-/loC^ 9r. yy-. 
 
 'yt-V
 
 HnTtiiWii.3s(^ 
 
 Pistol : " Quiet the cudgel 5 thou dost see I eat" 
 
 King Henky V Act V Scene
 
 Copyright, 1901 
 
 By 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY SOCIETY
 
 COU.EG 
 LIBRAR 
 
 /\ 2 
 
 THE LIFE OF KING HENRY V. /^^ ^ 
 Preface. 
 
 Editions. The earliest edition of King Henry the Fifth 
 is a quarto published in 1600, with the following title : — 
 
 " The I Chronicle | History of Henry the Fifth | with 
 his battell fought at Agin Conrt in | France. Together 
 with Auiiticnt Pistoll. \ As it hath bene sundry times 
 played by the Right honorable \ the Lord Chanibcrlaine 
 his seruants. \ London | Printed by Thomas Creede, for 
 Tho. Milling | ton, and lohn Busby. And are to be | sold 
 at his house in Carter Lane, next j the Powle head. 
 1600. I " 
 
 This quarto was reprinted in 1602 and 1608. 
 
 In the First Folio the title of the play is The Life of 
 Henry the Fift^ 
 
 The text of the quarto edition differs in many impor- 
 tant respects from that of the folio; (i.) it omits all the 
 prologues and the epilogue; (ii.) some five hundred 
 lines besides are in no wise represented therein ; (iii.) the 
 speeches of certain characters are transferred to other 
 characters, so that the actors are fewer ; f confusion in 
 time-indications; (iv.) corruptions, obscurities, and 
 minor discrepancies abound. J The Quarto is obviously 
 
 * Edited by W. G. Stone, New Shak. Soc, 1880. 
 
 t Ely, Westmoreland. Bedford, Britany, Rambtires, Erpingham, 
 Grandpre, Macmorris, Jamy, Messenger, II. iv., and IV. ii,, and 
 the French Queen, have no speeches assigned to them in the 
 Quarto. 
 
 %Cp. Henry V.. Parallel Texts, ed. Nicholson, li'ith Introduc- 
 tion, by P. A. Daniel ; New Shak. Soc,
 
 Preface THE LIFE OF 
 
 derived from an edition abridged for acting purposes, 
 evidently an imperfect and unauthorized version made up 
 from shorthand notes taken at the theatre, and afterwards 
 amplified. The original of this abridged edition was 
 in all probability the Folio text, more or less, as we know 
 it. This view of the question is now generally accepted, 
 and few scholars are inclined to maintain that ' the orig- 
 inal of the Quarto was an earlier one without choruses, 
 and following the Chronicle historians much more 
 closely.'* 
 
 The Date of Composition. The reference to Essex in 
 the Prologue to Act V. {vide Note) shews that Henry 
 the Fifth must have been acted between March 2"/ and 
 September 28, 1599;! the play is not mentioned by Meres 
 in his Palladis Tamia, 1598, though Hewy IV. is included 
 in his list; the Epilogue to 2 Henry /F. makes promise 
 of Henry V., but ' our humble author ' has modified his 
 original conception X {vide Preface to i, 2 Henry IV., 
 
 * J'ide Fleay. ' Life and IVurk of Shakespeare ' ; p. 206. Besides 
 thus differentiating the two editions, Mr. Fleay takes the scene 
 with the Scotch and Irish captains (III. ii. 1. 69 to the end of the 
 Scene) to be an insertion for the Court performance, Christmas 
 1605, to please King James, who had been annoyed that year by 
 depreciation of the Scots on the stage. 
 
 This Scene is certainly a contrast to the anti-Scottish feeling in 
 Act I. Sc. ii. The late Richard Simpson made some interesting, 
 though doubtful, observations on the political teaching of Henry 
 V. in a paper dealing with The politics of Shakespeare's Historical 
 Plays (New Shak. Soc, 1874). 
 
 t It is fair to assume that the choruses were written for the 
 first performances, though Pope, Warburton, and others held that 
 these were inserted at a later period; they must, however, have 
 formed an integral portion of Shakespeare's original scheme; 
 considerations of time may have necessitated their omission in the 
 abridged acting edition. 
 
 if'Our humble author will continue the story, ivith Sir lohn 
 in it, and make you merry with fair Katharine of France ; where, 
 for anything I know, Falstaff shall die of a sweat," etc.
 
 KING HENRY V. Preface 
 
 and Note on Epilogue) : this change of plan is intimately 
 connected with the composition of The Merry Wives of 
 Windsor {vide Preface) ; the play is found in the Sta- 
 tioners' Register under August 4th, 1600 (together with 
 As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, and Ben Jon- 
 son's Every Man in His Humour), marked, "to be 
 staied," though ten days afterwards it is again entered 
 among the copies assigned to Thomas Pavyer ; in the 
 same year we have the publication of the Quarto edition ; 
 finally, the Globe Theatre, built by Burbage in 1599, is 
 somewhat emphatically referred to in the Prologue ; all 
 these considerations seem to fix with certainty the year 
 1599 as the date of this play. 
 
 The Sources. The main authority for the history of 
 Henry J\ was the second edition of Holinshed's Chron- 
 icles, published in 1587, though he departs occasionally 
 from his original for the sake of dramatic effect. For 
 two or three minor points Shakespeare was indebted to 
 the old play of The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth'^ 
 (e.g. a few touches in Act I. Sc. ii. ; the episode of Pistol 
 and the French soldier; the wooing scene, etc.).f 
 
 Duration of Action. The time of Henry J\ covers 
 ten days, with intervals, embracing altogether a period 
 of about six years, from the opening of the Parliament at 
 Leicester, April 30, 1414, to Henry's betrothal to Kath- 
 arine, May 20, 1420 : — 
 
 1st Chorus. Prologue, ' sets forth the claims of the 
 dramatist on the imagination of the audience.' 
 
 * Vide Preface to i, 2, Henry IV. The Famous Victories was 
 licensed in 1594; in 1592 Nash, in Pierce Pennilesse, alludes to this 
 or some other play on the same subject: — "What a glorious 
 thing it is to have Henry the Fifth represented on the stage, lead- 
 ing the French King prisoner," etc. 
 
 t Cp. W. G. Stone's Introduction to Henry the Fifth (Nezv 
 Shak. Soc.) ; an exhaustive study of the historical aspect of the 
 play ; also Courtenay's Historical Plays of Shakespeare ; Warner's 
 English History in Shakespeare.
 
 Preface THE LIFE OF 
 
 Day I. Act I. Sc. i. and ii. Ante-chamber in the 
 King's palace ; the presence-chamber. 
 2nd Chorus; 'tells of the preparations for war; of 
 the discovery of the plot against the king, who 
 is set from London, and that the scene is to be 
 transported to London.' Interval. 
 Day 2. Act II. Sc. i. London ( PEastcheap). Inter- 
 val 
 
 Dav 3. Act II. Sc. ii. Southampton ; Sc. iii. London 
 (Falstaff is dead). Interval. 
 
 Day 4. Act II. Sc. iv. France, the King's Palace. 
 3rc? Chorus ; * tells of the King's departure from 
 Hampton ; his arrival at Harfleur, and of the 
 return of his Ambassador with proposals.' In- 
 terval. 
 
 Day 5. Act III. Sc. i.-iii. Before Harfleur. Interval. 
 [Act. III. Sc. iv. Interval, following Day 4.] 
 
 Day 6. Act III. Sc. v. Rouen. Interval. 
 
 Day 7. Act III. Sc. vi. ; [Interval] first part of Sc. 
 vii. ; Blangy. 
 
 DayS,. Act III. Sc. vii. (French camp near Agin- 
 court). 
 4th Chorus (Interval). Act IV. Sc. i.-viii. (zcith In- 
 tervals) ; English camp. 
 5//1 Chorus ' tells of Henry's journey to England 
 and of his reception by his people ; then, with 
 excuses for passing over time and history, brings 
 his audience straight back again to France. The 
 historic period thus passed over dates from Oc- 
 tober, 141 5, to Henry's betrothal to Katharine, 
 May, 1420.' Interval. 
 
 Day 9. Act V. Sc. ii. (perhaps, better, the last scene 
 should reckon as the tenth day, vide W. G. 
 Stone, p. ciii.). 
 6th Chorus. Epilogue. {C p. 'Dsm^Vs Time Analysis; 
 Trans. Shak. Soc., 1^77-79.)
 
 KING HENRY V. Preface 
 
 In no other play has Shakespeare attempted so bold an 
 experiment in the dramatization of war ; nowhere else has 
 he made so emphatic an apology for disregarding the 
 unities of time and place, nor put forth so clear a vindica- 
 tion of the rights of the imagination in the romantic 
 drama; he seems, indeed, to point directly to Sidney's 
 famous comment on the scenic poverty of the stage/-' — 
 *' Two armies Hye in, represented zvith four szvords and 
 bucklers, and then what hard heart zvill not receive it for 
 a pitched Held," — when his Chorus makes the mock 
 avowal : — 
 
 " O for pity ! — we shall much disgrace 
 
 With four or five most vile and ragged foils, 
 
 Right ill-disposed in brawl ridiculous, 
 
 The narrie of Agincourt." f 
 
 The theme, as well as its treatment and the spirit which 
 informs the whole, is essentially epic and lyrical rather 
 than dramatic, and the words addressed by Ben Jonson to 
 the arch-patriot among English poets, the poet of the 
 Ballad of Agincourt, ' his friend, Michael Drayton,' % 
 might more justly be applied to the patriot-dramatist of 
 Agincourt : — 
 
 " Look how we read the Spartans were inflamed 
 With bold Tyrt^us' verse ; when thou art named 
 so shall our english youths urge on, and cry 
 An Agincourt ! an Agincourt ! or die." • 
 
 * Cp. Apology for Poetry (Arber's Reprint, pp. 63, 64). 
 t Prol. iv. 49-52. 
 
 t Ben Jonson's ' Vision on the Muses of his Friend, Michael 
 Drayton.' Jonson seems to have objected to Shakespeare's 
 method in Henry V. Cp. Prologue to Every Man in his Humour 
 (added to the play after 1601) : — 
 
 " He rather prays, you zvill he pleased to sec 
 One such, to-day, as other plays should be; 
 Where neither chorus wafts you o'er the seas," etc. 
 Towards the end of his career, in his Winter's Tale, Shakespeare 
 spoke again, in the person of the Chorus Time, in defence of his 
 "power to overthrow law and in one self -horn hour to plant and 
 o'erwhelm custom " {vide Preface, p. x.). 
 
 5
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Critical Comments. 
 I. 
 
 Argument. 
 
 I. Soon after his coronation Henry V. resolves to se- 
 cure his title to the crown and augment his popularity 
 with the masses by the splendours of foreign conquest. 
 Accordingly he lays claim to the throne of France 
 through the medium of the ancient Salic law, and de- 
 clares war against that country. In answer to his first 
 demands for certain French dukedoms, the Dauphin 
 sends back to him in mockery a bag of tennis-balls — the 
 French heir-apparent believing that he has still to deal 
 with a madcap prince. 
 
 II. At this time, however, the young monarch's ac- 
 cession of virtues and regal dignities is a source of mar- 
 vel and admiration; for he has made good his promise, 
 given upon assuming the crown, to forsake the wild 
 companions of his youth. But Sir John Falstaff cannot 
 fathom the sudden change, and dies of a broken heart. 
 
 The King imbues all England with his military enthu- 
 siasm. A large army is speedily levied and makes ready 
 to embark at Southampton. The French, growing ap- 
 prehensive at this warHke display, seek to check the in- 
 vasion by treacherous means, and bribe three English 
 lords to murder the King at the time of his embarkation. 
 The plot is discovered and the King sentences the trai- 
 tors to death. 
 
 III. King Henry storms the French city of Harfleur, 
 which, lacking support, is forced to capitulate. But sick- 
 ness and privation now make such inroads upon his 
 army that he finds himself in danger of annihilation at 
 
 6
 
 KING HENRY V. Comments 
 
 the hands of a French force led by the Dauphin, outnum- 
 bering his own five to one. Nevertheless he does not 
 avoid battle but pitches camp near the French at Agin- 
 court. 
 
 IV. The French are so confident of victory that they 
 cast dice for the disposal of the contemplated prisoners. 
 On the English side all is watchfulness and preparation. 
 The King in person goes disguised through his camp to 
 learn the temper of his men. At, daybreak the armies 
 meet in the shock of battle. The Dauphin's forces suf- 
 fer a disgraceful and overwhelming defeat through lack 
 of generalship. 
 
 V. The French are forced to sue for peace. King 
 Henry's terms include, among other things, the recog- 
 nition of himself as heir to the throne of France, and the 
 bestowal upon him of the hand of the Princess Katha- 
 rine. All the terms are agreed to. The English con- 
 querors are received at the court of France amid prot- 
 estations of amity, while the English king and the French 
 princess arrive at a mutual understanding of hearts de- 
 spite their ignorance of tongues. 
 
 McSpadden : Shakespearian Synopses. 
 
 II. 
 
 France and England. 
 
 The principal historical feature [of Henry V.], the de- 
 scription of the spirit of the age with its relations to the 
 past, and the character of the two belligerent nations is 
 brought out in a truly dramatic style, by giving the ut- 
 most animation to the action. Henry IV., on his death- 
 bed, had counselled his son to engage 
 
 " Giddy minds 
 With foreign quarrels." 
 
 And, in fact, '' giddiness " and vacillation were the lead- 
 ing features in the character of the age; the reason of 
 
 7
 
 Comments THE LIFE OF 
 
 this lay not only in the unjust usurpation of Henry IV., 
 which, owing to the close connection existing between 
 the state and its various members, exercised its influence 
 on the barons and people, but also in the progressive de- 
 velopment of the state and of the nation itself. The cor- 
 porative estates of the kingdom, the clergy, knights and 
 burghers, incited by an esprit de corps and by their well- 
 ordered organisation, felt their power and endeavoured 
 to assert it, both against the royal power and against one 
 another. Their disputes among one another would have 
 been of more frequent occurrence had it not been for the 
 fact that, in direct contrast to the French nobility, the 
 English barons generally sided with the commoners, so 
 as mutually to protect their rights against the preten- 
 sions of the crown. Eoch of these several parties en- 
 deavoured to promote their own interests and to act with 
 the greatest possible amount of freedom; their active 
 strength naturally strove to find a vigorous sphere of 
 action and would have consumed itself, and thus inter- 
 nally destroyed the organism of the state, had it not suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining vent in an outward direction. In 
 France, on the other hand, the vanity, the excessive arro- 
 gance of the court, the nobility and the people desired 
 war in order to realise their proud dream of internal and 
 external superiority; the historical course of the nation's 
 culture required that it should be thoroughly humbled 
 by misery and wretchedness, otherwise it would have de- 
 cayed prematurely through extravagance and efifeminate 
 luxury. Moreover in France also, the organism of the 
 state was broken up into so many separate and inde- 
 pendent corporations that it required a great and general 
 interest, a great national disaster to preserve their con- 
 sciousness of mutual dependence and unity. 
 
 All this Shakspeare has intimated in a few but vigor- 
 ous features. But still more clearly are the characters of 
 the two nations brought forward as the historical mo- 
 tive. The sober, practical patriotism of the English, in 
 the full consciousness of their own strength, could not 
 
 8
 
 KING HENRY V. Comments 
 
 tolerate the arrogance, the conceit and the frivolity of 
 the French, of which the Dauphin's contumelious em- 
 bassy to Henry gives so distinct a reflex. The two na- 
 tions stood opposed to one another like a couple of men 
 who, in spite of the great difference in their natures, both 
 maintain that they are in the right and aim at the same 
 goal; such natures must necessarily come into conflict. 
 Ulrici : Shakspeare's Dramatic Art, 
 
 III. 
 
 The King. 
 
 From first to last the one overshadowing character is 
 the King. His irregular, undignified conduct when 
 Prince of Wales would hardly have prepared the people 
 to expect a model king. The prince, however, felt 
 within himself the power to rise above the frivolities of 
 liis early life when higher duties called him; and the play 
 abundantly shows how thoroughly he had redeemed 
 himself, rising to such a pitch of glory that in the epi- 
 logue to the play he is '' the Star of England." The full 
 portrait of him, drawn in an atmosphere of loyalty and 
 patriotism, is in close agreement with that of contempo- 
 rary writers. As a military leader he exhibited great 
 capacity and foresight; in Holinshed's phrase, " he had 
 indeed a gift to encourage his people." As king, he se- 
 cured the loyal respect of his people, and their admira- 
 tion for his piety, justice, and simplicity of character; in 
 these respects he afforded a striking contrast to the 
 crooked ways of his father. A living poet (Mr. William 
 Watson) has said of him : — 
 
 The roystering prince, that afterward 
 Belied his madcap youth and proved 
 A greatly-simple warrior lord 
 Such as our warrior fathers loved, 
 Lives he not still ? 
 
 Henry V., as Shakespeare has portrayed him, will live
 
 Comments THE LIFE OF 
 
 in the memory of every reader of the play, not merely as 
 an ideal English warrior king, but as the noblest illustra- 
 tion bequeathed to us by any dramatist of that intense 
 patriotic feeling of Englishmen that reached so high a 
 pitch in Elizabeth's reign, when proud confidence in the 
 strength of English spirit and deep love of their country 
 and queen were fully as earnest and as widely felt as in 
 our own time. 
 
 Ferguson : The Swan Edition. 
 
 In his courtship and on the day of battle Henry is just 
 as plain a king as if he had " sold his farm to buy his 
 crown.'' He has shaken off his old dissolute compan- 
 ions, but the remembrances of that simple intercourse 
 are recalled to our mind at every moment. The same 
 inclination to rove about with the common man in his 
 army, the old mildness and familiarity, and the same love 
 for an innocent jest, exist in him now as then, without 
 derogating in the least from his kingly dignity. He 
 leaves his nobles waiting in his tent while he visits the 
 posts of his soldiers; the old habit of night-watching is 
 of use to him now; he sounds the disposition of indi- 
 viduals; he encourages them without high-sounding 
 words ; he fortifies them without ostentation ; he can 
 preach to them and solve moral scruples, and can make 
 himself intelligible to them; he contrives a trick quite 
 of the old kind in the moment of most gloomy suspense; 
 like a brother, he borrows the cloak of the old Erping- 
 ham; he familiarly allows his countryman Fluellen to 
 join freely in his conversation with the herald; and in 
 his short appeal before the battle he declares all to be his 
 brothers who on this Crispin's day shed their blood with 
 him. 
 
 This contrast between his repose and calmness and 
 his martial excitement, between his plain hom.ely nature 
 and the kingly heroic spirit which in the moment of ac- 
 tion exercises dominion over him, is, however, not the 
 only one in which the Poet has exhibited him. The 
 
 lO
 
 KING HENRY V. Comments 
 
 night before and the day during the battle, which form 
 the centre of our play, is a period so prominent, and one 
 in which such manifold moods, emotions, and passions, 
 are roused and crossed, that the best opportunity was 
 here afforded to the Poet for exhibiting to our view this 
 many-sided man in all the richness and the diversity of 
 his nature. When the mind is quickened, he himself 
 says, " the*organs break up their drowsy grave, and 
 newly move with casted slough and fresh legerity " ; and 
 thus is it with him in this great and decisive moment. 
 We see him in a short time alternate between the most 
 different emotions and positions, ever the same master 
 over himself, or we may rather say, over the opportunity 
 and the matter which lie for the moment before him. 
 Gervinus : Shakespeare Commentaries, 
 
 IV. 
 
 The Wrath of Henry. 
 
 Shortly before the English army sets sail for France, 
 the treason of Cambridge, Scroop, and Grey is disclosed 
 to the king. He does not betray his acquaintance with 
 their designs. Surrounded by traitors, he boldly enters 
 his council-chamber at Southampton (the wind is sitting 
 fair, and but one deed remains to do before they go 
 aboard). On the preceding day a man was arrested who 
 had railed against the person of the king. Henry gives 
 orders that he be set at liberty: — 
 
 " We consider 
 It was excess of wine that set him on ; 
 And on his more advice we pardon him." 
 
 But Scroop and Grey and Cambridge interpose. It 
 would be true mercy, they insist, to punish such an of- 
 fender. And then, when they have unawares brought 
 themselves within the range of justice, Henry unfolds 
 their guilt. The wrath of Henry has in it some of that 
 awfulness and terror suggested by the apocalyptic ref- 
 
 II
 
 Comments THE LIFE OF 
 
 erence to " the wrath of the Lamb." It is the more ter- 
 rible because it transcends all egoistic feeling. What 
 fills the king with indignation is not so much that his 
 life should have ben conspired against by men on whom 
 his bounty has been bestowed without measure, as that 
 they should have revolted against the loyalty of man, 
 weakened the bonds of fellowship, and lowered the high 
 tradition of humanity: — 
 
 " O, how hast thou with jealousy infected 
 The sweetness of affiance! Show men dutiful? 
 Why, so didst thou: seem they grave and learned? 
 Why, so didst thou: come they of noble family? 
 Why, so didst thou : seem they religious ? 
 Why, so didst thou : or are they spare in diet, 
 Free from gross pa*ssion or of mirth or anger, 
 Constant in spirit, not swerving with the blood, 
 Garnish'd and deck'd in modest complement, 
 Not working with the eye without the ear, 
 And but in purged judgement trusting neither? 
 Such and so finely bolted didst thou seem: 
 And thus thy fall hath left a kind of blot, 
 To mark the full-fraught man and best indued 
 With some suspicion. I will weep for thee; 
 For this revolt of thine, methinks, is like 
 Another fall of man." 
 
 No wonder that the terrible moral insistence of these 
 words can subdue consciences made of penetrable stuff ; 
 no wonder that such an awful discovery of high realities 
 of life should call forth the loyalty that lurked within a 
 traitor's heart. But, though tears escape Henry, he can- 
 not relent : — 
 
 " Touclwng our person seek we no revenge ; 
 But we our kingdom's safety must so tender. 
 Whose ruin you have sought, that to her laws 
 We do deliver you. Get you therefore hence, 
 Poor miserable wretches, to your death : 
 The taste whereof, God of his mercy give 
 You patience to endure, and true repentance 
 Of all your dear offences ! " 
 
 12
 
 KING HENRY V. Comments 
 
 And, having vindicated the justice of God and purged 
 his country of treason, Henry sets his face to France 
 with the Hght of splendid achievement in his eyes/ 
 
 DowDEN : Shakspere. 
 
 V. 
 
 The Passing of Falstaff. 
 
 It is quite remarkable, that for some cause or other 
 the Poet did not make good his promise touching Fal- 
 staff. Sir John does not once appear in the play. Per- 
 haps any speculation as to the probable reason of this 
 were more curious than profitable ; but we must needs 
 think that when the Poet went to planning the drama he 
 saw the impracticability of making anything more out 
 of him. Sir John's dramatic office and mission were 
 clearly at an end, when his connection with Prince 
 Henry was broken off; the purpose of the character 
 being, as we have seen, to explain the unruly and riotous 
 courses of the prince. Besides, he must needs have had 
 so much of manhood in him as to love the prince, else 
 he had been too bad a man for the prince to be with; and 
 how might his powers of making sport be supposed to 
 survive the shock of being thus discarded by the only 
 person on earth whom he had the virtue to love? To 
 have reproduced him with his wits shattered, had been 
 injustice to him; to have reproduced him with his wits 
 sound and in good repair, had been unjust to the prince. 
 
 Falstaff repenting and reforming was indeed a much 
 better man; but then in that capacity he was not for us. 
 So that Shakespeare did well, no doubt, to keep him in 
 retirement where, though his once matchless powers no 
 longer give us pleasure, yet the report of his sufferings 
 gently touches our pity, and recovers him to the breath 
 of our human sympathies. To our sense, therefore, of the 
 matter, the Poet has here drawn the best lesson from 
 him that the subject might yield. We have already seen 
 
 13
 
 Comments THE LIFE OF 
 
 that Falstaff's character grows worse and worse up to 
 the close of the preceding play; and it is to be noted how 
 in all that happens to him the being cast off by the prince 
 at last is the only thing that really hurts his feelings. 
 And as this is the only thing that hurts him, so it is the 
 only one that does him any good; for he is strangely in- 
 accessible to inward suffering, and yet nothing but this 
 can make him better. His abuse of Shallow's hospitality 
 is exceedingly detestable, and argues that hardening of 
 all within, which tells far more against a man than al- 
 most any amount of mere sensuality. And yet when at 
 last the Hostess tells us '' the king has kill'd his heart," 
 what a volume of redeeming matter is suggested con- 
 cerning him! We then for the first time begin to respect 
 him as a man, because we see that he has a heart as well 
 as a brain, and that it is through his heart that grief is 
 let in upon him, and death gets the mastery of him. And 
 indeed the very absence of any signs of tenderness in all 
 the rest of his course rather favours the notion of there 
 being a secret reserve of it laid up somewhere in him. 
 And notwithstanding they do not respect him, and can 
 at best but stand amazed and bewildered at his over- 
 powering freshets of humour, it is still observable that 
 those who see much of him get strongly attached to him; 
 as if they had a sort of blind instinct that beneath all his 
 overgrowth of sin there were yet some stirrings of truth 
 and good; that the seeds of virtue, though dormant, 
 were still alive within him. This, as hath elsewhere ap- 
 peared, is especially the case with that strangely inter- 
 esting creature, the Hostess ; and now we can scarce 
 choose but think better of both Falstaff and Bardolph, 
 when, the former having died, and a question having 
 risen as to where he has gone, the latter says, " Would 
 I were with him, wheresome'er he is." In Mrs. Quickly's 
 account of his last moments there is a pathos to which 
 we know of nothing similar, and which is as touching 
 as it is peculiar. His character having a tone so original, 
 and a ring so firm and clear, it was but natural that upon 
 
 14
 
 KING HENRY V. Comments 
 
 his departure he should leave some audible vibrations 
 in the air behind him. The last of these dies away on the 
 ear some while after, when the learned Welshman, Flu- 
 ellen, uses him to point a moral; and this reference, so 
 queerly characteristic, is abundantly grateful, as serv- 
 ing to start up a swarm of laughing memories. 
 
 Hudson : The Woj'ks of Shakespeare. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Comic Figures. 
 
 The popular and comic parts of the drama, although 
 the originality of Falstaff's wit is absent, contains scenes 
 of perfect natural gayety; and the Welshman Fluellen 
 is a model of that serious, ingenious, inexhaustible, un- 
 expected, and jocose military talkativeness which excites 
 at once our laughter and our sympathy. 
 
 GuizoT : Shakspeare and His Times. 
 
 According to his custom, and in order to preserve con- 
 tinuity of style with the foregoing plays, Shakespeare 
 has interspersed Henry V. with comic figures and 
 scenes. Falstaff himself does not appear, his death being 
 announced at the beginning of the play; but the mem- 
 bers of his gang wander around, as living and ludicrous 
 mementos of him, until they disappear one by one by 
 way of the gallows, so that nothing may survive to re- 
 call the great king's frivolous youth. To console us for 
 their loss, we are here introduced to a new circle of' 
 comic figures — soldiers from the different English- 
 speaking countries which make up what we now call the 
 United Kingdom. Each of them speaks his own dialect, 
 in which resides much of the comic effect for English 
 ears. We have a Welshman, a Scot, and an Irishman. 
 The Welshman is intrepid, phlegmatic, somewhat pedan- 
 tic, but all fire and flame for discipline and righteous-
 
 Comments THE LIFE OF 
 
 ness; the Scot is immovable in his equiHbrium, even- 
 tempered, sturdy, and trustworthy; the Irishman is a 
 true Celt, fiery, passionate, quarrelsome and apt at mis- 
 understanding. Fluellen, the Welshman, with his comic 
 phlegm and manly severity, is the most elaborate of 
 these figures. 
 
 But in placing on the stage these representatives of 
 the different English-speaking peoples, Shakespeare had 
 another and deeper purpose than that of merely amusing 
 his public with a medley of dialects. At that time the 
 Scots were still the hereditary enemies of England, who 
 always attacked her in the rear whenever she went to 
 war, and the Irish were actually in open rebellion. 
 Shakespeare evidently dreamed of a Greater England, 
 as we nowadays speak of a Greater Britain. When he 
 wrote this play. King James of Scotland w^as busily 
 courting the favour of the English, and the question of 
 the succession to the throne, when the old Queen should 
 die, was not definitely settled. Shakespeare clearly de- 
 sired that, with the coming of James, the old national 
 hatred between the Scotch and the -English should 
 cease. 
 
 Brandes: IVilliain Shakespeare. 
 
 The group of English soldiery in the foreground are, 
 after Henry, by far the most detailed figures, and alto- 
 gether Shakespeare's creation. They provide a new East- 
 cheap in which the king indulges the humanities, with- 
 out the riots, of the old; and one which, in its relation 
 to the old, gives us a subtle measure of the king's rela- 
 tion to his past. Pistol and Bardolph, the old victims 
 of FalstafY's wit, reappear in their disreputable decay 
 with a congenial third, Nym; but Bardolph promptly 
 falls a victim to Henry's insistence on honour and dis- 
 cipline, and Pistol's moment of hollow triumph is but a 
 prelude to his final humiliation; while the Boy, once a 
 promising pupil of Bardolph's, sums up their character- 
 
 i6
 
 KING HENRY Y. Comments 
 
 istics at the outset (III. ii.) with the honest indignation 
 and the merciless candour of youth. Falstaff himself 
 was deliberately excluded, and the omission is the more 
 glaring since the historic Sir John Fastolfe actually ac- 
 companied the expedition, and, as Shakespeare read 
 in Holinshed, was left by Exeter in charge of Harfleur. 
 But with Falstaff, Shakespeare must have felt, there was 
 no middle way between banishment and the old cama- 
 raderie. His powerful personality would have violently 
 disturbed the focus of the play, and threatened the su- 
 premacy of Henry. In his place we have Fluellen, a less 
 wonderful, but hardly a less finished, creation of comic 
 genius. Falstaff 's humour is a dazzling solvent of truth; 
 Fluellen's a whimsical enforcement of it. Falstaff's finest 
 jests are rooted in dishonour and breach of trust; Flu- 
 ellen's quaint analogies from ancient history are argu- 
 ments for valour, discipline, and hero-worship. 
 
 Herford : The Eversley Shakespeare, 
 
 VII. 
 
 The Chorus. 
 
 The Poet is as far from speaking personally in the 
 character of the Chorus as in any other; the Chorus ex- 
 presses himself with a pomp of diction that bespeaks the 
 enthusiasm of a warm partizan, and is indeed little above 
 an idealization of the vulgar, though a vulgar above the 
 lowest sort. He embodies the spirit of the crowd that 
 rush well-dressed to any bustle of external parade, and 
 are ever ready to mistake success for right and splendour 
 for glory, gold chains for judgement and a uniform for 
 a hero. Chorus represents common Opinion, the cloud 
 that diffuses and refracts the radiance of all dashing ex- 
 ploits in whatever cause, and casts withal a haze about 
 some other brilliancies which a sober judgement must 
 take note of for itself. Nothing can differ more in all ex- 
 ternal respects from the lyric chorus of the Greek trag- 
 ic
 
 Comments THE LIFE OF 
 
 edy, but in this respect it is nearly coincident. Setting- 
 aside the formahzed misconceptions of Horace as to the 
 function of the Greek chorus, it is clear that from the 
 first instances of its assumption of human as apart from 
 daemonian nature, it forms the link between the exalted 
 personages of the fable and the spectator, exhibiting the 
 aspect of the theme as received by minds of inferior 
 stamp and order, the unheroic and variously impressible 
 as contrasted with the more fixed and far-seeing partici- 
 pators in the action. In either case there is a liability for 
 too sympathizing criticism to be taken rather with the 
 example than the warning, to acquiesce in the tendencies 
 that yield blame rather than pity to the heroic but un- 
 fortunate Antigone, and give applause unmingled with 
 any reservation to the successful bravery and ambition 
 of Henry; but this is a liability that not merely self- 
 respect but also respect for their audiences, forbade to 
 be entertained either by Sophocles or Shakespeare. 
 Lloyd: Critical Essays on the Plays of Shakespeare. 
 
 VIIL 
 
 Epic Elements. 
 
 The prologues, which unite epic pomp and solemnity 
 with lyrical sublimity, and among which the description 
 of the two camps before the battle of Agincourt forms 
 a most admirable night-piece, are intended to keep- the 
 spectators constantly in mind that the peculiar grandeur 
 of the actions described cannot be developed on a nar- 
 row stage, and that they must therefore supply from 
 their own imaginations the deficiencies of the represen- 
 tation. As the matter was not properly dramatic, 
 Shakespeare chose to wander in the form also beyond 
 the bounds of the species, and to sing, as a poetical her- 
 ald, what he could not represent to the eye, rather than 
 to cripple the progress of the action by putting long 
 descriptions in the mouths of the dramatic personag^es. 
 
 i8
 
 KING HENRY V. Comments 
 
 The confession of the Poet that " four or five most vile 
 and ragged foils, right ill-disposed, can only disgrace 
 the name of Agincourt " (a scruple which he has over- 
 looked in the occasion of many other great battles, and 
 among others of that of Philippi), brings us here natu- 
 rally to the question how far, generally speaking, it may 
 be suitable and advisable to represent wars and battles 
 on the stage. The Greeks have uniformly renounced 
 them : as in the whole of their theatrical system they 
 proceeded on ideas of grandeur and dignity, a feeble and 
 petty imitation of the unattainable would have appeared 
 insupportable in their eyes. With them, consequently, 
 all fighting was merely recounted. The principle of the 
 romantic dramatists was altogether different : their won- 
 derful pictures were infinitely larger than their theatrical 
 means of visible execution; they were everywhere 
 obliged to count on the willing imagination of the spec- 
 tators ,and consequently the yalso relied on them in this 
 point. 
 Schlec.el: Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature. 
 
 He proceeded to have a chronicle in hand to the close 
 of his career, but he preserved for.this class of work the 
 laxity of evolution and lack of dramatic design which 
 he had learned in his youth; and thus, side by side with 
 plays the prodigious harmony of which Shakespeare 
 alone could have conceived or executed, we have an epi- 
 cal fragment, like Henry V., which is less a drama by one 
 particular poet than a fold of the vast dramatic tapestry 
 v/oven to the glory of England by the combined poetic 
 patriotism of the Elizabethans. Is the whole of what we 
 read here implicit Shakespeare, or did another hand 
 combine with his to decorate this portion of the gallery? 
 It is impossible to tell, and the reply, could it be given, 
 would have no great critical value. Henry V. is not 
 Othello. 
 
 Gosse: Short History of Modern English Literature. 
 
 19
 
 Comments 
 
 Henry V., drawn from the same sources, is a continua- 
 tion of Henry IV., and presents in the splendid maturity 
 of the king one of Shakespeare's great men of action; 
 a type in which his own time was rich, and in the dehn- 
 eation of which, being himself a man of reflection and 
 expression, the Poet found infinite satisfaction. In this 
 play the events of a reign are grouped for dramatic 
 effectiveness, and war is dramatized on a great scale. 
 The material is essentially epical, but the treatment is 
 so vigorous that the play, while not dramatic in the 
 deepest sense, has the dignity and interest of a drama. 
 The introduction of the Chorus, in which the dramatist 
 speaks in person, shows how deeply he had meditated on 
 his art, and how deliberately he had rejected the con- 
 ventional unities of time, place, and action for the sake 
 of the higher and more inclusive unity of vital expe- 
 rience. No other play so nobly expresses the deepening 
 of the national consciousness at the end of the sixteenth 
 century, and the rising tide of national feeling. The 
 play is a great national epic; and the secret of the ex- 
 pansion and authority of the English race is to be found 
 in it. 
 Mabie: William Shakespeare : Poet, Dramatist, and Man. 
 
 20
 
 The Life of 
 King Henry V*
 
 DRAMATIS PERSONAE. 
 
 King Henry the Fifth. 
 
 Duke of Gloucester, ) , ,, , ,^. 
 
 -n, T, r brothers to the Kins.. 
 
 Duke of Bedford, f ^ 
 
 Duke of Exeter, uncle to the King. 
 
 Duke of York, cousin to the King. 
 
 Earls of Salisbury, Westmoreland, and Warwick. 
 
 Archbishop of Canterbury. 
 
 Bishop of Ely. 
 
 Earl of Cambridge. 
 
 Lord Scroop. 
 
 Sir Thomas Grey. 
 
 Sir Thomas Erpingham, Gower, Fluellen, Macmorris, 
 
 Jamy, oncers in King Henry's army. 
 
 Bates, Court, Williams, soldiers in the same. 
 
 Pistol, Nym, Bardolph. 
 
 Boy. 
 
 A Herald. 
 
 Charles the Sixth. King of France. 
 
 Lewis, the Daufhin. 
 
 Dukes of Burgundy, Orleans, and Bourbon. 
 
 The Constable of France. 
 
 Rambures and Grandpre, French Lords. 
 
 Governor of Harfleur. 
 
 Montjoy, a French Herald. 
 
 Ambassadors to the King of England. 
 
 Isabel, Queen of France. 
 Katharine, daughter to Charles and Isabel. 
 Alice, a lady attending on her. 
 
 Hostess of a tavern in Eastcheap, formerly Mistress Quickly, 
 and now married to Pistol. 
 
 Lords, Ladies, Officers, Soldiers. Citizens, Messengers, and 
 Attendants. 
 
 Chorus. 
 
 Scene: England; afterwards France. 
 
 22
 
 The Life of 
 
 KING HENRY V. 
 
 PROLOGUE. 
 
 Enter Chorus. 
 
 Chor. O for a muse of fire, that would ascend 
 The brightest heaven of invention, 
 A kingdom for a stage, princes to act 
 And monarchs to behold the swelling scene! 
 Then should the warlike Harry, like himself, 
 Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels, 
 Leash'd in like hounds, should famine, sword and fire 
 Crouch for employment. But pardon, gentles all, 
 The flat unraised spirits that have dared 
 On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth lo 
 
 So great an object: can this cockpit hold 
 The vasty fields of France ? or may we cram 
 Within this wooden O the very casques 
 That did affright the air at Agincourt? 
 O, pardon! since a crooked figure may 
 Attest in little place a million ; 
 And let us, ciphers to this great accompt. 
 On your imaginary forces work. 
 Suppose within the girdle of these walls 
 Are now confined two mighty monarchies, 20 
 
 Whose high upreared and abutting fronts 
 The perilous narrow ocean parts asunder : 
 
 23
 
 Act I. Sc. i. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts; 
 
 Into a thousand parts divide one man, 
 
 And make imaginary puissance; 
 
 Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them 
 
 Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth; 
 
 For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings, 
 
 Carry them here and there; jumping o'er times. 
 
 Turning the accomphshment of many years 30 
 
 Into an hour-glass : for the which supply, 
 
 Admit me Chorus to this history; 
 
 Who prologue-like your humble patience pray. 
 
 Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play. [Exit. 
 
 ACT FIRST. 
 Scene I. 
 
 London. An ante-chamber in the Kings palace. 
 
 Enter the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the 
 Bishop of Ely. 
 
 Cant. My lord, I '11 tell you; that self bill is urged. 
 Which in the eleventh year of the last king's reign 
 Was like, and had indeed against us pass'd, 
 But that the scambling and unquiet time 
 Did push it out of farther question. 
 
 Ely. But how, my lord, shall we resist it now? 
 
 Cant. It must be thought on. If it pass against us, 
 We lose the better half of our possession: 
 For all the temporal lands, which men devout 
 By testament have given to the church, 10 
 
 Would they strip from us ; being valued thus : 
 As much as would maintain, to the king's honour, 
 
 24
 
 KING HENRY V. Act I. Sc. i. 
 
 Full fifteen earls and fifteen hundred knights, 
 
 Six thousand and two hundred good esquires; 
 
 And, to relief of lazars and weak age, 
 
 Of indigent faint souls past corporal toil, 
 
 A hundred almshouses right well supplied; 
 
 And to the coffers of the king beside, 
 
 A thousand pounds by the year: thus runs the bill. 
 
 Ely. This would drink deep. 
 
 Cant. 'Twould drink the cup and all. 20 
 
 Ely. But what prevention? 
 
 Cant. The king is full of grace and fair regard. 
 
 Ely. And a true lover of the holy church. 
 
 Cant. The courses of his youth promised it not. 
 The breath no sooner left his father's body, 
 But that his wildness, mortified in him, 
 Seem'd to die too; yea, at that very moment, 
 Consideration like an angel came 
 And whipp'd the offending Adam out of him, 
 Leaving his body as a paradise, 30 
 
 To envelope and contain celestial spirits. 
 Never was such a sudden scholar made; 
 Never came reformation in a flood, 
 With such a heady currance, scouring faults; 
 Nor never Hydra-headed wilfulness 
 So soon did lose his seat, and all at once. 
 As in this king. 
 
 Ely. We are blessed in the change. 
 
