faiths are wafer-cakes.
And hold-fast is the only dog, my duck :
Therefore, caveto be thy counselor.
Go, clear thy crystals. — Yoke fellows in arms,
Let us to France ; like horse-leeches, my boys,
To suck, to suck, the very blood to suck !
Boy. And that's but unwholesome food, they say.
Pist. Touch her soft mouth, and march.
Bard, Farewell, hostess. {Kissing her.
Nytn. I cannot kiss, that is the humor of it ; but, adieu.
Pisf. Let house-wifery appear : keep close, I thee com-
mand.
Host. Farewell ; adieu. {Exeunt.
Scene IV. France. A room in the French King's
palace.
Flourish. Enter the French King, attended ; the
Dauphin, the Duke of Burgundy, the Constable,
and oilier s.
Fr. King. Thus come the English with full power uji-
on us ;
And more than carefully it us concerns
To answer royally in our defenses.
Therefore the Dukes of Berri and of Bretagne,
Of Brabant and of Orleans, shall make forth, —
And you, Prince Dauphin, — with all swift dispatch.
To line and new repair our towns of war
With men of courage and with means defendant;
For England his approaches makes as fierce
As waters to the sucking of a gulf.
It rtts us, then, to be as provident
As fear may teach us, out of late examples
Left by the fatal and neglected English
Upon our fields.
Dan. My most redoubted father,
It is most meet we arm us 'gainst the foe;
For peace itself should not so dull a kingdom,
IV. 188. [k.h V 26
Act II.] KING HENRY y. [Scene /V.
Though war nor no known quarrel were in question,
But that defenses, musters, preparations,
Should be maintain'd, assembled, and collected,
As were a war in expectation.
Therefore, I say 'tis meet we all go forth
To view the sick and feeble parts of France :
And let us do it with no show of fear;
No, witli no more than if we heard that England
Were busied with a Whitsun morris-dance :
For, my good liege, she is so idly king'd,
Her scepter so fantastically borne
By a vain, giddy, shallow, humorous youth.
That fear attends her not.
C(W. O peace. Prince Dauphin I
You are too much mistaken in this king :
Question your grace the late ambassadors, —
With what great state he heard their embassy.
How well supplied with noble counselors.
How modest in exception, and withal
How terrible in constant resolution, —
And you shall tind his vanities forespent
Were but the outside of the Roman Brutus,
Covering discretion with a coat of folly ;
As gardeners do with ordure hide those roots
That shall first spring and be most delicate.
Daii. Well, 'tis not so, my lord high-constable;
But though we think it so, it is no matter :
In cases of defense 'tis best to weigh
The enemy more mighty than he seems :
So the proportions of defense are filled ;
Which, of a weak and niggardly projection,
Doth, like a miser, spoil his coat with scanting
A little cloth.
Fr. Kino-. Think we King Harry strong ;
And, princes, look you strongly arm to meet him.
The kindred of him hath been fiesh'd upon us ;
And he is bred out of that bloody strain
That haunted us in our familinr paths:
Witness our too-much memorable shame
When Cressy battle fatally was struck.
And all our princes captiv'd by the hand
Of that black name, Edward, Black Prince of Wales
K.H.V. 27.] IV. 189.
Act 11. \ KING HENRY V. \_Scene IV.
Whiles that his mountain sire, — on mountain standing.
Up in the air, crown'd with the golden sun, —
Saw his heroical seed, and smil'd to see him,
Mangle the work of nature, and deface
The patterns that by God and by French fathers
Had twenty years been made. This is a stem
Of that victorious stock ; and let us fear
The native mightiness and fate of him.
Enter a Messenger.
Mess. Ambassadors from Harry king of England
Do crave admittance to your majesty.
Fr. King. We'll give them i)resent audience. Go, and
bring them.
^Exeunt Messenger ciJid certain Lords.
You see this chase is hotly followed, friends.
Dan. Turn head, and stop pursuit ; for coward dogs
Most spend their mouths, when what they seem to threaten
Runs far before them. Good my sovereign
Take up the English short ; and let them know
Of what a monarchy you are the head :
Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin
As self-neglecting.
