Henry IV, Part 1 (Folger Shakespeare Library) Page 11
Gave him their heirs, as pages followed him
Even at the heels in golden multitudes.
He presently, as greatness knows itself,
Steps me a little higher than his vow
Made to my father, while his blood was poor,
Upon the naked shore at Ravenspurgh,
And now, forsooth, takes on him to reform
Some certain edicts and some strait decrees
That lay too heavy on the commonwealth,
Cries out upon abuses, seems to weep
Over his country's wrongs, and by this face,
This seeming brow of justice, did he win
The hearts of all that he did angle for.
Proceeded further -- cut me off the heads
Of all the favourites that the absent king
In deputation left behind him here,
When he was personal in the Irish war.
BLUNT Tut, I came not to hear this.
HOTSPUR Then to the point.
In short time after, he deposed the king.
Soon after that, deprived him of his life,
And in the neck of that, tasked the whole state.
To make that worse, suffered his kinsman March --
Who is, if every owner were placed,
Indeed his king -- to be engaged in Wales,
There without ransom to lie forfeited,
Disgraced me in my happy victories,
Sought to entrap me by intelligence,
Rated my uncle from the council board,
In rage dismissed my father from the court,
Broke oath on oath, committed wrong on wrong,
And in conclusion drove us to seek out
This head of safety; and withal to pry
Into his title, the which we find
Too indirect for long continuance.
BLUNT Shall I return this answer to the king?
HOTSPUR Not so, Sir Walter. We'll withdraw awhile.
Go to the king, and let there be impawned
Some surety for a safe return again,
And in the morning early shall my uncle
Bring him our purpose. And so farewell.
BLUNT I would you would accept of grace and love
HOTSPUR And't may be so we shall.
BLUNT Pray heaven you do.
Exeunt
Act 4 Scene 4
running scene 14
Location: unspecified; presumably in the Archbishop of York's palace
Enter the Archbishop of York and Sir Michael
ARCHBISHOP OF YORK Hie, good Sir Michael; bear
this sealed brief
Gives a letter
With winged haste to the Lord Marshal,
This to my cousin Scroop, and all the rest
To whom they are directed. If you knew
How much they do import, you would make haste.
SIR MICHAEL My good lord,
I guess their tenor.
ARCHBISHOP OF YORK Like enough you do.
Tomorrow, good Sir Michael, is a day
Wherein the fortune of ten thousand men
Must bide the touch, for, sir, at Shrewsbury,
As I am truly given to understand,
The king with mighty and 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,
And what with Owen Glendower's absence thence,
Who with them was rated firmly too
And comes not in, o'er-ruled by prophecies,
I fear the power of Percy is too weak
To wage an instant trial with the king.
SIR MICHAEL Why, my good lord, you need not fear.
There is Douglas and Lord Mortimer.
ARCHBISHOP OF YORK No, Mortimer is not there.
SIR MICHAEL But there is Mordake, Vernon, Lord Harry Percy,
And there is my lord of Worcester and a head
Of gallant warriors, noble gentlemen.
ARCHBISHOP OF YORK 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 Westmorland and warlike Blunt;
And many more corrivals and dear men
Of estimation and command in arms.
SIR MICHAEL Doubt not, my lord, he shall be well opposed.
ARCHBISHOP OF YORK I hope no less, yet needful 'tis to fear.
And, to prevent the worst, Sir Michael, speed;
For if Lord Percy thrive not, ere the king
Dismiss his power, he means to visit us,
For he hath heard of our confederacy,
And 'tis but wisdom to make strong against him:
Therefore make haste. I must go write again
To other friends, and so farewell, Sir Michael.
Exeunt
Act 5 Scene 1
running scene 15
Location: the king's camp near Shrewsbury
Enter the King, Prince of Wales, Lord John of Lancaster, Earl of Westmorland, Sir Walter Blunt and Falstaff
KING HENRY IV How bloodily the sun begins to peer
Above yon busky hill! The day looks pale
At his distemperature.
PRINCE HENRY The southern wind
Doth play the trumpet to his purposes,
And by his hollow whistling in the leaves
Foretells a tempest and a blust'ring day.
KING HENRY IV Then with the losers let it sympathize,
For nothing can seem foul to those that win.
The trumpet sounds
Enter Worcester [and Vernon]
How now, my lord of Worcester? 'Tis not well
That you and I should meet upon such terms
As now we meet. You have deceived our trust,
And made us doff our easy robes of peace,
To crush our old limbs in ungentle steel:
This is not well, my lord, this is not well.
What say you to it? Will you again unknit
This churlish knot of all-abhorred war?