 Cant. Hear him but reason in divinity. 
 And all-admiring with an inward w^ish 
 You would desire the king were made a prelate: 40 
 Hear him debate of commonwealth affairs, 
 You would say it hath been all in all his study : 
 
 25
 
 Act I. Sc. i. THE LIFE OF 
 
 List his discourse of war, and you shall hear 
 
 A fearful battle render'd you in music : 
 
 Turn him to any cause of poUcy, 
 
 The Gordian knot of it he will unloose, 
 
 Familiar as his garter: that, when he speaks, 
 
 The air, a charter'd libertine, is still, 
 
 And the mute wonder lurketh in men's ears. 
 
 To steal his sweet and honey'd sentences; 50 
 
 So that the art and practic part of life 
 
 Must be the mistress to this theoric: 
 
 Which is a wonder how his grace should glean it, 
 
 Since his addiction was to courses vain. 
 
 His companies unletter'd, rude and shallow, 
 
 His hours fill'd up with riots, banquets, sports. 
 
 And never noted in him any study, 
 
 Any retirement, any sequestration 
 
 From open haunts and popularity. 
 
 Ely. The strawberry grows underneath the nettle, 60 
 And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best 
 Neighboured by fruit of baser quality: 
 And so the prince obscured his contemplation 
 Under the veil of wildness; which, no doubt. 
 Grew Hke the summer grass, fastest by night. 
 Unseen, yet crescive in his faculty. 
 
 Cant. It must be so; for miracles are ceased; 
 
 And therefore we must needs admit the means 
 How things are perfected. 
 
 Ely. But, my good lord, 
 
 How now for mitigation of this bill 70 
 
 Urged by the commons? Doth his majesty 
 Incline to it, or no? 
 
 Cant. He seems indifferent, 
 
 26
 
 KING HENRY V. Act I. Sc. i. 
 
 Or rather swaying more upon our part 
 
 Than cherishing the exhibiters against us ; 
 
 For I have made an offer to his majesty, 
 
 Upon our spiritual convocation 
 
 And in regard of causes now in hand, 
 
 Which I have open'd to his grace at large, 
 
 As touching France, to give a greater sum 
 
 Than ever at one time the clergy yet 80 
 
 Did to his predecessors part withal. 
 
 Ely. How did this oft'er seem received, my lord? 
 
 Cant. With good acceptance of his majesty; 
 
 Save that there was not time enough to hear. 
 As I perceived his grace would fain have done, 
 The severals and unhidden passages 
 Of his true titles to some certain dukedoms. 
 And generally to the crown and seat of France, 
 Derived from Edward, his great-grandfather. 
 
 Ely. What was the impediment that broke this off? 90 
 
 Cant. The French ambassador upon that instant 
 
 Craved audience ; and the hour, I think, is come 
 To give him hearing : is it four o'clock ? 
 
 Ely. It is. 
 
 Cant. Then go we in, to know his embassy; 
 
 Which I could with a ready guess declare. 
 Before the Frenchman speak a word of it. 
 
 Ely. I '11 wait upon you, and I long to hear it. [Exeunt.
 
 Act I. Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 The same. The Presence chamber. 
 
 Enter King Henry, Gloucester, Bedford, Exeter, 
 Warzvick, Westmoreland, and Attendants. 
 
 K. Hen. Where is my gracious Lord of Canterbury ? 
 
 Exe. Not here in presence. 
 
 K. Hen. Send for him, good uncle. 
 
 West. Shall we call in the ambassador, my liege? 
 
 K. Hen. Not yet, my cousin : we would be resolved, 
 Before we hear him, of some things of weight 
 That task our thoughts, concerning us and France. 
 
 Enter the Archbishop of Canterbury and the 
 Bishop of Ely. 
 
 Cant. God and his angels guard your sacred throne. 
 And make you long become it ! 
 
 K. Henry. Sure, we thank you. 
 
 My learned lord, we pray you to proceed 
 And justly and religiously unfold lo 
 
 Why the law Salique that they have in France 
 Or should, or should not, bar us in our claim : 
 And God forbid, my dear and faithful lord, 
 That you should fashion, wrest, or bow your reading. 
 Or nicely charge your understanding soul 
 With opening titles miscreate, whose right 
 Suits not in native colours with the truth ; 
 For God doth know how many now in health 
 Shall drop their blood in approbation 
 Of what your reverence shall incite us to. 20 
 
 Therefore take heed how you impawn our person. 
 How you awake our sleeping sword of war : 
 We charge you, in the name of God, take heed ; 
 
 28
 
 KING HENRY V. Act I. Sc. ii. 
 
 For never two such kingdoms did contend 
 Without much fall of blood; whose guiltless drops 
 Are every one a woe, a sore complaint 
 'Gainst him whose wrongs give edge unto the swords 
 That make such waste in brief mortality. 
 Under this conjuration speak, my lord; 
 For we will hear, note and believe in heart 30 
 
 That what you speak is in your conscience wash'd 
 As pure as sin with baptism. 
 Cant. Then hear me, gracious sovereign, and you peers, 
 That owe yourselves, your lives and services 
 To this imperial throne. There is no bar 
 To make against your highness' claim to France 
 But this, which they produce from Pharamond, 
 * In terram Salicam mulieres ne succedant ' : 
 ' No woman shall succeed in Salique land ' : 
 Which Salique land the French unjustly gloze 40 
 To be the realm of France, and Pharamond 
 The founder of this law and female bar. 
 Yet their own authors faithfully affirm 
 That the land Salique is in Germany, 
 Between the floods of Sala and of Elbe ; 
 Where Charles the Great, having subdued the Saxons, 
 There left behind and settled certain French; 
 Who, holding in disdain the German women 
 For some dishonest manners of their life, 
 Establish'd then this law; to wit, no female 50 
 Should be inheritrix in Salique land : 
 Which Salique, as I said, 'twixt Elbe and Sala, 
 Is at this day in Germany call'd Meisen. 
 Then doth it well appear the Salique law^ 
 Was not devised for the realm of France; 
 29
 
 Act I.Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Nor did the French possess the SaHque land 
 
 Until four hundred one and twenty years 
 
 After defunction of King Pharamond, 
 
 Idly supposed the founder of this law; 
 
 Who died within the year of our redemption 60 
 
 Four hundred twenty-six ; and Charles the Great 
 
 Subdued the Saxons, and did seat the French 
 
 Beyond the river Sala, in the year 
 
 Eight hundred five. Besides, their writers say, 
 
 King Pepin, which deposed Childric, 
 
 Did, as heir general, being descended 
 
 Of Blithild, which was daughter to King Clothair, 
 
 Make claim and title to the crown of France. 
 
 Hugh Capet also, who usurp'd the crown 
 
 Of Charles the duke of Lorraine, sole heir male 70 
 
 Of the true line and stock of Charles the Great, 
 
 To find his title with some shows of truth, 
 
 Though, in pure truth, it was corrupt and naught, 
 
 Convey'd himself as heir to the Lady Lingare, 
 
 Daughter to Charlemain, who was the son 
 
 To Lewis the emperor, and Lewis the son 
 
 Of Charles the Great, Also King Lewis the tenth, 
 
 Who was sole heir to the usurper Capet, 
 
 Could not keep quiet in his conscience, 
 
 Wearing the crown of France, till satisfied 80 
 
 That fair Queen Isabel, his grandmother, 
 
 Was lineal of the Lady Ermengare, 
 
 Daughter to Charles the foresaid duke of Lorraine: 
 
 By the which marriage the line of Charles the Great 
 
 Was re-umted to the crown of France. 
 
 So that, as clear as is the summer's sun, 
 
 King Pepin's title and Hugh Capet's claim, 
 
 3a
 
 KING HENRY V. Act I. Sc. ii. 
 
 King Lewis his satisfaction, all appear 
 To hold in right and title of the female: 
 So do the kings of France unto this day; 90 
 
 Howbeit they would hold up this Salique law 
 To bar your highness claiming from the female. 
 And rather choose to hide them in a net 
 Than amply to imbar their crooked titles 
 Usurp'd from you and your progenitors. 
 
 K. Hen. May I with right and conscience make this claim? 
 
 Cant. The sin upon my head, dread sovereign! 
 For in the book of Numbers is it writ, 
 When the man dies, let the inheritance 
 Descend unto the daughter. Gracious lord, 100 
 Stand for your own; unwind your bloody flag; 
 Look back into your mighty ancestors: 
 Go, my dread lord, to your great-grandsire's tomb, 
 From whom you claim; invoke his warlike spirit, 
 And your great-uncle's, Edward the Black Prince, 
 Who on the French ground play'd a tragedy, 
 Making defeat on the full power of France, 
 Whiles his most mighty father on a hill 
 Stood smiling to behold his lion's whelp 
 Forage in blood of French nobility. no 
 
 O noble English, that could entertain 
 With half their forces the full pride of France 
 And let another half stand laughing by. 
 All out of work and cold for action! 
 
 Ely. Awake remembrance of these valiant dead, 
 . And with your puissant arm renew their feats : 
 You are their heir ; you sit upon their throne ; 
 The blood and courage that renowned them 
 Runs in your veins; and my thrice -puissant liege 
 
 31
 
 Act I. Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Is in the very May-morn of his youth, 120 
 
 Ripe for exploits and mighty enterprises. 
 
 E.ve. Your brother kings and monarchs of the earth 
 Do all expect that you should rouse yourself, 
 As did the former lions of your blood. 
 
 West. They know your grace hath cause and means and 
 might; 
 So hath your highness; never king of England 
 Had nobles richer and more loyal subjects, 
 Whose hearts have left their bodies here in England 
 And lie pavilion'd in the fields of France. 
 
 Cant. O, let their bodies follow, my dear liege, 130 
 
 With blood and sword and fire to win your right; 
 In aid whereof we of the spiritualty 
 Will raise your highness such a mighty sum 
 As never did the clergy at one time 
 Bring in to any of your ancestors. 
 
 K. Hen. We must not only arm to invade the French, 
 But lay down our proportions to defend 
 Against the Scot, who will make road upon us 
 With all advantages. 
 
 Cant. They of those marches, gracious sovereign, 140 
 Shall be a wall sufficient to defend 
 Our inland from the pilfering borderers. 
 
 K. Hen. We do not mean the coursing snatchers only, 
 But fear the main intendment of the Scot, 
 Who hath been still a giddy neighbour to us; 
 For you shall read that my great-grandfather 
 Never went with his forces into France, 
 But that the Scot on his unfurnish'd kingdom 
 Came pouring, like the tide into a breach. 
 With ample and brim fulness of his force, 150 
 
 32
 
 KING HENRY V. Act I. Sc. ii. 
 
 Galling the gleaned land with hot assays, 
 Girding with grievous siege casdes and towns; 
 That England, being empty of defence, 
 Hath shook and trembled at the ill neighbourhood. 
 Cant. She hath been then more fear'd than harnrd, my 
 liege ; 
 For hear her but exampled by herself; 
 When all her chivalry hath been in France, 
 And she a mourning widow of her nobles, 
 She hath herself not only well defended. 
 But taken and impounded as a stray i6o 
 
 The King of Scots; whom she did send to France, 
 To fill King Edward's fame with prisoner kings, 
 And make her chronicle as rich with praise, 
 As is the ooze and bottom of the sea 
 With sunken wreck and sumless treasuries. 
 West. But there 's a saying very old and true, 
 ' If that you will France win, 
 Then with Scotland first begin ' : 
 For once the eagle England being in prey. 
 To her unguarded nest the weasel Scot 170 
 
 Comes sneaking and so sucks her princely eggs. 
 Playing the mouse in absence of the cat, 
 To tear and havoc more than she can eat. 
 Exc. It follows then the cat must stay at home: 
 Yet that is but a crush'd necessity, 
 Since we have locks to safeguard necessaries, 
 And pretty traps to catch the petty thieves. 
 While that the armed hand doth fight abroad, 
 The advised head defends itself at home; 
 For government, though high and low and lower, 
 Put into parts, doth keep in one consent, 181 
 
 33
 
 Act I. Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Congreeing in a full and natural close, 
 Like music. 
 Cauf. Therefore doth heaven divide 
 
 The state of man in divers functions, 
 Setting endeavour in continual motion; 
 To which is fixed, as an aim or butt, 
 Obedience: for so work the honey-bees, 
 Creatures that by a rule in nature teach 
 The act of order to a peopled kingdom. 
 They have a king and officers of sorts! ' 190 
 
 Where some, like magistrates, correct at home, 
 Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad. 
 Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings, 
 oMake boot upon the summer's velvet buds, 
 Which pillage they with merry march bring home 
 To the tent-royal of their emperor; 
 Who, busied in his majesty, surveys 
 The singing masons building roofs of gold, 
 The civil citizens kneading up the honey, 
 The poor mechanic porters crowding in 200 
 
 Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate, 
 The sad-eyed justice, with his surly hum. 
 Delivering o'er to executors pale 
 The lazy yawning drone. I this infer. 
 That many things, having full reference 
 To one consent, may work contrariously: 
 As many arrows, loosed several ways, 
 Come to one mark ; as many ways meet in one town ; 
 As many fresh streams meet in one salt sea; 
 As many lines close in the dial's centre; 210 
 
 So may a thousand actions, once afoot, 
 End in one purpose, and be all well borne 
 
 34
 
 KING HENRY V. Act I. Sc. il 
 
 Without defeat. Therefore to France, my Hege. 
 Divide your happy England into four ; 
 Whereof take you one quarter into France, 
 And you withal shall make all Gallia shake. 
 If we, with thrice such powers left at home, , 
 Cannot defend our own doors from the dog, 
 Let us be worried and our nation lose 
 The name of hardiness and poHcy. 220 
 
 K. Hen. Call in the messengers sent from the Dauphin. 
 
 [Exeunt some Attendcvits. 
 Now are we well resolved; and, by God's help. 
 And yours, the noble sinews of our power, 
 France being ours, we'll bend it to our awe,. 
 Or break it all to pieces: or there we '11 sit. 
 Ruling in large and ample empery 
 O'er France and all her almost kingly dukedoms, 
 Or lay these bones in an unworthy urn, 
 Tombless, with no remembrance over them : 
 Either our history shall wnth full mouth 230 
 
 Speak freely of our acts, or else our grave, 
 Like Turkish mute, shall have a tongueless mouth. 
 Not worshipp'd with a waxen epitaph. 
 
 Enter Ambassadors of Erancc. 
 
 Now are we well prepared to know the pleasure 
 Of our fair cousin Dauphin; for we hear 
 Your greeting is from him, not from the king. 
 
 Eirst Amb. May 't please your majesty to give us leave 
 Freely to render wdiat w^e have in charge; 
 Or shall we sparingly show you far off 
 The Dauphin's meaning and our embassy? 240 
 
 K. Hen. We are no tyrant, but a Christian king; 
 
 35
 
 Act I. Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Unto whose grace our passion is as subject 
 As are our wretches fetter'd in our prisons : 
 Therefore with frank and with uncurbed plainness 
 Tell us the Dauphin's mind. 
 
 First Amb. Thus, then, in few. 
 
 Your highness, lately sending into France, 
 Did claim some certain dukedoms, in the right 
 Of your great predecessor, King Edward the third. 
 In answer of which claim, the prince our master 
 Says that you savour too much of your youth, 250 
 And bids you be advised there 's nought in France 
 That can be with a nimble galliard won ; 
 You cannot revel into dukedoms there. 
 He therefore sends you, meeter for your spirit, 
 This tun of treasure; and, in lieu of this. 
 Desires you let the dukedoms that you claim 
 Hear no more of you. This the Dauphin speaks. 
 
 K. Hen. What treasure, uncle ? 
 
 Exe. Tennis-balls, my liege. 
 
 K. Hen. We are glad the Dauphin is so pleasant with us ; 
 His present and your pains we thank you for : 260 
 When we have match'd our rackets to these balls. 
 We will, in France, by God's grace, play a set 
 Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard. 
 Tell him he hath made a match with such a wrangler 
 That all the courts of France will be disturb'd 
 With chaces. And we understand him well, 
 How he comes o'er us with our wilder days. 
 Not measuring what use we made of them. 
 We never valued this poor seat of England; 
 And therefore, living hence, did give ourself 270 
 To barbarous license ; as 'tis ever common 
 36
 
 KING HENRY V. Act I. Sc. ii. 
 
 That men are merriest when they are from home. 
 
 But tell the Dauphin I will keep my state, 
 
 Be like a king and show my sail of greatness 
 
 When I do rouse me in my throne of France: 
 
 For that I have laid by my majesty, 
 
 And plodded like a man for working-days; 
 
 But I will rise there with so full a glory 
 
 That I will dazzle all the eyes of France, 
 
 Yea, strike the Dauphin blind to look on us. 280 
 
 And tell the pleasant prince this mock of his 
 
 Hath turn'd his balls to gun-stones; and his soul 
 
 Shall stand sore charged for the wasteful vengeance 
 
 That shall fly with them : for many a thousand widows 
 
 Shall this his mock mock out of their dear husbands ; 
 
 Mock mothers from their sons, mock castles down; 
 
 And some are yet ungotten and unborn 
 
 That shall have cause to curse the Dauphin's scorn. 
 
 But this lies all within the will of God, 
 
 To whom I do appeal ; and in whose name 290 
 
 Tell you the Dauphin I am coming on, 
 
 To venge me as I may and to put forth 
 
 My rightful hand in a well-hallow'd cause. 
 
 So get you hence in peace; and tell the Dauphin 
 
 His jest will savour but of shallow wit. 
 
 When thousands weep more than did laugh at it. 
 
 Convey them with safe conduct. Fare you well. 
 
 [Exeunt Ambassadors. 
 
 Exe. This was a merry message. 
 
 K. Hen. We hope to make the sender blush at it. 
 
 Therefore, my lords, omit no happy hour 300 
 
 That may give furtherance to our expedition; 
 For we have now no thought in us but France, 
 
 Z7
 
 Act II. Prologue THE LIFE OF 
 
 Save those to God, that run before our business. 
 Therefore let our proportions for these wars 
 Be soon collected, and all things thought upon 
 That may with reasonable swiftness add 
 More feathers to our wings; for, God before, 
 We '11 chide this Dauphin at his father's door. 
 Therefore let every man now task his thought, 
 That this fair action may on foot be brought. 310 
 
 [Exeunt. Flourish. 
 
 ACT SECOND. 
 Prologue. 
 
 Enter Chorus. 
 
 Char. Now all the youth of England are on fire. 
 And silken dalliance in the wardrobe lies: 
 Now thrive the armourers, and honour's thought 
 Reigns solely in the breast of every man: 
 They sell the pasture now to buy the horse, 
 Following the mirror of all Christian kings, 
 With winged heels, as English Mercuries. 
 P'or now sits Expectation in the air. 
 And hides a sword from hilts unto the point 
 With crowns imperial, crowns and coronets; 10 
 
 Promised to Harry and his followers. 
 The French, advised by good intelligence 
 Of this most dreadful preparation. 
 Shake in their fear and with pale policy 
 Seek to divert the EngHsh purposes. 
 O England! model to thy inward greatness. 
 Like little body with a mighty heart, 
 
 38
 
 KING HENRY V. Act II. Sc. i. 
 
 What mightst thou do, that honour would thee do, 
 
 Were all thy children kind and natural! 
 
 But see thy fault! France hath in thee found out 20 
 
 A nest of hollow bosoms, which he fills 
 
 With treacherous crowns ; and three corrupted men. 
 
 One, Richard Earl of Cambridge, and the. second, 
 
 Henry Lord Scroop of Masham, and the third, 
 
 Sir Thomas Grey, knight, of Northumberland, 
 
 Have, for the gilt of France, — O guilt indeed! — 
 
 Confirm'd conspiracy wath fearful France; 
 
 And by their hands this grace of kings must die. 
 
 If hell and treason hold their promises, 
 
 Ere he take ship for France, and in Southampton. 30 
 
 Linger your patience on; and we'll digest 
 
 The abuse of distance ; force a play : 
 
 The sum is paid; the traitors are agreed; 
 
 The king is set from London ; and the scene 
 
 Is now transported, gentles, to Southampton; 
 
 There is the playhouse now, there must you sit : 
 
 And thence to France shall we convey you safe, 
 
 And bring you back, charming the narrow seas 
 
 To give you gentle pass; for, if we may. 
 
 We '11 not offend one stomach with our play. 40 
 
 But, till the king come forth, and not till then, 
 
 Unto Southampton do w^e shift our scene. [Exit. 
 
 Scene I. 
 
 London. A street. 
 
 Enter Corporal Nyni and Lieutenant Bardolph. 
 
 Bard. Well met. Corporal Nym. 
 
 Nyni, Good morrow. Lieutenant Bardolph. 
 
 39
 
 Act II. Sc. i. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Bard. What, are Ancient Pistol and you friends yet? 
 
 Nym. For my part, I care not : I say little ; but when 
 time shall serve, there shall be smiles; but that 
 shall be as it may. I dare not fight; but I will 
 wink and hold out mine iron : it is a simple one ; 
 but what though? it will toast cheese, and it 
 will endure cold as another man's sword will: 
 and there 's an end. lo 
 
 Bard. I will bestow a breakfast to make you friends ; 
 and we '11 be all three sworn brothers to France: 
 let it be so, good Corporal Nym. 
 
 Nym. Faith, I will live so long as I may, that 's the 
 certain of it ; and when I cannot live any 
 longer, I will do as I may : that is my rest, that 
 is the rendezvous of it. 
 
 Bard. It is certain, corporal, that he is married to 
 Nell Quickly: and, certainly, she did you 
 wrong; for you were troth-plight to her. 20 
 
 Nym. I cannot tell : things must be as they may : 
 men may sleep, and they may have their throats 
 about them at that time; and some say knives 
 have edges. It must be as it may: though 
 patience be a tired mare, yet she will plod. 
 There must be conclusions. Well, I cannot tell. 
 
 Enter Pistol and Hostess. 
 
 Bard. Here comes Ancient Pistol and his wife : good 
 
 corporal, be patient here. How now, mine host 
 
 Pistol! 
 Pist. Base tike, call'st thou me host? 30 
 
 Now, by this hand, I swear, I scorn the term; 
 
 Nor shall my Nell keep lodgers. 
 40
 
 KING HENRY V. Act II. Sc. i. 
 
 Host. No, by my troth, not long; for we cannot 
 lodge and board a dozen or fourteen gentle- 
 women that live honestly by the prick of their 
 needles, but it will be thought we keep a bawdy 
 house straight. [Nym and Pistol draiv.\ O 
 well a day. Lady, if he be not drawn now ! we 
 shall see wilful adultery and murder com- 
 mitted. 40 
 
 Bard. Good lieutenant ! good corporal ! offer noth- 
 ing here. 
 
 Nym. Pish! 
 
 Pist. Pish for thee, Iceland dog! thou prick-ear'd cur of 
 Iceland ! 
 
 Host. Good Corporal Nym, show thy valour, and 
 put up your sword. 
 
 Nym. Will you shog off? I would have you solus. 
 
 Pist. ' Solus,' egregious dog? O viper vile ! 
 The ' solus ' in thy most mervailous face ; 
 The ' solus ' in thy teeth, and in thy throat, 50 
 
 And in thy hateful lungs, yea, in thy maw, perdy, 
 And, which is worse, within thy nasty mouth ! 
 I do retort the ' solus ' in thy bowels ; 
 For I can take, and Pistol's cock is up, 
 And flashing fire will follow. 
 
 Nym. I am not Barbason ; you cannot conjure me. 
 I have an humour to knock you indifferently 
 well. If you grow foul with me. Pistol, I will 
 scour you with my rapier, as I may, in fair 
 terms : if you would walk off, I would prick 60 
 your guts a little, in good terms, as I may : and 
 that 's the humour of it. 
 
 Pist. O braggart vile, and damned furious wight! 
 
 41
 
 Act II. Sc. i. THE LIFE OF 
 
 The grave doth gape, and doting death is near; 
 
 Therefore exhale. 
 Bard. Hear me, hear me what I say : he that strikes 
 
 the first stroke, I '11 run him up to the hilts, as 
 
 I am a soldier. \Drazi.'S. 
 
 Pisf. An oath of mickle might ; and fury shall abate. 
 
 Give me thy fist, thy fore- foot to me give : 70 
 
 Thy spirits are most tall. 
 N'ynu I will cut thy throat, one time or other, in fair 
 
 terms : that is the humour of it. 
 Pist. ' Couple a gorge ! ' 
 
 That is the word. I thee defy again. 
 
 hound of Crete, think'st thou my spouse to get? 
 No ; to the spital go. 
 
 And from the powdering-tub of infamy 
 
 Fetch forth the lazar kite of Cressid's kind, 
 
 Doll Tearsheet she by name, and her espouse : 80 
 
 1 have, and I will hold, the quondam Quickly 
 For the only she ; and — pauca, there 's enough. 
 Go to. 
 
 Enter the Boy. 
 
 Boy. Mine host Pistol, you must come to my master, 
 and you, hostess : he is very sick, and would to 
 bed. Good Bardolph, put thy face between his 
 sheets, and do the office of a warming-pan. 
 Faith, he 's very ill. 
 
 Bard. Away, you rogue ! 
 
 Host. By my troth, he '11 yield the crow a pudding 90 
 one of these days. The king has killed his heart. 
 Good husband, come home presently. 
 
 [Exeunt Hostess and boy. 
 
 Bard. Come, shall I make you two friends? We 
 
 42
 
 KING HENRY V. Act II. Sc. i. 
 
 must to France together : why the devil should 
 we keep knives to cut one another's throats? 
 
 Pist. Let floods o'erswell, and fiends for food howl on ! 
 
 Nym. You '11 pay me the eight shillings I won of you 
 at betting ? 
 
 Pist. Base is the slave that pays. 
 
 Nym. That now I will have : that 's the humour of it. lOO 
 
 Pist. As manhood shall compound : push home. 
 
 [They draw. 
 
 Bard. By this sword, he that makes the first thrust, 
 I '11 kill him ; by this sword, I will. 
 
 Pist. Sword is an oath, and oaths must have their course. 
 
 Bard. Corporal Nym, an thou wilt be friends, be 
 friends : an thou wilt not, why, then, be ene- 
 mies with me too. Prithee, put up. 
 
 Nym, I shall have my eight shillings I won of you 
 at betting? 
 
 Pist. A noble shalt thou have, and present pay ; i lo 
 
 And liquor likewise will I give to thee. 
 And friendship shall combine, and brotherhood : 
 I '11 live by Nym, and Nym shall live by me ; 
 Is not this just? for I shall sutler be 
 Unto the camp, and profits will accrue. 
 Give me thy hand. 
 
 Nym. I shall have my noble ? 
 
 Pist. In cash most justly paid. 
 
 Nym. Well, then, that 's the humour of 't. 
 
 Re-enter Hostess. 
 
 Host. As ever you came of women, come in quickly I20 
 to Sir John. Ah, poor heart ! he is so shaked 
 of a burning quotidian tertian, that it is most 
 
 43
 
 Act II. Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 lamentable to behold. Sweet men, come to him. 
 Nym. The king hath run bad humours on the knight ; 
 
 that 's the even of it. 
 Pist. Nym, thou hast spoke the right ; 
 
 His heart is fracted and corroborate. 
 Nym. The king is a good king : but it must be as it 
 
 may; he passes some humours and careers. 130 
 
 Pist. Let us condole the knight; for, lambkins, we will 
 live. 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 Southampton. A coiuicil-chamher. 
 Enter Exeter, Bedford, and Westmoreland. 
 
 Bed. 'Fore God, his grace is bold, to trust these traitors. 
 
 Exe. They shall be apprehended by and by. 
 
 West. How smooth and even they do bear themselves ! , 
 As if allegiance in their bosoms sat, 
 Crowned with faith and constant loyalty. 
 
 Bed. The king hath note of all that they intend, 
 By interception which they dream not of. 
 
 Exe. Nay, but the man that was his bedfellow, 
 
 Whom he hath duU'd and cloy'd with gracious fa- 
 vours. 
 That he should, for a foreign purse, so sell 10 
 
 His sovereign's life to death and treachery. 
 
 Trumpets sound. Enter King Henry, Scroop, Cam- 
 bridge, Grey, and Attendants. 
 
 K. Hen. Now sits the wind fair, and we will aboard. 
 
 My Lord of Cambridge, and my kind Lord of Ma- 
 sham, 
 
 44
 
 KING HENRY V. Act II. Sc. ii. 
 
 And you, my gentle Knight, give me your thoughts : 
 Think you not that the powers we bear with us 
 A¥ill cut their passage through the force of France, 
 Doing the execution and the act 
 For which we have in head assembled them? 
 
 Scroop. No doubt, my liege, if each man do his best. 
 
 K. Hen. I doubt not that ; since we are well persuaded 
 We* carry not a heart with us from hence 21 
 
 That grows not in a fair consent with ours, 
 Nor leave not one behind that doth not wish 
 Success and conquest to attend on us. 
 
 Cam. Never was monarch better fear'd and loved 
 
 Than is your majesty : there 's not, I think, a subject 
 That sits in heart-grief and uneasiness 
 ITnder the sweet shade of your government. 
 
 Crcy. True : those that were your father's enemies 
 Have steep'd their galls in honey, and do serve you 
 With hearts create of duty and of zeal. 31 
 
 /f. Hen. We therefore have great cause of thankfulness ; 
 And shall forget the office of our hand. 
 Sooner than quittance of desert and merit 
 According to the weight and worthiness. 
 
 Scroop. So service shall with steeled sinews toil, 
 And labour shall refresh itself with hope, 
 To do your grace incessant services. 
 
 K. Hen. W^e judge no less. Uncle of Exeter, 
 
 Enlarge the man committed yesterday, 40 
 
 That rail'd against our person : we consider 
 It was excess of wine that set him on ; 
 And on his more advice we pardon him. 
 
 Scroop. That 's mercy, but too much security : 
 Let him be punish'd, sovereign, lest example 
 
 45
 
 Act II. Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Breed, by his sufferance, more of such a kind. 
 
 K. Hen. O, let us yet be merciful. 
 
 Cam. So may your highness, and yet punish too. 
 
 Grey. Sir, 
 
 You show great mercy, if you give him life, 50 
 
 After the taste of much correction. 
 
 K. Hen. Alas, your too much love and care of me 
 Are heavy orisons 'gainst this poor wretch!' 
 If little faults, proceeding on distemper. 
 Shall not be winkVl at, how shall we stretch our eye 
 When capital crimes, chew'd, swallow'd and digested, 
 Appear before us ? We '11 yet enlarge that man, 
 Though Cambridge, Scroop and Grey, in their dear 
 
 care 
 And tender preservation of our person, 
 Would have him punish'd. And now to our French 
 causes : 60 
 
 Who are the late commissioners? 
 
 Cam. I one,' my lord : 
 
 Your highness bade me ask for it to-day. 
 
 Scroop. So did you me, my liege. 
 
 Grey. And I, my royal sovereign. 
 
 K. Hen. Then, Richard Earl of Cambridge, there is 
 yours ; 
 There yours, Lord Scoop of Alasham ; and, sir knight. 
 Grey of Northumberland, this same is yours : 
 Read them ; and know, I know your worthiness. 
 My Lord of Westmoreland, and uncle Exeter, 70 
 We will aboard to-night. Why, how now, gentlemen ! 
 \\'hat see you in those papers that you lose 
 So much complexion ? Look ye, how they change ! 
 Their cheeks are paper. Why, what read you there, 
 
 46
 
 KING HENRY V. Act II. Sc. ii. 
 
 That hath so cowarded and chased your blood 
 Out of appearance? 
 Caju. I do confess my fault; 
 
 And do submit me to your highness' mercy. 
 
 ^''^'^'- I To which we all appeal. 
 Scroop. ) 
 
 K. Hen. The mercy that was quick in us but late, 
 
 By your own counsel is suppress'd and kill'd : 80 
 
 You must not dare, for shame, to talk of mercy; 
 
 For your own reasons turn into your bosoms, 
 
 As dogs upon their masters, worrying you. 
 
 See you, my princes and my noble peers. 
 
 These English monsters! My lord of Cambridge 
 
 here. 
 
 You know how apt our love was to accord 
 
 To furnish him with all appertinents 
 
 Belonging to his honour; and this man 
 
 Hath, for a few light crowns, lightly conspired, 
 
 And sworn unto the practices of France, 90 
 
 To kill us here in Hampton: to the which 
 
 This knight, no less for bounty bound to us 
 
 Than Cambridge is, hath likewise sworn. But, O, 
 
 What shall I say to thee. Lord Scroop? thou cruel, 
 
 Ingrateful, savage and inhuman creature! 
 
 Thou that didst bear the key of all my counsels, 
 
 That knew'st the very bottom of my soul, 
 
 That almost mightst have coin'd me into gold, 
 
 Wouldst thou have practised on me for thy use, 
 
 May it be possible, that foreign hire 100 
 
 Could out of thee extract one spark of evil 
 
 That might annoy my finger? 'tis so strange. 
 
 That, though the truth of it stands off as gross
 
 Act II. Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 As black and white, my eye will scarcely see it. 
 Treason and murder ever kept together, 
 As two yoke-devils sworn to cither's purpose, 
 Working so grossly in a natural cause, 
 That admiration did not hoop at them: 
 But thou, 'gainst all proportion, didst bring in 
 Wonder to wait»on treason and on murder: no 
 
 And whatsoever cunning fiend it was ' 
 That wrought upon thee so preposterously 
 Hath got the voice in hell for excellence: 
 All other devils that suggest by treasons 
 Do botch and bungle up damnation 
 With patches, colours, and with forms being fetch'd 
 From glistering semblances of piety; 
 But he that temper'd thee bade thee stand up. 
 Gave thee no instance why thou shouldst do treason, 
 Unless to dub thee with the name of traitor. 120 
 
 If that same demon that hath gull'd thee thus 
 Should with his lion gait walk the whole world, 
 He might return to vasty Tartar back. 
 And tell the legions ' I can never win 
 A soul so easy as that Englishman's.' 
 O, how hast thou with jealousy infected 
 The sweetness of affiance! Show men dutiful? 
 Why, so didst thou : seem they grave and learned ? 
 Why, so didst thou: come they of noble family? 
 Why, so didst thou: seem they religious? 130 
 
 Why, so didst thou: or are they spare in diet. 
 Free from gross passion or of mirth or anger, 
 Constant in spirit, not swerving with the blood, 
 Garnish'd and deck'd in modest complement, 
 Not working with the eye without the ear, 
 48
 
 KING HENRY V. Act II. Sc. ii. 
 
 And but in purged judgement trusting neither? 
 
 Such and so finely bolted didst thou seem : 
 
 And thus thy fall hath left a kind of blot, 
 
 To mark the full-fraught man and best indued 
 
 With some suspicion. I will weep for thee; 140 
 
 For this revolt of thine, methinks, is like 
 
 Another fall of man. Their faults are open: 
 
 Arrest them to the answer of the law; 
 
 And God acquit them of their practices ! 
 Exe. I arrest thee of high treason, by the name of 
 
 Richard Earl of Cambridge. 
 
 I arrest thee of high treason, by the name of 
 
 Henry Lord Scroop of Masham. 
 
 I arrest thee of high treason, by the name of 
 
 Thomas Grey, knight, of Northumberland. 150 
 
 Scroop. Our purposes God justly hath discover'd; 
 
 And I repent my fault more than my death; 
 
 Which I beseech your highness to forgive, 
 
 Although my body pay the price of it. 
 Cam. For me, the gold of France did not seduce; 
 
 Although I did admit it as a motive 
 
 The sooner to effect what I intended: 
 
 But God be thanked for prevention; 
 
 Which I in sufferance heartily will rejoice, 
 
 Beseeching God and you to pardon me. 160 
 
 Grey. Never did faithful subject more rejoice 
 
 At the discovery of most dangerous treason 
 
 Than I do at this hour joy o'er myself, 
 
 Prevented from a damned enterprise: 
 
 My fault, but not my body, pardon, sovereign. 
 K. Hen. God quit you in his mercy ! Hear your sentence. 
 
 You have conspired against our royal person, 
 
 49
 
 Act II. Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Join'd with an enemy proclaim'd, and from his coffers 
 
 Received the golden earnest of our death; 
 
 Wherein you would have sold your king to slaughter, 
 
 His princes and his peers to servitude, 171 
 
 His subjects to oppression and contempt, 
 
 And his whole kingdom into desolation. 
 
 Touching our person seek we no revenge; 
 
 But we our kingdom's safety must so tender, 
 
 Whose ruin you have sought, that to her laws 
 
 We do deliver you. Get you therefore hence. 
 
 Poor miserable wretches, to your death : 
 
 The taste whereof, God of his mercy give 
 
 You patience to endure, and true repentance 180 
 
 Of all your dear offences! Bear them hence. 
 
 [E.reunt 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, 190 
 
 Putting it straight in expedition. 
 Cheerly to sea; the signs of war advance: 
 No king of England, if not king of France. [Exeunt. 
 
 50
 
 KING HENRY V. Act II. Sc. iii. 
 
 Scene III. 
 
 London. Before a tavern. 
 Enter Pistol, Hostess, Nyni, Bardolph, and Boy. 
 
 Host. Prithee, honey-sweet husband, let me bring 
 thee to Staines. 
 
 Pist. No ; for my manly heart doth yearn. 
 
 Bardolph, be blithe : Nym, rouse thy vaunting veins : 
 Boy, bristle thy courage up ; for Falstafif 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 
 
 bosom, if ever man went to Arthur's bosom. lo 
 A' made a finer end and went away an it had 
 been any christom child; a' parted even just 
 between twelve and one, even at the turning o' 
 the tide : for after I saw him fumble with the 
 sheets, and play with flowers, and smile upon his 
 fingers' ends, I knew there was but one way; 
 for his nose was as sharp as a pen, and a' 
 babbled of green fields. ' How now. Sir John ! ' 
 quoth I : ' what, man ! be o' good cheer.' So 
 a' cried out, ' God, God, God ! ' three or four 20 
 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 they were as cold as any stone, and 
 so upward and upward, and all was as cold as 
 any stone. 
 
 51
 
 Act II. Sc. iii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Nym. They say he cried out of sack. 
 
 Host. Ay, that a' did. 30 
 
 Bard. And of women. 
 
 Host. Nay, that a' did not. 
 
 Boy. Yes, that a' did ; and said they were devils in- 
 carnate. 
 
 Host. A' could never abide carnation ; 'twas a colour 
 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 40 
 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 that fire : 
 that 's all the riches I got in his service. 
 
 Nym. Shall we shog? the king will be gone from 
 Southampton. 
 
 Pist. Come, let 's away. My love, give me thy lips. 
 
 Look to my chattels and my movables : 50 
 
 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 counsellor. 
 
 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. 60
 
 KING HENRY V. Act II. Sc. iv. 
 
 Bard. Farewell, hostess. [Kissing her. 
 
 Nym. I cannot kiss, that is the humour of it; but, 
 
 adieu. 
 Pist. Let housewifery appear : keep close, I thee command. 
 Host. Farewell; adieu. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene IV. 
 
 France. The King's palace. 
 
 Flourish. Enter the French King, the Dauphin, the 
 Dukes of Berri and Bretagne, the Constable, and 
 others. 
 
 Fr. King. Thus comes the English with full power upon us ; 
 And more than carefully it us concerns 
 To answer royally in our defences. 
 Therefore the Dukes of Berri and of Bretagne, 
 Of Brabant and of Orleans, shall make forth, 
 And you. Prince Dauphin, with all swift dispatch. 
 To line and new repair our towns of war 
 With men of courage and with means defendant ; 
 For England his approaches makes as fierce 
 As waters to the sucking of a gulf. lo 
 
 It fits 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. 
 
 Dau. IMy most redoubted father, 
 
 It is most meet we arm us 'gainst the foe ; 
 For peace itself should not so dull a kingdom, 
 Though war nor no known quarrel were in question, 
 But that defences, musters, preparations, 
 Should be maintain'd, assembled and collected, 
 As were a war in expectation. 20 
 
 S3
 
 Act II. Sc. iv. THE LIFE OF 
 
 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 ; 
 
 Xo, with 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 sceptre so fantastically borne 
 
 By a vain, giddy, shallow, humorous youth, 
 
 That fear attends her not. 
 
 Con. O peace, Prince Dauphin ! 
 
 You are too much mistaken in this king: 30 
 
 Question your grace the late ambassadors, 
 With what great state he heard their embassy, 
 How well supplied with noble counsellors. 
 How modest in exception, and withal 
 How terrible in constant resolution, 
 And you shall find his vanities forespent 
 Were but the outside of the Roman Brutus, 
 Covering discretion with a coat of folly ; 
 As gardeners do with ordure hide those roots 
 That shall first spring and be most delicate. 40 
 
 Dan. Well, 'tis not so, my lord high constable ; 
 But though we think it so, it is no matter : 
 In cases of defence 'tis best to weigh 
 The enemy more mighty than he seems : 
 So the proportions of defence are fill'd ; 
 Which of a weak and niggardly projection 
 Doth, like a miser, spoil his coat with scanting 
 A little cloth. 
 
 Fr. King. Think we King Harry strong ; 
 
 And, princes, look you strongly arm to meet him 
 The kindred of him hath been flesh'd upon us ; 50
 
 KING HENRY V. Act II. Sc. iv. 
 