Re-enter Lords, with ExETER and Tram.
Fr. King. From our brother England }
Exe. From him ; and thus he greets your majesty.
He wills you, in the name of God Almighty,
That you divest yourself, and lay apart
The borrow'd glories, that, by gift of heaven,
By law of nature and of nations, 'long
To him and to his heirs ; namely, the crown.
And all wide-stretched honors that pertain,
By custom and the ordinance of times.
Unto the crown of France. That you may know
'Tis no sinister nor no awkward claim,
Pick'd from the worm-holes of long-vanish'd days,
Nor from the dust of old oblivion rak'd,
He sends you this most memorable line, \j3ives a paper.
In every branch truly demonstrative ;
Willing you overlook his pedigree'
And when you find him evenly deriv'd
IV. 190. [k.h.v. 38,
Act II. I KING HENRY V. [Scene 11'
From his most fam'd of famous ancestors,
Edward the Third, he bids you then resign
Your crown and kingdom, indirectly lield
From him the native and true challenger.
Fr. King. Or else what follows ?
Exe. Bloody constraint ; for if you hide the crown
Even in your hearts, there will he rake for it :
Therefore in fier\' tempest is he coming,
In thunder and in earthquake, like a Jove,
That, if requiring fail, he will compel ;
And bids you, in the bowels of the Lord,
Deliver up the crown ; and to take mercy
On the poor souls for whom this hungry war
Opens his vasty jaws : and on your head
Turns he the widows' tears, the orphans' cries,
The dead men's blood, the pining maidens' groans.
For husbands, fathers, and betrothed lovers,
That shall be swallow'd in this controversy.
This is his claim, his threatening and my message;
Unless the Dauphin be in presence here,
To whom expressly I bring greeting too.
F7\ Ki7tg. For us, we will consider of this further:
To-morrow shall you bear our full intent
Back to our brother England.
Dau. For the Dauphin,
I stand here for him : what to him from England .•'
Exe. Scorn and defiance ; slight regard, contempt.
And any thing that may not misbecome
The mighty sender, doth he prize you at.
Thus says my kmg: an if your father's highness
Do not, in grant of all demands at large.
Sweeten the bitter mock you sent his majesty.
He'll call you to so hot an answer of it.
That caves and womby vaultages of France
Shall chide your trespass, and return your mock
In second accent of his ordnance.
Dau. Say, if my father render fair return,
It is against my will ; for I desire
Nothing but odds with England : to that end,
As matching to his youth and vanity,
I did present him with the Paris balls.
Exe. He'll make your Paris Louvre shake for it,
K.H V. 19.] IV. iqi.
Art II.] KING HENRY y. [Scene /y.
Were it the mistress-court of mighty Europe:
And, be assur'd, you'll tind a difference,
As we, his subjects, have in wonder found,
Between the promise of his greener days
And these he masters now : now he weighs time,
Even to the utmost grain : — that you shall read
In your own losses, if he stay in France.
Pr. King. To-morrow shall you know oui' mind at full,
Exe. Dispatch us with all speed, lest that our king
Come here himself to question our delay ;
For he is footed in this land already.
Fr. King. You shall be soon dispatched with fair con-
ditions :
A night is but small breath and little pause
To answer matters of this consequence.
[Flourish. Exeunt,
Enter Chorus.
Chor. Thus with imagin'd wing our swift scene flies.
In motion of no less celerity
Than that of thought. Suppose that you have seen
The well-appointed king at Hampcon pier
Embark his royalty ; and his brave fleet
With silken streamers the young Phcebus fanning.
Play with your fancies ; and in them behold
Upon the hempen tackle ship-boys climbing;
Hear the shrill whistle which doth order give
To sounds confus'd ; behold the threaden sails.
Borne with th' invisible and creeping wind,
Draw the huge bottoms through the furrow'd sea.