And move in that obedient orb again
Where you did give a fair and natural light,
And be no more an exhaled meteor,
A prodigy of fear and a portent
Of broached mischief to the unborn times?
WORCESTER 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,
I have not sought the day of this dislike.
KING HENRY IV You have not sought it? How comes it, then?
FALSTAFF Rebellion lay in his way, and he found it.
PRINCE HENRY Peace, chewet, peace!
WORCESTER It pleased your majesty to turn your looks
Of favour from myself and all our house;
And yet I must remember you, my lord,
We were the first and dearest of your friends.
For you my staff of office did I break
In Richard's time, and posted day and night
To meet you on the way, and kiss your hand,
When yet you were in place and in account
Nothing so strong and fortunate as I.
It was myself, my brother and his son,
That brought you home and boldly did outdare
The danger of the time. You swore to us,
And you did swear that oath at Doncaster,
That you did nothing of purpose gainst the state,
Nor claim no further than your new-fall'n right,
The seat of Gaunt, dukedom of Lancaster.
To this we swore our aid. But in short space
It rained down fortune show'ring 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 wanton time,
The seeming sufferances that you had borne,
And the contrarious winds that held the king
So long in the unlucky Irish wars
That all in England did repute him dead --
And from this swarm of fair advantages
You took occasion to be quickly wooed
To gripe the general sway into your hand,
Forgot your oath to us at Doncaster,
And being fed by us, you used us so
As that ungentle gull, the cuckoo's bird,
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
Out of your sight and raise this present head,
Whereby we stand opposad by such means
As you yourself have forged against yourself
By unkind usage, dangerous countenance,
And violation of all faith and troth
Sworn to us in your younger enterprise.
KING HENRY IV These things indeed you have articulated,
Proclaimed at market-crosses, read in churches,
To face the garment of rebellion
With some fine colour that may please the eye
Of fickle changelings and poor discontents,
Which gape and rub the elbow at the news
Of hurly-burly innovation:
And never yet did insurrection want
Such water-colours to impaint his cause,
Nor moody beggars, starving for a time
Of pell-mell havoc and confusion.
PRINCE HENRY In both our armies there is many a soul
Shall pay full dearly for this encounter,
If once they join in trial. Tell your nephew,
The Prince of Wales doth join with all the world
In praise of Henry Percy: by my hopes --
This present enterprise set off his head --
I do not think a braver gentleman,
More active-valiant or more valiant-young,
More daring or more bold, is now alive
To grace this latter age with noble deeds.
For my part, I may speak it to my shame,
I have a truant been to chivalry,
And so I hear he doth account me too.
Yet this before my father's majesty:
I am content that he shall take the odds
Of his great name and estimation,
And will, to save the blood on either side,
Try fortune with him in a single fight.
KING HENRY IV And, Prince of Wales, so dare we venture thee,
Albeit considerations infinite
Do make against it. No, good Worcester, no,
We love our people well; even those we love
That are misled upon your cousin's part.
And, will they take the offer of our grace,
Both he and they and you, yea, every man
Shall be my friend again and I'll be his.
So tell your cousin, and bring me word
What he will do. But if he will not yield,
Rebuke and dread correction wait on us
And they shall do their office. So, be gone,
We will not now be troubled with reply.
We offer fair, take it advisedly.
Exeunt Worcester [and Vernon]
PRINCE HENRY It will not be accepted, on my life.
The Douglas and the Hotspur both together
Are confident against the world in arms.
KING HENRY IV Hence, therefore, every leader to his charge,
For on their answer will we set on them;
And God befriend us as our cause is just!
Exeunt all but Prince and Falstaff
FALSTAFF Hal, if thou see me down in the battle and bestride
me, so; 'tis a point of friendship.
PRINCE HENRY Nothing but a colossus can do thee that
friendship. Say thy prayers, and farewell.
FALSTAFF I would it were bedtime, Hal, and all well.
PRINCE HENRY Why, thou ow'st heaven a death.
[Exit Prince Henry]
FALSTAFF '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. But how if
honour prick me off when I come on? How then? Can
honour set to a leg? No. Or an arm? No. Or take away the
grief of a wound? No. Honour hath no skill in surgery, then?
No. What is honour? A word. What is that word 'honour'?
Air. A trim reckoning! Who hath it? He that died
o'Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. Doth he hear it? No. Is it
insensible, then? Yea, to the dead. But will it not live with the
living? No. Why? Detraction will not suffer it. Therefore I'll
none of it. Honour is a mere scutcheon: and so ends my
catechism.