 And he is bred out of that bloody strain 
 
 That haunted us in our famiUar paths : 
 
 Witness our too much memorable shame 
 
 When Cressy battle fatally was struck, 
 
 And all our princes captived by the hand 
 
 Of that black name, Edward, Black Prince of Wales ; 
 
 Whiles that his mountain sire, on mountain standing, 
 
 Up in the air, crown'd with the golden sun, 
 
 Saw his heroical seed, and smiled to see him, 
 
 Mangle the work of nature, and deface 60 
 
 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 '11 give them present audience. Go, and 
 bring them. 
 
 [Exeunt Messenger and certain Lords. 
 You see this chase is hotly follow'd, friends. 
 Dan. Turn head, and stop pursuit ; for coward dogs 
 
 Most spend their mouths when what they seem to 
 threaten 70 
 
 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 train. 
 Fr, King. From our brother England? 
 
 55
 
 Act II. Sc. iv. THE LIFE OF 
 
 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 borrowed glories that by gift of heaven, 
 By law of nature and of nations, 'long 80 
 
 To him and to his heirs ; namely, the crown 
 And all wide-stretched honours that pertain 
 By custom and the ordinance of times 
 Unto the crown of France. That you may know 
 'Tis no sinister nor no awkward claim, 
 Pick'd from the worm-holes of long-vanish'd days, 
 Nor from the dust of old oblivion raked. 
 He sends you this most memorable line, 
 In every branch truly demonstrative; 
 Willing you overlook this pedigree : 90 
 
 And when you find him evenly derived 
 From his most famed of famous ancestors, 
 Edward the third, he bids you then resign 
 Your crown and kingdom, indirectly held 
 From him the native and true challenger. 
 
 Fr. King. Or else what follows ? 
 
 Ea'C. Bloody constraint ; for if you hide the crown 
 Even in your hearts, there will he rake for it: 
 Therefore in fierce tempest is he coming. 
 In thunder and in earthquake, like a Jove, 100 
 
 That, if requiring fail, he will compel ; 
 And bids you, in the bowels of the Lord, 
 Deliver up the crown, and to take mercy 
 On the poor souls for whom this hungry war 
 Opens his vasty jaws ; and on your head 
 Turning the widows' tears, the orphans' cries. 
 The dead men's blood, the pining maidens' groans, 
 
 56
 
 KING HENRY V. Act II. Sc. iv. 
 
 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, iii 
 
 To whom expressly I bring greeting too. 
 
 Fr. King. 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 king; an if your father's highness 120 
 Do not, in grant of all demands at large, 
 Sweeten the bitter mock you sent his majesty, 
 He '11 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. 
 
 Dan. 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, 130 
 
 I did present him with the Paris balls. 
 
 Exe. He '11 make your Paris Louvre shake for it. 
 Were it the mistress-court of mighty Europe: 
 And, be assured, you '11 find a difference. 
 As we his subjects have in wonder found. 
 Between the promise of his greener days 
 And these he masters now: now he weighs time 
 Even to the utmost grain ; that you shall read 
 
 57
 
 Act III. Prologue. THE LIFE OF 
 
 In your own losses, if he stay in France. 
 Fr. King. To-morrow shall you know our mind at full. 
 Exe. Dispatch us with all speed, lest that our king 141 
 
 Come here himself to question our delay ; 
 
 For he is footed in this land already. 
 Fr.King. You shall be soon dispatch'd with fair conditions : 
 
 A night is but small breath and little pause 
 
 To answer matters 0/ this consequence. 
 
 [Flourish. Exeunt. 
 
 ACT THIRD. 
 Prologue. 
 
 Enter Chorus. 
 
 Char. Thus with imagined 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 Hampton pier 
 Embark his royalty; and his brave fleet 
 With silken streamers the young Phoebus fanning: 
 Play with your fancies, and in them behold 
 Upon the hempen tackle ship-boys climbing; 
 Hear the shrill whistle which doth order give 
 To sounds confused ; behold the threaden sails, 10 
 Borne with the 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 the inconstant billows dancing; 
 For so appears this fleet majestical, 
 Holding due course to Harfleur. Follow, follow : 
 
 58
 
 KING HENRY V. Act III. Sc. i. 
 
 Grapple your minds to sternage of this navy, 
 And leave your England, as dead midnight still, 
 Guarded with grandsires, babies and old women, 20 
 Either past or not arrived to pith and puissance; 
 Eor who is he, whose chin is but enrich'd 
 With one appearing hair, that will not follow 
 These cuU'd and choice-drawn cavaUers to France ? 
 Work, work your thoughts, and therein see a siege; 
 Behold the ordnance on their carriages. 
 With fatal mouths gaping on girded Harfleur. 
 Suppose the ambassador from the French comes back ; 
 Tells Harry that the king doth offer him 
 Katharine his daughter, and with her, to dowry, 30 
 Some petty and unprofitable dukedoms. 
 The offer likes not: and the nimble gunner 
 With linstock now the devilish cannon touches, 
 
 [Alarum, and chambers go off. 
 And down goes all before them. Still be kind. 
 And eke out our performance with your mind. 
 
 [Exit. 
 
 Scene I. 
 
 France. Before Harfleur. 
 
 Alarum. Enter King Henry, Exeter, Bedford, Glou- 
 cester, and Soldiers, zvith scaling-ladders. 
 
 K. Hen. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once 
 more; 
 Or close the wall up with our EngUsh 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, 
 
 59
 
 Actlll. Sc. i. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Then imitate the action of the tiger ; 
 
 Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, 
 
 Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage; 
 
 Then lend the eye a terrible aspect; 
 
 Let it pry through the portage of the head lo 
 
 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 noblest 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, 20 
 
 And sheathed their swords for lack of argument: 
 
 Dishonour not your mothers; now attest 
 
 That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you. 
 
 Be copy now to men of grosser blood. 
 
 And teach them how to war. And you, good yeomen. 
 
 Whose limbs were made in England, show us here 
 
 The mettle of your pasture; let us swear 
 
 That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt 
 
 not; 
 For there is none of you so mean and base, 
 That hath not noble lustre in your eyes. 30 
 
 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. 
 
 60
 
 KING HENRY V. Act III. Sc. ii. 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 The same. 
 Enter Nxdi, Bardolph, Pistol, and Boy. 
 
 Bard. On, on, on, on, on ! to the breach, to the 
 
 breach ! 
 Nym. Pray thee, corporal, stay : the knocks are too 
 
 hot ; and, for mine own part, I have not a case 
 
 of Hves : the humour of it is too hot, that is the 
 
 very plain-song of it. 
 Pisf. The plain-song- is most just ; for humours do abound : 
 
 Knocks go and come ; God's vassals drop and die ; 
 And sword and shield, 
 In bloody field, lo 
 
 Doth win immortal fame. 
 
 Boy. W^ould 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 purpose should not fail with me, 
 But thither would I hie. 
 
 Boy. As duly, but not as truly. 
 
 As bird doth sing on bough. 
 
 Enter Fluellen. 
 
 Flu. Up to the breach, you dogs ! avaunt, you cul- 20 
 lions ! [Driving them forzvard. 
 
 Pist. Be merciful, great duke, to men of mould. 
 Abate thy rage, abate thy manly rage, 
 Abate thy rage, great duke ! 
 
 61
 
 Act III. Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Good bawcock, bate thy rage ; use lenity, sweet 
 chuck ! 
 
 Nym. These be good humours ! your honour wins 
 
 bad humours. [Exeunt all hut Boy, 
 
 Boy. As young as I am, I have observed these three 
 swashers. I am boy to them all three : but all 
 they three, though they would serve me, could 30 
 not be man to me ; for indeed three such antics 
 do not amount to a man. For Bardolph, he is 
 white-livered and red-faced ; by the means 
 whereof a' faces it out, but fights not. For 
 Pistol, he hath a killing tongue and a quiet 
 sword ; by the means whereof a' breaks words, 
 and keeps whole weapons. For Nym, he hath 
 heard that men of few words are the best men ; 
 and therefore he scorns to say his prayers, lest 
 a' should be thought a coward : but his few bad 40 
 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 purchase. 
 Bardolph stole a lute-case, bore it twelve leagues, 
 and sold it for three half-pence. Nvm 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 50 
 pockets as their gloves or their handkerchers : 
 which makes mucb against my manhood, if I 
 should take from another's pocket to put into 
 mine ; for it is plain pocketing up of wrongs. 
 I must leave them, and seek some better service: 
 62
 
 KING HENRY V. Act III. Sc. ii. 
 
 their villany goes against my weak stomach, and 
 therefore I must cast it up. [Exit, 
 
 Re-enter Fhiellen, Goiver following. 
 
 Gozi'. Captain Fkiellen, you must come presently to 
 the mines ; the Duke of Gloucester would speak 
 with you. 60 
 
 Flu. To the mines ! tell you the duke, it is not so 
 good to come to the mines ; for, look you, the 
 mines is not according to the disciplines of the 
 war : the concavities of it is not sufficient ; for, 
 look you, th' athversary, you may discuss unto 
 the duke, look you, is digt himself four yard 
 under the countermines : by Cheshu, I think a' 
 will plow up all, if there is not better directions. 
 
 Gozv. The Duke of Gloucester, to whom the order 
 
 of the siege is given, is altogether directed by 70 
 an Irishman, a very valiant gentleman, i' faith. 
 
 Flu. It is Captain Macmorris, is it not? 
 
 Gozi'. I think it be. 
 
 Flu. By Cheshu, he is an ass, as in the world : I 
 will verify as much in his beard : he has no more 
 directions in the true disciplines of the wars, 
 look you, of the Roman disciplines, than is a 
 puppy-dog. 
 
 Enter Maenwrris and Captain Janiy. 
 
 Gow. Here a' comes ; and the Scots captain, Captain 
 
 Jamy, with him. 80 
 
 Flu. Captain Jamy is a marvellous falorous gentle 
 man, that is certain; and of great expedition 
 and knowledge in th' aunchient wars, upon my
 
 Actlll.Sc.ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 particular knowledge of his directions : by Che- 
 shu, he will maintain his argument as well as 
 any military man in the world, in the disciplines 
 of the pristine wars of the Romans. 
 
 J amy. I say gud-day, Captain Fluellen. 
 
 Flu. God-den to your worship, good Captain James. 
 
 Gow. How now, Captain Macmorris ! have you quit 90 
 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 beseech you now, will 
 
 you voutsafe me, look you, a few disputations 100 
 with you, as partly touching or concerning the 
 disciplines of the war, the Roman wars, in the 
 way of argument, look you, and friendly com- 
 munication ; 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 gud, gud feith, gud captains 
 bath : and I sail quit you with gud leve, as I 
 may pick occasion; that sail I, marry. no 
 
 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 
 trumpet call us to the breach ; and we talk, 
 64
 
 KING HENRY V. Act III. Sc. ii. 
 
 and, be Chrish, do nothing; 'tis shame for us 
 all : so God sa' me, 'tis shame to stand still ; it 
 is shame, by my hand: and there is throats to 
 be cut, and works to be done; and there ish 
 nothing done, so Chrish sa' me, la! 120 
 
 J amy. By the mess, ere theise eyes of mine take 
 themselves to slomber, ay 'U de gud service, or 
 ay '11 lig i' the grund for it ; ay, or go to death ; 
 and ay '11 pay 't as valorously as I may, that 
 sail I suerly do, that is the breff and the long. 
 Marry, I wad full fain hear some question 'tween 
 you tway. 
 
 Flu. Captain Macmorris, I think, look you, under 
 your correction, there is not many of your na- 
 tion— 130 
 
 Mac. Of my nation! What ish my nation? Ish a 
 villain, and a bastard, and a knave, and a rascal. 
 What ish my nation ? Wlio talks of my nation ? 
 
 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 affabil- 
 ity as in discretion you ought to use me, look 
 you ; being as good a man as yourself, both in 
 the disciplines of war, and in the derivation of 140 
 my birth, and in other particularities. 
 
 Mac. I do not know you so good a man as myself : 
 so Chrish save me, I will cut oiif your head. 
 
 Gow. Gentlemen both, you will mistake each other. 
 
 J amy. A ! that 's a foul fault. 
 
 [A parley sounded^ 
 
 Gow. The town sounds a parley. 
 
 65
 
 Act III. Sc. iii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Flu. Captain Macmorris, when there is more better 
 opportunity to be required look you, I will be 
 so bold as to tell you I know the disciplines of 
 war; and there is an end. [Exeunt. 150 
 
 Scene III. 
 
 The same. Before the gates. 
 
 The Governor and some Citizens on the zvalls; 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, 
 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, , 10 
 
 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 the prince of fiends. 
 Do, with his smirch'd complexion, all fell feats 
 Enlink'd to waste and desolation ? 
 What is 't to me, when you yourselves are cause, 
 If your pure maidens fall into the hand 20 
 
 Of hot and forcing;- violation? 
 .What rein can hold licentious wickedness 
 
 66
 
 KING HENRY V. Act III. Sc. iii. 
 
 When down the hill he holds his fierce career ? 
 
 We may as bootless spend our vain command 
 
 Upon the enraged soldiers in their spoil 
 
 As send precepts to the leviathan 
 
 To come ashore. Therefore, you men of Harfleur, 
 
 Take pity of your town and of your people, 
 
 Whiles yet my soldiers are in my command ; 
 
 Whiles yet the cool and temperate wind of grace 30 
 
 O'erblows the filthy and contagious clouds 
 
 Of heady murder, spoil and villany. 
 
 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 reverend heads dash'd to the walls. 
 
 Your naked infants spitted upon pikes, 
 
 W^hiles the mad mothers with their howls confused 
 
 Do break the clouds, as did the wives of Jewry 40 
 
 At Herod's bloody-hunting slaughtermen. 
 
 What say you ? will you yield, and this avoid. 
 
 Or, guilty in defence, be thus destroy'd? 
 
 Gov. Our expectation hath this day an end : 
 
 The Dauphin, whom of succours we entreated. 
 
 Returns us that his powers are yet not ready 
 
 To raise so great a siege. Therefore, great king. 
 
 We yield our town and lives to thy soft mercy. 
 
 Enter our gates ; dispose of us and ours ; 
 
 For we no longer are defensible. 50 
 
 K. Hen. Open your gates. Come, uncle Exeter, 
 Go you and enter Harfleur ; there remain. 
 And fortify it strongly 'gainst the French : 
 Use mercy to them all. For us, dear uncle, 
 
 67
 
 Act III. Sc. iv. THE LIFE OF 
 
 The winter coming on, and sickness growing 
 Upon our soldiers, we will retire to Calais. 
 To-night in Harfleur will we be your guest ; 
 To-morrow for the march are we addrest. 
 [Flourish. The King and his train enter the tozvn. 
 
 Scene IV. 
 
 The French King's palaee. 
 Enter Katharine and Alice. 
 
 Kath. Alice, tu as ete en Angleterre, et tu paries bien 
 le langage. 
 
 Alice. Un pen, madame. 
 
 Kath. Je te prie, m'enseignez ; il faut que j'apprenne 
 a parler. Comment appelez-vous la main en 
 Anglois ? 
 
 Alice. La main? elle est appelee de hand. 
 
 Kath. De hand. Et les doigts? 
 
 Alice. Les doigts? ma foi, j'oublie les doigts; mais 
 
 je me souviendrai. Les doigts? je pense qu'ils lo 
 sont appeles de fingres ; oui, de fingres. 
 
 Kath. La main, de hand ; les doigts, de fingres. Je 
 pense que je suis le bon ecolier ; j'ai gagne deux 
 mots d' Anglois vitement. Comment appelez- 
 vous les ongles? 
 
 Alice. Les ongles? nous les appelons de nails. 
 
 Kath. De nails. Ecoutez ; dites-moi, si je parle bien : 
 de hand, de fingres, et de nails. 
 
 Alice. C'est bien dit, madame ; il est fort bon Anglois. 
 
 Kath. Dites-moi I'Anglois pour le bras. 20 
 
 Alice. De arm, madame. 
 
 Kath, Et le coudc. 
 
 68
 
 KING HENRY V. Act III. Sc. iv. 
 
 Alice. Dc elbow. 
 
 Kath. De elbow. Je m'en fais la repetition de tous 
 
 les mots que vous m'avez appris des a present. 
 Alice. II est trop difficile, madame, conime je pense. 
 Kath. Excusez-moi, Alice ; ecoutez : de hand, de 
 
 fingres, de nails, de arma, de bilbow. 
 Alice. De elbow, madame. 
 Kath. O Seigneur Dieu, je m'en oublie ! de elbow. 30 
 
 Comment appelez-vous le col? 
 Alice. De neck, madame. 
 Kath. De nick. Et le menton? 
 Alice. De chin. 
 
 Kath. De sin. Le col, de nick ; le menton, de sin. 
 Alice. Oui. Sauf votre honneur, en verite, vous 
 
 prononcez les mots aussi droit que les natifs 
 
 d'Angleterre. 
 Kath. Je ne doute point d'apprendre, par la grace de 
 
 Dieu, et en pen de temps. 40 
 
 Alice. N'avez vous pas deja oublie ce que je vous ai 
 
 enseigne ? 
 Kath. Non, je reciterai a vous promptement : de 
 
 hand, de fingres, de nails, — 
 Alice. De nails, madame. 
 Kath. De nails, de arm, de ilbow. 
 Alice. Sauf votre honneur, dc elbow. 
 Kath. Ainsi dis-je; de elbow, de nick, et de sin. 
 
 Comment appelez-vous le pied et la robe? 
 Alice. De foot, madame ; et de coun. 50 
 
 Kath. De foot et de coun ! O Seigneur Dieu ! ce 
 
 sont mots de son mauvais, corruptible, gros, et 
 
 impudique, et non pour les dames d 'honneur 
 
 d'user: je ne voudrais prononcer ces mots de- 
 
 69
 
 Act III. Sc. V. THE LIFE OF 
 
 vant les seigneurs de France pour tout le monde. 
 Foh ! le foot et le coun ! Neanmoins, je reci- 
 terai une autre fois ma legon ensemble : de hand, 
 de fingres, de nails, de arm, de elbow, de nick, 
 de sin, de foot, de coun. 
 Alice. Excellent, madame! 60 
 
 Kath. C'est assez pour une fois : allons-nous a diner. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene V. 
 
 The same. 
 
 Enter the King of France, the Dauphin, the Duke of 
 Bourbon, the Constable of France, and others. 
 
 Fr. King. 'Tis certain he hath pass'd the river Somme. 
 
 Con. And if he be not fought withal, my lord. 
 Let us not live in France ; let us quit all, 
 And give our vineyards to a barbarous people. 
 
 Dan. O Dieu vivant ! shall a few sprays of us. 
 The emptying of our fathers' luxury, 
 Our scions, put in wild and savage stock, 
 Spirt up so suddenly into the clouds. 
 And overlook their grafters? 
 
 Bour. Normans, but bastard Normans, Norman bastards ! 
 Mortdemavie! if they march along 11 
 
 Unfought withal, but I will sell my dukedom, 
 To buy a slobbery and a dirty farm 
 In that nook-shotten isle of Albion. 
 
 Con. Dieu de batailles ! where have they this mettle? 
 Is not their climate foggy, raw and dull. 
 On whom, as in despite, the sun looks pale. 
 Killing their fruit with frowns ? Can sodden water, 
 A drench for sur-rein'd jades, their barley-broth, 
 
 70
 
 KING HENRY V. Act III. Sc. v. 
 
 Decoct their cold blood to such valiant heat ? 20 
 
 And shall our quick blood, spirited with wine, 
 
 Seem frosty? O, for honour of our land, 
 
 Let us not hang like roping icicles 
 
 Upon our houses' thatch, whiles a more frosty people 
 
 Sweat drops of gallant youth in our rich fields !— 
 
 Poor we may call them in their native lords. 
 
 Dan. By faith and honour, 
 
 Our madams mock at us, and plainly say 
 
 Our mettle is bred out, and they will give 
 
 Their bodies to the lust of English youth, 30 
 
 To new-store France with bastard warriors. 
 
 Bour. They bid us to the English dancing-schools, 
 And teach lavoltas high and swift corantos ; 
 Saying our grace is only in our heels, 
 And that we are most lofty runaways. 
 
 Fr. King. Where is Montjoy the herald? speed him hence : 
 Let him greet England with our sharp defiance. 
 Up, princes ! and, with spirit of honour edged 
 More sharper than your swords, hie to the field : 
 Charles Delabreth, high constable of France ; ^ 40 
 You Dukes of Orleans, Bourbon, and of Berri, 
 Alengon, Brabant, Bar, and Burgundy ; 
 Jaques Chatillon, Rambures, Vaudemont, 
 Beaumont, Grandpre, Roussi, and Fauconberg, 
 Foix, Lestrale, Bouciqualt, and Charolois ; 
 High dukes, great princes, barons, lords and knights, 
 For your great seats now quit you of great shames. 
 Bar Harry England, that sweeps through our land 
 With pennons painted in the blood of Harfleur : 
 Rush on his host, as doth the melted snow 50 
 
 Upon the valleys, whose low vassal seat 
 
 71
 
 Act III. Sc. vi. THE LIFE OF 
 
 The Alps doth spit and void his rheum upon : 
 Go down upon him, you have power enough, 
 And in a captive chariot into Rouen 
 Bring him our prisoner. 
 
 Con. This becomes the great. 
 
 Sorry am I his numbers are so few, 
 His soldiers sick and famish'd in their march. 
 For I am sure, when he shall see our army. 
 He '11 drop his heart into the sink of fear 
 And for achievement offer us his ransom. 60 
 
 Fr. King, Therefore, lord constable, haste on Mont joy, 
 And let him say to England that we send 
 To know what walling ransom he will give. 
 Prince Dauphin, you shall stay with us in Rouen. 
 
 Daii. Not so, I do beseech your majesty. 
 
 Fr. King. Be patient, for you shall remain with us. 
 Now forth, lord constable and princes all, 
 And quickly bring us word of England's fall. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene VI. 
 
 The EngVisli camp in Picardy. 
 Enter Gozver and Fluellcn, meeting. 
 
 Gozv. How now, Captain Fluellen! come you from 
 
 the bridge? 
 Flu. I assure you, there is very excellent services 
 
 committed at the bridge. 
 Gozv. Is the Duke of Exeter safe ? 
 Fin. The Duke of Exeter is as magnanimous as 
 
 Agamemnon ; and a man that I love and henour 
 
 with my soul, and my heart, and my duty, and 
 72
 
 KING HENRY V, Act III. Sc. vi. 
 
 my life, and my living, and my uttermost power : 
 he is not — God be praised and blessed! — any lo 
 hurt in the world; but keeps the bridge most 
 valiantly, with excellent discipline. There is an 
 aunchient lieutenant there at the pridge, I think 
 in my very conscience he is as valiant a man as 
 Mark Antonv ; and he is a man of no estimation 
 in the world; but I did see him do as gallant 
 service. 
 
 Gozv. What do you call him ? 
 
 Flu. He is called Aunchient Pistol. 
 
 Gozi'. I know^ him not. 20 
 
 Enter Pistol. 
 
 Flu. Here is the man. 
 
 Pist. Captain, I thee beseech to do me favours : 
 The Duke of Exeter doth love thee well. 
 
 Flu. Ay, I praise God ; and I have merited some love 
 at his hands. 
 
 Pist. Bardolph, a soldier, firm and sound of heart, 
 And of buxom valour, hath, by cruel fate, 
 And giddy Fortune's furious fickle wdieel. 
 That goddess blind. 
 That stands upon the rolling restless stone — 30 
 
 Flu. By your patience, Aunchient Pistol. Fortune 
 is painted blind, with a muffler afore her eyes, 
 to signify to you that Fortune is blind ; and she 
 is painted also with a wheel, to signify to you, 
 which is the moral of it, that she is turning, and 
 inconstant, and mutability, and variation: and 
 her foot, look you, is fixed upon a spherical 
 stone, which rolls, and rolls, and rolls: in good 
 
 73
 
 Act III. Sc. vi. THE LIFE OF 
 
 truth, the poet makes a most excellent descrip- 
 tion of it : Fortune is an excellent moral. 40 
 
 Pist. Fortune is Bardolph's foe, and frowns on him ; 
 For he hath stolen a pax, and hanged must a' be : 
 A damned death ! 
 
 Let gallows gape for dog ; let man go free 
 And let not hemp his wind-pipe suffocate : 
 But Exeter hath given the doom of death 
 For pax of little price. 
 
 Therefore, go speak ; the duke will hear thy voice ; 
 And let not Bardolph's vital thread be cut 
 With edge of penny cord and vile reproach : 50 
 
 Speak, captain, for his life, and I will thee requite. 
 
 Flu. Aunchient Pistol, I do partly understand your 
 meaning. 
 
 Pist. Why then, rejoice therefore. 
 
 Fill. Certainly, aunchient, it is not a thing to rejoice 
 at : for if, look you, he were my brother, I would 
 desire the duke to use his good pleasure, and put 
 him to execution ; for discipline ought to be used. 
 
 Pist. Die and be damn'd ! and figo for thy friendship ! 
 
 Fin. It is well. 60 
 
 Pist. The fig of Spain ! [Fxit. 
 
 Flu. Very good. 
 
 Gow. Why, this is an arrant counterfeit rascal; 
 r remember him now ; a bawd, a cutpurse. 
 
 Flu. I '11 assure you, a' uttered as brave words at the 
 pridge as you shall see in a summer's day. But 
 it is very well ; wdiat he has spoke to me, that is 
 well, I warrant you, when time is serve. 
 
 Gozi'. Why, 'tis a gull, a fool, a rogue, that now and 
 
 then goes to the wars, to grace himself at his 70 
 
 74
 
 KING HENRY V. Act III. Sc. vi. 
 
 return into London under the form of a soldier. 
 And such fellows are perfect in the great com- 
 manders' names : and they will learn you by rote 
 where services v/ere done; at such and such a 
 sconce, at such a breach, at such a convoy ; who 
 came off bravely, who was shot, who disgraced, 
 what terms the enemy stood on ; and this they 
 con perfectly in the phrase of war, which they 
 trick up with new-tuned oaths : and what a 
 beard of the general's cut and a horrid suit of 80 
 the camp will do among foaming bottles and 
 ale-washed wats, is wonderful to be thought on. 
 But you must learn to know such slanders of the 
 age, or else you may be marvellously mistook. 
 Flu. I tell you what, Captain Gower; I do perceive 
 he is not the man that he would gladly make 
 show to the world he is : if I find a hole in his 
 coat, I will tell him my mind. [Dritni heard.] 
 Hark you, the king is coming, and I must speak 
 with him from the pridge. 90 
 
 Dniin and colours. Enter King Henry, Gloucester, 
 and Soldiers. 
 
 God pless your majesty! 
 
 K. Hen. How now, Fluellen ! camest thou from the 
 bridge ? 
 
 Flu. Ay, so please your majesty. The Duke of 
 Exeter has very gallantly maintained the pridge : 
 the French is gone off, look you ; and there is 
 gallant and most prave passages : marry, th' 
 athversary was have possession of the pridge ; 
 but he is enforced to retire, and the Duke of 
 
 75
 
 Act III. Sc. vi. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Exeter is master of the pridge : I can tell your 
 majesty, the duke is a prave man. lOO 
 
 K. Hen. What men have you lost, Fluellen ? 
 
 Flu. The perdition of th' athversary hath been very 
 great, reasonable great: marry, for my pari, I 
 think the duke hath lost never a man, but one 
 that is like to be executed for robbing a church, 
 one Bardolph, if your majesty know the man: 
 his face is all bubukles, and whelks, and knobs, 
 and flames o' fire : and his lips blows at his nose, 
 and it is like a coal of fire, sometimes plue and 
 sometimes red; but his nose is executed, and his no 
 fire 's out. 
 
 K. Hen. We would have all such offenders so cut off : 
 and we give express charge, that in our marches 
 through the country, there be nothing compelled 
 from the villages, nothing taken but paid for, * 
 none of the French upbraided or abused in dis- 
 dainful language ; for wdien lenity and cruelty 
 play for a kingdom, the gentler gamester is the 
 soonest winner. 
 
 Tucket. Enter Montjoy. 
 
 Mont. You know me by my habit. 120 
 
 K. Hen. Well then I know thee : what shall I know of 
 thee? 
 
 Mont. My master's mind. 
 
 K. Hen. Unfold it. 
 
 Mont. Thus says my king: Say thou to Harry of 
 England : Though we seemed dead, we did but 
 sleep : advantage is a better soldier than rash- 
 ness. Tell him we could have rebuked him at 
 
 76
 
 KING HENRY V. Act III. Sc. vi. 
 
 Harfleur, but that we thought not good to bruise 
 an injury till it were full ripe: now we speak 
 upon our cue, and our voice is imperial: Eng- 130 
 land shall repent his folly, see his weakness, and 
 admire our sufferance. Bid him therefore con- 
 sider of his ransom ; which must proportion the 
 losses we have borne, the subjects we have lost, 
 the disgrace we have digested ; whicli in weight 
 to re-answer, his pettiness would bow under. For 
 our losses, his exchequer is too poor ; for the 
 effusion of our blood, the muster of his kingdom 
 too faint a number; and for our disgrace, his 
 own person, kneeling at our feet, but a weak and 140 
 worthless satisfaction. To this add defiance : 
 and tell him, for conclusion, he hath betrayed his 
 followers, whose condemnation is pronounced. 
 So far my king and master ; so much my office. 
 
 K.Hcn. What is thy name ? I know thy quality. 
 
 Mont, IMontjoy. 
 
 K. Hen. Thou dost thy office fairly. Turn thee back, 
 And tell thy king I do not seek him now ; 
 But could be willing to march on to Calais 
 Without impeachment ; for, to say the sooth, 150 
 
 Though 'tis no wisdom to confess so muck 
 Unto an enemy of craft and vantage. 
 My people are with sickness much enfeebled, 
 Aly numbers lessen'd, and those few I have 
 Almost no better than so many French ; 
 Who when they were in health, I tell thee, herald, 
 I thought upon one pair of English legs 
 Did march three Frenchmen. Yet, forgive me, God, 
 That I do brag thus ! This your air of France 
 
 77
 
 Act III. Sc. vii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Hath blown that vice in me ; I must repent. i6o 
 
 Go therefore, tell thy master here I am ; 
 
 My ransom is this frail and worthless trunk, 
 
 My army but a weak and sickly guard ; 
 
 Yet, God before, tell him we will come on. 
 
 Though France himself and such another neighbour 
 
 Stand in our way. There 's for thy labour, Mont joy. 
 
 Go, bid thy master well advise himself : 
 
 If we may pass, we will ; if we be hinder'd, 
 
 We shall your tawny ground with your red blood 
 
 Discolour: and so, Montjoy, fare you well. 170 
 
 The sum of all our answer is but this : 
 
 We would not seek a battle, as we are ; 
 
 Nor, as we are, we say we will not shun it : 
 
 So tell your master. 
 
 Mont. I shall deliver so. Thanks to vour highness. 
 
 [E.vif. 
 
 Glou. I hope they will not come upon us now. 
 
 K. Hen. We are in God's hand, brother, not in theirs. 
 March to the bridge ; it now^ draws toward night : 
 Beyond the river we '11 encamp ourselves, 170 
 
 And on to-morrow bid them march away. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene VII. 
 
 The French camp, near Agincoiirt. 
 
 Enter the Constable of France, the Lord Rambures, 
 Orleans, Dauphin, zvith others. 
 
 Con. Tut! I have the best armour of the world. 
 
 Would it were day! 
 Orl. You have an excellent armour ; but let my horse 
 
 have his due. 
 
 78
 
 KING HENRY V. Act III. Sc. vii. 
 
 Co]i. It is the best horse of Europe. 
 
 Orl. Will it never be morning? 
 
 Dan. My Lord of Orleans, and my lord high con- 
 "stable, you talk of horse and armour? 
 
 Orl. You are as well provided of both as any prince 
 
 in the world. lo 
 
 Dau. What a long night is this ! I will not change 
 my horse with any that treads but on four pas- 
 terns. Ca, ha ! he bounds from the earth, as 
 if his entrails were hairs ; le cheval volant, the 
 Pegasus, chez les narines de feu ! When I be- 
 stride him, I soar, I am a hawk : he trots the 
 air ; the earth sings when he touches it ; the 
 basest horn of his hoof is more musical than 
 the pipe of Hermes. 
 
 Orl. He 's of the colour of the nutmeg. 20 
 
 Dau. And of the heat of the ginger. It is a beast 
 for Perseus : he is pure air and fire ; and the 
 dull elements of earth and water never appear in 
 him, but only in patient stillness while his rider 
 mounts him : he is indeed a horse ; and all other 
 jades you may call beasts. 
 
 Coji. Indeed, my lord, it is a most absolute and ex-* 
 cellent horse. 
 
 Dau. It Is the prince of palfreys ; his neigh is like 
 
 the bidding of a monarch, and his countenance 30 
 enforces homage. 
 
 Orl. No more, cousin. 
 
 Dau. Nay, the man hath no wit that cannot, from the 
 rising of the lark to the lodging of the lamb, vary 
 deserved praise on my palfrey : it is a theme as 
 fluent as the sea : turn the sands into eloquent 
 
 79
 
 Act III. Sc. vii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 tongues, and my horse is argument for them all : 
 'tis a subject for a sovereign to reason on, and 
 for a sovereign's sovereign to ride on ; and for 
 the world, familiar to us and unknown, to lay 40 
 apart their particular functions and wonder at 
 him. I once writ a sonnet in his praise, and be- 
 gan thus : ' Wonder of nature,' — 
 
 Orl. I have heard a sonnet begin so to one's mistress. 
 
 Dan. Then did they imitate that which I composed 
 to my courser, for my horse is my mistress. 
 
 Orl. Your mistress bears well. 
 
 Dan. Me well ; which is the prescript praise and per- 
 fection of a good and particular mistress. 
 
 Con. Nay, for methought yesterday your mistress 50 
 shrewdly shook your back. 
 
 Dau. So perhaps did yours. 
 
 Con. Mine was not bridled. 
 
 Dau. O then belike she was old and gentle ; and you 
 rode, like a kern of Ireland, your French hose 
 otT, and in your strait strossers. 
 
 Con. You have good judgement in horsemanship. 
 
 Dau. Be warned by me, then : they that ride so, and 
 'ride not warily, fall into foul bogs. I had rather 
 have my horse to my mistress. 60 
 
 Co)i. I had as lief have my mistress a jade. 
 
 Dau. I tell thee, constable, my mistress wears his own 
 hair. 
 
 Con. I could make as true a boast as that, if I had a 
 sow to my mistress. 
 
 Dau. ' Le chien est retourne a son propre vomisse- 
 ment, et la truie lavee au bourbier : ' thou makest 
 use of any thing. 
 
 80
 
 KING HENRY V. Act III. Sc. vii. 
 
 Con. Yet do I not use my horse for my mistress, or 
 
 any such proverb so Httle kin to the purpose. 70 
 
 Ram. My lord constable, the armour that I saw in 
 your tent to-night, are those stars or suns upon 
 it? 
 
 Con. Stars, my lord. 
 
 Daii. Some of them will fall to-morrow, I hope. 
 
 Con. And yet my sky shall not want. 
 
 Dan. That may be, for you bear a many superflu- 
 ously, and 'twere more honour some were away. 
 
 Con. Even as your horse bears your praises ; who 
 
 would trot as well, were some of your brags 80 
 dismounted. 
 
 Dan. Would I were able to load him with his desert ! 
 Will it never be day? I will trot to-morrow a 
 mile, and my way shall be paved with English 
 faces. 
 
 Con. I will not say so, for fear I should be faced out 
 of my way: but I would it were morning; for 
 I would fain be about the ears of the English. 
 
 Ram. Who will go to hazard with me for twenty 
 
 prisoners ? 90 
 
 Con. You must first go yourself to hazard, ere you 
 have them. 
 
 Dau. 'Tis midnight ; I '11 go arm myself. [Exit. 
 
 Orl. The Dauphin longs for morning. 
 
 Ram. He longs to eat the English. 
 
 Con. I think he will eat all he kills. 
 
 Orl. By the white hand of my lady, he 's a gallant 
 prince. 
 
 Con. Swear by her foot, that she mav tread out the 
 
 oath. 100 
 
 81
 
 Act III. Sc. vii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Orl. He is simply the most active gentleman of 
 
 France. 
 Coil. Doing is activity ; and he will still be doing. 
 Orl. He never did harm, that I heard of. 
 Con. Nor will do none to-morrow : he will keep that 
 
 good name still. 
 Orl. I know him to be valiant. 
 Con. I was told that by one that knows him better 
 
 than yon. 
 Orl. What 'she? no 
 
 Con. Marry, he told me so himself; and he said he 
 
 cared not who knew it. 
 Orl. He needs not ; it is no hidden virtue in him. 
 Con. By my faith, sir, but it is ; never any body saw 
 
 it but his lackey : 'tis a hooded valour ; and 
 
 w^hen it appears, it wnll bate. 
 Orl. Ill will never said well. 
 Con. I will cap that proverb with * There is flattery 
 
 in friendship.' 
 Orl. And I will take up that with ' Give the devil 120 
 
 his due.' 
 Con. Well placed : there stands your friend for the 
 
 devil : have at the very eye of that proverb with 
 
 ' A pox of the devil.' 
 Orl. You are the better at proverbs, by how much 
 
 ' A fool's bolt is soon shot.' 
 Con. You have shot over. 
 Orl. Tis not the first time you were overshot. 
 
 Enter a Messenger. 
 
 Mess. My lord high constable, the English lie within 
 
 fifteen hundred paces of your tents. 130 
 
 82
 
 KING HENRY V. Act III. Sc. vii. 
 
 Con. Who hath measured the ground? 
 
 Mess. The Lord Grandpre. 
 
 Con. A vaHant and most expert gentleman. Would 
 
 it were day! Alas, poor Harry of England! 
 
 he longs not for the dawning as we do. 
 Orl. What a wretched and peevish fellow is this 
 
 King of England, to mope with his fat-brained 
 
 followers so far out of his knowledge ! 
 Con. If the English had any apprehension, they 
 
 would run away. 140 
 
 Orl. That they lack; for if their heads had any 
 
 intellectual armour, they could never wear such 
 
 heavy head-pieces. 
 Ram. That island of England Ijreeds very valiant 
 
 creatures; their mastiffs are of unmatchable 
 
 courage. 
 Orl. Foolish curs, that run winking into the mouth 
 
 of a Russian bear and have their heads crushed : 
 
 like rotten apples ! You m^ay as well say, that 's 
 
 a valiant flea that dare eat his breakfast on the 150 
 
 lip of a lion. 
 Con. Just, just; and the men do sympathize with the 
 
 mastiffs in robustious and rough coming on, 
 
 leaving their wits with their wives: and then 
 
 give them great meals of beef, and iron and 
 
 steel, they will eat like wolves, and fight like 
 
 devils. 
 Orl. Ay, but these English are shrewdly out of beef. 
 Con. Then shall we find to-morrow they have only 
 
 stomachs to eat and none to fight. Now is it 
 
 time to arm: come, shall we about it? 160 
 
 Orl. Tt is now two o'clock: but, let me see, by ten 
 
 We shall have each a hundred Englishmen. [E.reunt. 
 
 83
 
 Act IV. Prologue THE LIFE OF 
 
 ACT FOURTH. 
 
 Prologue. 
 
 Enter Chorus. 
 
 Chor. Now entertain conjecture of a time 
 
 When creeping murmur and the poring dark 
 
 Fills the wide vessel of the universe. 
 
 From camp to camp through the foul womb of night 
 
 The hum of either army stilly sounds, 
 
 That the fix'd sentinels almost receive 
 
 The secret whispers of each other's watch: 
 
 Fire answers fire, and through their paly flames 
 
 Each battle sees the other's umber'd face; 
 
 Steed threatens steed, in high and boastful neighs lo 
 
 Piercing the night's dull ear; and from the tents 
 
 The armourers, accomplishing the knights, 
 
 With busy hammers closing rivets up. 
 
 Give dreadful note of preparation: 
 
 The country cocks do crow, the clocks do toll, 
 
 And the third hour of drowsy morning name. 
 
 Proud of their numbers and secure in soul, 
 
 The confident and over-lusty French 
 
 Do the low-rated English play at dice; 
 
 And chide the cripple tardy-gaited night 20 
 
 Who, like a foul and ugly witch, doth limp 
 
 So tediously away. The poor condemned English, 
 
 Like sacrifices, by their watchful fires 
 
 Sit patiently and inly ruminate 
 
 The morning's danger, and their gesture sad 
 
 Investing lank-lean cheeks and war-worn coats 
 
 Presenteth them unto the gazing moon 
 
 84
 
 KING HENRY V. Act IV. Prologue 
 
 So many horrid ghosts. O now, who will behold 
 
 The royal captain of this ruin'd band 
 
 Walking from watch to watch, from tent to tent, 30 
 
 Let him cry ' Praise and glory on his head ! ' 
 
 For forth he goes and visits all his host, 
 
 Bids them good morrow with a modest smile, 
 
 And calls them brothers, friends and countrymen. 
 