Breasting the lofty surge: O, do but think
You stand upon the rivage, and behold
A city on th' inconstant billows dancing ;
For so appears this fleet majestical.
Holding due course to Harfleur. Follow, follow!
Grapple your minds to sternage of this navy ;
And leave your England, as dead midnight still,
(Guarded with grandsires, babies, and old women.
Either past, or not arriv'd to, pith and puissance ;
For who is he, whose chin is but enrich 'd
With one appearing hair, that will not follow
These cuU'd and choice-drawn cavaliers to France?
IV. 193. [k.h.v. 30.
Act III.] KING HENRY I/. {Scene I.
Work, work your thoughts, and therein see a siege ;
Behold iheorchiance on their carriages,
Witli fatal mouths gaping on girded Harfleur.
Suppose th" ambassador from the French comes back ;
Tells Harry that the king doth offer him
Katharine his daughter; and with her, to dowry.
Some petty and unprofitable dukedoms.
The offer iikes not : and the nimble gunner
With linstock now the devilish cannon touches,
\Alaruin, and chambers go off, ivithin.
And down goes all before them. Still be kind,
And eke out our performance with your mind. {Exit.
ACT III.
Scene I. France. Before Harfleur.
Alarums. Enter King Henry, Exeter, Bedford,
Gloster, and Soldiers, 7viih scaling-ladders.
K. Hen. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once
more ;
Or close the wall up with our English dead !
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility :
But when the blast of war blows in our ears.
Then imitate the action of the tiger ;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favor'd rage :
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect ;
Let it pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon ; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.
. Now set the teeth, and stretch the nostril wide;
Hold hard the breath, and bend up every spirit
To his full height ! — On, on, you noble English,
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof ! —
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought.
And sheath'd their swords for lack of argument : —
Dishonor not your mothers ; now attest
K.H.v. 31.1 IV. iq-j.
Act I I I. ^ K1!^G HENRY V. [Scene f.
That those whom you called fathers did beget you!
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war ! — And you, good yeomen,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding: which I doubt not ;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble luster in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot :
Follow your spirit ; and, upon this charge,
Cry " God for Harry, England, and Saint George !"
[Exeunt. Alarum, and chambers go off, within.
Enter Nym, BardOLPH, Pistol, and Boy.
Bard. On, on, on, on, on ! to the breach, to the breach !
Nyni. Pray thee, corporal, stay : the knocks are too
hot ; and, for mine own part, I have not a case of lives :
the humor of it is too hot, that is the very plain-song of
it.
Pt'st. The plain-song is most just ; for humors do
abound :
Knocks go and come ; God's vassals drop and die ;
And sword and shield.
In bloody field.
Doth win immortal fame.
Boy. Would I were in an alehouse in London ! I would
give all my fame for a pot of ale and safety.
Pist, And I :
If wishes would prevail with me.
My purjjose should not fail with me,
But thither would I hie.
Boy. As duly, but not as truly.
As bird doth sing on bough.
Enter Fluellen.
Flu. Got's plood ! — Up to the preaches, you rascals !
will you not up to the preaches ? [Driving tJiem forward.
Fist. Be merciful, great duke, to men of mold !
Abate thy rage, abate thy manly rage !
Abate thy rage, great duke !
Good bawcock, bate thy rage ! use lenity, sweet chuck!
IV. 194. [k.h.v. 3».
Act///.'] K/NG HEN/iY V. [Scene/.
Nym. These be good humors ! — your honor runs bad
humors. [Exeien/ Ny)n, Bardolph, and P/stoI, followed
by Fluellen.