Exit
Act 5 Scene 2
running scene 16
Location: the rebel camp near Shrewsbury, then the battlefield
Enter Worcester and Sir Richard Vernon
WORCESTER O, no, my nephew must not know, Sir Richard,
The liberal kind offer of the king.
VERNON 'Twere best he did.
WORCESTER Then we are all undone.
It is not possible, it cannot be,
The king would keep his word in loving us.
He will suspect us still and find a time
To punish this offence in other faults.
Supposition all our lives shall be stuck full of eyes;
For treason is but trusted like the fox,
Who, ne'er so tame, so cherished and locked up,
Will have a wild trick of his ancestors.
Look how he can, or sad or merrily,
Interpretation will misquote our looks,
And we shall feed like oxen at a stall,
The better cherished, still the nearer death.
My nephew's trespass may be well forgot,
It hath the excuse of youth and heat of blood,
And an adopted name of privilege,
A hare-brained Hotspur, governed by a spleen:
All his offences live upon my head
And on his father's. We did train him on,
And, his corruption being ta'en from us,
We as the spring of all, shall pay for all.
Therefore, good cousin, let not Harry know,
In any case, the offer of the king.
VERNON Deliver what you will, I'll say 'tis so.
Here comes your cousin.
Enter Hotspur [and Douglas]
HOTSPUR My uncle is returned.
Deliver up my lord of Westmorland.--
Uncle, what news?
WORCESTER The king will bid you battle presently.
DOUGLAS Defy him by the lord of Westmorland.
HOTSPUR Lord Douglas, go you and tell him so.
DOUGLAS Marry, and shall, and very willingly.
Exit Douglas
WORCESTER There is no seeming mercy in the king.
HOTSPUR Did you beg any? God forbid!
WORCESTER I told him gently of our grievances,
Of his oath-breaking, which he mended thus,
By now forswearing that he is forsworn.
He calls us rebels, traitors, and will scourge
With haughty arms this hateful name in us.
Enter Douglas
DOUGLAS Arm, gentlemen, to arms! For I have thrown
A brave defiance in King Henry's teeth,
And Westmorland that was engaged did bear it,
Which cannot choose but bring him quickly on.
WORCESTER The Prince of Wales stepped forth before the king,
And, nephew, challenged you t
o single fight.
HOTSPUR O, would the quarrel lay upon our heads,
And that no man might draw short breath today
But I and Harry Monmouth! Tell me, tell me,
How showed his talking? Seemed it in contempt?
VERNON No, by my soul. I never in my life
Did hear a challenge urged more modestly,
Unless a brother should a brother dare
To gentle exercise and proof of arms.
He gave you all the duties of a man,
Trimmed up your praises with a princely tongue,
Spoke your deservings like a chronicle,
Making you ever better than his praise
By still dispraising praise valued with you.
And, which became him like a prince indeed,
He made a blushing cital of himself,
And chid his truant youth with such a grace
As if he mastered there a double spirit
Of teaching and of learning instantly.
There did he pause. But let me tell the world,
If he outlive the envy of this day,
England did never owe so sweet a hope,
So much misconstrued in his wantonness.
HOTSPUR Cousin, I think thou art enamoured
On his follies: never did I hear
Of any prince so wild a liberty.
But be he as he will, yet once ere night
I will embrace him with a soldier's arm,
That he shall shrink under my courtesy.
Arm, arm with speed. And, fellows, soldiers, friends,
Better consider what you have to do
Than I, that have not well the gift of tongue,
Can lift your blood up with persuasion.
Enter a Messenger
MESSENGER My lord, here are letters for you.
HOTSPUR I cannot read them now.
O, gentlemen, the time of life is short!
To spend that shortness basely were too long,
If life did ride upon a dial's point,
Still ending at the arrival of an hour.
And if we live, we live to tread on kings,
If die, brave death, when princes die with us!
Now, for our consciences, the arms are fair,
When the intent for bearing them is just.
Enter another Messenger
MESSENGER My lord, prepare, the king comes on apace.
HOTSPUR 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 I draw a sword
Whose worthy temper I intend to stain
With the best blood that I can meet withal
In the adventure of this perilous day.
Now, Esperance! Percy! And set on.
Sound all the lofty instruments of war,
And by that music let us all embrace,
For, heaven to earth, some of us never shall
A second time do such a courtesy.
They embrace [and exeunt]. The trumpets sound. The King entereth with his power. Alarum unto the battle. Then enter Douglas and Sir Walter Blunt [dressed like the King]
BLUNT What is thy name, that in battle thus
Thou crossest me? What honour dost thou seek
Upon my head?
DOUGLAS Know then, my name is Douglas,