 Upon his royal face there is no note 
 
 How dread an army hath enrounded him ; 
 
 Nor doth he dedicate one jot of colour 
 
 Unto the weary and all-watched night. 
 
 But freshly looks and over-bears attaint 
 
 With cheerful semblance and sweet majesty ; 40 
 
 That every wretch, pining and pale before, 
 
 Beholding him, plucks comfort from his looks : 
 
 A largess universal like the sun 
 
 His liberal eye doth give to every one, 
 
 Thawing cold fear, that mean and gentle all 
 
 Behold, as may unworthiness define, 
 
 A little touch of Harry in the night. 
 
 And so our scene must to the battle fly ; 
 
 Where — O for pity ! — we shall much disgrace 
 
 With four or five most vile and ragged foils, 50 
 
 Right ill-disposed in brawl ridiculous. 
 
 The name of Agincourt. Yet sit and see, 
 
 Minding true things by what their mockeries be. 
 
 [Exit. 
 
 8S
 
 Act IV. Sc. i. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Scene I. 
 
 The English camp at Agincourt. 
 
 Enter King Henry, Bedford, and Gloucester. 
 
 K. Hen. Gloucester, 'tis true that we are in great danger ; 
 The greater therefore should our courage be. 
 Good morrow, brother Bedford. God Almighty ! 
 There is some soul of goodness in things evil, 
 Would men observingly distil it out. 
 For our bad neighbour makes us early stirrers. 
 Which is both healthful and good husbandry : 
 Besides, they are our outward consciences. 
 And preachers to us all, admonishing 
 That we should dress us fairly for our end. lo 
 
 Thus may we gather honey from the weed, 
 And make a moral of the devil himself. 
 
 Enter Erpingham. 
 
 Good morrow, old Sir Thomas Erpingham : 
 A good soft pillow for that good white head 
 Were better than a churlish turf of France. 
 
 Erp. Not so, my liege : this lodging likes me better. 
 Since I may say ' Now^ lie I like a king.' 
 
 K. Hen. 'Tis good for men to love their present pains 
 Upon example ; so the spirit is eased : 
 And when the mind is quicken'd, out of doubt, 20 
 The organs, though defunct and dead before, 
 Break up their drowsy grave and newly move. 
 With casted slough and fresh legerity. 
 Lend me thy cloak. Sir Thomas. Brothers both. 
 Commend me to the princes in our camp ; 
 Do my good morrow to them, and anon 
 86
 
 KING HENRY V. Act IV. Sc. i. 
 
 Desire them all to my pavilion. 
 Gloii. We shall, my liege. 
 Erp. Shall I attend your grace? 
 K. Hen. No, my good knight ; 
 
 Go with my brothers to my lords of England : 30 
 
 I and my bosom must debate a while, 
 
 And then I would no other company. 
 Erp. The Lord in heaven bless thee, noble Harry ! 
 
 [Exeunt all but King. 
 K. Hen. God-a-mercy, old heart ! thou speak'st cheerfully. 
 
 Enter Pistol. 
 
 Pist. Qui va la? 
 
 K. Hen. A friend. 
 
 Pist. Discuss unto me; art thou officer? 
 
 Or art thou base, common, and popular ? 
 
 K. Hen. I am a gentleman of a company. 
 
 Pist. Trail'st thou the puissant pike? 40 
 
 K. Hen. Even so. What are you ? 
 
 Pist. As good a gentleman as the emperor. 
 
 K. Hen. Then you are a better than the king. 
 
 Pist. The king 's a bawcock, and a heart of gold, 
 A lad of life, an imp of fame ; 
 Of parents good, of fist most valiant : 
 I kiss his dirty shoe, and from heart-string 
 I love the lovely bully. What is thy name ? 
 
 K. Hen. Harrv le Rov. 
 
 Pist. Le Roy! a Cornish name: 
 
 art thou of Cornish 
 
 crew ? 
 
 50 
 
 K. Hen. No, I am a Welshman. 
 
 
 Pist. Know'st thou Fluellen ? 
 
 
 K. Hen. Yes. 
 
 
 87 

 
 Act IV. Sc. i. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Pist. Tell him, I '11 knock his leek about his pate 
 
 Upon Saint Davy's day. 
 K. Hen. Do not you wear your dagger in your cap 
 
 that day, lest he knock that about yours. 
 Pist. Art thou his friend ? 
 K. Hen. And his kinsman too. 
 
 Pist. The figo for thee, then ! 60 
 
 K. Hen. I thank you ; God be with you ! 
 Pist. My name is Pistol call'd. [Exit. 
 
 K. Hen. It sorts well with your fierceness. 
 
 Enter Fluellen and Gower. 
 
 Gou\ Captain Fluellen ! 
 
 Flu. So ! in the name of Jesu Christ, speak lower. 
 It is the greatest admiration in the universal 
 world, when the true and aunchient preroga- 
 tifes and laws of the wars is not kept : if you 
 would take the pains but to examine the wars 
 of Pompey the Great, you shall find, I warrant 70 
 you, that there is no tiddle taddle nor pibble 
 pabble in Pompey's camp ; I warrant you, you 
 shall find the ceremonies of the wars, and the 
 cares of it, and the forms of it, and the sobriety 
 of it, and the modesty of it, to be otherwise. 
 
 G01V. Why, the enemy is loud ; you hear him all night. 
 
 Flu. If the enemy is an ass and a fool and a prating 
 coxcomb, is it meet, think you, that we should 
 also, look you, be an ass and a fool and a prating 
 coxcomb? in your own conscience, now? 80 
 
 Gou\ I will speak lower. 
 
 Flu. I pray you and beseech you that you will. 
 
 [Exeunt Gower and Fluellen,
 
 KING HENRY V. Act IV. Sc. i. 
 
 K. Hen. Though it appear a Httle out of fashion, 
 
 There is much care and valour in this Welshman. 
 
 Enter three soldiers, John Bates, Alexander Court, 
 and Michael Williams. 
 
 Court. Brother John Bates, is not that the morning 
 which breaks yonder ? 
 
 Bates. I think it be : but we have no great cause to 
 desire the approach of day. 
 
 Will. We see yonder the beginning of the day, but 
 
 I think we shall never see the end of it. Who 90 
 goes there? 
 
 K. Hen. A friend. 
 
 Will. Under what captain serve you? 
 
 K. Hen. Under Sir Thomas Erpingham. 
 
 Will. A good old commander and a most kind gentle- 
 man : I pray you, what thinks he of our estate? 
 
 K. Hen. Even as men wrecked upon a sand, that 
 look to be washed off the next tide. 
 
 Bates. He hath not told his thbught to the king? 
 
 K. Hen. No ; nor it is not meet he should. For, 100 
 though I speak it to you, I think the king is but 
 a man, as I am : the violet smells to him as it 
 doth to me ; the element shows to him as it 
 doth to me ; all his senses have but human con- 
 ditions ; his ceremonies laid by, in his nakedness 
 he appears but a man ; and though his affections 
 are higher mounted than ours, yet, when they 
 stoop, they stoop with the like wing. There- 
 fore when he sees reason of fears, as we do, his 
 fears, out of doubt, be of the same relish as ours no 
 are : yet, in reason, no man should possess him 
 
 89
 
 Act IV. Sc. i. THE LIFE OF 
 
 with any appearance of fear, lest he, by showing 
 it should dishearten his army. 
 
 Bates. He may show what outward courage he will ; 
 but I believe, as cold a night as 'tis, he could 
 wish himself in Thames up to the neck ; and so 
 I would he were, and I by him, at all adventures, 
 so we were quit here. 
 
 A'. Hen. By my troth, I will speak my conscience of 
 
 the king: I think he would not wish himself any 120 
 where but where he is. 
 
 Bates. Then I would he were here alone ; so should 
 he be sure to be ransomed, and a many poor 
 men's lives saved. 
 
 K. Hen. I dare say you love him not so ill, to wish 
 him here alone, howsoever you speak this to 
 feel other men's minds : methinks I could not 
 die any where so contented as in the king's 
 company ; his cause being just and his quarrel 
 honourable. 130 
 
 U^ill. That 's more than we know. 
 
 Bates. Ay, or more than we should seek after ; for 
 we know enough, if we know we are the king's 
 subjects : if his cause be wrong, our obedience 
 to the king wipes the crime of it out of us. 
 
 U^iU. But if the- cause be not good, the king himself 
 hath a heavy reckoning to make, when all those 
 legs and arms and heads, chopped off in a battle, 
 shall join together at the latter day and cry all 
 ' We died at such a place ; ' some swearing, 140 
 some crying for a surgeon, some upon their 
 wives left poor behind them, some upon the debts 
 they owe, some upon their children rawly left. 
 90
 
 KING HENRY V. Act IV. Sc. i. 
 
 I am afeard there are few die well that die in a 
 battle; for how can they charitably dispose of 
 any thing, when blood is their argument ? Now, 
 if these men do not die well, it will be a black 
 matter for the king that led them to it ; whom 
 to disobey were against all proportion of sub- 
 jection. 150 
 K. Hen. So, if a son that is by his father sent about 
 merchandise do sinfully miscarry upon the sea, 
 the imputation of his wickedness, by your rule, 
 should be imposed upon his father that sent him : 
 or if a servant, under his master's command 
 transporting a sum of money, be assailed by 
 robbers and die in many irreconciled iniquities, 
 you may call the business of the master the 
 author of the servant's damnation : but this is 
 not so: the king is not bound to answer the 160 
 particular endings of his soldiers, the father of 
 his son, nor the master of his servant ; for they 
 purpose not their death, when they purpose their 
 services. Besides, there is no king, be his cause 
 never so spotless, if it come to the arbitrement 
 of swords, can try it out with all unspotted 
 soldiers : some peradventure have on them the 
 guilt of premeditated and contrived murder; 
 some, of beguiling virgins with the broken seals 
 of perjury; some, making the wars their bul- 170 
 wark, that have before gored the gentle bosom 
 of peace with pillage and robbery. Now, if these 
 men have defeated the law and outrun native 
 punishment, though they can outstrip men, they 
 have no wings to fly from God: war is His 
 
 91
 
 Act IV. Sc. i. THE LIFE OF 
 
 beadle, war is His vengeance ; so that here men 
 are punished for before-breach of the king's laws 
 in now the king's quarrel : where they feared 
 the death, they have borne life away ; and where 
 they would be safe, they perish : then if they die i8o 
 unprovided, no more is the king guilty of their 
 damnation than he was before guilty of those im- 
 pieties for the which they are now visited. Every 
 subject's duty is the king's; but every subject's 
 soul is his own. Therefore should every soldier 
 in the wars do as every sick man in his bed, wash 
 every mote out of his conscience : and dying so, 
 death is to him advantage; or not dying, the 
 time was blessedly lost wherein such preparation 
 was gained : and in him that escapes, it were not 190 
 sin to think that, making God so free an offer, 
 He let him outlive that day to see His greatness 
 and to teach others how they should prepare. 
 
 JVill. Tis certain, every man that dies ill, the ill upon 
 his own head, the king is not to answer it. 
 
 Bates. I do not desire he should answer for me ; and 
 yet I determine to fight lustily for him. 
 
 A'. Hen. I myself heard the king say he would not be 
 ransomed. 
 
 Will. Ay, he said so, to make us fight cheerfully : but 200 
 when our throats are cut, he may be ransomed, 
 and we ne'er the wiser. 
 
 K. Hen. If I live to see it, I will never trust his word 
 after. 
 
 Will. You pay him then. That 's a perilous shot out 
 of an elder-gun, that a poor and a private dis- 
 pleasure can do against a monarch ! you may as 
 
 92
 
 KING HENRY V. Act IV. Sc. i. 
 
 well go about to turn the sun to Ice with fanning 
 in his face with a peacock's feather. You '11 
 never trust his word after! come, 'tis a foolish 210 
 saying. 
 
 K. Hen. Your reproof is something too round : I 
 should be angry with you, if the time were con- 
 venient. 
 
 Will. Let it be a quarrel between us, if you live. 
 
 K. Hen. I embrace it. 
 
 Will. How shall I know thee again? 
 
 K. Hen. Give me any gage of thine, and I will wear 
 it in my bonnet : then, if ever thou darest ac- 
 knowledge it, I will make it my quarrel. 
 
 Will. Here 's my glove : give me another of thine. 220 
 
 K. Hen. There. 
 
 Will. This will I also wear in my cap : if ever thou 
 come to me and say, after to-morrow, ' This is 
 my glove,' by this hand, I will take thee a box 
 on the ear. 
 
 K. Hen. If ever I live to see it, I will challenge it. 
 
 Will. Thou darest as well be hanged. 
 
 K. Hen. Well, I will do it, though I take thee in the 
 king's company. 
 
 Will. Keep thy word : fare thee well. 230 
 
 Bates. Be friends, you English fools, be friends : we 
 have French quarrels enow, if you could tell 
 how to reckon. 
 
 K. Hen. Indeed, the French may lay twenty French 
 crowns to one, they will beat us ; for they bear 
 them on their shoulders : but it is no English 
 treason to cut French crowns, and to-morrow 
 the king himself will be a clipper. 
 
 [Exeunt Soldiers, 
 
 93
 
 Act IV. Sc. i. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Upon the king! let us our lives, our souls, 
 
 Our debts, our careful wives, 240 
 
 Our children and our sins lay on the king- ! 
 
 We must bear all. O hard condition. 
 
 Twin-born with greatness, subject to the breath 
 
 Of every fool, whose sense no more can feel 
 
 But his own wringing! What infinite heart's-ease 
 
 Must kings neglect, that private men enjoy! 
 
 And what have kings, that privates have not too. 
 
 Save ceremony, save general ceremony? 
 
 And what art thou, thou idol ceremony? 
 
 What kind of god art thou, that suffer'st more 250" 
 
 Of mortal griefs than do thy worshippers ? 
 
 What are thy rents ? what are thy comings in ? 
 
 ceremony, show me but thy worth ! 
 What is thy soul of adoration? 
 
 Art thou aught else but place, degree and form, 
 
 Creating awe and fear in other men ? 
 
 Wherein thou art less happy being fear'd 
 
 Than they in fearing. 
 
 What drink'st thou oft, instead of homage sweet, 
 
 But poison'd flattery ? O, be sick, great greatness. 
 
 And bid thy ceremony give thee cure ! 261 
 
 Think'st thou the fiery fever will go out 
 
 With titles blown from adulation ? 
 
 Will it give place to flexure and low bending? 
 
 Canst thou, when thou command'st the beggar's knee, 
 
 Command the health of it? No, thou proud dream, 
 
 That play'st so subtly with a king's repose ; 
 
 1 am a king that find thee, and I know 
 'Tis not the balm, the sceptre and the ball, 
 
 The sword, the mace, the crown imperial, 270 
 
 94
 
 KING HENRY V. Act IV. Sc. i. 
 
 The intertissued robe of gold and pearl, 
 
 The farced title running 'fore the king, 
 
 The throne he sits on, nor the tide of pomp 
 
 That beats upon the high shore of this world. 
 
 No, not all these, thrice-gorgeous ceremony, 
 
 Not all these, laid in bed majestical, 
 
 Can sleep so soundly as the wretched slave. 
 
 Who with a body fillVl and vacant mind 
 
 Gets him to rest, cramm'd with distressful bread ; 
 
 Never sees horrid night, the child of hell, 280 
 
 But, like a lackey, from the rise to set 
 
 Sweats in the eye of Phcebus and all night 
 
 Sleeps in Elysium ; next day after dawn. 
 
 Doth rise and help Hyperion to his horse. 
 
 And follows so the ever-running year. 
 
 With profitable labour, to his grave : 
 
 And, but for ceremony, such a wretch, 
 
 Winding up days with toil and nights with sleep, 
 
 Had the fore-hand and vantage of a king. 
 
 The slave, a member of the country's peace, 290 
 
 Enjoys it ; but in gross brain little wots 
 
 What watch the king keeps to maintain the peace. 
 
 Whose hours the peasant best advantages. 
 
 Re-enter Erpingham. 
 
 Erp. My lord, your nobles, jealous of your absence. 
 
 Seek through your camp to find you. 
 A'. Hen. Good old knight, 
 
 Collect them all together at my tent : 
 
 I '11 be before thee. 
 Erp. I shall do 't, my lord. [Exit. 
 
 K. Hen. O God of battles ! steel my soldiers' hearts ; 
 
 95
 
 Act IV. Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Possess them not with fear ; take from them now 
 The sense of reckoning, if the opposed numbers 300 
 Pluck their hearts from them. Not to-day, O Lord, 
 O, not to-day, think not upon the fault 
 My father made in compassing the crown ! 
 I Richard's body have interred new ; 
 And on it have bestow'd more contrite tears 
 Than from it issued forced drops of blood : 
 Five hundred poor I have in yearly pay, 
 Who twice a-day their wither'd hands hold up 
 Toward heaven, to pardon blood ; and I have built 
 Two chantries, where the sad and solemn priests 310 
 Sing still for Richard's soul. More will I do ; 
 Though all that I can do is nothing worth, 
 Since that my penitence comes after all, 
 Imploring pardon. 
 
 Re-enter Gloucester. 
 
 Glou. My liege ! 
 
 K. Hen. My brother Gloucester's voice ? Ay ; 
 
 I know thy errand, I will go with thee : 
 The day, my friends and all things stay for me. 
 
 [Exeunt, 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 The French camp. 
 Enter the Dauphin, Orleans, Rambures, and others. 
 
 Orl. The sun doth gild our armour; up, my lords! 
 Dan. Alontez a cheval ! My horse ! varlet ! laquais ! ha! 
 Orl. O brave spirit ! 
 Dan. Via! les eaux et la terre. 
 
 96
 
 KING HENRY V. Act IV. Sc. ii. 
 
 Ori Rien puis? I'air et le feu. 
 Dau. Ciel, cousin Orleans. 
 
 Enter Constable. 
 
 Now, my lord constable! 
 Con. Hark, how our steeds for present service neigh ! 
 Dan. Mount them, and make incision in their hides, 
 
 That their hot blood may spin in English eyes, lo 
 
 And dout them with superfluous courage, ha! 
 Rant. What, will you have them weep our horses' blood? 
 
 How shall we then behold their natural tears? 
 
 Enter Messenger. 
 
 Mess, The English are embattled, you French peers. 
 
 Con. To horse you gallant princes! straight to horse! 
 Do but behold }on poor and starved band. 
 And your fair show shall suck away their souls, 
 Leaving them but the shales and husks of men. 
 There is not work enough for all our hands ; 
 Scarce blood enough in all their sickly veins 20 
 
 To give each naked curtle-axe a stain, 
 That our French gallants shall to-day draw out, 
 And sheathe for lack of sport : let us but blow on them, 
 The vapour of our glory will o'erturn them. 
 'Tis positive 'gainst all exceptions, lords, 
 That our superfluous lackeys and our peasants, 
 Who in unnecessary action swarm 
 About our squares of battle, were enow 
 To purge this field of such a hilding foe. 
 Though we upon this mountain's basis by 30 
 
 Took stand for idle speculation: 
 But that our honours must not. What 's to say? 
 A very little little let us do, 
 
 97
 
 Act IV. Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 And all is done. Then let the trumpets sound 
 The tucket sonance and the note to mount; 
 For our approach shall so much dare the field 
 That England shall couch down in fear and yield. 
 
 Enter Graiidprc. 
 
 Grand. Why do you stay so long, my lords of France? 
 Yon island carrions, desperate of their bones, 
 Ill-favouredly become the morning field : 40 
 
 Their ragged curtains poorly are let loose, 
 And our air shakes them passing scornfully: 
 Big Mars seenis bankrupt in their beggar'd host 
 And faintly through a rusty beaver peeps: 
 The horsemen sit like fixed candlesticks, 
 With torch-staves in their hand : and their poor jades 
 Lob down their heads, dropping the hides and hips, 
 The gum down-roping from their pale-dead eyes, 
 And in their pale dull mouths the gimmal bit 
 Lies foul with chew'd grass, still and motionless; 50 
 And their executors, the knavish crows, 
 Fly o'er them, all impatient for their hour. 
 Description cannot suit itself in words 
 To demonstrate the life of such a battle 
 In life so lifeless as it shows itself. 
 
 Con. They have said their prayers, and they stay for death. 
 
 Dan. Shall we go send them dinners and fresh suits 
 And give their fasting horses provender. 
 And after fight with them? 
 
 Con. I stay but for my guidon : to the field ! 60 
 
 I will the banner from a trumpet take, 
 And use it for my haste. Come, come, away! 
 The sun is high, and we outwear the day. [Exeunt. 
 98
 
 KING HENRY V. Act IV. Sc. iii. 
 
 Scene III. 
 
 The English camp. 
 
 Enter Gloucester, Bedford, Exeter, Erpingham, z^'ith 
 all his host: Salisbury and Westmoreland. 
 
 Glou. Where is the king? 
 
 Bed. The king himself is rode to view their battle. 
 
 West. Of fighting men they have full three score thousand. 
 
 Exe. There 's five to one ; besides, they all are fresh. 
 
 Sal. God's arm strike with us ! 'tis a fearful odds. 
 God be wi' you, princes all ; I '11 to my charge : 
 If we no more meet till we meet in heaven, 
 Then, joyfully, my noble Lord of Bedford, 
 My dear Lord Gloucester, and my good Lord Exeter, 
 And my kind kinsman, warriors all, adieu! lo 
 
 Bed. Farewell, good Salisbury ; and good luck go with 
 thee ! 
 
 Exe. Farewell, kind lord; fight valiantly to-day: 
 And yet I do thee wrong to mind thee of it. 
 For thou art framed of the firm truth of valour. 
 
 [Exit Salisbury. 
 
 Bed. He is as full of valour as of kindness ; 
 Princely in both. 
 
 Enter the King. 
 
 West. O that we now had here 
 
 But one ten thousand of those men in England 
 That do no work to-day ! 
 
 K. Hen. What 's he that wishes so? 
 
 My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin 
 If we are mark'd to die, we are enow 20 
 
 To do our country loss ; and if to live, 
 
 99
 
 Act IV. Sc. iii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 The fewer men, the greater share of honour. 
 God's will ! 1 pray thee, wish not one man more. 
 By Jove, I am not covetous for gold, 
 Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost; 
 It yearns me not if men my garments wear ; 
 Such outward things dwell not in my desires : 
 But if it be a sin to covet honour, 
 I am the most offending soul alive. 
 No, faith, my coz, wash not a man from England : 30 
 God's peace ! I would not lose so great an honour 
 As one man more, methinks, would share from me 
 For the best h^e I have. O, do not wash one more ! 
 Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host, 
 That he which hath no stomach to this fight. 
 Let him depart ; his passport shall be made 
 And crowns for convoy put into his purse: 
 We would not die in that man's company 
 That fears his fellowship to die with us. 
 This day is call'd the feast of Crispian : 40 
 
 He that outlives this day, and comes safe home. 
 Will stand a tip-toe wdien this day is named, 
 And rouse him at the name of Crispian. 
 He that shall live this day, and see old age. 
 Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, 
 And say, ' To-morrow^ is Saint Crispian : ' 
 Then wall he strip his sleeve and show his scars. 
 And say/ These wounds I had on Crispin's day.' 
 Old men forget ; yet all shall be forgot. 
 But he '11 remember wath advantages 50 
 
 What feats he did that day : then shall our names, 
 Familiar in his mouth as household words, 
 Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter, 
 100
 
 KING HENRY V. Act IV. Sc. iii. 
 
 Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester, 
 
 Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd. 
 
 This story shall the good man teach his son ; 
 
 And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, 
 
 From this day to the ending of the world, 
 
 But we in it shall be remembered ; 
 
 We few, we happy few, we band of brothers ; 60 
 
 For he to-day that sheds his blood with me 
 
 Shall be my brother ; be he ne'er so vile. 
 
 This day shall gentle his condition : 
 
 And gentlemen in England now^ a-bed 
 
 Shall think themselves accursed they were not here. 
 
 And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks 
 
 That fought w^ith us upon Saint Crispin's day. 
 
 Rc-cntcr Salisbury. 
 
 Sal. Aly sovereign lord, bestow yourself with speed : 
 The French are bravely in their battles set, 
 And will with all expedience charge on us. 70 
 
 K. Hen. All things are ready, if our minds be so. 
 
 West. Perish the man whose mind is backward now ! 
 
 K. Hen. Thou dost not wish more help from England, coz ? 
 
 West. God's w^ill ! my liege, would you and I alone, 
 Without more help, could fight this royal battle ! 
 
 K. Hen. Why, now thou hast unwish'd five thousand men, 
 Which likes me better than to wish us one. 
 You know your places : God be with you all ! 
 
 Tucket. Enter Montjoy. 
 
 Mont. Once more I come to know of thee. King Harry, 
 If for thy ransom thou wilt now compound, 80 
 
 Before thy most assured overthrow : 
 
 lOI
 
 Act IV. Sc. iii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 For certainly thou art so near the gulf. 
 
 Thou needs must be englutted. Besides, in mercy, 
 
 The constable desires thee thou wilt mind 
 
 Thy followers of repentance ; that their souls 
 
 May make a peaceful and a sweet retire 
 
 From ofif these fields, where, wretches, their poor 
 
 bodies 
 Must lie and fester. 
 
 K. Hen. Who hath sent thee now ? 
 
 Mont. The Constable of France. 
 
 K, Hen. I pray thee, bear my former answer back : 90 
 Bid them achieve me and then sell my bones. 
 Good God ! why should they mock poor fellows thus ? 
 The man that once did sell the lion's skin 
 While the beast lived, was killed with hunting him. 
 A many of our bodies shall no doubt 
 Find native graves ; upon the which, I trust. 
 Shall witness live in brass of this day's work : 
 And those that leave their valiant bones in France, 
 Dying like men, though buried in your dunghills, 
 They shall be famed ; for there the sun shall greet 
 them, 100 
 
 And draw their honours reeking up to heaven ; 
 Leaving their earthly parts to choke your clime, 
 The smell whereof shall breed a plague in France. 
 Mark then abounding valour in our English, 
 That being dead, like to the bullet's grazing, 
 Break out into a second course of mischief, 
 Killing in relapse of mortality. 
 Let me speak proudly : tell the constable 
 We are but warriors for the working-day ; 
 Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd 110
 
 KING HENRY V. Act IV. Sc. iv. 
 
 With rainy marching in the painful field ; 
 
 There 's not a piece of feather in our host — 
 
 Good argument, I hope, we will not fly — 
 
 And time hath worn us into slovenry : 
 
 But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim ; 
 
 And my poor soldiers tell me, yet ere night 
 
 They '11 be in fresher robes, or they will pluck 
 
 The gay new coats o'er the French soldiers' heads 
 
 And turn them out of service If they do this, — 
 
 As, if God please, they shall, — my ransom then 120 
 
 Will soon be levied. Herald, save thou thy labour • 
 
 Come thou no more for ransom, gentle herald : 
 
 They shall have none, I swear, but these my joints ; 
 
 Which if they have as I will leave 'em them. 
 
 Shall yield them little, tell the constable. 
 
 Mont. I shall. King Harry. And so fare thee well : 
 
 Thou never shalt hear herald any more. [Exit. 
 
 K. Hen. I fear thou 'It once more come again for ransom. 
 
 * Enter York. 
 
 York. My lord, most humbly on my knee I beg 
 
 The leading of the vaward. 130 
 
 K. Hen. Take it, brave York. Now, soldiers, march away : 
 And how thou pleasest, God, dispose the day ! 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene IV, 
 
 The Held of battle. 
 
 , Alarum. Excursions. Enter Pistol, French Soldier, 
 and Boy. 
 Pist. Yield, cur! 
 
 Fr. Sol. Je pense que vous etes gentilhomme de 
 bonne qualite. 
 
 103
 
 Act IV. Sc. iv. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Pist. Qualtitie calmie custure me ! Art thou a gentle- 
 man ? what is thy name ? discuss. 
 Fr. Sol. O Seigneur Dieu ! 
 Pist. O, Signieur Dew should be a gentleman : 
 
 Perpend my words, O Signieur Dew, and mark ; 
 
 O Signieur Dew, thou diest on point of fox, 
 
 Except, O signieur, thou do give to me 
 
 Egregious ransom. lo 
 
 Fr. Sol. O, prenez misericorde ! ayez pitie dc moi ! 
 Pist. Moy shall not serve ; I will have forty moys ; 
 
 Or I will fetch thy rim out at thy throat 
 
 In drops of crimson blood. 
 Fr. Sol. Est-il impossible d'echapper la force de ton 
 
 bras? 
 Pist. Brass, cur ! 
 
 Thou damned and luxurious mountain goat, 
 
 Offer'st me brass ? 
 Fr. Sol. O pardonnez moi ! 20 
 
 Pist. Say'st thou me so? is that a ton of moys? » 
 
 Come hither, boy : ask me this slave in French 
 
 What is his name. 
 Boy. ficoutez : comment etes-vous appele ? 
 Fr. Sol. Monsieur le Fer. 
 Boy. He says his name is Master Fer. 
 Pist. Master Fer! I'll fer him, and firk him, and 
 
 ferret him : discuss the same in French unto 
 
 him. 
 Boy. I do not know the French for fer, and ferret, 30 
 
 and firk. • 
 
 Pist. Bid him prepare ; for I will cut his throat. 
 Fr. Sol. Que dit-il, monsieur ? 
 
 Boy. II me commande de vous dire que vous faites 
 
 104
 
 KING HENRY V. Act IV. Sc. iv. 
 
 vous pret ; car ce soldat ici est dispose tout a 
 cette heure de couper votre gorge. 
 
 Pist. Owy, cuppele gorge, permafoy. 
 
 Peasant, unless thou give me crowns, brave crowns 
 Or mangled shalt thou be by this my sword. 
 
 Fr. Sol. O, je vous supplie, pour Tamour de Dieu, 40 
 me pardonner! Je suis gentilhomme de bonne 
 maison : gardez ma vie, et je vous donnerai deux 
 cents ecus. 
 
 Pist. What are his words ? 
 
 Boy. He prays you to save his life : he is a gentle- 
 man of a good house ; and for his ransom he 
 will give you two hundred crowns. 
 
 Pist. Tell him my fury shall abate, and I 
 The crowns will take. 
 
 Fr. Sol. Petit monsieur, que dit-il? " 50 
 
 Boy. Encore qu'il est contre son jurement de pardon- 
 ner aucun prisonnier, neanmoins, pour les ecus 
 que vous I'avez promis, il est content de vous 
 donner la liberte, le franchisement. 
 
 Fr. Sol. Sur mes genoux je vous donne mille re- 
 merclmens ; et je m'estime heureux que je suis 
 tombe entre les mains d'un chevalier, je pense 
 le plus brave, vaillant, et tres distingue seigneur 
 d'Angleterre. 
 
 Pist. Expound unto me, boy. 60 
 
 Boy. He gives you, upon his knees, a thousand thanks ; 
 and he esteems himself happy that he hath fallen 
 into the hands of one, as he thinks, the most brave, 
 valorous, and thrice-worthy signieur of England. 
 
 Pist. As I suck blood, I will some mercy show. 
 Follow me ! 
 
 105
 
 Act IV. Sc. V. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Boy. Suivez-vous le grand capitain. [Exeunt Pistol, 
 and French Soldier.] I did never know so full 
 a voice issue from so empty a heart : but the 
 saying is true, ' The empty vessel makes the 70 
 greatest sound.' Bardolph and Nym had ten 
 times more valour than this roaring devil i' the 
 old play, that every one may pare his nails with 
 a wooden dagger ; and they are both hanged ; 
 and so would this be, if he durst steal any thing 
 adventurously. I must stay with the lackeys, 
 with the luggage of our camp : the French might 
 have a good prey of us. if he knew of it ; for 
 there is none to guard it but boys. [E.vit. 
 
 Scene V. 
 
 Another part of the field. 
 
 Enter Constable, Orleans, Bourbon, Dauphin, and 
 Ranibures. 
 
 Con. O diable ! 
 
 Orl. O Seigneur ! le jour est perdu, tout est perdu ! 
 
 Dau. Alort de ma vie ! all is confounded, all ! 
 
 Reproach and everlasting shame 
 
 Sits mocking in our plumes. O mechante fortune ! 
 
 Do not run away. [A short alarum. 
 
 Con. \Miy, all our ranks are broke. 
 
 Dau. O perdurable shame ! let 's stab ourselves. 
 
 Be these the wretches that we play'd at dice for? 
 Orl. Is this the king we sent to for his ransom? 
 Bour. Shame and eternal shame, nothing but shame! 10 
 
 Let us die in honour : once more back again ; 
 
 And he that will not follow Bourbon now, 
 
 106
 
 KING HENRY V. Act IV. Sc. vi. 
 
 Let him go hence, and with his cap in hand, 
 
 Like a base pandar, hold the chamber-door 
 
 Whilst by a slave, no gentler than my dog, 
 
 His fairest daughter is contaminated. 
 Con. Disorder, that hath spoil'd us, friend us now ! 
 
 Let us on heaps go offer up our lives. 
 Orl. We are enow yet living in the field 
 
 To smother up the English in our throngs, 20 
 
 If any order might be thought upon. 
 Boiir. The devil take order now! I '11 to the throng: 
 
 Let life be short ; else shame will be too long. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene VI. 
 
 Another part of the field. 
 
 Alarum. Enter Kiiii^ Henry and forces, Exeter, and 
 others. 
 
 K. Hen. Well have we done, thrice valiant countrymen : 
 But all 's not done ; yet keep the French the field. 
 
 Exe. The Duke of York commends him to your majesty. 
 
 K. Hen. Lives he, good uncle? thrice within this hour 
 I saw him down ; thrice up again, and fighting ; 
 From helmet to the spur all blood he was. 
 
 Exe. In which array, brave soldier, doth he lie. 
 Larding the plain : and by his bloody side. 
 Yoke-fellow to his honour-owing wounds, 
 The noble Earl of Suffolk also lies. 10 
 
 Suffolk first died : and York, all haggled over. 
 Comes to him, where in gore he lay insteep'd. 
 And takes him by the beard ; kisses the gashes 
 That bloodily did yawn upon his face ; 
 107
 
 Act IV. Sc. vii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 And cries aloud ' Tarry, dear cousin Suffolk ! 
 My soul shall thine keep company to heaven ; 
 Tarry, sweet soul, for mine, then fly abreast, 
 As in this glorious and well-foughten field 
 We kept together in our chivalry ! ' 
 Upon these words I came and cheer'd him up : 20 
 He smiled me in the face, raught me his hand. 
 And, with a feeble gripe, says ' Dear my lord. 
 Commend my service to my sovereign.' 
 So did he turn, and over Suffolk's neck 
 He threw his wounded arm and kiss'd his lips ; 
 And so espoused to death, with blood he seal'd 
 A testament of noble-ending love. 
 The pretty and sweet manner of it forced 
 Those waters from me which I would have stopp'd ; 
 But I had not so much of man in me, 30 
 
 And all my mother came into mine eyes 
 And gave me up to tears. 
 K. Hen. I blame you not ; 
 
 For, hearing this. I must perforce compound 
 
 With mistful eyes, or they will issue too. [Alarum. 
 
 But, hark ! what new alarum is this same ? 
 
 The French have reinforced their scatter'd men : 
 
 Then every soldier kill his prisoners ; 
 
 Give the word through. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene VII. 
 
 Another part of the Held. 
 
 Enter FlueUen and Gower. 
 
 Flu. Kill the poys and the luggage ! 'tis expressly 
 against the law of arms : 'tis as arrant a piece 
 
 108
 
 KING HENRY V. Act IV. Sc. vii. 
 
 of knavery, mark you now, as can be offer't; 
 in your conscience, now, is it not ? 
 
 Goiv. 'Tis certain there 's not a boy left alive : and 
 the cowardly rascals that ran from the battle ha' 
 done this slaughter: besides, they have burned 
 and carried away all that was in the king's tent ; 
 wherefore the king, most worthily, hath caused 
 every soldier to cut his prisoner's throat. O, lo 
 'tis a gallant king ! 
 
 Flu. Ay, he was porn at Monmouth, Captain Gower. 
 What call you the town's name where Alexander 
 the Pig was born ? 
 
 Gow. Alexander the Great. 
 
 Flu. Why, I pray you, is not pig great ? the pig, or 
 the great, or the mighty, or the huge, or the 
 magnanimous, are all one reckonings, save the 
 phrase is a little variations. 
 
 Cow. I think Alexander the Great was born in Mace- 20 
 don : his father was called Philip of Macedon, as 
 I take it. 
 
 Flu. I think it is in Macedon where Alexander is 
 porn. I tell you, captain, if you look in the 
 maps of the 'orld, I warrant you sail find, in the 
 comparisons between Macedon and Monmouth, 
 that the situations, look you, is both alike. There 
 is a river in Macedon ; and there is also moreover 
 a river at Monmouth : it is called Wye at Mon- 
 mouth ; but it is out of my prains what is the 30 
 name of the other river ; but 'tis all one, 'tis alike 
 as my fingers is to my fingers, and there is sal- 
 mons in both. If you mark Alexander's life well, 
 Harry of Monmouth's life is come after it indif- 
 109
 
 Act IV. Sc. vii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 ferent well; for there is figures in all things. 
 Alexander, God knows, and you know, in his 
 rages, and his furies, and his wraths, and his 
 cholers, and his moods, and his displeasures, 
 and his indignations, and also being a little in- 
 toxicates in his prains, did, in his ales and his 40 
 angers, look you, kill his best friend, Cleitus. 
 
 Gozi'. Our king is not like him in that: he -never 
 killed any of his friends. 
 
 Flu. It is not well done, mark you now, to take the 
 tales out of my mouth, ere it is made and 
 finished. I speak but in the figures and com- 
 parisons of it : as Alexander killed his friend 
 Cleitus, being in his ales and his cups ; so also 
 Harry Monmouth, being in his right wits and his 
 good judgements, turned away the fat knight 50 
 with the great-belly doublet: he was full of 
 jests, and gipes, and knaveries, and mocks; I 
 have forgot his name. « 
 
 Gozc. Sir John Falstaff . 
 
 Flu. That is he : I '11 tell you there is good men porn 
 at Alon mouth. 
 
 Gozc. Here comes his majesty. 
 
 Alarum. Fntcr King Henry and forces: JJ'anvick, 
 Gloucester, Exeter, and others. 
 
 K. Hen. I was not angry since I came to France 
 Until this instant. Take a trumpet, herald ; 
 Ride thou unto the horsemen on yon hill : 60 
 
 If they will fight with us, bid them come down, 
 Or void the field ; they do offend our sight : 
 If thev '11 do neither, we will come to them,
 
 KING HENRY V. Act IV. Sc. vii. 
 
 And make them skirr away, as swift as stones 
 Enforced from the old Assyrian slings : 
 Besides, we '11 cut the throats of those we have. 
 And not a man of them that we shall take 
 Shall taste our mercy. Go and tell them so. 
 
 Enter Mont joy. 
 
 Exe. Here comes the herald of the French, my liege. 
 
 GloiL His eyes are humbler than they used to be. 70 
 
 K, Hen. How now! what means this, herald? know'st 
 thou not 
 That I have fined these bones of mine for ransom ? 
 Comest thou again for ransom ? 
 
 Mont. No, great king-: 
 
 I come to thee for charitable license. 
 That we may wander o'er this bloody field 
 To book our dead, and then to bury them ; 
 To sort our nobles from our common men. 
 For many of our princes — woe the while ! — 
 Lie drown'd and soak'd in mercenary blood ; 
 So do our vulgar drench their peasant limbs 80 
 
 In blood of princes ; and their wounded steeds 
 Fret fetlock deep in gore, and with wild rage 
 Yerk out their armed heels at their dead masters, 
 Killing them twice. O, give us leave, great king. 
 To view the field in safety and dispose 
 Of their dead bodies ! 
 
 !<- Hen. I tell thee truly, herald, 
 
 I know not if the day be ours or no ; 
 For yet a many of your horsemen peer 
 And gallop o'er the field. 
 
 Mont. The day is yours. 
 
 Ill
 
 Act IV. Sc. vii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 K. Hen. Praised be God, and not our strength, for it ! 
 
 What is this castle call'd that stands hard by? 91 
 
 Mont. They call it Agincourt. 
 
 K. Hen. Then call we this the field of Agincourt, 
 Fought on the day of Crispin Crispianus. 
 
 Fin. Your grandfather of famous memory, an 't please 
 your majesty, and your great-uncle Edward the 
 Plack Prince of Wales, as I have read in the 
 chronicles, fought a most prave pattle here in 
 France. 
 
 K. Hen. They did, Fluellen. lOO 
 
 Fin. Your majesty says very true : if your majesties is 
 remembered of it, the Welshmen did good service 
 in a garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks 
 in their Monmouth caps; which, your majesty 
 know, to this hour is an honourable badge of 
 the service; and I do believe your majesty takes 
 no scorn to wear the leek upon Saint Tavy's 
 day. 
 