Boy. As young as 1 am, I have observed these three
swashers. I am boy to them all three : but all they three,
though they would serve me, could not be man to me ; for
indeed, three such antics do not amount to a man. For Bar-
dolph, — he is white-livered and red-faced ; by the means
whereof 'a faces it out, but fight not. For Pistol, — he hath
a killing tongue and a quiet sword ; by the means whereof
'a breaks words, and keeps whole weapons. For rSym, —
he hath heard that men of few words are the best men ;
and therefore he scorns to say his prayers, lest 'a should
be thought a coward : but his few bad words are matched
with as few good deeds ; for 'a never broke any man's
head but his own, and that was against a post when he
was drunk. They will steal any thing, and call it pur-
chase. Bardolph stole a lute-case, bore it twelve leagues,
and sold it for three-half-pence. Nym and Bardolph are
sworn brothers in filching; and in Calais they stole a fire-
shovel : I knew by that piece of service the men would
carry coals. They would have me as familiar with men's
pockets as their gloves or their handkerchers : which
makes much against my manhood, if I should take from
another's pocket to put into mine ; for it is plain pocket-
ing-up of wrongs. I must leave them, and seek some
better service : their villainy goes against my weak stom-
ach, and therefore I must cast it up. \^Exit.
Re-e}ifer FLUELLEN, Gow^v. following.
Go%v. Captain Fluellen, you must come presently to
the mines ; the Duke of Gloster would speak with you,
Flu. To the mines ! tell you the duke, it is not so goot
to come to the mines ; for, look you, the mines is not ac-
cording to the disciplines of the wars : the concavities of
it is not suiificient ; for, look you, th' athversary— you may
discuss unto the duke, look you — is diggt himself four
yard under the countermines : by Cheshu, I think 'a will
plow up all, if there is not better directions.
Go^a. The Duke of Cdoster, to whom the order of the
siege is given, is altogether directed by an Irishman, — a
very valiant gentleman, i' faith.
K.H.V. 3v] IV. 195.
. / ct I/r.} KING HENR Y y. [Scetu I.
Fill. It is Captain Mac morris, is it not?
Gow. I think it be.
Fill. By Cheshu, he is an ass, as in the 'orld : I will
verify as much in his peard : he has no more directions
in the true disciplines of the wars, look you, of the Roman
discipline, than is a puppy-dog.
Goiu. Here 'a comes ; and the Scots captain. Captain
Jamy, with him.
Flu. Captain Jamy is a man'elous falorous gentle-
man, that is certain ; and of great expedition and knowl-
edge in th' auncient wars, upon my particular knowledge
of his directions : by Cheshu, he will maintain his argu-
ment as well as any military man in the 'orld, in the dis-
cipHnes of the pristine wars of the Romans.
Enter Macmorris and]kMY.
Jamy. I say gude-day. Captain Fluellen.
Flu. Got-den to your worship, goot Captain Jamy.
Goiu. How now. Captain Macmorris ! have you quit
the mines? have the pioners given o'er.''
Mac. By Chrish, la, tish ill done ; the work ish give
over, the trompet sound the retreat. By my hand, I
swear, and my father's soul, the work ish ill done ; it ish
give over : I would have blowed up the town, so Chrish
save me, la, in an hour: O, tish ill done, tish ill done ; by
my hand, tish ill done !
Flu. Captain Macmorris, I peseech you v\o\\, will you
voutsafe me, look you, a few disputations with you, as
partly touching or concerning the disciplines of the wars,
the Roman wars, in the way ot argument, look you; and
friendly communication ; partly to satisfy my opinion,
and partly for the satisfaction, look you, of my mind, as
touching the direction of the military discipline ; that is
the point.
Jamy. It sail be vary gude, gude feith, gude captains
baith : and I sail quit you with gude leve, as I may pick
occasion ; that sail I, mary.
Mac. It is no time to discourse, so Chrish save me :
the day is hot, and the weather, and the wars, and the
king, and the dukes: it is no .time to discourse. The
town is beseeched, and the trompet calls us to the breach ;
and we talk, and, by Chrish, do nothing : 'tis shame for us
IV. ig6. [k.h.v. 34.
Act II /.I KiNG HENRY V. [Scene//.
all : so God sa' me, 'tis shame to stand still ; it is shame,
by my hand : and there is throats to cut, and works to
be done ; and there ish nothing done, so Chrish sa'
me, la.