 K. Hen. I wear it for a memorable honour ; 
 
 For I am Welsh, you know, good countryman. ito 
 
 Fin. All the water in Wye cannot wash your majesty's 
 Welsh plood out of your pody, I can tell you 
 that : God pless it and preserve it, as long as it 
 pleases his grace, and his majesty too! 
 
 K. Hen. Thanks, good my countryman. 
 
 Flu. By Jeshu, I am your majesty's countryman, I 
 care not who know it ; I will confess it to all 
 the 'orld : I need not to be ashamed of your 
 majesty, praised be God, so long as your majesty 
 is an honest man. 120 
 
 K. Hen. God keep me so ! Our heralds go with him :
 
 KING HENRY V. Act IV. Sc. vii. 
 
 Bring me just notice of the numbers dead 
 On both our parts. Call yonder fellow hither. 
 [Points to IVilliams, Exeunt Heralds zvith Montjoy. 
 
 Exc. Soldier, you must come to the king. 
 
 K. Hen. Soldier, why wearest thou that glove in thy 
 cap? 
 
 IVill. An 't please your majesty, 'tis the gage of one 
 that I should fight withal, if he be alive. 
 
 K. Hen. An Englishman ? 
 
 Will. An 't please your majesty, a rascal that 130 
 swaggered with me last night ; who, if alive 
 and ever dare to challenge this glove, I have 
 sworn to take him a box o' th' ear : or if I can 
 see my glove in his cap, which he swore, as he 
 was a soldier, he would wear if alive, I will 
 strike it out soundly. 
 
 K. Hen. What think you, Captain Fluellen ? is it fit 
 this soldier keep his oath ? 
 
 Flu. He is a craven and a villain else, an 't please your 
 
 majesty, in my conscience. 140 
 
 A'. Hen. It may be his enemy is a gentleman of great 
 sort, quite from the answer of his degree. 
 
 Flu. Though he be as good a gentleman as the devil is, 
 as Lucifer and Belzebub himself, it is necessary, 
 look your grace, that he keep his vow and his 
 oath : if he be perjured, see you now, his reputa- 
 tion is as arrant a villain and a Jacksauce, as ever 
 his black shoe trod upon God's ground and his 
 earth, in my conscience, la ! 
 
 K. Hen. Then keep thy vow, sirrah, when thou meet- 150 
 est the fellow. 
 
 Will. So I will, my liege, as I live. 
 
 113
 
 Act IV. Sc. vii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 K. Hen. Who servest thou under ? 
 
 Will. Under Captain Gower, my Uege. 
 
 Flu. Govv^er is a good captain, and is good knowledge 
 and hteratured in the wars. 
 
 K. Hen. Call him hither to me, soldier. 
 
 Will. I will, my liege. • [Exit. 
 
 K. Hen. Here, Fluellen ; wear thou this favour for 
 
 me and stick it in thy cap : when Alengon and i6o 
 myself were down together, I plucked this glove 
 from his helm : if any man challenge this, he is a 
 friend to Alengon, and an enemy to our person ; 
 if thou encounter any such, apprehend him, an 
 thou dost me love. 
 
 Fin. Your grace doo's me as great honours as can be 
 desired in the hearts of his subjects : I would fain 
 see the man, that has but two legs, that shall find 
 himself aggriefed at this glove ; that is all ; but 
 I would fain see it once, an 't please God of his 170 
 grace that I might see. 
 
 K. Hen. Knowest thou Gower? 
 
 Fin. He is my dear friend, an 't please you. 
 
 K. Hen. Pray thee, go seek him, and bring him to my 
 tent. 
 
 Flu. I will fetch him. [Exit. 
 
 K. Hen. My lord of Warwick, and my brother Gloucester, 
 Follow Fluellen closely at the heels : 
 The glove which I have given him for a favour 
 May haply purchase him a box o' th' ear; 180 
 
 It is the soldier's ; I by bargain should 
 Wear it myself. Follow, good cousin Warwick : 
 If that the soldier strike him, as I judge 
 By his blunt bearing he v/ill keep his word, 
 
 114
 
 KING HENRY V, Act IV. Sc. viii. 
 
 Some hidden mischief may arise of it ; 
 
 For I do know Fkiellen vaHant, 
 
 And, touch'd with choler, hot as gunpowder, 
 
 And quickly will return an injury: 
 
 Follow, and see there is no harm between them. 
 
 Go you with me, uncle of Exeter. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene VIII. 
 
 Before King Henry's pavilion. 
 Enter Goiver and Williams. 
 Will. I warrant it is to knight you, captain. 
 
 Enter Flnellen. 
 
 Flu. God's will and his pleasure, captain, I beseech 
 
 you now, come apace to the king : there is more 
 
 good toward you peradventure than is in your 
 
 knowledge to dream of. 
 Will. Sir, know you this glove? 
 Fill. Know the glove ! I know the glove is a glove. 
 Will. I know this ; and thus I challenge it. 
 
 [Strikes Jiivi. 
 Flu. 'Sblood ! an arrant traitor as any is in the universal 
 
 world, or in France, or in England ! lo 
 
 Gozv. How now, sir ! you villain ! 
 Will. Do you think I '11 be forsworn ? 
 Flu. Stand away. Captain Gower ; I will give treason 
 
 his payment in plows, I warrant you. 
 Will. I am no traitor. 
 Flu. That 's a lie in thy throat, I charge you in his 
 
 majesty's name, apprehend him ; he 's a friend of 
 
 the Duke Alen(;on's. 
 
 IIS
 
 Act IV. Sc. viii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Enter JJ'arzi'ick and Gloucester. 
 
 War. How now, how now ! what 's the matter ? 
 
 Flu. My Lord of Warwick, here is — praised be God 20 
 for it ! — a most contagious treason come to hght, 
 look you, as you shall desire in a summer's day. 
 Here is his majesty. 
 
 Enter King Henry and Exeter. 
 
 K. Hen. How now ! what 's the matter? 
 
 Flu. My liege, here is a villain and a traitor, that, 
 look your grace, has struck the glove which your 
 majesty is take out of the helmet of Alengon. 
 
 Will. My liege, this was my glove; here is the 
 fellow of it ; and he that I gave it to in change 
 promised to wear it in his cap : I promised to 30 
 strike him if he did: I met this man with my 
 glove in his cap, and I have been as good as my 
 word. 
 
 Flu. Your majesty hear now, saving your majesty's 
 manhood, what an arrant, rascally, beggarly, 
 lousy knave it is : I hope your majesty is pear 
 me testimony and witness, and will avouchment, 
 that this is the glove of Alengon, that your 
 majesty is give me ; in your conscience, now. 
 
 K. Hen. Give me thy glove, soldier: look, here is 40 
 the fellow of it. 
 
 'Twas I, indeed, thou promised'st to strike ; 
 And thou hast given me most bitter terms. 
 
 Flu. And please your majesty, let his neck answer 
 for it, if there is any martial law in the world. 
 
 K. Hen. How canst thou make me satisfaction? 
 
 116
 
 KING HENRY V. Act IV. Sc. viii. 
 
 irm. All offences, my lord, come from the heart: 
 never came any from mine that might offend your 
 majesty. 
 
 K. Hen. It was ourself thou didst abuse. 50 
 
 Will. Your majesty came not like yourself: you 
 appeared to me but as a common man ; witness 
 the night, your garments, your lowliness ; and 
 what your highness suft'ered under that shape, 
 I beseech you to take it for your own fault and 
 not mine : for had you been as I took you for, 
 I made no offence ; therefore, I beseech your 
 highness, pardon me. 
 
 K. Hen. Here, uncle Exeter, fill this glove with crowns. 
 And give it to this fellow. Keep it, fellow ; 60 
 
 And wear it for an honour in thy cap 
 Till I do challenge it. Give him the crowns : 
 And, captain, you must needs be friends with him. 
 
 Flu. By this day and this light, the fellow has mettle 
 enough in his belly. Hold, there is twelve pence 
 for you ; and I pray you to serve God, and keep 
 you out of prawls, and prabbles, and quarrels, 
 and dissensions, and, I warrant you, it is the 
 better for you. 
 
 Will. I will none of your money. 70 
 
 Flu. It is with a good will ; I can tell you, it will 
 serve. you to mend your shoes: come, wherefore 
 should you be so pashful? your shoes is not so 
 good : 'tis a good silling, I warrant you, or I will 
 change it. 
 
 Enter- an English Herald. 
 
 K. Hen. Now, herald, are the dead number'd? 
 Her. Here is the number of the slaughter'd French. 
 
 117
 
 Act IV. Sc. viii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 K. Hen. What prisoners of good sort are taken, uncle? 
 
 Exc. Charles Duke of Orleans, nephew to the king ; 
 
 John Duke of Bourbon, and Lord Bouciqiialt : 80 
 Of other lords and barons, knights and squires. 
 Full fifteen hundred, besides common men. 
 
 K. Hen. This note doth'fell me of ten thousand French 
 That in the field lie slain : of princes, in this number, 
 And nobles bearing banners, there lie dead 
 One hundred twent^' six : added to these, 
 Of knights, esquires, and gallant gentlemen. 
 Eight thousand and four hundred ; of the which, 
 Five hundred were but yesterday dubb'd knights : 
 So that, in these ten thousand they have lost, 90 
 
 There are but sixteen hundred mercenaries ; 
 The rest are princes, barons, lords, knights, squires, 
 And gentlemen of blood and quality. 
 The names of those their nobles that lie dead : 
 Charles Delabreth, high constable of France ; 
 Jaques of Chatillon, admiral of France ; 
 The master of the cross-bows, Lord Rambures ; 
 Great Master of France, the brave Sir Guichard 
 
 Dolphin, 
 John Duke of Alengon, Anthony Duke of Brabant, 
 The brother to the Duke of Burgundy, 100 
 
 And Edward Duke of Bar : of lusty earls, 
 Grandpre and Roussi, Fauconberg and Foix, 
 Beaumont and Marie, Vaudemont and Lestrale. 
 Here was a royal fellowship of death ! 
 Where is the number of our English dead ? 
 
 [Herald shezi'S him another paper. 
 Edward the Duke of York, the Earl of Suffolk, 
 Sir Richard Ketly, Davy Gam, esquire : 
 118
 
 KING HENRY V. Act V. Prologue 
 
 None else of name ; and of all other men 
 
 But five and twenty. O God, thy arm was here ; 
 
 And not to us, but to thy arm alone, no 
 
 Ascribe we all. When, without stratagem, 
 
 But in plain shock and even play of battle, 
 
 Was ever known so great and little loss 
 
 On one part and on th' other ? Take it, God, 
 
 For it is none but thine ! 
 
 Exe. 'Tis wonderful ! 
 
 K. Hoi. Come, go we in procession to the village : 
 And be it death proclaimed through our host 
 To boast of this or take that praise from God 
 Which is his only. 
 
 Flu. Is it not lawful, an 't please your majesty, to tell 120 
 how many is killed? 
 
 K. Hoi. Yes, captain ; but with this acknowledgement. 
 That God fought for us. 
 
 Flu. Yes, my conscience, he did us great good. 
 
 K. Hen. Do we all holy rites ; 
 
 Let there be sung ' Non nobis ' and ' Te Deum ' ; 
 The dead with charity enclosed in clay : 
 And then to Calais ; and to England then ; 
 Where ne'er from France arrived more happy men. 
 
 \_Exenut. 
 
 ACT FIFTH. 
 
 Prologue. 
 
 Enter CJiorus. 
 
 Chor. Vouchsafe to those that have not read the story, 
 That I may prompt them : and of such as have, 
 I humbly pray them to admit the excuse 
 
 119
 
 Act V. Prologue THE LIFE OF 
 
 Of time, of numbers and due course of things, 
 
 Which cannot in their huge and proper Ufe 
 
 Be here presented. Now we bear the king 
 
 Toward Calais : grant him there ; there seen, 
 
 Heave him away upon your winged thoughts 
 
 Athwart the sea. Behold, the English beach 
 
 Pales in the flood with men, with wives and boys, lo 
 
 Whose shouts and claps out-voice the deep-mouth'd sea. 
 
 Which like a mighty whifller 'fore the king 
 
 Seems to prepare his way : so let him land, 
 
 And solemnly see him set on to London. 
 
 So swift a pace hath thought, that even now 
 
 You may imagine him upon Blackheath ; 
 
 Where that his lords desire him to have borne 
 
 His bruised helmet and his bended sword 
 
 Before him through the city: he forbids it, 
 
 Being free from vainness and self-glorious pride ; 20 
 
 Giving full trophy, signal and ostent 
 
 Quite from himself to God. But now behold, 
 
 In the quick forge and working-house of thought, 
 
 How London doth pour out her citizens ! 
 
 The mayor and all his brethren in best sort. 
 
 Like to the senators of the antique Rome, 
 
 With the plebeians swarming at their heels. 
 
 Go forth and fetch their conquering Caesar in : 
 
 As, by a lower but loving likelihood. 
 
 Were now the general of our gracious empress, 30 
 
 As in good time he may, from Ireland coming,^ 
 
 Bringing rebellion broached on his sword. 
 
 How many would the peaceful citv quit. 
 
 To welcome him ! much more, and much more cause, 
 
 Did they this Harry. Now in London place him ;
 
 KING HENRY V. Act V. Sc. i. 
 
 As yet the lamentation of the French 
 Invites the King of England's stay at home ; 
 The emperor's coming in behalf of France, 
 To order peace between them ; and omit 
 All the occurrences, whatever chanced, 40 
 
 Till Harry's back return again to France : 
 There must we bring him ; and myself have play'd 
 The interim, by remembering you 'tis past. 
 Then brook abridgement, and your eyes advance. 
 After your thoughts, straight back again to France. 
 
 [Exit. 
 
 Scene 1. 
 
 France. The English camp. 
 Enter Fluellen and Gozver. 
 
 G01V. Nay, that 's right ; but why wear you your 
 leek to-day ? Saint Davy's day is past. 
 
 Elii. There is occasions and causes why and where- 
 fore in all things : I will tell you, asse my friend. 
 Captain Gower : the rascally, scauld, beggarly, 
 lousy, pragging knave, Pistol, which you and 
 yourself and all the world know to be no petter 
 than a fellow, look you now, of no merits, he 
 is come to me and prings me pread and salt 
 yesterday, look you, and bid me eat my leek : it 10 
 was in a place where I could not breed no con- 
 tention with him ; but I will be so bold as to 
 wear it in my cap till I see him once again, and 
 then I will tell him a little piece of my desires. 
 
 Enter Pistol. 
 Gow. Why, here he comes, swelling like a turkey-cock. 
 
 121
 
 Act V. Sc. i. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Flu. 'Tis no matter for his swellings nor his turkey- 
 cocks. God pless you, Aunchient Pistol ! you 
 scurvy, lousy knave, God pless you. 
 
 Pist. Ha ! art thou bedlam? dost thou thirst, base Trojan, 
 To have me fold up Parca's fatal web ? 20 
 
 Hence ! I am qualmish at the smell of leek. 
 
 Pill. I peseech you heartily, scurvy, lousy knave, at 
 my desires, and my requests, and my petitions, 
 to eat, look you, this leek : because, look you, 
 you do not love it, nor your affections and your 
 appetites and your digestions doo's not agree 
 with it, I would desire you to eat it. 
 
 Pist. Not for Cadwallader and all his goats. 
 
 Pill. There is one goat for you. [Strikes him.] 
 
 Will you be so good, scauld knave, as eat it ? 30 
 
 Pist. Base Trojan, thou shalt die. 
 
 Flu. You say very true, scauld knave, when God's 
 will is : I will desire you to live in the mean 
 time, and eat your victuals : come, there is sauce 
 for it. [Strikes him.] You called me yesterday 
 mountain-squire ; but I will make you to-day 
 a squire of low degree. I pray you, fall 
 to : if you can mock a leek, you can eat a 
 leek. 
 
 Gozi'. Enough, captain : you have astonished him. 40 
 
 Flu. I say, I will make him eat some part of my leek, 
 or I will peat his pate four days. Bite, I pray 
 you ; it is good for your green wound and your 
 ploody coxcomb. 
 
 Pist. Must I bite ? 
 
 Flu. Yes, certainly, and out of doubt and out of 
 question too, and ambiguities. 
 122
 
 KING HENRY V. Act V. Sc. i. 
 
 Pist. By this leek, I will most horribly revenge : I 
 eat and eat, I swear — 
 
 Flu. Eat, I pray you : will you have some more sauce 50 
 to your leek? there is not enough leek to swear 
 by. 
 
 Pist. Quiet thy cudgel ; thou dost see I eat. 
 
 Flu. Much good do you, scauld knave, heartily. 
 Nay, pray you, throw none away ; the skin is 
 good for your broken coxcomb. When you 
 take occasions to see leeks hereafter I pray you, 
 mock at 'em ; that is all. 
 
 Pist. Good. 
 
 Flu. Ay, leeks is good : hold you, there is a groat to 60 
 heal your pate. 
 
 Pist. Me a groat ! 
 
 Flu. Yes, verily and in truth, you shall take it ; or I 
 have another leek in my pocket, which you shall 
 eat. 
 
 Pist. I take thy groat in earnest of revenge. 
 
 Flu. If I owe you any thing, I will pay you in 
 cudgels : you shall be a woodmonger, and buy 
 nothing of me but cudgels. God b' wi' you, 
 and keep you, and heal your pate. [Exit. 70 
 
 Pist. All hell shall stir for this. 
 
 Go7v. Go, go ; you are a counterfeit cowardly knave. 
 Will you mock at an ancient tradition, begun 
 upon an honourable respect, and worn as a 
 memorable trophy of predeceased valour, and 
 dare not avouch in your deeds any of your words ? 
 I have seen you gleeking and galling at this 
 gentleman twice or thrice. You thought, because 
 he could not speak English in the native garb, 
 
 123
 
 Act V. Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 he could not therefore handle an English cudgel : 80 
 you find it otherwise ; and henceforth let a 
 Welsh correction teach you a good English 
 condition. Fare ye well. [ExiL 
 
 Pist. Doth Fortune play the huswife with me now ? 
 News have I, that my Doll is dead i' the spital 
 Of malady of France ; 
 And there my rendezvous is quite cut off. 
 Old I do wax ; and from my weary limbs 
 Honour is cudgelled. Well, bawd I 11 turn, 
 And something lean to cutpurse of quick hand. 90 
 To England will I steal, and there I '11 steal : 
 And patches will I get unto these cudgell'd scars, 
 And swear I got them in the Gallia wars. [Exit. 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 France. A royal palace. 
 
 Enter, at one door. King Henry, Exeter, Bedford, Glouces- 
 ter, Warzvick, Westmoreland, and other lords; at 
 another, the French King, Queen Isabel, the Princess 
 Katharine, Alice, and other Ladies; the Duke of 
 Burgundy, and his train. 
 
 K. Hen. Peace to this meeting, wherefore we are met ! 
 Unto our brother France, and to our sister, 
 Health and fair time of day ; joy and good wishes 
 To our most fair and princely cousin Katharine ; 
 And, as a branch and member of this royalty, 
 By whom this great assembly is contrived, 
 We do salute you, Duke of Burgundy ; 
 And, princes French, and peers, health to you all ! 
 
 Fr. King. Right joyous are we to behold your face, 
 
 124
 
 KING HENRY V. Act V. Sc. ii. 
 
 Most worthy brother England; fairly met: lo 
 
 So are you, princes English, every one. 
 
 Q. Isa. So happy be the issue, brother England, 
 Of this good day and of this gracious meeting, 
 As we are now glad to behold your eyes; 
 Your eyes, which hitherto have borne in them 
 Against the French, that met them in their bent. 
 The fatal balls of murdering basilisks: 
 The venom of such looks, we fairly hope. 
 Have lost their quality, and that this day 
 Shall change all griefs and quarrels into love. 20 
 
 K. Hoi. To cry amen to that, thus w^e appear. 
 
 Q. Isa. You English princes all, I do salute you. 
 
 Bur. INIy duty to you both, on equal love. 
 
 Great Kings of France and England! That I have 
 
 labour'd. 
 With all my wits, my pains and strong endeavours. 
 To bring your most imperial majesties 
 Unto this bar and royal interview, 
 Your mightiness on both parts best can witness. 
 Since then my office hath so far prevail'd 
 That, face to face and royal eye to eye, 30 
 
 You have congreeted, let it not disgrace me, 
 If I demand, before this royal view. 
 What rub or what impediment there is. 
 Why that the naked, poor and mangled Peace, 
 Dear nurse of arts, plenties and joyful births, 
 Should not in this best garden of the world, 
 Our fertile France, put up her lovely visage ? 
 Alas, she hath from France too long been chased, 
 And all her husbandry doth lie on heaps. 
 Corrupting in its owm fertility. 40 
 
 125
 
 Act V. Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Her vine, the merry cheerer of the heart, 
 Unpruned dies; her hedges even-pleach'd, 
 Like prisoners wildly overgrown with hair, 
 Put forth disorder'd twigs; her fallow leas" 
 The darnel, hemlock and rank fumitory 
 Doth root upon, while that the coulter rusts 
 That should deracinate such savagery; 
 The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth 
 The freckled cowslip, burnet and green clover, 
 Wanting the scythe, all uncorrected, rank, . 50 
 
 Conceives by idleness, and nothing teems 
 But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burs. 
 Losing both beauty and utility. 
 And as our vineyards, fallows, meads and hedges, 
 Defective in their natures, grow to wildness, 
 Even so our houses and ourselves and children 
 Have lost, or do not learn for want of time. 
 The sciences that should become our country; 
 But grow like savages, — as soldiers will 
 That nothing do but meditate on blood, — 60 
 
 To swearing and stern looks, dififused attire 
 And every thing that seems unnatural. 
 Which to reduce into our former favour 
 You are assembled: and my speech entreats 
 That I may know the let, why gentle Peace 
 Should not expel these inconveniences 
 And bless us with her former qualities. 
 K. Hen. If, Duke of Burgundy, you would the peace. 
 Whose want gives growth to the imperfections 
 Which you have cited, you must buy that peace 70 
 With full accord to all our just demands; 
 Whose tenours and particular effects 
 126
 
 KING HENRY V. Act V. Sc. ii. 
 
 You have enschecluled briefly in your hands. 
 
 Bur, The king hath heard them ; to the which as yet 
 There is no answer made. 
 
 K. Hen. Well then the peace, 
 
 Which you before so urged, lies in his answer. 
 
 Fr. King. I have but with a cursorary eye 
 
 O'erglanced the articles : pleaseth your grace 
 
 To appoint some of your council presently 
 
 To sit with us once more, with better heed 80 
 
 To re-survey them, we will suddenly 
 
 Pass our accept and peremptory answer. 
 
 K. Hen. Brother, we shall. Go, uncle Exeter, 
 
 And brother Clarence, and you, brother Gloucester, 
 Warwick and Huntingdon, go with the king ; 
 And take with you free power to ratify, 
 Augment, or alter, as your wisdoms best 
 Shall see advantageable for our dignity. 
 Any thing in or out of our demands ; 
 And we '11 consign thereto. Will you, fair sister, 90 
 Go with the princes, or stay here with us ? 
 
 Q. Isa. Our gracious brother, I will go with them : 
 Haply a woman's voice may do some good, . 
 When articles too nicely urged be stood on. 
 
 K. Hen. Yet leave our cousin Katharine here with us : 
 She is our capital demand, comprised 
 Within the fore-rank of our articles. 
 
 O. Isa. She hath good leave. 
 
 [Exeunt all except Henry, Katharine, and Alice. 
 
 K. Hen. Fair Katharine, and most fair, 
 
 Will you vouchsafe to teach a soldier terms 
 Such as will enter at a lady's ear 100 
 
 And plead his love-suit to her gentle heart? 
 127
 
 Act V. Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Katli. Your majesty shall mock at me ; I cannot speak 
 your England. 
 
 K. Hen. O fair Katharine, if you will love me soundly 
 with your French heart, I will be glad to hear 
 you confess it brokenly with your English tongue. 
 Do you like me, Kate ? 
 
 Kath. Pardonnez-moi, I cannot tell vat is ' like me.' 
 
 K. Hen. An angel is like you, Kate, and you are like 
 
 an angel. no 
 
 Kath. Que dit-il ? que je suis semblable a les anges? 
 
 Alice. Oui, vraiment, sauf votre grace, ainsi dit-il. 
 
 K. Hen. I said so, dear Katharine; and I must not 
 blush to affirm it. 
 
 Kath. O bon Dieu ! les langues des hommes sont 
 pleines de tromperies. 
 
 K. Hen. What says she, fair one? that the tongues 
 of men are full of deceits ? 
 
 Alice. Oui, dat de tongues of de mans is be full of 
 
 deceits : dat is de princess. 120 
 
 K. Hen. The princess is the better Englishwoman. 
 r faith, Kate, my wooing is fit for thy under- 
 standing: I am glad thou canst speak no better 
 English ; for, if thou couldst, thou wouldst find 
 me such a plain king that thou wouldst think I 
 had sold my farm to buy my crown. I know 
 no ways to mince it in love, but directly to say 
 ' I love you ' : then if you urge me farther than 
 to say ' Do you in faith ? ' I wear out my suit. 
 Give me your answer; i' faith, do: and so clap 130 
 hands and a bargain : how say you, lady ? 
 
 Kath. Sauf votre honneur, me understand veil. 
 
 K. Hen. Marry, if you would put me to verses or to 
 
 128
 
 KING HENRY V. Act V. Sc. ii. 
 
 dance for your sake, Kate, why you undid me: 
 for the one, I have neither words nor measure, 
 and for the other, I have no strength in measure, 
 yet a reasonable measure in strength. If I could 
 win a lady at leap-frog, or by vaulting into my 
 saddle with my armour on my back, under the 
 correction of bragging be it spoken, I should 140 
 quickly leap into a wife. Or if I might bufifet 
 for my love, or bound my horse for her favours, 
 I could lay on like a butcher and sit like a jack- 
 an-apes, never off. But, before God, Kate, I 
 cannot look greenly nor gasp out my eloquence, 
 nor I have no cunning in protestation: only 
 downright oaths, which I never use till urged, 
 nor never break for urging. If thou canst love 
 a fellow of this temper, Kate, whose face is not 
 worth sun-burning, that never looks in his glass 150 
 for love of any thing he sees there, let thine eye 
 be thy cook. ' I speak to thee plain soldier : if 
 thou canst love me for this, take me ; if not, to 
 say to thee that I shall die. is true ; but for thy 
 love, by the Lord, no ; yet I love thee too. And 
 while thou livest, dear Kate, take a fellow of 
 plain and uncoined constancy ; for he perforce 
 must do thee right, because he hath not the gift 
 to woo in other places : for these fellows of in- 
 finite tongue, that can rhyme themselves into 160 
 ladies' favours, they do always reason themselves 
 out again. What! a speaker is but a prater; a 
 rhyme is but a ballad. A good leg will fall; a 
 straight back will stoop; a black beard will turn 
 white ; a curled pate will grow bald ; a fair face 
 129
 
 Act V. Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 will wither; a full eye will wax hollow: but a 
 good heart, Kate, is the sun and the moon ; or, 
 rather, the sun, and not the moon ; for it shines 
 bright and never changes, but keeps his course 
 truly. If thou would have such a one, take me; 170 
 and take me, take a soldier; take a soldier, take 
 a king. And what sayest thou then to my love? 
 speak, my fair, and fairly, I pray thee. 
 
 Kath. Is it possible dat I sould love de enemy of 
 France? 
 
 K.Hcn. Xo; it is not possible you should love the 
 enemy of France, Kate: but, in loving me > 
 you should love the friend of France; for I 
 love France so well that I will not part with a 
 village of it; I will have it all mine: and, 180 
 Kate, when France is mine and I am yours, 
 then yours is France and you are mine. 
 
 Kath. I cannot tell vat is dat. 
 
 K. Hen. No, Kate? I will tell thee in French; 
 which I am sure will hang upon my tongue like 
 a new-married wife about her husband's neck, 
 hardly to be shook off. Je quand sur le posses- 
 sion de France, et quand vous avez le possession 
 de moi, — let me see, what then? Saint Denis 
 be my speed ! — done votre est France et vous 190 
 etes mienne. It is as easy for me, Kate, to 
 conquer the kingdom as to speak so much more 
 French : I shall never move thee in French, 
 unless it be to laugh at me. 
 
 Kath. Sauf votre honneur, le Francois que vous 
 parlez, il est meilleur que TAnglois lequel je 
 parle. 
 
 130
 
 KING HENRY V. Act V. Sc. ii. 
 
 K. Hen. No, faith, is 't not, Kate : but thy speaking 
 of my tongue, and I thine, most truly-falsely, 
 must needs be granted to be much at one. But, 200 
 Kate, dost thou understand thus much EngHsh, 
 canst thou love me ? 
 
 Kath. I cannot tell. 
 
 K. Hen. Can any of your neighbours tell, Kate ? I '11 
 ask them. Come, I know thou lovest me : and 
 at night, when you come into your closet, you '11 
 question this gentlewoman about me ; and I know, 
 Kate, you will to her dispraise those parts in me 
 that you love with your heart : but, good Kate, 
 mock me mercifully; the rather, gentle princess, 210 
 because I love thee cruelly. If ever thou beest 
 mine, Kate, as I have a saving faith within me 
 tells me thou shalt, I get thee with scambling, 
 and thou must therefore needs prove a good 
 soldier-breeder: shall not thou and I, between 
 Saint Denis and Saint George, compound a boy, 
 half French, half English, that shall go to Con- 
 stantinople and take the Turk by the beard? 
 shall we not ? what sayest thou, my fair flower- 
 de-luce ? 220 
 
 Kath. I do not know dat. 
 
 K. Hen. No ; 'tis hereafter to know, but now to 
 promise: do but now promise, Kate, you will 
 endeavour for your French part of such a boy; 
 and for my English moiety take the word of a 
 king and a bachelor. How answer you, la plus 
 belle Katharine du monde, mon tres cher et 
 devin deesse? 
 
 Kath. Your majestee ave fausse French enough to 
 
 131
 
 Act V. Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 deceive de most sage demoiselle dat is en 230 
 France. 
 K. Hen. Now, fie upon my false French ! By mine 
 honour, in true English, I love thee, Kate : by 
 which honour I dare not swear thou lovest me ; 
 yet my blood begins to flatter me that thou dost, 
 notwithstanding the poor and untempering effect 
 of my visage. Now, beshrew my father's am- 
 bition ! he was thinking of civil wars when he 
 got me : therefore was I created with a stubborn 
 outside, with an aspect of iron, that, when I 240 
 come to woo ladies, I fright them. But, in faith, 
 Kate, the elder I wax, the better I shall appear : 
 my comfort i^ that old age, that ill layer up of 
 beauty, can do no more spoil upon my face : thou 
 hast me, if thou hast me, at the worst ; and thou 
 shalt wear me, if thou wear me, better and 
 better : and therefore tell me, most fair Katharine, 
 w411 you have me ? Put off your maiden blushes ; 
 avouch the thoughts of your heart with the looks 
 of an empress : take me by the hand, and say 250 
 ' Harry of England, I am thine ' : which word 
 thou shalt no sooner bless mine ear withal, but 
 I will tell thee aloud ' England is thine, Ireland 
 is thine, France is thine, and Henry Plantagenet 
 is thine ' ; who, though I speak it before his face, 
 if he be not fellow with the best king, thou shalt 
 find the best king of good fellows. Come, your 
 answer in broken music ; for thy voice is music 
 and thy English broken ; therefore, queen of all, 
 Katharine, break thy mind to me in broken 260 
 English, wilt thou have me? 
 
 132
 
 KING HENRY V. Act V. Sc. ii. 
 
 Kath. Dat is as it sail please de roi mon pere. 
 
 K. Hen. Nay, it will please him well, Kate ; it shall 
 please him, Kate. 
 
 Kath. Den it sail also content me. 
 
 K. Hen. Upon that I kiss your hand, and 1 call you 
 my queen. 
 
 Kath. Laissez, mon seigneur, laissez, laissez : ma foi, 
 je ne veux point que vousabaissiez votregrandeur 
 en baisant la main d'une de votre seigneurie 270 
 indigne serviteur ; excusez-moi, je vous supplie, 
 mon tres-puissant seigneur. 
 
 K. Hen. Then I will kiss your lips, Kate. 
 
 Kath. Les dames et demoiselles pour etre baisees 
 devant leur noces, il n'est pas la coutume de 
 France. 
 
 K. Hen. Madam my interpreter, what ^ays she ? 
 
 Alice. Dat it is not be de fashion pour les ladies of 
 France, — I cannot tell vat is baiser en Anglish. 
 
 K. Hen. To kiss. ' 280 
 
 Alice. Your majesty entendre bettre que moi. 
 
 A'. Hen. It is not a fashion for the maids in France 
 to kiss before they are married, would she say ? 
 
 Alice. Oui, vraiment. 
 
 K. Hen. O Kate, nice customs courtsey to great kings. 
 Dear Kate, you and I cannot be confined within 
 the weak list of a country's fashion : we are the 
 makers of manners, Kate; and the liberty that 
 follows our places stops the mouth of all find- 
 faults ; as I will do yours, for upholding the nice 290 
 fashion of your country in denying me a kiss : 
 therefore, patiently and yielding. [Kissing her.] 
 You have witchcraft in your lips, Kate: there 
 
 133
 
 Act V. Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 is more eloquence in a sugar touch of them than 
 in the tongues of the French council ; and they 
 should sooner persuade Harry of England than 
 a general petition of monarchs. Here comes 
 your father. 
 
 Re-enter the French King and his Queen, Burgundy, 
 and other Lords. 
 
 Bur. God save your majesty! my royal cousin, teach 
 
 you our princess English ? 300 
 
 K. Hen. I would have her learn, my fair cousin, 
 how perfectly I love her; and that is good 
 English. 
 
 Bur. Is she not apt? 
 
 K. Hen. Our tongue is rough, coz, and my condition 
 is not smooth : so that, having neither the voice 
 nor the heart of flattery about me, I cannot so 
 conjure up the spirit of love in her, that he will 
 appear in his true likeness. 
 
 Bur. Pardon the frankness of my mirth, if I answer 310 
 you for that. If you would conjure in her, 
 you must make a circle; if conjure up love in 
 her in his true likeness, he must appear naked 
 and blind. Can you blame her then, being a 
 maid yet rosed over with the virgin crimson of 
 modesty, if she deny the appearance of a naked 
 blind boy in her naked seeing self ? It were, my 
 lord, a hard condition for a maid to consign to. 
 
 K. Hen. Yet they do wink and yield, as love is blind 
 
 and enforces. 320 
 
 Bur. They are then excused, my lord, when they see 
 not what they do. 
 
 134
 
 KING HENRY V„ Act V. Sc. ii. 
 
 A'. Hen. Then, good my lord, teach your cousin to 
 consent winking. 
 
 Bur. I will wink on her to consent, my lord, if you 
 will teach her to know my meaning : for maids, 
 well summered and warm kept, are like flies at 
 Bartholomew-tide, blind, though they have their 
 eyes ; and then they will endure handling, which 
 before would not abide looking on. 330 
 
 K. Hen. This moral ties me over to time and a hot 
 summer ; and so I shall catch the fly, your cousin, 
 in the latter end, and she must be blind too. 
 
 Bur. As love is, my lord, before it loves. 
 
 A'. He}i. It is so : and you may, some of you, thank 
 love for my blindness, who cannot see manv a 
 fair French city for one fair French maid that 
 stands in my way. 
 
 Fr. King. Yes, my lord, you see them perspectively, 
 
 the cities turned into a maid ; for they are all 340 
 girdled with maiden walls that war hath never 
 entered. 
 
 K. Hen. Shall Kate be my wife ? 
 
 Fr. King. So please you. 
 
 A'. Hen. I am content ; so the maiden cities you talk 
 of may wait on her : so the maid that stood in 
 the way for my wish shall show me the way to 
 my will. 
 
 Fr. King. We have consented to all terms of reason. 
 
 K. Hen. Is 't so, my lords of England ? 350 
 
 West. The king hath granted every article : 
 His daughter first, and then in sequel all, 
 According to their firm proposed natures. 
 
 Exe. Only he hath not yet subscribed this : 
 
 135
 
 ActV.Sc. ii. THE LIFE OF 
 
 Where your majesty demands, that the King of 
 France, having any occasion to write for matter 
 of grant, shall name your highness in this form 
 and with this addition, in French, Notre tres- 
 cher fils Henri, Roi d'Angleterre, Heritier de 
 France; and thus in Latin, Prseclarissimus filius 360 
 noster Henricus, Rex Angliae, et Haeres Francise. 
 
 Fr. King. Nor this I have not, brother, so denied, 
 But your request shall make me let it pass. 
 
 K. Hen. I pray you then, in love and dear alliance, 
 Let that one article rank with the rest ; 
 And thereupon give me your daughter. 
 
 Fr. King. Take her, fair son, and from her blood raise up 
 Issue to me ; that the contending kingdoms 
 Of France and England, whose very shores look pale 
 With envy of each other's happiness, 370 
 
 May cease their hatred, and this dear conjunction 
 Plant neighbourhood and Christian-like accord 
 In their sweet bosoms, that never war advance 
 His bleeding sword 'twixt England and fair France. 
 
 All. Amen! * 
 
 K. Hen. Now, welcome, Kate : and bear me witness all, 
 That here I kiss her as my sovereign queen. 
 
 [Flourish. 
 
 Q. Isa. God, the best maker of all marriages. 
 
 Combine your hearts in one, your realms in one ! 
 As man and wife, being two, are one in love, 380 
 So be there 'twixt your kingdoms such a spousal. 
 That never may ill office, or fell jealousy, 
 Which troubles oft the bed of blessed marriage. 
 Thrust in between the paction of these kingdoms. 
 To make divorce of their incorporate league ; 
 136
 
 KING HENRY V. Epilogue 
 
 That English may as French, French Englishmen, 
 Receive each other. God speak this Amen ! 
 
 AIL Amen! 
 
 K. Hen. Prepare we for our marriage : on which day, 
 My Lord of Burgundy, we '11 take your oath, 390 
 And all the peers', for surety of our leagues. 
 Then shall I swear to Kate, and you to me ; 
 And may our oaths well kept and prosperous be ! 
 
 [Sennet. Exeunt. 
 
 EPILOGUE. 
 
 Enter Chorus. 
 
 Chor. Thus far, with rough and all-unable pen. 
 
 Our bending author hath pursued the story, 
 In little room confining mighty men. 
 
 Mangling by starts the full course of their glory. 
 Small time, but in that small most greatly lived 
 
 This star of England : Fortune made his sword ; 
 By which the world's best garden he achieved, 
 
 And of it left his son imperial lord. 
 Henry the Sixth, in infant bands crown'd King 
 
 Of France and England, did this king succeed; 10 
 Whose state so many had the managing, 
 
 That they lost France and made his England bleed : 
 Which oft cur stage hath shown ; and, for their sake, 
 In your fair minds let this acceptance take. [Exit. 
 
 137
 
 The Court of Henry V. 
 From a MS. in Corpus Christi College Library, Cambridge. 
 
 Glossary. 
 
 A', he (Rowe, "he"); II. iii. 
 II. 
 
 Abounding, rebounding, (?) a 
 bounding; (Quartos, "abun- 
 dant"; Theobald, "a bound- 
 ing") ; IV. iii. 104. 
 
 Abutting, contiguous; Pro!. I. 
 21. 
 
 Accept, acceptance ( ? accep- 
 ted) ; V. ii. 82. 
 
 Accomplishing, equipping, giv- 
 ing the finishing touches to ; 
 Prol. IV. 12. 
 
 Accompt, account; Prol. I. 17. 
 
 Achievement ; " for a.," i.e. " in- 
 stead of achieving a victor}- " 
 
 (Malone, others, "to bring 
 the affair to a conclusion ") ; 
 
 III. V. 60. 
 
 Act, practice, working; I. ii. 
 
 189. 
 Addiction, inclination ; I. i. 54 
 Addrest, ready; III. iii. 58. 
 Admiration, astonishment; II. 
 
 ii. 108. 
 Advance, raise, unfurl; II. ii. 
 
 192. 
 Advantageable, advantageous ; 
 
 V. ii. 88. 
 Advantages, interest, additions; 
 
 IV. iii. 50. 
 Adventures, risks; IV. i. 117. 
 
 1^8
 
 THE LIFE OF KING HENRY V. 
 
 Glossary 
 
 Advice; " on his more a./' on 
 better consideration ; II. ii. 
 
 43- 
 
 Advised; " be a.," consider ; I. 
 ii. 251. 
 
 Afeard, afraid : IV. i. 144. 
 
 Affiance, confidence ; II. ii. 127. 
 
 After, afterwards ; IV. ii. 59. 
 
 All-unable, very weak; Epil. i. 
 
 All-watched, spent in watch- 
 ing; Prol. IV. 38. 
 
 Ancient, ensign; II. i. 3. 
 
 Annoy, hurt ; II. ii. 102. ' 
 
 Another, the other; I. ii. 113. 
 
 Anszver, be ready for battle; II. 
 iv. 3. 
 
 Antics, buffoons (FoHos, "An- 
 tiques ") ; III, ii. 31. 
 
 Apace, quickly; IV. viii. 3. 
 
 Appearance, sight, visibleness 
 (Folios I, 2, " apparance") ; 
 II. ii. 76. 
 
 Ap pertinents, appurtenances ; 
 
 II. ii. 87. 
 Apprehension, perception; III. 
 
 vii. 139. 
 
 Approbation, attestation, ratifi- 
 cation ; I. ii. 19. 
 
 Apt, ready; II. ii. 86. 
 
 Arbitrement, decision; IV. i. 
 165. 
 
 Argument, cause of quarrel ; 
 
 III. i. 21 ; theme, III. vii. 37. 
 Armour, suit of armour; III. 
 
 vii. I. 
 
 Assays, hostile attempts (Ma- 
 lone, "essays") ; I. ii. 151. 
 
 As were, as though there were ; 
 II. iv. 20. 
 
 Athwart, across; Prol. V. 9. 
 
 Attaint, infection; Prol. IV. 39. 
 
 Aunchient, ensign; V. i. 17. 
 
 Aunchient lieutenant (so Folios 
 
 I, 2 ; Folios 3, 4. " auncient " ; 
 Malone from Quartos, " en- 
 sign"); "Ancient," Pistol's 
 title according to Fluellen ; 
 III. vi. 13. 
 
 Avaunt, away, begone; III. ii. 
 
 20. 
 Azvkward, unfair; II. iv. 85. 
 
 Balls, (i) eyeballs, (2) can- 
 non-balls ; V. ii. 17. 
 
 Balm, consecrated oil used for 
 anointing kings ; IV. i. 269. 
 
 Bankrupt (Folios, " banqu'- 
 rout ") ; IV. ii. 43. 
 
 Bar, impediment, exception ; I. 
 ii- 35 ; " barrier, place of con- 
 gress " (Johnson) ; V. ii. 27. 
 
 Barbason, the name of a fiend; 
 
 II. i. 56. 
 
 Basilisks, (i) serpents who 
 were supposed to kill by a 
 glance; (2) large cannon; 
 used in both senses of the 
 word ; V. ii. 17. 
 
 From an illuminated MS. of XlVth 
 cent. 
 
 139
 
 Glossary 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Bate, flap the wings, as the 
 hawk does when, unhooded, 
 she tries to fly at the game 
 (used quibblingly) ; III. vii. 
 ii6. 
 
 Battle, army ; Prol. IV. 9. 
 
 Bawcock, a term of endear- 
 ment; III. ii, 24. 
 
 Beaver, visor of a helmet ; IV. 
 ii. 44. 
 
 Become, grace ; I. ii. 8. 
 
 Before-hreach, breach commit- 
 ted in former time ; IV. i. 177. 
 
 Beguiling, deceiving; IV. i. 169. 
 
 Bending, bending beneath the 
 burden of the task (War- 
 burton conj. "blending") 
 Epil. 2. 
 
 Bend up, strain (Hke a bow) ; 
 III. i. 16. 
 
 Bent, (i) glance, (2) aim; V. 
 ii. 16. 
 
 Beshrew, a mild oath ; V. ii. 237. 
 
 Besmirch'd, soiled, stained ; IV. 
 iii. no. 
 
 Best, bravest ; IIL ii. 38. 
 
 Bestow yourself, repair to your 
 post ; iV. iii. 68. 
 
 Blood, temperament, passion ; 
 
 II. ii. 133. 
 
 Bloody, bloodthirsty; II. iv. 51. 
 , " b. flag," i.e. signal of 
 
 bloody war ; I. ii. loi. 
 Bolted, sifted ; II. ii. 137. 
 Bonnet, covering of the head, 
 
 cap; IV. i. 218, 
 Book, to register; IV. vii. 76. 
 Boot; " make b.," make booty ; 
 
 I. ii. 194. 
 Bootless, uselessly ; III. iii. 24. 
 Bottoms, ships, vessels ; Prol. 
 
 III. 12. 
 
 Bound; " b. my horse," i.e. 
 
 make my horse curvet ; V. ii. 
 
 142. 
 Braggart, boaster (Folios, 
 
 " Braggard") ; 1 1, i. 63. 
 Brave, bravely decked, finely 
 
 appointed; Prol. III. 5. 
 Bravely, making a fine show ; 
 
 IV. iii. 69. 
 
 Break, rend. III. iii. 40; dis- 
 close, V. ii. 260. 
 
 Breath, breathing time ; II. iv. 
 145. 
 
 Brim (used adjectivally) ; I. ii. 
 150. 151. 
 
 Bring, accompany; II. iii. i. . 
 
 Broached, spitted ; Prol. V. 2>^. 
 
 Broken music ; " some instru- 
 ments, such as viols, violins, 
 flutes, etc., were formerly 
 made in sets of four, which, 
 when played together, formed 
 a ' consort.' If one or more 
 of the instruments of one set 
 were substituted for the cor- 
 responding ones of another 
 set, the result was no longer 
 a ' consort,' but ' broken 
 music'" (Chappell; W. A. 
 Wright) ; V. ii. 258. 
 
 Bruised, battered, dented ; Prol. 
 
 V. 18. 
 
 Bubukles, a corruption of car- 
 buncles (Quartos, " p u m - 
 pies"; Capell, " pupuncles") ; 
 III. vi. 107. 
 
 Buffet, box; V. ii. 141. 
 
 Bully, dashing fellow; IV. i. 
 48. 
 
 Burnet, the name of a herb 
 (sanguisorba officinalis) ; V, 
 ii. 49. 
 
 140
 
 KING HENRY V, 
 
 Glossary 
 
 But, used after a strong as- 
 severation ; III. V, 12. 
 
 Cadivallader, the last of the 
 Welsh Kings ; V. i. 28. 
 
 Capet, i.e. Hugh Capet, the an- 
 cestor of the French Kings ; 
 
 I. ii. 78. 
 
 Capital, chief; V. ii. 96. 
 
 Captived, taken captive; II. iv. 
 55- 
 
 Career, race (Folios i, 2, 
 " Carriere ") ; III. iii. 23. 
 
 Careers, gallopings of a horse 
 backwards and forwards ; a 
 course run at full speed; 
 " passes careers " probably == 
 " indulges in sallies of wit " ; 
 
 II. i. 130. 
 
 Careful, full of care ; IV. i. 240. 
 
 Carefully, " more' than c," i.e. 
 " with more than common 
 care " ; II. iv. 2. 
 
 Carry coals, pocket insults; III. 
 ii. 49- 
 
 Case, set of four; a musical al- 
 lusion ; III. ii. 4. 
 
 Casques, helmets (Capell's 
 emendation; Folios i. 2, 3. 
 " Cashes," Folio 4, " Cas- 
 ket") ; Prol. I. 13. 
 
 Casted, cast, cast off; IV. i. 
 23- 
 
 Cliace, a term in the game of 
 tennis ; a match played at 
 tennis ; I. ii. 266. 
 
 Chanced, happened; Prol. V. 
 40. 
 
 Charge, load, burden; I. ii. 15. 
 
 Chattels, goods generally ; II. 
 iii. 50. 
 
 Cheerly, cheerfully; II. ii. 192. 
 
 Childeric, the Merovingian 
 king; I. ii. 65. 
 
 Choler, wrath, anger; IV. vii. 
 188. 
 
 Christom. "a white vesture put 
 upon the child after baptism; 
 in the bills of mortality such 
 children as died within the 
 month were called " chris- 
 ums" (Quartos i, 3, " crys- 
 ombd," Johnson, " c Ji r'i s- 
 om ") ; II. iii. 12. 
 
 Chuck, a term of endearment ; 
 III. ii. 25. 
 
 Clear thy crystals, " dry thine 
 eyes " ; II. iii. 56. 
 
 Close, cadence, union (Folio 2, 
 " close ") ; I. ii. 182. 
 
 Cloy'd, surfeited, satiated ; II. 
 ii. 9. 
 
 Comes o'er, reminds, taunts ; I. 
 ii. 267. 
 
 Companies, company, compan- 
 ions ; I. i. 55. 
 
 Compassing, obtaining ; IV. i. 
 303. 
 
 Compelled, enforced, exacted ; 
 III. vi. 114. 
 
 Complement, external appear- 
 ance (Theobald, "compli- 
 ment") ; II. ii, 134. 
 
 Compound with, come to terms 
 with; IV. vi. 3;^. 
 
 Con, learnt by heart ; III., vi. 78. 
 
 Condition, temper, character ; 
 V. ii. 305.' 
 
 Condole, lament, sympathize 
 with ; II. i. 131. 
 
 Conduct ; " safe c," escort, 
 guard ; I. ii. 297. 
 
 Confounded, ruined, wasted; 
 III. i. 13. 
 
 141
 
 Glossary 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Congreeing, agreeing (Pope, 
 " Congruing," Quartos, 
 " Congrueth ") ; I. ii. 182. 
 
 Congreeted, greeted each other ; 
 V. ii. 31. 
 
 Conscience, inmost thoughts, 
 private opinion; IV. i. 119. 
 
 Consent, harmony, a musical 
 term, I. ii. 181 ; unity of opin- 
 ion, II. ii. 22. 
 
 Consideration, meditation, re- 
 flection; I. i. 28. 
 
 Consign, agree ; V. ii. 90. 
 
 Constant, unshaken ; II. ii. 133. 
 
 Constraint, compulsion; II. iv. 
 
 97. 
 
 Contemplation, observation; I. 
 
 i. 63. 
 Contrariously, in contrary 
 
 ways ; I. ii. 206. 
 Contrived, plotted ; IV. i. 168. 
 Convey d, secretly contrived to 
 
 pass off; I. ii. 74. 
 Convoy, conveyance ; IV. iii. 37. 
 Coranto, a quick and lively 
 
 dance (Johnson's emenda- 
 tion of Folios, " C arrant ") ; 
 
 III. V. 3Z- 
 Corroborate (one of Pistol's 
 
 meaningless words) ; II. i. 
 
 128. 
 Conch down, crouch down, 
 
 stoop down; IV. ii. 2>7- 
 Coulter, plough-share (Folios, 
 
 " Cutter ") ; V. ii. 46. 
 Counterfeit, dissembling; V. i. 
 
 72. 
 
 Couple a gorge! ^= cou^t la 
 gorge, perhaps merely Pis- 
 tol's blunder; II. i, 74. 
 
 Coursing, hunting after booty, 
 marauding; I. ii. 143. 
 
 Courtsey, bow, yield (Folios, 
 " cursie") ; V. ii. 285. 
 
 Cousin, used as a title of cour- 
 tesy ; I. ii. 4. 
 
 Coc, cousin (Folios, 
 " coiize ") ; IV. iii. 30. 
 
 Create, created; II. ii. 31. 
 
 Crescive, growing (Folios, i, 
 
 2, 3, " cressiue"'. Folio 4, 
 crescive) ; I. i. 66. 
 
 Crispin Crispian, two brothers 
 who suffered martyrdom ; the 
 patron saints of shoemakers ; 
 IV. iii. 57. 
 
 Crush' d, forced, strained 
 (Quartos, Pope, "curst,"; 
 Warburton, " 'scus'd") ; I. ii. 
 
 175. 
 
 Cullions, base wretches ; a term 
 of abuse ; III. ii. 21. 
 
 Cunning, skill ; V. ii. 146. 
 
 Currance, current, flow (Fo- 
 lio I, " currance " ; Folios 2, 
 
 3, " currant " ; Folio 4, " cur- 
 rent") ; I. i. 34. 
 
 Cursorary, cursory (Folios, 
 " cursel arie") ; V. ii. 77. 
 
 Curtains, banners, used con- 
 temptuously; IV. ii. 41. 
 
 Curtle-axe, a corruption of cut- 
 lass, a broad, curved sword ; 
 IV. ii. 21. 
 
 A XVIIth cent. Curtle-Ax (see I. iii. 116). 
 142
 
 KING HENRY V. 
 
 Glossary 
 
 Dalliance, trifling, toying ; 
 Prol. 11. 2. 
 
 Dare, make to crouch in fear : 
 a term of falconry ; IV. ii. 36. 
 
 Dark, darkness ; Prol. IV. 2. 
 
 Dauphin, the heir- apparent to 
 the throne of France (Fo- 
 lios, Quartos, "Dolphin"): 
 I. ii. 221. 
 
 Dear, grievous ; II. ii. 181. 
 
 Defendant, defensive; II. iv. 8. 
 
 Defensible, capable of offering 
 resistance; III. iii. 50. 
 
 De function, death; I. ii. 58. 
 
 Degree ; " of his d.." i.e. " of 
 one of his rank " ; IV. vii. 
 
 143- 
 
 Deracinate, uproot ; V. ii. 47. 
 
 Diffused, wild, disordered; Fo- 
 lios I, 2. " defus'd") ; V. ii. 
 61. 
 
 Digest, reduce to order (Pope. 
 " well digest," for " zve 'II di- 
 gest") ; Prol. II. 31. 
 
 Digested, concocted ; II. ii. 56. 
 
 Discuss, explain ; III. ii. 65. 
 
 Dishonest, immoral, unchaste 
 (so Holinshed's 2nd edition ; 
 Capell, from Holinshed's 1st 
 edition, " iinhonest") ; I. ii. 
 49. 
 
 Distemper, mental derange- 
 ment, perturbation; II. ii. 54. 
 
 Distressful, hard earned (Col- 
 lier MS., ''distasteful") ; IV. 
 i. 279. 
 
 Doiit, extinguish; put out; IV. 
 ii. II. 
 
 Down-roping, hanging down in 
 filaments ; IV. ii. 48. 
 
 Drench, physic for a horse; III. 
 V. 19. 
 
 Dress us, address ourselves, 
 prepare ourselves ; IV. i. 10. 
 
 Diilld, made insensible (Fo- 
 lios 3, 4, "lull'd"; Steevens, 
 "dol'd"); II. ii. 9. 
 
 Earnest, earnest money, money 
 paid beforehand in pledge of 
 a bargain ; II. ii. 169. 
 
 Eke out, piece, lengthen out 
 (Pope's emendation. Folio i, 
 " ecch "; Folios 2. 3. 4, 
 " ech")', Prol. III. 35- 
 
 Element, sky ; IV. i. 103. 
 
 Embassy, message, I. i. 95; 
 mission, I. ii. 240. 
 
 Embattled, arrayed for battle; 
 IV. ii. 14. 
 
 Empery, empire; I. ii. 226. 
 
 Emptying, issue ; III. v. 6. 
 
 End, end of matter (Stee- 
 vens, from Quartos, " the hu- 
 mour of it ") ; II. i. 10. 
 
 English, i.e. English King, or 
 General ; II. iv. i. 
 
 En glutted, engulfed, swallowed 
 up ; IV. iii. 83. 
 
 Enlarge, release from prison, 
 set at liberty ; II. ii. 40. 
 
 Enozv, enough ; IV. i. 232. 
 
 Enrounded, surrounded ; Prol. 
 IV. 36. 
 
 Enscheduled, formally drawn 
 up in writing; V. ii. 73. 
 
 Estate, state; IV. i. 96. 
 
 Even, "the e. of it," just what 
 it is ; II. i. 126. 
 
 Ez'enty, directly, in a straight 
 line ; II. iv. 91. 
 
 Even-pleach' d, evenly inter- 
 turned ; V. ii. 42. 
 
 143
 
 Glossary 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Exception, disapprobation, ob- 
 jections; II. iv. 34. 
 
 Executors, executioners; I. ii. 
 203. 
 
 Exhale, draw (according to 
 Steevens, " die ") ; II. i. 65. 
 
 Exhib iters, the introducers of a 
 bill to Parliament ; I. i. 74. 
 
 Expedience, expedition; IV. iii. 
 70. 
 
 Expedition, march; IT. ii. iqi. 
 
 Faced, outfaced (used quib- 
 blingly) ; III. vii. 86. 
 
 Faculty, latent power; I. i. 66. 
 
 Fain, gladly, willingly; I. i. 85. 
 
 Fantastically, capriciously; II. 
 iv. 27. 
 
 Farced, " f. title," " stuffed out 
 with pompous phrases " (al- 
 luding perhaps to the herald 
 going before the King to pro- 
 claim his full title) ; IV. i. 
 272. 
 
 Fatal and neglected, i.e. *' fatal- 
 ly neglected ; neglected to our 
 destruction " ; II. iv. 13. 
 
 Favour, appearance, aspect ; V. 
 ii. 63. 
 
 Fear'd, frightened; I. ii. 155. 
 
 Fell, cruel ; III. iii. 17. 
 
 Fer, a word (probably mean- 
 ingless) coined by Pistol, 
 playing upon " Monsieur le 
 Fer " ; IV. iv. 27. 
 
 Ferret, worry (as a ferret does 
 a rabbit) ; IV. iv. 28. 
 
 Fet, fetched; III. i. 18. 
 
 Fetlock, hair behind the pastern 
 joint of horses; IV. vii. 82. 
 
 Few; " in f." in brief, in a few 
 words; I, ii. 245. 
 
 Figo, a term of contempt, ac- 
 companied by a contemptu- 
 ous gesture ; the word and 
 habit came from Spain ; 
 hence " the fig of Spain " 
 (Ornaments similar to the 
 one here represented were 
 much favoured in the XVIth 
 century) ; III. vi. 59. 
 
 From an original specimen. 
 
 Fig of Spain, possibly an allu- 
 sion to the poisoned figs giv- 
 en by Spaniards to the ob- 
 jects of their revenge (Stee- 
 vens) ; according to others, 
 = figo ; III. vi. 61. 
 
 Find, furnish, provide (Quar- 
 tos, Pope, "fine") ; I. ii. 72. 
 
 Find-faults, fault-finders ; V. ii. 
 289. 
 
 Finer end, probably Mrs. 
 Quickly's error for " final 
 end " ; II. iii. 11. 
 
 Firk, beat, drub (Pistol's cant) ; 
 IV. iv. 27. 
 
 Fits, befits, becomes; II. iv. 11. 
 
 144
 
 KING HENRY V. 
 
 Glossary 
 
 Flesh' d, fed with flesh Hke a 
 hound trained for the chase. 
 II. iv. 50 ; hardened in blood- 
 shed, III. iii. II. 
 
 Flexure, bending; IV. i. 264. 
 
 Floods, rivers; I. ii. 45. 
 
 Flowev-de-lucc ,^Q\.\r-([G.-\ys, the 
 emblem of France ; V. ii. 219. 
 
 Footed, landed; II. iv. 143. 
 
 For; " cold f. action," i.e. cold 
 for want of action ; I. ii. 
 114. 
 
 'Fore God, before God, a mild 
 oath; II. ii. i. 
 
 Forespent, past; II. iv. 36. 
 
 For us, as for us, as regards 
 ourself; II. iv. 113. 
 
 Fox, sword; IV. iv. 8. 
 
 Fracted, broken ; II. i. 128. 
 
 France, the King of France ; 
 Prol. II. 20. 
 
 Freely, liberally; I. ii. 231. 
 
 French; " the French " = the 
 French King, or general ; IV. 
 iv. 77- 
 
 French hose, wide loose breech- 
 es ; III. vii. 55. 
 
 Fret, chafe; IV. vii. 82. 
 
 Friend, befriend; IV. v. 17. 
 
 Fright, frighten; V. ii. 241. 
 
 From ; " f . the answer " be- 
 yond, above answering the 
 challenge ; IV. vii. 142. 
 
 Full-fraught, fully freighted, 
 fully laden with all virtues ; 
 II. ii. 139. 
 
 Fumitory, the name of a plant 
 (Folios I, 2, 3, " fcmen- 
 tary ") ; V. iii. 45. 
 
 Gage, pledge; IV. i. 217. 
 Galled, worn away; III. i. 12, 
 
 Galliard, a nimble and lively 
 
 dance ; I. ii. 252. 
 Galling, harassing. I. ii. 151 ; 
 
 scoffing, V. i. yy. 
 Gamester, player; III. vi. 118. 
 Garb, style ; V. i. 79. 
 Gentle, make gentle, ennoble ; 
 
 IV. iii. 63. 
 Gentles, gentlefolks; Prol. I. 8. 
 Gesture, bearing ; Prol. IV. 25. 
 Giddy, hot-brained, inconstant ; 
 
 I. ii. 145. 
 Gilt, used with a play upon 
 
 " guilt " ; Prol. II. 26. 
 Ginimal bit, a bit consisting of 
 
 rings or links (Folios, 
 
 " lymold") ; IV. ii. 49. (Cp. 
 
 illustration.) 
 
 From a silver gilt specimen in the 
 Londesborough collection. 
 
 Girded, enclosed, besie g e d 
 Prol. III. 27. 
 
 Gleaned, bare of defenders, un- 
 defended ; I. ii. 151. 
 
 Gleeking, scoffing ; V. i. yy. 
 
 Glistering, glittering, shining 
 II. ii. 117. 
 
 Glose, interpret ; I. ii. 40. 
 
 Go about, attempt; IV. i. 208. 
 
 145
 
 Glossary 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 God before, befo re God I 
 swear; I. ii. 307. 
 
 God-den, good evening. I wish 
 good evening; III. ii. 89. 
 
 Good leave, permission ; V. ii. 
 98. 
 
 Gordian knot, " the celebrated 
 knot of the Phrygian King 
 Gordius, untied by Alexan- 
 der " ; I. i. 46. 
 
 Grace, ornament ; Prol. II. 28. 
 
 Grant; " in g. of," by granting; 
 
 II. iv. 121. 
 
 Grazing (Folios 2, 3. 4, " gras- 
 ing"; Folio i, "erasing") ; 
 
 IV. iii. 105. 
 
 Greenly, sheepishly, foolishly; 
 
 V. ii. 145- 
 
 Groat, a coin worth four pence ; 
 
 V. i. 60. 
 Gross, palpable ; II. ii. 103. 
 Guidon, standard (Folios, 
 
 "Guard: on") ; IV. ii. 60. 
 Gulf, whirlpool ; II. iv. 10. 
 Gun-stones, cannon balls, which 
 
 were originally made of 
 
 stone ; I. ii. 282. 
 
 Had, would have ; IV. i. 289. 
 Haggled, cut, mangled ; IV. vi. 
 
 II. 
 Hampton, Southampton ; II. ii. 
 
 91. 
 Handkcrchers, handkerchiefs ; 
 
 III. ii. 51. 
 
 Handle, talk of; II. iii. 39. 
 
 Haply, perhaps, perchance 
 (Folio I. "Happily" ; Folios 
 2, 3, " Happely") ; V. ii. 93- 
 
 Hard-favour d, ugly; III. i. 8. 
 
 Hardiness, hardihood, bravery ; 
 I. ii. 220. 
 
 HarHeur (Folios, " Harflew ") ; 
 Prol. III. 17, etc. 
 
 Hazard (technical term of ten- 
 nis) ; I. ii. 263. 
 
 Head; " in h.," in armed force ; 
 II. ii. 18. 
 
 Heady, headstrong (Folio i, 
 "headly"; Capell conj. 
 " deadly") ; III. iii. 32. 
 
 Heaps; " on heaps " ; in heaps ; 
 V. ii. 39. 
 
 Hearts, courage, valour ; IV. i. 
 301. 
 
 Held, withheld, kept back; II. 
 iv. 94. 
 
 Helm, helmet ; IV. vii. 163. 
 
 Heroical, heroic; II. iv. 39. 
 
 Hilding, mean, base (Prof. 
 Skeat makes hilding a con- 
 traction for Jiildering=^ M.E., 
 hinderling = base, degene- 
 rate) ; IV. ii. 29. 
 
 Hilts, a sword; used as singu- 
 lar; Prol. II. 9- 
 
 His, its; I. i. 66. 
 
 Honour-owing, honourable ; 
 IV. vi. 9. 
 
 From MS. Sloane 3794 {temp. 
 Elizabeth). 
 
 146
 
 KING HENRY V. 
 
 Glossary 
 
 Hooded; " a h. valour," i.e. 
 covered, hidden as the hawk 
 is hooded till it was let fly 
 at the game ; a term of fal- 
 conry (used quibblingly) ; 
 III. vii. 115. 
 
 Hoop, shout with surprise 
 (Folios I, 2, " lioope" ; Theo- 
 bald, "zvJioop"); II. ii. 108. 
 
 Hound of Crete, ( ?) blood- 
 hound (perhaps mere Pis- 
 tolian rant) ; II. i. 76. 
 
 Humorous, capricious; II. iv. 
 28. 
 
 Humour, II. i. 57, 62, yz (used 
 by Nym). 
 
 Husbandry, thrift, IV. i. 7 ; 
 tillage. V. ii. 39. 
 
 Huszuife, hussy ; V. i. 84. 
 
 Hydra-headed, alluding to the 
 many headed serpent, which 
 put forth new heads as soon 
 as the others were struck 
 off; I. i. 35. 
 
 Hyperion, the god of the Sun 
 (Folio I, " Hiperio ") ; IV. i. 
 284. 
 
 Iceland dog (v. Note) ; II. i. 43. 
 
 Ill-f avowedly, in an ugly man- 
 ner ; IV. ii. 40. 
 
 Imaginary, imaginative; Prol. 
 I. 18. 
 
 Imagined ; " i. wing," i.e. the 
 wings of imagination ; Prol. 
 III. I. 
 
 Imhar, (?) bar, exclude; or. 
 (?) secure {v. Note); I. ii. 
 
 Imp, scion, shoot ; IV. i. 45. 
 
 Impazvn, pawn, pledge; I. ii. 21. 
 
 Impeachment, hindrance; III. 
 vi. 150. 
 
 In, into ; I. ii. 184. 
 
 In, by reason of ; I. ii. 193. 
 
 Incarnate, rrlisunderstood by 
 Mistress Quickly for the col- 
 our, and confused with " car- 
 nation " ; II. iii. 34. 
 
 Inconstant, fickle; Prol. III. 15. 
 
 Indirectly, wrongfully; IT. iv. 
 94- 
 
 Infinite, boundless ; V. ii. 159. 
 
 Ingrateful, ungrateful ; II. ii. 
 95. 
 
 Inly, inwardly ; Prol. IV. 24. 
 
 Instance, cause, motive; II. ii. 
 119. 
 
 Intendment, bent, aim; I. ii. 
 144. 
 
 Infertissued, interwoven; IV. i. 
 271. 
 
 Into, unto ; I. ii. 102. 
 
 Is (so Folios ; Quartos, " are ") 
 = are (by attraction); I. ii. 
 243- 
 
 Issue, pour forth tears ; IV. vi. 
 34- 
 
 It, its; V. ii. 40. 
 
 lack-an-apes, monkey ; V. ii. 
 
 143- 
 lack-sauce, Saucy Jack; IV. 
 
 vii. 148. 
 Jades, a term of contempt or 
 
 pity, for ill-conditioned 
 
 horses ; IV. ii. 46. 
 Jealousy, suspicion, apprehen- 
 sion ; II. ii. 126. 
 Jewry, Judea ; III. iii. 40. 
 Just, exact, precise ; IV. vii. 
 
 122. 
 Jutty, project beyond; III. i. 
 
 13- 
 
 147
 
 Glossary 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Kccksics, dry hemlock stems 
 (Folios I, 2, " keksycs") ; V. 
 ii. 52. 
 
 Kern; " k. of Ireland," a light- 
 armed Irish soldier; III. vii. 
 55. (Cp- illustration in 
 Richard 1 1.) 
 
 Larding, enriching, fattening 
 (Collier MS.. •'Loading") ; 
 
 IV. vi. 8. 
 
 Lflfr, lately appointed; II.ii.261. 
 Lavolta, a walts-likc kind of 
 
 dance; III. v. ZZ- 
 Lay apart, put ofif, lay aside ; 
 
 II. iv. 78. 
 Lay down, estimate; I. ii. i37- 
 Laaars, beggars, especially 
 
 lepers; I. i. 15. 
 Leas, arable land; V. ii. 44. 
 Legerity, alacrity, lightness 
 
 (Folios 3, 4, " celerity ") ; IV. 
 
 i. 23. 
 Let, hindrance, impediment ; V. 
 
 ii. 65. 
 Lief, gladly, willingly (Folio 
 
 I, "Hue," Folios 3, 4. 
 
 "lieve") ; III. vii. 61. 
 Lieu, " in 1. of this," i.e. in re- 
 turn for this; I. ii. 255. 
 Lig, lie; III. ii. 123. 
 Like, likely; I. i. 3. 
 Likelihood, probability ; Prol. 
 
 V. 29. 
 
 Likes, pleases; Prol. III. 32. 
 Likes me, pleases me ; IV. i. 16. 
 Line, pedigree (Quartos, 
 
 "lines"); II. iv. 88. . 
 Line, strengthen; II. iv. 7. 
 Lineal, lineally descended ; in 
 
 the direct line of descent ; I. 
 
 ii. 82. 
 
 Lingare, Charlemagne's fifth 
 wife (according to Ritson) ; 
 
 I. ii. 74- 
 
 Linger on, prolong, draw out ; 
 
 Prol. II. 31. 
 Linstock, the stick which holds 
 
 the gunner's match ; Prol. 
 
 List, boundary, limit ; V. ii. 
 
 287. 
 
 , listen to ; I. i. 43. 
 
 Lob dozun, droop ; IV. ii. 47. 
 Lodging, entering into the 
 
 fold ; III. vii. 34- 
 'Long, belong (Folios, 
 
 " longs") ; II. iv. 80. 
 Loosed, loosened, shot off ; I. 
 
 ii. 207. 
 Luxurious, lustful ; IV. iv. 18. 
 Luxury, lust; III. v. 6. 
 
 Majestical, majestic; Prol. III. 
 16. 
 
 Marches, borders, border- 
 country ; I. ii. 140. 
 
 Masters, possesses, is master 
 of (Quartos, "musters ") ; 
 
 II. iv. 137. 
 
 Maw, stomach; II. i. 51. 
 
 May, can; Prol. I. 12; II. ii. 
 100. 
 
 Measure, dancing (used equiv- 
 ocally) ; V. ii. 137. 
 
 Meet, seemly, proper; II. iv. 15. 
 
 Meeter, more fit ; I. ii. 254. 
 
 Mercenary blood, blood of 
 mercenaries, hired soldiers; 
 IV. vii. 79. 
 
 Mervailous, one of Pistol's 
 words (Folios 3, 4, "mar- 
 vellous") ; II. i. 49. 
 
 Mickle, much, great ; II. i. 69. 
 
 148
 
 KING HENRY V. 
 
 Glossary 
 
 Alight, could; IV. v. 21. 
 
 Mind, remind; IV. iii. 13. 
 
 Minding, remembering, calling 
 to mind; Prol. IV. 53. 
 
 Miscarry, die, perish ; IV. i. 152. 
 
 Miscreatc, falsely invented; I. 
 ii. 16. 
 
 Mistful, blinded by tears (Fo- 
 lios, " mixtful") ; IV. iv. 34. 
 
 Mistook, mistaken ; III. vi. 84. 
 
 Mistress-court, suggested by 
 the game of tennis ; II. iv. 
 133- 
 
 Model, image; Prol. II. 16. 
 
 Monmouth caps, " the best 
 caps were formerly made at 
 Monmouth, where the Cap- 
 pers' Chapel doth still re- 
 main " (Fuller's IVortkies of 
 Wales) ; IV. vii. 104. 
 
 Monmouth cap. 
 
 From a portrait of Sir William Stanley 
 
 {temp. Elizabeth). 
 
 Morris-dance, an old dance on 
 festive occasions, as at Whit- 
 suntide ; the reason for its 
 connection with " Moorish " 
 is not quite clear ; perhaps 
 from the use of the tabor as 
 an accompaniment to it; II. 
 iv. 25. 
 
 Whitsun Morris dance. 
 From a XVIlth-century woodcut. 
 
 Mortified, killed ; I. i. 26. 
 
 Mould; " men of m.," men of 
 earth, poor mortals; III. ii. 
 22. 
 
 Mounted (technical term of 
 falconry) ; IV. i. 107. 
 
 Moys ^=" muys, or muids" 
 (according to Cotgrave) = 
 about five quarters English 
 measure ; 27 moys = two 
 tons (Donee) (not moi d'or 
 as Johnson suggested, a coin 
 of Portuguese origin un- 
 known in Shakespeare's 
 time) ; IV. iv. 12. 
 
 Much at one, much about the 
 same ; V. ii. 200. 
 
 Narrow, " n. ocean," i.e. the 
 English Channel ; Prol. I. 22. 
 
 Native; " n. punishment," i.e. 
 inflicted in their own coun- 
 try ; IV. i. 173. 
 
 Natural, consonant to nature ; 
 II. ii. 107. 
 
 Net, specious sophistry ; I. ii. 
 93. 
 
 New, anew ; IV. i. 304. 
 
 149
 
 Glossary 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Xicc, trivial, prudish : V. ii. 285. 
 
 Nicely, sophistically. I. ii. 15; 
 fastidiously, V. ii. 94. 
 
 Noble, a gold coin of the value 
 of six shillings and eight 
 pence ; II. i. no. 
 
 Nook-shotten; " n. isle," i.e. 
 " Isle spavined in a corner, or 
 flung into a corner " (War- 
 burton and others, " an isle 
 shooting out into capes, 
 promontories, etc.") ; III.v.14. 
 
 Note, notice, intelligence, II. ii. 
 6; sign, Prol. IV. 35. 
 
 Nothing; " offer n.," i.e. no 
 violence; II. i. 41. 
 
 O ; " wooden O.," i.e. the Globe 
 Theatre, which was of wood 
 and circular in shape inside, 
 though externally octago- 
 nal ; the sign of the Globe 
 was a figure of Hercules sup- 
 porting the Globe, with the 
 motto, " Totus mundus agit 
 histrionem " ; it is difficult to 
 determine whether the name 
 suggested the sign or vice 
 versa; Prol. I. 13. 
 
 Odds, discord, contention; II. 
 
 iv. 129. 
 O'erblozvs, blows away; III. iii. 
 
 31. 
 O'erwhclm, overhang, hang 
 
 down upon ; III. i. 11. 
 Of, against (Quartos, "on"), 
 
 II. iii. 29, 31 ; with, III. vii. 
 
 9; for. IV. i. log. 
 On, of; V. ii. 23. 
 Ooze, soft mud (Quartos, Fo- 
 lios, " owse") ; I. ii. 164. 
 Order, arrange; Prol. V. 39. 
 Ordnance, cannon (Folios, 
 
 "Ordinance" ; Quartos, " or- 
 
 denance"); trisyllabic; II. 
 
 iv. 126. 
 Orisons, prayers; II. ii. 53. 
 Ostent, external show ; Prol. 
 
 V. 21. 
 Out, fully, completely ; IV. i. 
 
 166. 
 Over-bears, subdues, bears 
 
 down : Prol. IV. 39. 
 Overlook, rise above, overtop 
 
 (Quartos, " oiitgroiu") ; III. 
 
 V. 9. 
 Over-lustv, too lively ; Prol. 
 
 IV. 18. ' 
 
 IT- 
 
 i"l •t. J" tiff' n^szs^^'Wk""^/^ 
 
 The Globe Theatre. 
 From an early undated drawing: in the British Museum. 
 
 ISO
 
 KING HENRY V. 
 
 Glossary 
 
 Overshot, beaten in shooting, 
 put to shame ; III. vii. 128. 
 
 Paction, alHance (Theobald's 
 emendation; Folios i, 2, 
 " pation"; Folios 3, 4, "pas- 
 sion ");Y. ii. 384. 
 
 Paly, pale ; Prol. IV. 8. 
 
 Paper; " thy cheeks are p.," i.e. 
 white as paper, pale ; II. ii. 74. 
 
 Parca, one of the three Fates 
 who spin the threads of life ; 
 V. i. 21. 
 
 Parle, parley ; III. iii. 2. 
 
 Parley, conference ; III. ii. 146. 
 
 Part, aside ; I. i. y^i- 
 
 Parts, divisions in music ; I. ii. 
 181, from Holinshed. 
 
 Pass, passage; Prol. II. 39. 
 
 Passes, V. " careers." 
 
 Pasterns, legs (Folio i, "pos- 
 tures") ; III. vii. 13. 
 
 Paiica, in few words ; II. i. 82. 
 
 Pax, a mistake for " pix," the 
 box containing the conse- 
 crated host (" pax " = the 
 small piece of wood or metal, 
 impressed with the figure of 
 Christ, which the laity 
 kissed) (Quartos, " packs " ; 
 Theobald, from Holinshed, 
 "pix") ; III. vi. 42. 
 
 Pay, repay, requite ; IV. i. 205. 
 
 Peer, appear ; IV. vii. 88. 
 
 Peevish, foolish; III. vii. 136. 
 
 Pepin, " King P.," the founder 
 of the Carlovingian dynasty ; 
 I. ii. 65. 
 
 Perdition, loss; III. vi. 102. 
 
 Perdurable, lasting; IV. v. 7. 
 
 Perdy, par Dieu, by God; II. i. 
 51- 
 
 Peremptory, decisive ; V. ii. 82. 
 
 Perforce, of necessity ; V. ii, 
 157. 
 
 Perspectively, as in a perspec- 
 tive picture; V. ii. 339. 
 
 Pharamond, a King of the 
 Franks ; I. ii. ^y. 
 
 Pibhle pabble, idle prattle ; IV. 
 i. 71. 
 
 Pioners, pioneers; III. ii. 91. 
 
 Pitch and pay, a proverbial say- 
 ing, = " pay ready money " ; 
 
 II. iii. 51. 
 
 Pith, force, strength; Prol. III. 
 
 21. 
 Plain-song, simple air without 
 
 variations; a musical term; 
 
 III. ii. 6. 
 
 Play, play for ; Prol. IV. 19. 
 
 Pleasant, merry, facetious; I. 
 ii. 281. 
 
 Pleaseth, may it please ; V. ii. "/%. 
 
 Poison'd, poisonous ; IV. i. 260. 
 
 Policy; "cause of p.," political 
 question ; I. i. 45. 
 
 Popular, vulgar, plebeian ; IV. 
 i. 38. 
 
 Popularity, publicity; I. i. 59. 
 
 Port, deportment, carriage ; 
 Prol. I. 6. 
 
 Portage, porthole ; " p. of the 
 head," i.e. eye ; III. i. 10. 
 
 Possess, affect, fill; IV. i. iii. 
 
 Practic, practical ; I. i. 51. 
 
 Practices, plots ; II. ii. 90. 
 
 Precepts, commands, sum- 
 mons ; III. iii. 26. 
 
 Preposterously, against the nat- 
 ural order of things ; II. ii. 
 112. 
 
 Prescript, prescribed; III. vii. 
 48. 
 
 ISI
 
 Glossary 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Presence; " in p.," present ; II. 
 
 iv. III. 
 Present, immediate; 11. iv. 67. 
 Presenteth, shews (Folios, 
 
 " Presented ") \ Prol. IV. 27. 
 Presently, immediately, now, at 
 
 once ; II. i. 92. 
 Prey; " in p./' in search of 
 
 prey; I. ii. 169. 
 Prize, estimate, rate; II. iv. 119. 
 Proeeeding on, caused by ; II. 
 
 ii.54._ 
 Projection, plain calculation ; 
 
 II. iv. 46. 
 
 Proportion, be proportioned to ; 
 
 III. vi. 133. 
 Proportions, calculation, neces- 
 sary numbers ; I. ii. 137. 
 
 Puissance, power, armed force ; 
 
 Prol. L 25. 
 Puissant, powerful, valiant; 1. 
 
 ii. 116. 
 
 Qnaltitie calmie custure me! 
 
 IV. iv. 3 {vide Note). 
 
 Question, discussion ; I. i. 5. 
 
 Quick, alive, living ; II. ii. 79. 
 
 Quit, acquit; II. ii. 166. 
 
 Quittance, requital, recom- 
 pense; II. ii. 34. 
 
 Quotidian tertian, Mrs. Quick- 
 ly's confusion of quotidian 
 fever {i.e. marked by daily 
 paroxysms), and tertian fe- 
 ver {i.e. marked by parox- 
 ysms recurring every three 
 days) ; II. i. 122. 
 
 Raughf, reached (Folios 3, 4, 
 "caught") ; IV. vi. 21. 
 
 Razvly, without due provision ; 
 IV. i. 143. 
 
 Reduce, reconduct, bring back; 
 
 V. ii. 63. 
 Relapse of mortality, a rebound 
 
 of death ; IV. iii. 107. 
 Remenihcring, reminding; 
 
 Prol. V. 43. 
 Rendezvous, one of Nym's 
 » blunders (Folios i, 2, 3, 
 
 '' rendeuous") ; II. i. 17. 
 Renoivncd, made renowned; I. 
 
 ii. 118. 
 Repent, regret ; II. ii. 152. 
 Requiring, asking; II. iv. 101. 
 Resolved, satisfied; I. ii. 4. 
 Respect, reason, consideration; 
 
 V. i. 74. 
 Rest, resolve (= stake, wager; 
 
 technical term of the old 
 
 game of primers ) ; II. i. 16. 
 Retire, retreat ; IV. iii. 86. 
 Returns, answers; III. iii. 46. 
 Rheumatic, Mrs. Quickly's 
 
 blunder for lunatic ; II. iii. 40. 
 Rim, midriff; IV. iv. 13. 
 Rites, ceremonies, sacred ob- 
 
 servances (Folios, 
 
 "Rights") ; IV. viii. 125. 
 Rivage, sea-shore ; Prol. III. 14. 
 Road, inroad, incursions ; I. ii. 
 