Jamy. By the mess, ere theise eyes of mine take
themselves to slomber, ai'l do gude service, or ai'l lig i'
the grund for it ; ay, or go to death ; and ai'l pay't as
valorously as I may, that sail I suerly do, that is the breff
and the long. Mary, I wad full fain heard some question
'tween you 'tway.
Flu. Captain Macmorris, I think, look you, under
your correction, there is not many of your nation —
Mac. Of my nation ! What ish my nation } what ish
my nation ! Who talks of my nation ish a villain, and a
basterd, and a knave, and a rascal.
Flu. Look you, if you take the matter otherwise than
is meant. Captain Macmorris, peradventure I shall think
you do not use me with that affability as in discretion you
ought to use me, look you ; being as goot a man as your-
self, both in the disciplines of wars, and in the derivation
of my birth, and in other particulars.
Mac. I do not know you so good a man as myself :
so Chrish save me, I will cut off your head.
Gow. Gentlemen both, you will mistake each other.
Jamy. A ! that's a foul fault. [^4 paj-ley sounded.
Cow. The town sounds a parley.
Flu. Captain Macmorris, when there is more petter
opportunity to be required, look you, I will be so pold as
to tell you I know the disciplines of wars ; and there is an
end. [Fxeunl.
Scene II. TAe sajne . Before the gates of Harfleur.
The Governor and some Citizens 07i the walls ; the
English forces below. Enter King Henry
and his Train.
K. Hen. How yet resolves the governor of the town ?
This is the latest parle we will admit :
Therefore, to our best mercy give yourselves ;
Or, like to men proud of destruction.
Defy us to our worst : for, as I am a soldier,
A name that, in my thoughts, becomes me best,
K.H.V. 35.] IV. 197.
Act III.'] KING HENRY V, \,Scene li.
If I begin the battery once again,
I will not leave the half-achieved Harfleur
Till in her ashes she lie buried.
The gates of mercy shall be all shut up ;
And the flesh'd soldier, — rough and hard of heart, —
In liberty of bloody hand shall range
With conscience wide as hell ; mowing like grass
Your fresh-fair virgins and your flowering infants.
What is it then to me, if impious war, —
Array'd in flames, like to Jhe prince of fiends, — •
Do, with his smirch'd complexion, all fell feats
Enlink'd to waste and desolation ?
What is't to me, when you yourselves are cause,
If your pure maidens fall into the hand
Of hot and forcing violation ?
What rein can hold licentious wickedness
When down the hill he holds his fierce career?
We may as bootless spend our vain command
Upon th' enraged soldiers in their spoil.
As send precepts to the leviathan
To come ashore. Therefore, you men of Harfleur,
Take pity of your town and of your people.
Whiles yet my soldiers are in my command ;
Whiles yet the cool and temperate wind of grace
O'erblows the filthy and contagious clouds
Of heady murder, spoil, and villainy.
If not, why, in a moment, look to see
The blind and bloody soldier with foul hand
Defile the locks of your shrill-shrieking daughters ;
Your fathers taken by the silver beards,
And their most reverent heads dash'd to the walls;
Your naked infants spitted upon pikes.
Whiles the mad mothers with their howls confus'd
Do break the clouds, as did the wives of Jewry
At Herod's bloody-hunting slaughtermen.
What say you ? will you yield, and this avoid }
Or, guilty in defense, be thus destroy'd ?
Gov. Our expectation hath this day an end :
The Dauphin, whom of succor we entreated.
Returns us, that his powers are yet not ready
To raise so great a siege. Therefore, dread king.
We yield our town and lives to thy soft mercy.
IV. 198. [k.h.v. 36
Act I 11.^ KING HENRY V. [Scene ff/
Enter our gates ; dispose of us and ours ;
For we no longer are defensible.
K. Hen. Open your gates. — Come, uncle Exeter,
Go you and enter Harf^eur; there remain,
And fortify it strongly 'gainst the French :
Use mercy to them all. For us, dear uncle, —
The winter coming on, and sickness growing
Upon our soldiers, — we'll retire to Calais.