 138. 
 Robustious, sturdy; III. vii. 
 
 153- 
 Root upon, tRkerooi'm; V.ii.46. 
 Roping, hanging down; III. v. 
 
 23- 
 Round ; " too r.," too plain- 
 spoken ; IV. i. 212. 
 Rub, hindrance, impediment; 
 
 II. ii. 188. 
 
 Sad-eyed, grave-looking; I. ii. 
 202. 
 
 152
 
 KING HENRY V. 
 
 Glossary 
 
 Safeguard, defend, keep safe ; 
 I. ii. 1/6. 
 
 Saliquc ; " the law s.," the law 
 appertaining to the Salic 
 tribe of the Franks which 
 excluded females from suc- 
 ceeding to the throne ; I. ii. II. 
 
 Sand, sand-bank ; IV. i. 97. 
 
 Satisfaction, conviction (Pope 
 reads from Hall, " posses- 
 sion") ; I. ii. 88. 
 
 Savagery, wild growth ; V. ii. 
 
 47. 
 
 'Sblood, a corruption of God's 
 blood ; IV. viii. 9. 
 
 Scaffold, stage; Prol. I. 10. 
 
 Scambling, scrambling, turbu- 
 lent, I. i. 4; struggling. V. ii. 
 
 213. 
 Scions, originally small twigs 
 
 from one tree grafted upon 
 
 another (Folios. "Syens"); 
 
 III. V. 7- 
 Sconce, earthwork; III. vi. 7S- 
 Seat, throne; I. i. 88. 
 Security, over-confidence; II. 
 
 ii. 44. 
 Self, self-same ; I. i. i. 
 Set, set out; Prol. II. 34. 
 Severals, details ; I. i. 86. 
 Shales, shells; IV. ii. 18. 
 She, woman ; II. i. 82. 
 Shog off, jog off. move off; a 
 
 cant term ; II. i. 47. 
 Shozvs, appearance ; I. ii. 72. 
 Shows, appears; IV. i. 103. 
 Shrewdly, viciously; III. vii. 
 
 51. 
 
 Signal, symbol of victory ; 
 Prol. V. 21. 
 
 Signs of war, standards, en- 
 signs; II. ii. 192. 
 
 Silken, effeminate ; Prol. II. 2. 
 
 Sinfully, in a state of sin; IV. 
 i. 152. 
 
 Sinister, unfair ; II. iv. 85. 
 
 Skirr, scurry, move rapidly 
 (Folios, "sker") ; IV. vii. 64. 
 
 Slips, leash ; III. i. 31. 
 
 Slobbery, wet and foul (Quar- 
 tos, "foggy") ; III. V. 13. 
 
 Slovenry, slovenliness, want of 
 neatness ; IV. iii. 114. 
 
 Snatchers, pilferers, free-boot- 
 ers (Quartos, "sneakers") ; 
 I. ii. 143. 
 
 Soft, gentle, tender-hearted ; 
 III. iii. 48. 
 
 Sonance, sound (Folios, " Son- 
 uance") ; IV. ii. 35. 
 
 Sooth, truth; III. vi. 150. 
 
 Sort, rank, degree, IV. vii. 142 ; 
 style, array, Prol. V. 25. 
 
 Sorts, various ranks (Quar- 
 tos, Theobald, '' sort " ; Col- 
 lier MS., "state"; Keightly, 
 "all sorts") ; I. ii. 190. 
 
 Sorts, agrees, fits; IV. i. 63. 
 
 Soul; " thy s. of adoration," 
 the quintessence of the ado- 
 ration you enjoy (Folio i, 
 " What? is thy Soule of 
 Odorationf") ; IV. i. 254. 
 
 Speculation, looking on; IV. ii. 
 
 31- 
 
 Spend ; " s. their mouths " ; 
 waste, a term of the chase, 
 II. iv. 70; III. iii. 24. 
 
 Spiritualty, the spiritual peers, 
 the clergy (Folios 3, 4^ 
 "Spirituality") ; I. ii. 132. 
 
 Spital, hospital ; II. i. 77. 
 
 Sprays, branches, shoots; III. 
 V. 5- 
 
 153
 
 Glossary 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Staines, first stage on the road 
 from London to Southamp- 
 ton ; II. iii. 2. 
 
 Stands off, stand out, be prom- 
 inent (Folios 2, 3, 4, "stand 
 off") ; II. ii. 103. 
 
 Starts ; " by s.," by fits, " by a 
 fragmentary representation " ; 
 Epil. 4. 
 
 Stay, wait ; IV. ii. 56. 
 
 Sternage; " to s. of," astern of; 
 Prol. III. 18. 
 
 Still, continually, incessant!}'; 
 
 I. ii. 145. 
 
 Stilly, softly; Prol. IV. 5. 
 
 Stood on, insisted upon; V. ii. 
 94. 
 
 Stoop, a term of falconry ; a 
 hawk is said " to stoop," 
 when, " aloft upon her wing, 
 she descends to strike her 
 prey " ; IV. i. 108. 
 
 StraigJit, straightway, at once; 
 
 II. ii. 191. 
 
 Strain, stock, race; II. iv. 51. 
 
 Stretch, open wide ; II. li. 55. 
 
 Strossers; " straight str.," 
 tight breeches (Theobald, 
 " trossers " ; Hanmer, " trous- 
 sers") ; III. vii. 56. 
 
 Struck, fought ; II. iv. 54. 
 
 Subscribed, signed ; V. ii. 354. 
 
 Succours ; " of s.," for suc- 
 cour (Rowe, "of zvJwm 
 succours") ; III. iii. 45, 
 
 Suddenly, soon, quickly; V. ii. 
 8r. 
 
 Sufferance ; "by his s.," by his 
 being suffered to go unpun- 
 ished ; II. ii. 46. 
 
 , suffering the penalty; II. 
 
 ii. 159. 
 
 Suggest, tempt, seduce ; II. ii. 
 
 114- 
 Sumless, inestimable; I. ii. 165. 
 Supply ; " for the which s.," 
 
 for the supply of which ; 
 
 Prol. I. 31. 
 Sur-rein'd, over-ridden, 
 
 knocked up ; III. v. 19. 
 Sutler, a seller of provisions 
 
 and liquors to a camp; II. i. 
 
 114- 
 Swashers, bullies ; III. ii. 29. 
 Swelling, growing in interest ; 
 
 Prol. I. 4. 
 Szviird zvith, greedily gulped 
 
 down by ; III. i. 14. 
 Sivorn brothers, bosom friends, 
 
 pledged comrades; II. i. 12. 
 Sympathize with, agree with, 
 
 resemble; III. vii. 152. 
 
 Take, take fire (Quartos, Ca- 
 pell, "talk"), II. i. 54; catch, 
 meet, IV. i. 228. 
 
 Tall, valiant, brave; II. i. 71. 
 
 Tartar, Tartarus, hell ; II. iii. 
 
 123. 
 Taste, experience; II. ii. 51. 
 Taste, feel, experience ; IV. vii. 
 
 68. 
 Teems, brings forth; V. ii. 51. 
 Tell; "I cannot tell," I do not 
 
 know what to say ; II. i. 21. 
 Temper, disposition ; V. ii. 149. 
 Temper d, moulded, wrought 
 
 upon, influenced; II. ii. 118. 
 Tender, have a care for; II. ii. 
 
 175- 
 Ten ours, purport (Folios, 
 
 "Tenures"); V. ii. 7-- 
 That, so that ; I. i. 47. 
 Theoric, theory ; I. i. 52. 
 
 154
 
 KING HENRY V. 
 
 Glossary 
 
 Threadcn, made of thread; 
 
 Prol. III. 10. 
 Tiddle taddlc, tittle-tattle; IV. 
 
 i. 71. 
 Tike, cur ; 11. i. 30. 
 To, against, 11. i. 12; as, Prol. 
 
 III. 30; for, III. vii. 60. 
 To-morroiv ; " on t.," i.e. on the 
 
 morrow, in the morning; III. 
 vi. 180. 
 
 Treasuries, treasures; I. ii. 165. 
 
 Troth-plight, troth-plighted, be- 
 trothed ; II. i. 20. 
 
 Trumpet, trumpeter; IV. ii. 61 ; 
 
 IV. vii. 59. 
 
 Tucket, a set of notes on the 
 
 cornet ; IV. ii. 35. 
 Tzvay, twain, two; III. ii. 127. 
 
 Umber d, darkened as by 
 brown ochre (here probably 
 the effect of the fire-light on 
 the faces of the soldiers) ; 
 Prol. IV. 9. 
 
 Uncoined ; " u. constancy," i.e. 
 which like an unimpressed 
 plain piece of metal, has not 
 yet become current coin ; V. 
 ii. 157. 
 
 Undid, would undo; V. ii. 134. 
 
 Unfiirnish'd, left undefended ; 
 I. ii. 148. 
 
 Unprovided, unprepared ; IV. i. 
 181. 
 
 Unraised, wanting in aspira- 
 tion ; Prol. I. 9. 
 
 Untempering, unsoftening; V. 
 i. 236. 
 
 Upon, at, I. i. 91 ; by, IV. i. 19. 
 
 Urn, grave; I. ii. 228. 
 
 Vainness, vanity; Prol. V. 20. 
 
 Vasty, vast, Prol. I. 12; II. ii. 
 
 123. 
 Vaultages, vaulted rooms, cav- 
 erns ; II. iv. 124. 
 Vaward, vanguard ; IV. iii. 130. 
 Venge me, avenge myself; I. 
 
 ii. 292. 
 Venture, run the hazard of ; 
 
 (Folio I, "venter"); I. ii. 
 
 192. 
 Vigil, the eve of a festival ; IV. 
 
 iii. 45. 
 l^oice, vote ; II. ii. 113. 
 Void, quit; IV. vii. 62. 
 Vulgar, common soldiers ; IV. 
 
 vii. 80. 
 
 Wafer-cakes ; "' men's faiths 
 are w., ; i.e. " Promises are 
 like pie crust " ; II. iii. 53. 
 
 War-proof, valour tried in 
 war; III, i. 18. 
 
 Watchful fires, watch-fires ; 
 Prol. IV. 23. 
 
 Waxen, easily effaced, perish- 
 able (Quartos, "paper")', 
 
 I. ii. 233. 
 
 What though, what does that 
 
 matter ; II. i. 8. 
 Wherefore, for which; V. ii. i, 
 Wheresome'er, wheresoever ; 
 
 II. iii. 7. 
 
 JVhUHer, an officer who went in 
 front of a procession (orig- 
 inally, a afer who preceded 
 an army or a procession) ; 
 Prol. V. 12. 
 
 White-livered, cowardly ; III. 
 ii. 32. 
 
 Wight, man. person (one of 
 Pistol's words) ; II. i. 63. 
 
 Willing, desiring; II. iv. 90. 
 
 155
 
 Glossary 
 
 Jl'ills, wishes, desires ; II. iv. 77. 
 JVink, shut my eyes; II. i. 7. 
 IVink'd at, connived at; II. ii. 
 
 55. 
 Winking, with their eyes shut ; 
 
 III. vii. 147. 
 Withal, with; III. v. 2. 
 Woe the while! alas for the 
 
 time! IV. vii. 78. 
 Womhy, hollow, capacious; II. 
 
 iv. 124. 
 Wooden dagger, a dagger of 
 
 lath was usually carried by 
 
 the Vice in the old morality 
 
 plays ; IV. iv. 74. 
 Word, motto (Rowe from 
 
 Quartos i, 3; Folios, Quarto 
 
 2, " world ") ; II. iii. 51. 
 Wots, knows; IV. i. 291. 
 Would, would have, Prol. IL 
 
 18 ; desire, V. ii. 68. 
 Wringing, suffering, pain ; IV. 
 
 i. 245. 
 Writ, written; I. ii. 98. 
 
 Yearn, grieve (Folios i, 2, 
 " erne " ; Folios 3, 4, 
 "yern")\ II. iii. 3; yearns, 
 grieves ; IV. iii. 26. 
 
 Yerk, jerk; IV. vii. 83. 
 
 Yoke-fellows, companions; II. 
 iii. 56. 
 
 The marriage of Henry V. and Katharine of France. 
 (From the MS. Cott. Jul. E. iv.) 
 
 156
 
 Richard II. knighting Harry Monmouth (afterwards Henry V.). 
 (From an illuminated MS.) 
 
 Critical Notes. 
 
 BY ISRAEL GOLLANCZ. 
 
 Prol. I. 9. 'spirits that have dared'; so Staunton; Folios i, 2, 
 3, * hath ' ; Folio 4, ' spirit, that- hath.' 
 
 I. ii. 45,52. 'Elbe/ restored by Capell ; Folios ' Eluc'; (Holin- 
 shed, 'Elbe'; Hall, ' Elvc'). 
 
 I. ii. 61-64. Theobald (Warburton) ; cp. Montaigne's Essays. 
 III. I {vide Florio's translation). 
 
 I. ii. yj. 'Lewis the tenth'; the reading of Folios, following 
 Holin^hed; Pope, from Hall, reads 'ninth.' 
 
 I. ii. 94. 'amply to inibar'; so Folios (Folios i, 2, 'imbarre') ; 
 Quartos i, 2, ' imbace,' Quarto 3. ' imbrace ' ; Rowe, ' make bare ' ; 
 Theobald (Warburton), ' imbare ' ; Pope, 'openly imbrace,' etc. 
 Schmidt explains the lines: — "They strive to exclude you, instead 
 of excluding amply, i.e., without restriction or subterfuge, their 
 own false titles." Perhaps Mr. W. A. Wright's explanation is 
 the truer, taking ' imbar ' in the sense of ' to bar in,' ' secure ' :— 
 
 157
 
 Notes THE LIFE OF 
 
 " The Kings of France, sa3^s the Archbishop, whose own right 
 is derived only through the female line, prefer to shelter them- 
 selves under the flimsy protection of an appeal to the Salic law, 
 which would exclude Henry's claim, instead of fully securing 
 and defending their own titles by maintaining that though, like 
 Henry's, derived through the female line, their claim was stronger 
 than his." 
 
 T. ii. 98. 'in the Book of Numbers ' ; cp. Numbers xxvii. i-ii. 
 
 I, ii. 99. 'man'; the reading of Folios; Quartos, ' sonne.' 
 
 I. ii. no. 'Forage in'; Folios, ' Forrage in'; Quarto i, 'For- 
 aging'; Quarto 3, ' Forraging the.' 
 
 I. ii. 125. ' Your grace hath cause and means.' Hanmer reads 
 ' Your race hath had cause, means' Various readings have been 
 suggested, but there seems to be no difficulty whatever in under- 
 standing the text as it stands. 
 
 I. ii. 131. 'blood'; so Folios 3, 4; Folio i, 'Bloods'; Folio 2. 
 ' Blonds: 
 
 I. ii. 150. ' zi'ifh ample and brim fulness; probably 'brim' is 
 here adjectival; Pope reads ' brimfulness' ; but the accent favours 
 the present reading. 
 
 I. ii. 154. 'the ill-neighbourhood' ; Boswell, from Quartos, 
 reads ' the bruit thereof.' 
 
 I. ii. 163. 'her chronicle' ; Capell, Johnson conj.; Folios read 
 'their C ; Quartos, 'your Chronicles' ; Rowe, 'his Chronicle.' 
 
 I. ii. 173. 'tear'; so Rowe, ed. 2; Folios, 'tame'; Quartos, 
 '' spoil ' ; Theobald, "" taint.' 
 
 I. ii. 180-183. Theobald first compared these lines with Cicero, 
 De Republica, ii. 42, and thought that Shakespeare had perhaps 
 borrowed from Cicero. 
 
 I. ii. 187-203. Lyly, in his Euphues (Arber's Reprint, pp. 262-4). 
 has a similar description of the common-wealth of the bees : its 
 ultimate source is probably Pliny's Natural History, Book xi, 
 (n.b., Holland's translation did not appear till 1601). 
 
 I. ii. 197. 'majesty' ; so Rowe from Quartos; Folios, ' Maies- 
 ties.' 
 
 I. ii. 208. 'Come'; so Folios; Capell, from Quartos. ' Uy ' ; 
 ' as many rvays meet in one town ' ; Capell, from Quartos, reads 
 'As many seuerall zvayes meete in one toivne'; Dyce, Lettsom 
 conj., 'As many several streets,' etc. 
 
 I. ii. 209. 'meet in one salt sea'; Capell, from Quartos, reads 
 'run in one self sea' ; Vaughan conj., 'run in one salt sea.' 
 
 158
 
 KING HENRY V. Notes 
 
 I. ii. 212. 'End'; Pope's emendation from Quartos; Folios, 
 'And.' 
 
 I. ii. 255. ' This tun of treasure ' ; probably suggested by the 
 corresponding words in The Famous Victories. 
 
 I. ii. 263. 'shall strike his father's crown into the hazard'; 
 'hazard' used technically, "the hazard in a tennis-court"; 
 glosses, 'grille de tripot' in old French dictionaries. 
 
 Prol. II. Pope transferred the Prologue to the end of the first 
 scene. 
 
 Prol. II. 2)'^. ' The abuse of distance; force a play': so Folios: 
 Pope, 'while zve force a play '; Warburton conj. ' zvhile we farce 
 a play ^ ; ' to force a play ' is interpreted by Steevens to mean 
 ' to produce a play by compressing many circumstances into a 
 narrow compass.' Various emendations have been proposed, but 
 in spite of the imperfection of the line as it stands, no suggestions 
 seem to improve upon it. Perhaps, after all, the line is correct 
 as it stands, with a pause for a syllable at the caesura, and with 
 a vocalic r in *" force' making the word dissyllabic ; cp. ' -fierce' 
 II. iv. 99. 
 
 Prol. II. 41. 'But, till the king come forth' etc., i.e. 'until the 
 King come forth we shall not shift our scene unto Southampton.' 
 
 II. i. 5. 'there shall he smiles'; Hanmer conj., Warburton. 
 'there shall he — (smiles)'; Farmer, Collier, 2 ed., 'smites' {i.e. 
 blows) . 
 
 II. i. 25. ' mare ' ; restored by Theobald from Quartos ; Folios 
 read ' name ' ; Hanmer, ' dame ' ; Collier MS., ' jade.' 
 
 II. i. 28. ' Hozv now, mine host Pistol! ' Quartos, ' Hozv do 
 you my hostef giving the words to Nym. 
 
 II. i. 38. ' O well a day, Lady, if he he not drawn now'; 
 ' drazvn,' Theobald's emendation ; Folios, ' hczvnc ' ; Malone from 
 Quarto i, ' O Lord! here's corporal Nynis .' 
 
 II. 1. 43. 'Iceland dog!'; Steevens, Johnson, conj.; Folios read 
 'Island dog'; Quartos, ' Iseland.' There are several allusions to 
 " these shaggy, sharp-eared, white dogs, much imported formerly 
 as favourites for ladies." 
 
 II. i. 79. ' la.zar kite of Cressid's kind'; probably a scrap from 
 some old play. In certain parallel passages the readings vary be- 
 tween ' Kite,' ' Kit,' ' Catte ' ; ' Kit,' too, is the spelling of Folio 4. 
 
 II. i. 85. 'and you, hostess'; Folios 'and your Hostesse' ; 
 Folio 4. ' Hostes you must come straight to my master, and you 
 Hoste Pistole.' 
 
 159
 
 Notes THE LIFE OF 
 
 II. i. 99. ' Base is the slave that pays,' a quotation from an old 
 play. Steevens quotes, " My motto shall be, Base is the man that 
 pays" (Heywood's Fair Maid of the West). 
 
 II. i. 109. and no omitted in Folios. 
 
 II. ii. 9. ' Whom he hath dull'd and cloy'd with gracious fa- 
 vours ' ; Folios 3, 4, " lull'd." Quartos, followed by Steevens, 
 ' zvhom he hath cloy'd and grac'd with princely favours.' 
 
 II. ii. 61. 'Who are the late commissioners f ; Vaughan conj. 
 *" Who ask the late commissions? ' ; Collier MS. ' the state c' ; but 
 no change is necessary; 'late commissioners '=:' lately appointed 
 commissioners.' 
 
 II. ii. 63. ' for it,' i.e. for my commission. 
 
 II. ii. 114. 'by treasons'; Mason conj. 'to treasons'; Moberly 
 conj. ' by reasons.' 
 
 II. ii. 118. 'But he that temper' d thee bade thee stand up'; 
 Moberly conj, 'But he that tempter-fiend that stirr'd thee up'; 
 Dyce, Johnson conj. 'tempted' ; Folios, 'bad,' Vaughan conj. 'sin 
 thus.' No emendation is necessary, tho' it is uncertain what the 
 exact force of ' bade thee stand up ' may be, whether (i) * like an 
 honest-man,' or (2) 'rise in rebellion.' 
 
 II. ii. 139-140. ' To mark the full-fraught man and best indued 
 With some suspicion' ; Malone's emendation; Theobald, 'the 
 best' etc.; Folios, 'To make thee full fraught man and best in- 
 dued,' etc.; Pope, ' To make the full-fraught man, the best, endu'd 
 V/ith' etc. 
 
 II. ii. 148. 'Henry'; Theobald's correction from Quartos; 
 Folios ' Thomas.' 
 
 II. ii. 176. 'you have'; so Knight, from Quartos; Folios 2, 3, 
 4, ' you three ' ; Folio i, ' you.' 
 
 II. iii. II. 'A' made a finer end'; Folios i, 2, ' a finer'; Folios 
 3, 4, 'finer'; Capell, 'a fine'; Johnson conj. 'a final'; Vaughan 
 conj. 'a fair.' Probably Mistress Quickly's words are correctly 
 reported, and should not be edited. 
 
 II. iii. 14. 'fumble with the sheets'; popularly supposed to be 
 a sign of approaching death. 
 
 II. iii. 17-18. 'and a' babbled of green fields'; Theobald's fa- 
 mous correction of Folios, ' and a Table of greene fields ' ; Theo- 
 bald's reading was suggested to him by a MS. note written in a 
 copy of Shakespeare by ' a gentleman sometime deceased,' who 
 proposed 'And a' talked of green fields.' The Quartos omit the 
 line, giving the passage thus : — 
 
 160
 
 KING HENRY V. Notes 
 
 " His nose was as sharp as a pen, 
 For zchen I sazv him fumble with the sheetes, 
 And talk of iioures, and smile vpo his Angers ends, 
 I knew there was no way hut one." 
 (n.b. ' talk of iioures '). Many suggestions have been put forward 
 since Pope explained that the words were part of a stage direc- 
 tion, and that ' Greenfield was the name of the property*man in 
 that time who furnished implements, etc., for the actors.' The 
 marginal stage-direction was, according to him, ' A table of green- 
 fields: Malone, ' in a table of green Helds,' Collier MS., ' on a 
 table of green freese.' Recently Mr. Henry Bradley has pointed 
 out that 'green field' was occasionally used for the exchequer 
 table, a table of green baize. A combination of this suggestion 
 with 'the reading of the Collier MS. would require merely the 
 change of ' and ' to ' on,' but one cannot easily give up one's per- 
 fect faith in Theobald's most brilliant conjecture. 
 
 11. iii. 51. 'Let senses rule'', i.e. 'let prudence govern you' 
 (Steevens). 
 
 II. iii, 54. 'And hold-fast is the only dog'; cp. ' Brag is a good 
 dog, but hold-fast is a better.' 
 
 II. iii. 55. ' Caveto,' Quartos, ' cophetua.' 
 
 II. iv. 57. 'mountain sire'; Theobald, 'mounting sire'; Col- 
 lier, Mitford conj. 'mighty sire'; 'mountain,' evidently means 
 ' huge as a mountain.' 
 
 Prol. III. 4. 'Hampton,' Theobald's correction of Folios 
 ' Dover.' 
 
 Fvol Ul. 6. ' fanning'; Rowe's emendation of Folios i, 2, 
 ' fayning,' Folios -3, 4, ' faining' ; Gould conj. 'playing.' 
 
 Prol. III. 35. 'Eke'; the first folio ' eech' ; the others, ech'; 
 probably representing the pronunciation of the word. 
 
 III. i. 7. 'summon up,' Rowe's emendation of Folios 'com- 
 mune up.' . ^ , •;;> 
 
 III. i. 15. 'nostril'; Rowe's emendation of Folios ' nosthnll. 
 III. i. 32. 'straining'; Rowe's emendation of Folios ' Stray- 
 
 III. ii. 20. ' Up to the breach, you dogs! avaunt, you cullions! ; 
 so Folios; Capell reads, from Quartos, 'God's plud!—Up to the 
 preaches, you rascals! will you not up to the preaches f 
 
 III. V. 46. 'Knights'; Theobald's emendation of Folios 
 ' Kings.' 
 
 III. V. 54. 'Rouen'; Malone's emendation of 'Rone,' Quartos; 
 'Roan' Folios. 
 
 161
 
 Notes 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 III. vi. 28-30. 'And giddy Fortune's furious fickle wheel,' etc. ; 
 cp. 'Fortune is blind . . . ivkose foot is standing on a rolling 
 stone/ Kyd's Spanish Tragedy. 
 
 From the English translation (Cott. MS., XVth cent.) of William de Deguille- 
 ville's Pilgriinage of Huvian Life. 
 
 III. vi. 31. 'Fortune is painted blind'; Warburton proposed 
 the omission of ' blind,' which may have been caught up from 
 the next line. 
 
 III. vi. 41. 'Fortune is*Bardolph's foe'; a reference to the old 
 ballad, 'Fortune, my foe!' 
 
 HI. vi. 79. 'new-tuned' ; Pope reads ' neiv-turned' ; Collier 
 MS., ' new-coined ' ; Grant White, ' nezv-found.' 
 
 III. vi. 107-111. Fluellen's description of Bardolph forcibly re- 
 calls Chaucer's Sompnour in the Prologue to the Canterbury 
 Tales (Quartos, ' whelkes, and kniibs, and pnmples' for 
 ' bubukles, and whelkes, and knobs'). 
 
 III. vi. 117. 'lenity,' Rowe's emendation from Quarto; Folios, 
 ' Levity: 
 
 III. vi. 120. 'habit'; i.e. sleeveless coat, the herald's tabard. 
 
 III. vii. 15. ' chec les narines'; Capell, 'qui a'; Folios, ' ches'; 
 Heath conj. ' voyez,' etc. 
 
 III. vii. 43. ' Wonder of Nature,' probably the first words of a 
 sonnet or lyric of the time. 
 
 162
 
 KING HENRY V. 
 
 Notes 
 
 'the dog is 
 to the mire,' 
 
 III. vii. 66. fi"/. ' Lc chxcn . . . au hourhicr ' ; 
 returned to his own vomit, and the washed out sow 
 cp. 2 Peter ii. 22. 
 
 Prol. IV". 16. 'name'; Tyrwhitt's conj.; Folios, ' nam'd.' 
 Prol. IV. 20. 'cripple tardy-gaited' ; Folios, ' creeple-tardy- 
 
 gaied.' 
 
 Prol. IV. 26. ' Investing lank-lean cheeks and zi'ar-zi'orn 
 
 coats' ; Capell. 'And zvar-zvoni coats, investing lank-lean cheeks' ; 
 
 Hanmer, 'In zcasted'; Warburton, 'Invest in'; Beckett conj. 
 
 ' Infesting,' etc. 
 
 IV. i. 35. 'Qui va la'; Rowe's emendation of Folios 'Che 
 vous laf ' 
 
 IV. i. 65. ' spea.k lozver'; so Quarto 3. adopted by Malone ; 
 Quartos i, 2, 'lewer'; Folios, 'fezver'; cp. 'to speak few,' a 
 provincialism for ' to speak low ' (according to Steevens, who 
 prefers the folio reading) . 
 
 IV. i. 94. 'Sir Thomas'; Theobald's correction of Folios 
 'John.' 
 
 IV. i. 152. 'sinfully miscarry upon the sea'; Pope reads from 
 Quartos, 'fall into some lezvd 
 action and miscarry.' 
 
 IV. i. 187. ' mote ' ; Malone's 
 emendation of Folios. ' MotJi ' ; 
 Quartos, ' moath.' 
 
 IV. i. 254. ' What is thy soul 
 of adoration? ' ; Knight's read- 
 ing; Folio I reads, 'IVhaff is 
 thy Sotile of Odoration ' ; Folios 
 2, 3, 4, 'Adoration' ; Warburton, 
 
 ' What is thy toll, O 
 tionf; Hanmer, 'What 
 
 adora- 
 is thy 
 
 shezv of adoration? ' ; Johnson. 
 ' What is thy soul, O adora- 
 tion?'; etc.. etc. (z'. Glossary). 
 IV. i. 299. 300. ' take from 
 them nozv the sense of reckon- 
 ing, if the opposed numbers'; 
 Tyrwhitt's reading; Folios, 
 ' take . . . reck'ning of the 
 opposed numbers : ' ; Theobald. 
 ' take . . . reck'ning; lest tli' 
 opposed numbers'; etc., etc. 
 
 163 
 
 From an original specimen of the time 
 of Charles Vn. of France (a.d. 1^22- 
 1440), preserved in a private collec- 
 tion in Paris.
 
 Notes THE LIFE OF 
 
 IV. ii. 45. ' The horsemen sit like fixed candlesticks.' Cp. illus- 
 tration. 
 
 IV. iii. 40. ' the feast of Crispian ' falls upon the 25th October. 
 
 IV. iii. 44. 'He that shall live this day, and see'; Pope's read- 
 ing; Folios, 'He that shall see this day and live'; Quartos, 'He 
 that outlives this day and sees.' 
 
 IV. iii. 48. Omitted in Folios 
 
 IV. iii. 52. 'his mouth.'; so Folios; Quartos, 'their mouths'; 
 Pope, ' their mouth.' 
 
 IV. iv. 3. ' Qualtitie ealmie custure me ' ; probably Pistol 
 catches the last word of the French soldier's speech, repeats it, 
 and adds the refrain of a popular Irish song, ' Calen, O custure 
 me' :=' colleen oge astore,' i.e. ' young girl, my treasure.' The 
 popularity of the song is evidenced by the following heading of 
 one of the songs in Robinson's Handful of Pleasant Delights 
 (cp. Arber's Reprint, p. 33) : 'A Sonet of a Lover in the praise of 
 his lady. To Calen custure me; sung at euerie lines end'; first 
 pointed out by Malone. 
 
 IV. iv. 72. 'this roaring devil i' the old pluy'; alluding to the 
 standing character of the Devil in the Morality plays. 
 
 IV. v. II. 'Let us die in honour; once'; Knight's emendation; 
 Folio I, ' Let us dye in once ' ; Folios 2, 3, 4, ' Let us Hue in once ' ; 
 etc. Omitted by Pope. 
 
 IV. V. 18. 'our lives'; Steevens adds from Quartos, 'Unto 
 these English, or else die with fame' ; Vaughan conj. ' Unto these 
 English, or else die with shame.' 
 
 IV. vii. 31. 'alike'; so Folios; Rowe reads, 'as like.' 
 
 IV. vii. 45. ' made ' ; Capell, following Quartos, reads ' made 
 an end.' 
 
 IV. vii. 65. 'Assyrian slings'; Theobald compared Judith ix. 7, 
 and defended the reading against Warburton's proposed ' Bal- 
 earian' (afterwards withdrawn). 
 
 IV. vii. 71. 'w/?a^ means this, herald f ; Steevens' reading; 
 Folio I, 'what meanes this herald?'; Folios 2, 3, 4, 'what means 
 their herald'; Hanmer conj. 'what mean'st thou, herald f 
 
 IV. vii. 81. 'their wounded steeds'; Folios, ' zvith,' corrected by 
 Malone. The Quartos omit the line. 
 
 Prol. V. 30-35. The allusion is to Robert Devereux, Earl of 
 Essex, who was sent to Ireland in 1599 to suppress Tyrone's re- 
 bellion ; he left London on March 27, and returned on Septem- 
 ber 28 (v. Preface). 
 
 Fvol. Y. 3S. ' The emperor's coming'; i.e. 'the emperor is 
 
 164
 
 KING HENRY V. Notes 
 
 coming.' or (better) 'the emperor's coming,' parallel to 'the King 
 of England's stay at home.' The line refers to the visit of Sigis- 
 mund, Emperor of Germany, ist May, 1416. Malone supposed 
 that a line had dropped out before The Emperor', etc. ; Capell re- 
 wrote the passage. It seems, however, that if instead of a semi- 
 colon, a comma is placed after 'at home,' the lines are perfectly 
 intelligible as they stand. 
 
 V. 1. 85. ' Doll'\ Capell, 'Nell'; which is probably the correct 
 reading, though Shakespeare may himself have made the mistake. 
 
 V. ii. 7. 'Burgundy' ; Rowe's emendation, from Quartos, of 
 Folio I, ' Burgogne' ; Folios 2, 4, ' Burgoigne' ; Folio 3, ' Bar- 
 goigne.' 
 
 V. ii. ir. 'So are you, princes English, every one'; Folios i, 
 2, 3, 'So are you princes (English) every one'; Folio 4, 'So are 
 you princes (Etiglish every one).' 
 
 V. ii. 12. 'England' ; so Folios 2, 3, 4; Folio i reads 'Ireland.' 
 
 V. ii. 50. ' air ; Rowe's reading ; Folios ' withall.' 
 
 V. ii. 82. 'Pass our accept'; Warburton reads, 'Pass, or ac- 
 cept'; Malone conj. 'Pass, or except' etc. 
 
 V. ii. 259. 260. 'queen of all, Katharine' ; Capell conj. adopted 
 by Dyce, '.queen of all Katharines.' 
 
 V. ii. 359. ' Hcritier' ; Folios read ' Heretere ' ; ' Prceclarissi- 
 mus ' ; so Folios ; Rann reads ' Percarissimus ' ; the error is, how- 
 ever, copied from Holinshed. 
 
 V. ii. 393. 'Sennet'; Folio i, ' Senet'; Folio 2. 'Sonet,' as 
 though referring to the fourteen lines of the Epilogue. 
 
 Epil. 13. 'Which oft our stage hath shown'; vide Preface to 
 I, 2, 3 Henry VI. 
 
 165
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Explanatory Notes. 
 
 The Explanatory Notes in this edition have been specially selected and 
 adapted, with emendations after the latest and best authorities, from the 
 most eminent Shakespearian scholars and commentators, including Johnson, 
 Malone, Steevens, Singer, Dyce, Hudson, White, Furness, Dowden, and 
 others. This method, here introduced for the first time, provides the best 
 annotation of Shakespeare ever embraced in a single edition. 
 
 PROLOGUE. 
 
 I. O for a Muse, etc.: — How strongly Shakespeare was im- 
 pressed by the greatness of his theme appears in his reiterated 
 expressions of humility in approaching it. He begins, like the 
 epic poets of antiquity, with an invocation of the Muse; he im- 
 plores forgiveness, not onl}^ for the imperfection of his scenic ap- 
 paratus, but for the " flat unraised spirits " in which he treats so 
 mighty a theme. 
 
 ACT FIRST. 
 Scene I. 
 
 7-19. This is taken almost literally from Holinshed : "In the 
 second yeare of his reigne, King Henrie called his nigh court of 
 parlement, in which manie petitions moved were for that time 
 deferred. Amongst which one was to the effect, that the temporal 1 
 lands devoutlie given, and disordinatelie spent by religious and 
 other spirituall persons, should be seized into the' Kings hands; 
 sith the same might suffice to mainteine, to the honor of the King, 
 and defense of the realme, fifteene earles, fifteene hundred knights, 
 six thousand and two hundred esquires, and a hundred almesse- 
 houses, for reliefe onelie of the poore, impotent, and needie per- 
 sons, and the King to have cleerelie to his coffers twentie thou- 
 sand pounds." It should be remarked that this Parliament was 
 called, April 30, 1414, at Leicester ; but it appears from the Chorus 
 
 -66
 
 KING HENRY V, Notes 
 
 to the Second Act that the Poet laid the scene of the first Act at 
 London. 
 
 51,52. So that . . . this thcoric: — That is, he must have 
 drawn his theory, digested his order and method of thought, from 
 the art and practice of life, instead of shaping the latter by the 
 rules and measures of the former: which is strange, since he has 
 never been seen in the way either of learning the things in ques- 
 tion by experience, or of digesting the fruits of experience into 
 theory. Practic and theoric, or practiqiie and theorique, were 
 the old spelling of practice and theory. An apt commentary on 
 the text occurs in A Treatise of Human Learning, by Lord 
 Brooke, who was a star in the same constellation with Shake- 
 speare, and one of the profoundest thinkers of the time : — 
 
 " Againe, the active, necessarie arts 
 Ought to be briefe in bookes, in practise long: 
 Short precepts may extend to many parts ; 
 The practise must be large, or not be strong. 
 For if these two be in one ballance weigh'd. 
 The artless use bears down the useless art. 
 The world should therefore her instructions draw 
 Backe unto life and actions, whence they came ; 
 That practise, which gave being, might give law 
 To make them short, cleare, fruitfull unto man : 
 As God made all for use, even so must she 
 By chance and use uphold her mystery." 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 {Enter . . . Gloucester, Bedford, etc.] The princes Hum- 
 phrey and John of the preceding play were made Dukes of 
 Gloucester and Bedford at the first Parliament of Henry V., 1414. 
 At the same time, according to Holinshed, Thomas Beaufort, Mar- 
 quess of Dorset, was made Duke of Exeter. The Beaufort fam- 
 ily sprang from John of Gaunt by Catharine Swynford. to whom 
 he was married after she had borne him several children. The 
 earldom of Warwick was at that time in the family of Beauchamp, 
 and the Earl of Westmoreland was Ralph Neville. 
 
 40. gloze : — So in Holinshed : " The verie words of that sup- 
 posed law are these. In terra ni Salicam mulieres ne succedant. that 
 is to saie. Into the Salike land let not women succeed. Which 
 the French glossers expound to be the realme of France, and that 
 this law was made by King Pharamond." This may serve as a 
 
 167
 
 Notes THE LIFE OF 
 
 sample showing how closely the Poet here follows the chronicler ; 
 the whole speech being little else than Holinshed's sentences ver- 
 sified. 
 
 74. Conrey'd himself, etc.: — That is, passed himself off as heir 
 to the lady Lingare. Bishop Cooper has the same expression : 
 '* To conz'ey himself to be of some noble family." The matter is 
 thus stated by Holinshed : " Hugh Capet also, who usurped the 
 crowme upon Charles Duke of Loraine, the sole heire male of the 
 line and stocke of Charles the great, to make his title seeme true, 
 and appeare good, though in deed it was starke naught, eonveied 
 himself e as heire to the ladie Lingard, daughter to King Charle- 
 maine." 
 
 130-135- O, let, etc. : — So in Holinshed's paraphrase of the Arch- 
 bishop's speech : " At length, having said sufficientlie for the 
 proof e of the King's just and lawful title to the crowne of France, 
 he exhorted him to advance foorth his banner to fight for his 
 right, to spare neither bloud. sword, nor fire, sith his warre was 
 just, his cause good and his claime true: and he declared that in 
 their spirituall convocation they had granted to his highnesse such 
 a summe of monie as never by no spirituall persons was to any 
 prince before those dales given or advanced." 
 
 252. galliard: — The galliard is thus described by Sir John 
 Davies in his Orchestra : — 
 
 " But, for more divers and more pleasing show, 
 A swift and w^andring daunce she did invent, 
 
 With passages uncertaine, to and fro. 
 Yet with a certaine answere and consent 
 To the quicke musicke of the instrument. 
 
 Five was the number of the musicks feet. 
 
 Which still the daunce did with five paces meet. 
 
 A gallant daunce, that lively doth bewTay 
 A spirit, and a vertue masculine. 
 
 Impatient that her house on earth should stay, 
 Since she herselfe is fiery and divine: 
 Oft doth she make her body upward fline ; 
 
 With lofty turnes and capriols in the ayre. 
 
 Which with the lusty tunes accordeth faire." 
 
 258. Tennis-balls: — This funny piece of French diplomacy is 
 thus related by Holinshed : " Whilest in the Lent season the King 
 laie at Killingworth. there came to him from the Dolphin of 
 France certeine ambassadors that brought with them a barrell of 
 
 168
 
 KING HENRY V. Notes 
 
 Paris hallcs, which from their master they presented to him for a 
 token that was taken in verie ill part, as sent in scorne, to signific 
 that it was more meet for the King to passe the time with such 
 childish exercise, thai^ to attempt any worthie exploit. Wherefore 
 the King wrote to him that yer ought long he would tosse him 
 some London balles that perchance should shake the -walles of 
 the best court in France." In the old play, The Famous Victories 
 of Henry V., the "barrel of Paris balls" becomes "a gilded tun 
 [i.e., goblet] of tennis-balls." 
 
 ACT SECOND. 
 Prologue. 
 
 23. Richard Earl of Cambridge : — This was Richard Plantag- 
 enet, second son of Edmund of Langley. Duke of York, and 
 brother to Edward, the Duke of York of this play. 
 
 Scene I. 
 
 30. [Pistol.] It is clear, from the tenour of contemporary lit- 
 erature, that in Pistol and his companions Shakespeare drew from 
 the life — studies that London ordinaries supplied him in abun- 
 dance. We must call to mind the general custom of carrying 
 weapons, the frequency of fatal brawls, license of duel, and in- 
 sufficiency of police, together with the loose military population 
 always afloat, to recognize fairly the unnatura] developments of 
 swaggering and cowardice in combination, that the circum- 
 stances of the times made familiar. Pistol might scarcely have 
 been thought more of an exaggeration than the sullen and bloody- 
 hinting Nym; and the original spectators must have appreciated, 
 with a gusto that we may envy them, the scene in which these lily- 
 livered rascals of contrasted costume stand opposed with naked 
 sW'Ords that they are themselves afraid of, and affect to be held 
 apart by the sword of Bardolph, only less a coward than the least 
 of them, who faces out one impossible contingency by another 
 and an oath — " Hear me, hear what I say — he that strikes the first 
 stroke I '11 run him up to the hilts, as I am a soldier." Mrs. 
 Quickly herself never hit a truer meaning in attempting to ex- 
 press a false one, than when she bade good Corporal Nym, 
 ** Show thy valour, and put up your sword." 
 
 169
 
 Notes THE LIFE OF 
 
 43. Iceland dog: — In a treatise by Abraham Fleming. Of Eng- 
 lish Dogges, 1576, occurs the following: "Iceland dogges, curled 
 and rough all over, which, by reason of the length of their heare, 
 make show neither of face nor of body. And yet thes curres, 
 forsoothe, because they are so strange, are greatly set by, esteemed, 
 taken up, and made of, many times instead of the spaniell gentle 
 or comforter." Island cur is again used as a term of contempt 
 in Epigrams served out in Fifty-tzvo several Dishes: — 
 
 " He wears a gown lac'd round, laid down with f urre. 
 Or, miser-like, a pouch where never man 
 Could thrust his finger, but this island curre." 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 I. these traitors: — Ulrici says: "The life of the just and gra- 
 cious prince is threatened by the treacherous and murderous 
 designs of a few ambitious and rapacious barons ; the blackest 
 ingratitude and faithlessness embitter his position as King and 
 disappoint his fairest hopes. The representation of the con- 
 spiracy of the Earl of Cambridge, Grey and Scroop, which is in- 
 terwoven as an episode, explains the significance of the whole. 
 Accordingly Henry V., following his father's advice as well as his 
 own judgement, has to endeavour to withdraw the attention of the 
 people and the nobles from internal affairs of the state. Even 
 though the war with France originated in reality from another 
 and deeper reason, still Henry's own personal object was his chief 
 motive in beginning the campaign so hurriedly and almost with- 
 out preparation. And although the war at first had an outwardly 
 glorious termination, owing to Henry's heroic strength, and the 
 superior valour and ability of the English nation, still it was this 
 very war which subsequently became a source of misery to Eng- 
 land." 
 
 126, 127. O, how hast thou, etc. : — " Shakespeare," says John- 
 son, " use^ this aggravation of the guilt of treachery with great 
 judgement. One of the worst consequences of breach of trust 
 is the diminution of that confidence which makes the happiness 
 of life, and the dissemination of suspicion, which is the poison of 
 society." 
 
 140-142. / will zveep, etc. : — Lord Scroop has already been 
 spoken of as having been the King's bedfellow. Holinshed gives 
 the following account of him : " The said Lord Scroope was in 
 
 170
 
 KING HENRY V. Notes 
 
 such favour with the King, that he admitted him sometime to be 
 his bedtellow. in whose tideHtie the King reposed such trust, that 
 when anie privat or pubHke councell was in hand, this lord had 
 much in the determination of it. For he represented so great 
 gravities in his countenance, such modestie in behaviour, and so 
 vertuous zeale to all godlinesse in his talke, that whatsoever he 
 said was thought for the most part necessarie to be doone and fol- 
 lowed." 
 
 IS5-157. For 7UC . . . intended: — " Diverce write," says Hol- 
 inshed, " that Richard Earle of Cambridge did not conspire 
 with the Lord Scroope and Thomas Graie for the murthering of 
 King Henrie, to please the French king withall, but onelie to the 
 intent to exalt to the crowne his brother-in-law, Edmund Earle of 
 Marche, as heir to Lionel Duke of Clarence ; who being for diverse 
 secrcet impediments not able to have issue, the Earle of Cambridge 
 was sure that the crowne should come to him by his wife, and to 
 his children of her begotten. And therefore (as was thought) 
 he rather confessed himselfc for neede of monie to be corrupted 
 by the French king, lest the Earle of Marche should have tasted 
 of the same cuppe that he had drunken, and what should have 
 come to his owne children he much doubted." 
 
 177-181. Get you therefore hence . . . offences: — So in Hol- 
 inshed : " Revenge herein touching my person, though I seeke 
 not; yet for safegard of you, my deere freends, and for due preser- 
 vation of all sorts, I am by office to cause example to be showed. 
 Get ye hence, therefore, ye poore miserable wretches, to the re- 
 ceiving of your just reward, wherein Gods majestic give ye grace 
 cf his mercie, and repentance of your heinous ofifenses." 
 
 Scene IV. 
 
 26. so idly king'd : — The Dauphin, less original than Hotspur, 
 but without a spark of his real heroism, misconstrues 
 Henry. . . . Shakespeare plays with visible pleasure upon the 
 tennis-ball motive which he found in Holinshed. He makes the 
 English envoys to the French camp deliver a special message of 
 scorn to the Dauphin ; and the Dauphin, in spite of history and his 
 father,'s orders, figures in the French camp at Agincourt. But the 
 Dauphin is only an extreme type of the fatuous intoxication which 
 possesses the whole host, and is chiefly responsible for its over- 
 throw. Agincourt is the duel of Shrewsbury, writ large ; with the 
 difference that there is here no counterpart to the pathos of the 
 
 171
 
 Notes THE LIFE OF 
 
 mourning for Hotspur. A few wild curses and cries of rage suf- 
 fice to sum up the immeasurably greater tragedy of the French 
 rout. 
 
 ACT THIRD. 
 Prologue. 
 
 S3, the devilish cannon: — Of course Shakespeare was a reader 
 of Spenser, and this passage yields a slight trace of his reading. 
 Thus in The Faerie Queene, i. 7-13: — 
 
 "... that divelish yron cngin, wrought 
 In deepest hell, and fram'd by Furies skill. 
 With windy nitre and quick sulphur fraught. 
 And ramd with bollet rownd, ordaind to kill." 
 
 Scene I. 
 
 {Before HaiHeiir.] The main action of Henry V. consists in 
 the invasion of France with thirty thousand men, twenty-four 
 thousand of whom were foot-soldiers, and six thousand horse. 
 The embarkation of these forces was made from Southampton, in 
 fifteen hundred ships, on the nth of August, 1415, and the whole 
 were landed on the coast of France on the second day afterwards. 
 The first exploit of this army was to lay siege to Harfleur, for, in 
 those days of pikes and crossbows, prudent commanders never 
 ventured to advance into an enemy's country with walled towns 
 behind them. The place surrendered on the 22nd of September, 
 after a siege of thirty-six days, when Henry, finding that his force 
 had been reduced to less than half its former numbers by battle 
 and disease, determined to fall back on Calais. For the execution 
 of this movement, according to the English chroniclers, the army 
 remaining to him could not have amounted to much more than 
 eight thousand fighting men in all. * 
 
 11-14. let the brozu . . . ocean: — Daniel, in his Civil Wars, 
 has a similar passage : — 
 
 " A place there is, where proudly rais'd there stands 
 A huge aspiring rock, neighbouring the skies, 
 Whose surly brow imperiously commands 
 The sea his bounds, that at his proud foot lies; 
 And spurns the waves that in rebellious bands 
 Assault his empire, and against him rise." 
 
 172
 
 KING HENRY V. Notes 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 3. Pray thee, corporal: — It appears (II. i. 2) that Bardolph has 
 been lifted up from a corporal into a lieutenant since our acquaint- 
 ance with him in Henry IV ., and that Nym has succeeded him in 
 the former rank. It is not quite certain whether the Poet forgot 
 the fact here, or whether Nym, being used to call him corporal, in 
 his fright loses his new title. 
 
 Scene III. 
 
 [King Henry.] Knight says that " skilfully as he has managed 
 it, and magnificent as the whole drama is as a great national song 
 of triumph, there can be no doubt that Shakespeare felt that in this 
 play he was dealing with a theme too narrow for his peculiar 
 powers . . . the subject being altogether one of lyric gran- 
 deur, . , , And yet, how exquisitely has Shakespeare thrown 
 his dramatic power into this undramatic subject! The character 
 of the King is one of the most finished portraits that has proceeded 
 from his master hand. ... It was for him to embody in the 
 person of Henry V. the principle of national heroism ; it was for 
 him to call forth the spirit of patriotic reminiscence." 
 
 Scene IV. 
 
 [Enter Katharine and Alice.] Touching this Scene various 
 grounds have been taken, some pronouncing it ridiculous, others 
 rejecting it as an interpolation, and others wondering that Katha- 
 rine and Alice should be made to speak French, when the other 
 French characters talk English. We cannot well see why any- 
 thing better should be asked than Johnson's remarks on the sub- 
 ject: "The grimaces of the two Frenchwomen, and the odd 
 accent with which they uttered the English, might divert an audi- 
 ence more refined than could be found in the Poet's time. There 
 is in it not only the French language, but the French spirit. Alice 
 compliments the princess upon the knowledge of four words, and 
 tells her that she pronounces like the English themselves. The 
 princess suspects no deficiency in her instructress, nor the in- 
 structress in herself. The extraordinary circumstance of intro- 
 ducing a character speaking French in an English drama was no 
 novelty to our early stage." 
 
 173
 
 Notes THE LIFE OF 
 
 Scene V. 
 
 33- lavoltas . . . corantos: — The lavolta was a dance of 
 Italian origin, and seems to have been something like the modern 
 waltz, only, perhaps, rather more so. It is thus described by Sir 
 John Davies in his Orchestra : — 
 
 "A lofty jumping, or a leaping round, 
 Where arm in arm two dancers are entwin'd, 
 And whirl themselves with strict embracements bound, 
 And still their feet an anapest do sound. 
 An anapest is all their music's song. 
 Whose first two feet are short, and third is long." 
 
 The coranto comes in for a like share of his poetical touching: — 
 
 " What shall I name those current traverses. 
 That on a triple dactyl foot do run. 
 Close by the ground, with sliding passages, 
 Wherein that dancer greatest praise hath won 
 Which with best order can all order shun? 
 For every where he wantonly must range, 
 And turn and wind vv'ith unexpected change." 
 
 Scene VI. 
 
 3, 4. / assure you . . . bridge : — After Henry had passed the 
 Somme, the French endeavoured to intercept him in his passage to 
 Calais ; and for that purpose attempted to break down the only 
 bridge that there was over the small river of Ternois. But Henry 
 had notice of their design, and sent a part of his troops before 
 him, who, attacking and putting the French to flight, preserved the 
 bridge till the whole English army arrived and passed over it. 
 
 42. For lie hath stolen a pax : — Holinshed makes the following 
 statement respecting the discipline kept up in this expedition : 
 " The poore people of the countrie were not spoiled, nor anie 
 thing taken of them without paiment, nor anie outrage or offense 
 doone by the Englishmen, except one, which was, that a souldier 
 tooke a pix out of a church, for which he was apprehended, and 
 the King not once remooved till the box was restored, and the 
 offendor strangled." Of course the Poet drew from this passage, 
 changing pix to pax, and assigning the theft to Bardolph. 
 
 147-174. Thou dost thy oflice, etc. : — The Poet here follows very 
 
 174
 
 KING HENRY V. Notes 
 
 close upon the chronicler: "And so Montjoy king at armes was 
 sent to the King of England, to defie him as the enemie of France, 
 and to tell him that he should shortlie have battell. King Henrie 
 answered, ' Mine intent is to doo as it pleaseth God : I will not 
 seeke your master at this time ; but if he or his seeke me, I will 
 meet with them, God willing. If anie of your nation attempt once 
 to stop me in my journie now towards Calls, at their jeopardie be 
 it; and yet I wish not anie of you so unadvised, as to be the occa- 
 sion that I die your tawnie ground with your red bloud ! ' When 
 he had thus answered the herald, he gave him a princelie reward, 
 and licence to depart." It was customary thus to reward heralds, 
 whatever might be the nature of their message. 
 
 Scene VII. 
 
 15. Pegasus: — The famous flying horse in old Greek tales. 
 Bellerophon used it to aid him in killing the chimera, a fire- 
 breathing monster, which, according to the myth, he slew by shoot- 
 ing arrows at it as he rode through the air on the horse. 
 
 22. Perseus : — Another hero of the Greek tales, who, as the 
 story has it, slew the terrible Gorgon Medusa, and also saved the 
 life of the maid Andromeda, when she had been left chained to a 
 rock, to be the prey of a sea-monster. 
 
 ACT FOURTH. 
 Prologue. 
 
 [Chorus.] Only one other drama entirely Shakespeare's — The 
 Winter's Tale — contains a chorus; and there it serves to announce 
 an interval of dramatic time far greater than the Poet has any- 
 where else approached. Except in this Act, the Chorus in Henry V. 
 announces only intervals of space or time — as a journey from 
 London to Southampton, from Southampton to Harfleur — and 
 other incidental matters. But the Chorus to Act IV. has no such 
 role to perform ; and this Chorus, splendid and high-wrought, 
 serves to show that Shakespeare introduced this machinery, not 
 for the sake of bridging intervals of time and space — which else- 
 where his audience unconcernedly crossed " with imagined wing " 
 — but as the most obvious means of bringing home the outward 
 semblance of an event of absorbing interest. In Coriolanus, in 
 
 175
 
 Notes THE LIFE OF 
 
 Antony and Cleopatra, there are brief bursts of battle-poetry ex- 
 ceeding in sublimity anything in Henry V . ; but that is chiefly be- 
 cause they are penetrated with a dramatic passion for which in 
 Henry V. there was simply no room. The subject was epic, and 
 Shakespeare fell back upon the epic poet's method. No scene in 
 the drama paints so vividly as a few lines in this Chorus the 
 transforming spell of the master presence, which made the handful 
 of worn-out men a weapon of adamant against the serried ranks of 
 chivalry. 
 
 13. closing rivets up : — This does not solely refer to the riveting 
 the plate armour before it was put on, but also to a part when it 
 was on. The top of the cuirass had a little projecting bit of iron 
 that passed through a hole pierced through the bottom of the 
 casque. When both were put on, the smith or armourer presented 
 himself, with his riveting hammer, to close the rivets up ; so that 
 the wearer's head should remain steady, notwithstanding the force 
 of any blow that might be given on the cuirass or helmet. 
 
 19. play at dice: — The Poet took this from Holinshed: "The 
 Frenchmen in the meane while, as though they had beene sure of 
 victorie, made great triumph ; for the capteins had determined how 
 to divide the spoile, and the soldiers the night before had plaid 
 the Englishmen at dice." 
 
 Scene I. 
 
 [King Henry.] Kenny, in treating upon the view which Shake- 
 speare's portrait of Henry V. gives us of the Poet's own character, 
 says : " Some of the continental critics think they can see that not 
 only was Henry V. Shakespeare's favourite hero, but that this is 
 the character, in all the Poet's dramas, which he himself most 
 nearly resembled. Many people will, perhaps, hardly be able to 
 refrain from a smile on hearing of this conjecture. We certainly 
 cannot see the slightest ground for its adoption. The whole his- 
 tory of Shakespeare's life, and the whole cast of Shakespeare's 
 genius, are opposed to this extravagant supposition. We have no 
 doubt that the Poet readily sympathized with the frank and gallant 
 bearing of the King. But we find no indication in all that we 
 know of his temperament, or of the impression which he produced 
 upon his contemporaries, of that firm, rigid, self-concentrated per- 
 sonality which distinguishes the born masters of mankind. Henry 
 V. was necessarily peremptory, designing, unwavering, energetic, 
 and self-willed; Shakespeare was flexible, changeful, meditative, 
 
 176
 
 KING HENRY V. Notes 
 
 sceptical, and self-distrustful. This was clearly the temperament 
 of the author of the sonnets ; it was too, we believe, not less clearly 
 the character of the wonderful observer and delineator of all the 
 phases of both tragic and comic passion, and it was, perhaps, in no 
 small degree, through the very variety of his emotional and im- 
 aginative sensibility, and the very absence of that completeness 
 and steadfastness of nature which his injudicious admirers now 
 claim for him, that he was enabled to become the great dramatic 
 poet of the world." 
 
 239 et seq. Johnson finds something very striking and solemn 
 in this soliloquy of King Henry, beginning as soon as he is left 
 alone. " Something like this," says Johnson, " every breast has 
 felt. Reflection and seriousness rush upon the mind upon the 
 separation of gay company, and especially after forced and un- 
 willing merriment." 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 [The French camp.] The one formidable rival of the King is 
 no single figure, but the " bad neighbour " at whom he dashes his 
 little force, the assembled power of France. And the French are 
 drawn collectively, in slightly modulated shades of the same con- 
 ventional hue. The brush which had painted the rival of Henry's 
 youth now dashes off with far less care and delicacy the foes of 
 his manhood. The vapouring chivalry, the fantastic self-conceit 
 which so fatally alloyed Hotspur's sturdy Saxon strength, reap- 
 pear with more of blatant flourish in men of finer wit but weaker 
 fibre. 
 
 16. yon poor and starved hand: — Holinshed gives the following 
 account of the march from Harfleur to Agincourt : " The Eng- 
 lishmen were brought into some distresse in this journie, by reason 
 of their vittels in maner spent, and no hope to get more ; for the 
 enemies had destroied all the corne before they came. Rest could 
 they none take, for their enemies with alarmes did ever so infest 
 them : dailie it rained, nightlie it freezed : of fuell there was great 
 scarsitie, of fluxes plentie : monie inough, but wares for their 
 releefe to bestowe it on had they none." 
 
 60,61. / stay hut for my guidon, etc.: — Thus in Holinshed: 
 " They thought themselves so sure of victorie, that diverse of the 
 noblemen made such hast toward the battell, that they left manie 
 of their servants and men of zvarre behind them, and some of 
 them would not once stale for their standards; as amongst other 
 
 IT/
 
 Notes THE LIFE OF 
 
 the Duke of Brabant, when his standard was not come, caused a 
 banner to be taken from a trumpet, and fastened to a speare, the 
 which he commanded to be borne before him, instead of his 
 standard." 
 
 Scene III. 
 
 21. To do our country loss: — Here again the Poet found some- 
 thing in the chronicler to work upon : " It is said that as he 
 heard one of the host utter his wish to another thus, ' I would to 
 God there were with us now so manie good soldiers as are at 
 this houre within England ! ' the King answered, I would not 
 wish a man more here than I have : we are indeed in comparison 
 of the enemies but a few, but, if God of his clemencie doo favour 
 us and our cause, as I trust he will, we shall speed well inough. 
 And if so be that for our oflfenses sakes we shall be delivered into 
 the hands of our enemies, the lesse number we be, the lesse dam- 
 age shall the realme of England susteine." 
 
 63. shall gentle his condition : — King Henry V. inhibited any 
 person, but such as had a right by inheritance or grant, from 
 bearing coats of arms, except those who fought with him at the 
 battle of Agincourt. 
 
 90 et seq. Of this second proposal for ransom Holinshed 
 speaks thus : " Here we may not forget how the French in their 
 jolitie sent an herald to King Henrie, to inquire what ransom he 
 would ofter. Whereunto he answered, that within two or three 
 houres he hoped it would so happen that the Frenchmen should 
 be glad to common rather with the Englishmen for their ransoms, 
 than the English to take thought for their deliverance, promising 
 for his owne part, that his dead carcasse should rather be a prize 
 to the Frenchmen, than that his living bodie should paie anie 
 ransome." 
 
 129. [York.'] This Edward Duke of York has already ap- 
 peared in Richard 11. as Duke of Aumerle. He was the son of 
 Edmund of Langley, the Duke of York of the same play, who 
 was the fourth son of King Edward HI. 
 
 Scene IV. 
 
 I et seq. It is consistent enough with the national and popular 
 design of the play that not a little of it should seem to be ad- 
 dressed to the common, uneducated public, as in this Scene, 
 
 178
 
 KING HENRY V. Notes 
 
 wherein the miserable blusterer Pistol makes prisoner a French 
 nobleman whom he has succeeded in overawing. 
 
 Scene V. 
 
 3. Mort de ma vie! — Coleridge says: "Ludicrous as these in- 
 troductory scraps of French appear, so instantly followed by good 
 nervous mother-English, yet they are judicious, and produce the 
 impression which Shakespeare intended — a sudden feeling struck 
 at once on the ears, as well as the eyes, of the audience, that ' here 
 come the French, the baffled French braggards ! ' And this will 
 appear still more judicious, when we reflect on the scanty ap- 
 paratus of distmguishing dresses in Shakespeare's trying-room." 
 
 Scene VI. 
 
 35. nezv ahrum : — " The multiplicity of battles in Henry V.," 
 says Campbell, " is a drawback on its value as an acting play ; for 
 battles are awkward things upon the stage. We forget this objec- 
 tion, however, in the reading of the play." 
 
 Scene VII. 
 
 6-10. iiie cozvardly rascals . . . throat: — This matter is 
 thus related by Holinshed : " While the battell thus continued, 
 certeine Frenchmen on horsseback, to the number of six hundred, 
 which were the first that fled, hearing that the English tents and 
 pavillions were without anie sufficient gard, entred upon the 
 King's campe, and there spoiled the hails, robbed the tents, brake 
 up chests, and carried awaie caskets, and slue such servants as 
 they found to make anie resistance. But when the outcrie of the 
 lackies and boies, which ran awaie for feare of the Frenchmen, 
 came to the King's eares, he, doubting least his enemies should 
 gather togither againe, and begin a new field, and mistrusting 
 further that the prisoners would be an aid to his enemies, or the 
 verie enemies to their takers in deed, if they were suffered to live, 
 contrarie to his accustomed gentleness, commanded by sound of 
 trumpet, that everie man, upon paine of death, should inconti- 
 nentlie slaie his prisoner." It appears afterwards, however, that 
 the King, finding the danger to be less than he at first thought, 
 stopped the slaughter, and was able to save a great number. It 
 
 179
 
 Notes THE LIFE OF 
 
 is observable that the King gives as his reason for the order, that 
 he expected another battle, and had not men enough to guard one 
 army and fight another. Gower here assigns a different reason. 
 Holinshed gives both reasons, and the Poet chose to put on*"- in 
 the King's mouth, the other in Gower's. 
 
 54. Falstaff : — Johnson observes that this is the last time Fal- 
 staff can make sport. The Poet was loath to part with him, and 
 has continued his memory as long as he> could. 
 
 93. Agincourt : — So the chronicler: "In the morning Montjoie 
 and foure other heralds came to the King, to know the number of 
 prisoners, and to desire buriall for the dead. Before he made 
 them answer, he demanded whie they made that request, consid- 
 ering that he knew not whether the victorie was his or theirs. 
 When Montjoie by true and just confession had cleered that 
 doubt, he desired to understand the name of the castell neere 
 adjoining: when they had told him that it was called Agincourt, 
 he said, Then shall this conflict be called the battell of Agin- 
 court." 
 
 161. dozvn together: — Henry was felled to the ground by the 
 Duke of Alengon, but recovered and slew two of the duke's at- 
 tendants. Alengon was afterwards killed by the King's guard, 
 contrary to Henry's intention, who wished to save him. 
 
 Scene VIII. 
 
 8. [Strikes him.] Fluellen gets a hearty box on the ear from 
 Williams, and prepares to return it with interest, giving loose to 
 his tongue in preparation. But even this imbroglio is fairly recon- 
 ciled by a few words of explanation, and with no loss of dignity 
 in any part. Williams sets his apparent insult to the King in its 
 natural light, and has from him a glove full of crowns, which he 
 well deserves, and an honourable distinction that he deserves still 
 better ; and Fluellen thinks no more of the blow, and has even 
 twelvepence to spare for the giver of it. who, however, knows 
 himself much too well to take it, and pitches it back. Thus we 
 are gradually carried forward and exercised in appreciating and 
 apprehending the shades and limits of forbearance and pusil- 
 lanimity, of the magnanimous and the overbearing, and enabled, 
 if we will but keep clear of false lights and vain prepossessions, 
 to receive the full effect of the scene that closes and completes 
 the martial play. 
 
 125. Do we all holy rites: — "The King," according to Holin- 
 
 180
 
 KING HENRY V. Notes 
 
 shed, " when he saw no appearance of enemies, caused the retreit 
 to be blowen ; and, gathering his army togither, gave thanks to 
 Almightie God for so happie a victorie, causing his prelats and 
 chapleins to sing this psalme, — In exitu Israel de Egypto ; and 
 commanded every man to kneele downe on the ground at this 
 verse, — Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tiio da glo- 
 riam. Which doone, he caused Te Deum with certeine anthems 
 to be soong, givmg laud and praise to God, without boasting of 
 his owne force or anie humane power." 
 
 ACT FIFTH. 
 Scene I. 
 
 21. the smell of leek : — "Ancient Pistol's mock at the quaint but 
 honourable badge of the odd-fashioned but valiant Welshman, 
 is invented." says Lloyd, " not without reference to the Dauphin's 
 mock with his tun of tennis-balls, on the strength of the seeming 
 frivolity of the wilder time of Prince Henry. Of such an offence 
 the punishment is much the same in either case, and the mouthing 
 braggart is roughly repaid with hard knocks first, and then with 
 humiliation in its bitterest form of forced acceptation of a kind- 
 ness. Fluellen, who took back his shilling from Williams and 
 forgave him the buffet, gives a sound thrashing to the contempt- 
 ible scoundrel who disgraces the profession of soldier, forces the 
 leek he jeered at down his throat, and makes him accept of a 
 groat to heal his pate. Pistol deserves all that he gets and more, 
 and it is the treatment such a character as he provokes, whether 
 deserving it or not ; it is a faint consideration in the Ancient's 
 favour, that he quarrels so pertinaciously with Fluellen from re- 
 sentment at his not saving his comrade Bardolph, good-for-little 
 wretch as he might be. But thus ends the memory of Falstaff 
 and his associates." 
 
 93. Johnson here remarks upon the comic scenes of Henry IV. 
 and Henry V. with a feeling which doubtless most readers will 
 share. Those scenes, he says, " are now at an end. and all the 
 comic personages are now dismissed. Falstaff and Mrs. Quickly 
 are dead; Nym and Bardolph are hanged; Gadshill was lost im- 
 mediately after the robbery ; Poins and Peto have vanished since, 
 one knows not how ; and Pistol is now beaten into obscurity. I 
 believe every reader regrets their departure." 
 
 181
 
 Notes THE LIFE OF 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 9-1 1. Right joyous, etc.: — In the fifth Act the French them- 
 selves seem to share in the exultation of England over their own 
 surrender. In painting Henry's own attitude towards the enemy, 
 however. Shakespeare's touch is not quite so firm as when he 
 limned Prince Hal. The speeches before Harfleur to Montjoy, 
 and after the battle, are hardly in keeping with the modesty of 
 true valour which makes him forbid the display of his bruised 
 helmet and bent sword in the London streets. 
 
 98 et seq. Fair Katharine, etc. : — In the scenes with Katharine, 
 and in the tone of Henry towards the French king and princes, 
 the old play exhibits its best in spirit and originality, and in 
 what is worthiest as leading the way to something that so far sur- 
 passed it. Henry, however, displays more simplicity and warm- 
 heartedness as a wooer, and Katharine more sensibility as well as 
 sense than were possible in Shakespeare's Henry V. without 
 marring the effect of all. Still it is very interesting to observe 
 by what slight strokes and changes the force of expression is now 
 modified and now reversed. Compare the following passages 
 from the old play with the final Scene of this : — 
 
 Henry 5 {alone.'] Ah Harry, thrice unhappy Harry, hast 
 thou now conquered the French king, and begins a fresh 
 supply with his daughter, but with what face canst thou 
 seek to gain her love, which hast sought to win her 
 father's crown? Her father's crown said I ? no it is mine 
 own : Ay, but I love her and must crave her. Nay, I love 
 her and will have her. 
 
 Enter Lady Katharine and her ladies. 
 
 But here she comes : how now, fair Katharine of France, 
 what news? 
 
 Kath. An it please your majesty, my father sent me to know 
 if you will debate (abate) any of these unreasonable de- 
 mands which 3'ou require. 
 
 Hen. 5. Now trust me Kate, I commend thy father's wit 
 greatly in this ; for none in the world could sooner have 
 made me debate it, if it were possible. But tell me, sweet 
 Kate, canst thou tell how to love? 
 
 Kath. I cannot hate, my good Lord; therefore far unfit were 
 it for me to love. 
 
 182
 
 KING HENRY V. Notes 
 
 Hen. 5. But Kate, tell me in plain terms, canst thou love the 
 king of England? I cannot do as these countries do, that 
 spend half their time in wooing : Tush, wench, I am 
 none such, but wilt thou go over to England? 
 
 Katli. I would to God that I had your Majesty as fast in love 
 as you have my father in wars ; I would not vouchsafe 
 so much as one look, until you had related (abated) all 
 these unreasonable demands. 
 
 Hen. Tush, Kate, I know thou wouldst not use me so hardly : 
 but tell me canst thou love the king of England? 
 
 Kath. How should I love him that hath dealt so hardly with 
 my father ? 
 
 Hen. But I '11 deal as easily with thee as thy heart can im- 
 agine or tongue require: how sayst thou; what will it be? 
 
 Kath. If I were of my own direction I could give you answer: 
 but seeing I stand at my father's direction, I must first 
 know his will. 
 
 Hen. But shall I have thy good will in the mean season? 
 
 Kath. Whereas I can put your Grace in no assurance, I would 
 be loth to put your Grace in any despair. 
 
 Hen. Now before God it is a sweet wench. 
 
 Kath. [aside.] I may think myself the happiest in the world 
 that is beloved of the mighty king of England. 
 
 Hen. Well Kate, are you at host with me? Sweet Kate, tell 
 your father from me that none in the world could sooner 
 have persuaded me to it than thou, and so tell thy father 
 from me. 
 
 Kath. God keep your Majesty in good health. [Exit. 
 
 Hen. [solus.] Farewell, sweet Kate, in faith it is a sweet 
 wench, but if I knew that I could not have her father's 
 good will. I would so rouse the towers over his ears that 
 I would make him glad to bring her to me upon his hands 
 and knees. [Exit. 
 
 » 
 393. [Exeunt.] The events mentioned in Scene ii. of this Act 
 
 appear to follow very closely upon Henry's return to England. 
 
 This is due to the compression of the narrative to suit it for the 
 
 stage. In 1417 the King had again landed in France, overrun 
 
 Normandy, and captured Rouen after a terrible siege. He was 
 
 aided by the Burgundians, after their duke's murder by agents of 
 
 the Dauphin ; this ended the struggle, and practically placed 
 
 France at the feet of the English sovereign. 
 
 183
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Questions on Henry V. 
 
 1. How was the Prologue delivered in Shakespeare's time? 
 
 2. Explain the allusions to the form of the Elizabethan play- 
 house in this Prologue. 
 
 3. What functions does the Chorus perform in this play? Is it 
 in any way similar to the Chorus of the Greek drama? 
 
 ACT FIRST. 
 
 4. What was the nature of the bill that the Archbishop of Can- 
 terbury and the Bishop of Ely discuss in the first Scene? What 
 would be its effect if passed? How do craft and chance serve to 
 turn aside attention from the bill? 
 
 5. How is the changed life of the King referred to? Does the 
 picture of the King as presented by the play confirm Canterbury's 
 opinions of his gifts in divinity, politics, war, and eloquence? 
 
 6. W^hat was the Salic law? How did it bar Henry from the 
 throne of France? By what arguments did the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury prove it inoperative in his case? 
 
 7. Do any of the higher motives lead Henry to contest his 
 right to the French throne? How sincere are Henry's conscien- 
 tious or religious scruples against a misapprehension of his dy- 
 nastic rights? 
 
 8. Has the insulting message and present of the French Dauphin 
 any effect in furnishing additional motive for war to what might 
 otherwise seem insufficient? What ground does Henry take in 
 his reply? Comment on Henrj^'s assumption that he is to be the 
 agent of God's vengeance on the sender of tennis-balls. 
 
 ACT SECOND. 
 
 9. What is the picture presented by the Prologue? What is the 
 conspiracy? What humorous allusion to the English Channel? 
 
 10. What new character is added to the group of Eastcheap? 
 
 184
 
 KING HENRY V. Questions 
 
 11. What phrase docs Nym use for all occasions? Indicate the 
 cause of his quarrel with Pistol? What kind of courage does each 
 possess? 
 
 12. How does Hostess Quickly estimate the courage of Nym? 
 
 13. What impression does one get of the end of Doll Tearsheet? 
 In addition to the reference to her, what facts point to the increas- 
 ing degradation of the group ? 
 
 14. What does Mrs. Quickly say about the cause of Falstaff's 
 illness? How does this incite to a higher regard for the knight? 
 
 15. How do the companions of Falstaff judge the King for his 
 treatment of the knight? 
 
 16. How in Sc. ii. are the conspirators detected? Is this event 
 presented in a manner adequate to its dramatic possibilities? 
 
 17. How are mercy and justice exhibited in contrast? 
 
 18. What opportunities for disloyalty had been offered to the 
 three conspirators? 
 
 19. What is your impression of the sermon Henry reads to 
 them? 
 
 20. On what ground does he base his reasons for their condem- 
 nation ? 
 
 21. How is Bardolph affected by the death of Falstaff? 
 
 22. Comment on the pathos of Hostess Quickly's account of 
 Falstaff's end. 
 
 23. What Psalm has been suggested as the subject of Falstaff's 
 words when, as Mrs. Quickly said, a' babbled of green fields? 
 
 24. What is Falstaff's last witticism on Bardolph? What is 
 Bardolph's reply? Have you discovered any higher trait in Bar- 
 dolph than his affection for his master? 
 
 25. Had Shakespeare promised that Sir John should appear in 
 this play? What probably induced him to leave the knight out? 
 
 26. Is the effect of pathos more moving than if Falstaff's death 
 had been enacted before the eyes of the spectator? 
 
 27. What is contributed to the action by Sc. iv.? WHiat is 
 the attitude of the French towards the invading army? What 
 serves to increase the impression of their fatuousness? 
 
 ACT THIRD. 
 
 28. What is foretold by the Prologue? How is the undramatic 
 nature of the play apologized for? 
 
 29. How does Shakespeare describe the frenzy of war in Sc. i.? 
 
 185
 
 Questions THE LIFE OF 
 
 30. What faint echo does one get of Falstaff in the speech of 
 the Boy, Sc. ii., lines 12, 13? 
 
 31. What view of Nym, Bardolph, and Pistol does the Boy fur- 
 nish? 
 
 32. What second set of humorous characters are brought upon 
 the scene? What is the idiosyncrasy of Fluellen? Is there shown 
 in the Welshman, the Scotsman, and the Irishman a differentiation 
 of national traits? 
 
 33. What new picture of the horrors of war is given in Henry's 
 speech (Sc. iii.) before the gates of Harfleur? 
 
 34. Where is the pusillanimity of the Dauphin first shown? 
 
 35. Indicate the implication of the lesson in English pursued by 
 Katharine in Sc. iv. Has there been any preparation for this 
 Scene? Critics have sometimes regarded this as silly: what im- 
 pression does the Scene make upon you? 
 
 36. How is the Frenchman's misapprehension of England shown 
 in Sc. v.? Who of the French is not deceived as to the English? 
 
 37. Why does Shakespeare introduce a long list of French 
 nobles who are to be sent into action? Where is the correlative 
 of this Scene? 
 
 38. By what means did Pistol succeed in deceiving Fluellen as 
 to his valour? What does this reveal of Fluellen? 
 
 39. Why would Fluellen not speak in behalf of Bardolph? 
 
 40. How is Henry made to condemn another of his old asso- 
 ciates? For what was Bardolph hanged? 
 
 41. What is the effect of the message (Sc. vi.) Montjoy brings 
 to Henry immediately upon Fluellen's account of the results of the 
 action at the bridge? 
 
 42. Speak of some qualities of the French displayed in Sc. vii. 
 What is the attitude of the Constable of France towards the Dau- 
 phin? What is the characteristic temper of the Constable of 
 France? 
 
 ACT FOURTH. 
 
 43. Comment on the philosophic tendencies of Henry's mind 
 as seen at the beginning of Sc. i. Judging from this and earlier 
 Scenes, do you think he sees clearly into facts? 
 
 44. What is argued of Henry's popularity that Pistol felt no 
 disposition to disparage him behind his back? How is Pistol's 
 degradation foreshadowed ? 
 
 45. What is Fluellen's hobby? Does the King rightly apprehend 
 (line 85) the cause of Fluellen's solicitude? 
 
 186
 
 KING HENRY V. Questions 
 
 46. State the propositions concerning the loyalty of the subject 
 and the responsibility of the King that Bates and Williams lay 
 before Henry. 
 
 47. Does Henry in his long reply miss the main point of their 
 question and argue only its corollary? Do the soldiers perceive 
 his fallacy? 
 
 48. What is the real motive for the quarrel between Henry and 
 Williams? 
 
 49. Have not the soldiers a higher conception of the kingly 
 responsibility, though only partially apprehended, than Henry 
 shows in the poetical soliloquy that follows the withdrawal of the 
 soldiers? Does Henry revert to some of his pre-kingly prejudices 
 in these words? How is his temper similar to his father's? 
 
 50. What new reflection moves him to the final invocation? 
 
 51. Note the effect of Sc. ii. in showing two points of view 
 among the French forces. Define them. 
 
 52. What is the tenour of Henry's harangue in Sc. iii.? Is any 
 colour lent to it by the reflections in Sc. i. ? 
 
 53. How does the speech of Henry towards the end of Sc. iii. 
 complete the impression of the inequalities of the forces in the 
 impending conflict? On the other hand, how is the feeling of 
 English success assured? 
 
 54. Why is there no battle-scene in a play that chiefly concerns 
 itself with the glorification of battle? What is the satirical pur- 
 pose (Sc. iv.) of the scene between Pistol and the French soldier? 
 What additional stroke is provided by the Boy in the closing 
 speech of the Scene? 
 
 55. Does Sc. v. arouse a feeling of sympathy for the French ? 
 How does Shakespeare depict them in disaster? 
 
 56. What was the probable fate of the Boy? How is the last 
 menrton made of Falstaff? 
 
 57. By what methods does the mind of Fluellen work? 
 
 58. How is the quarrel of Henry and Williams disposed of? 
 
 59. In the numbering of flic slaughter d French (Sc. viii.) how 
 many of those designated by the French king for battle were 
 found among the killed? 
 
 60. What impression do you derive of Henry's religiosity in his 
 thanks after the battle?* Does the dramatist so exhibit the facts 
 of the story as to lead the spectator to take the same point of 
 view that Henry does? If not, what is the irony intended by this 
 character? 
 
 t87
 
 Questions 
 
 ACT FIFTH. 
 
 6i. How do Pistol and Fluellen reach the consummation of 
 their respective courses in Sc. i.? 
 
 62. How is France pictured after the ravages of war? What is 
 the principal item in the terms of peace proposed by Henry? 
 
 63. Has Henry before (Sc. ii.) been presented in any attitude 
 of relationship to women? How does he bear himself as a lover? 
 Is Katharine carried by storm? Does the dramatist wish to point 
 the fact that brutal sincerity is admired especially by the most 
 delicate of women? 
 
 64. In the strict sense, is Henry V. a play? How would you 
 describe it? 
 
 65. Had Shakespeare any purpose such as exhibiting the men- 
 tal limitations of that class to whom military achievement and 
 fame are necessary and all-sufficient? 
 
 66. How may King Henry be viewed as a foil to Hamlet? 
 Which was nearer the heart of the Poet? 
 
 67. To what degree does Henry possess the following qualities : 
 courage, pity, piety, sentiment, delicacy, melancholy? 
 
 68. In what respects does he differ from the Prince Hal of 
 Henry /F. In his habits of life, freedom of intercourse, does he 
 suggest the earlier life? 
 
 69. Does Shakespeare produce an effect of pity and terror in 
 the fates he assigns to the Eastcheap group? 
 
 70. Compare Fluellen as a humorous creation with ^len dower 
 of Henry IV. 
 
 yi. Mention some passages especially notable for poetic fervour; 
 some that exhibit extraordinary powers of observation. 
 
 188
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-LOS ANGELES 
 
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