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The Life of Henry the Fifth

by William Shakespeare

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1-1

CANTERBURY

1My lord, I'll tell you; that self bill is urged,

2Which in the eleventh year of the last king's reign

3Was like, and had indeed against us pass'd,

4But that the scambling and unquiet time

5Did push it out of farther question.

ELY

6But how, my lord, shall we resist it now?

CANTERBURY

7It must be thought on. If it pass against us,

8We lose the better half of our possession:

9For all the temporal lands which men devout

10By testament have given to the church

11Would they strip from us;

19thus runs the bill.

ELY

20This would drink deep.

CANTERBURY

21'Twould drink the cup and all.

ELY

22But what prevention?

CANTERBURY

23The king is full of grace and fair regard.

ELY

24And a true lover of the holy church.

CANTERBURY

25The courses of his youth promised it not.

26The breath no sooner left his father's body,

27But that his wildness, mortified in him,

28Seem'd to die too; yea, at that very moment

29Consideration, like an angel, came

30And whipp'd the offending Adam out of him,

33Never was such a sudden scholar made;

34Never came reformation in a flood,

38As in this king.

ELY

39We are blessed in the change.

CANTERBURY

56Since his addiction was to courses vain,

57His companies unletter'd, rude and shallow,

58His hours fill'd up with riots, banquets, sports,

59And never noted in him any study,

ELY

65And so the prince obscured his contemplation

66Under the veil of wildness; which, no doubt,

67Grew like the summer grass, fastest by night,

ELY

72But, my good lord,

73How now for mitigation of this bill

74Urged by the commons? Doth his majesty

75Incline to it, or no?

CANTERBURY

76He seems indifferent,

77Or rather swaying more upon our part

79For I have made an offer to his majesty,

83As touching France, to give a greater sum

84Than ever at one time the clergy yet

85Did to his predecessors part withal.

ELY

86How did this offer seem received, my lord?

CANTERBURY

87With good acceptance of his majesty;

88Save that there was not time enough to hear,

89As I perceived his grace would fain have done,

91Of his true titles to some certain dukedoms

92And generally to the crown and seat of France

93Derived from Edward, his great-grandfather.

ELY

94What was the impediment that broke this off?

CANTERBURY

95The French ambassador upon that instant

96Craved audience; and the hour, I think, is come

97To give him hearing: is it four o'clock?

ELY

98It is.

CANTERBURY

99Then go we in, to know his embassy;

100Which I could with a ready guess declare,

101Before the Frenchman speak a word of it.

ELY

102I'll wait upon you, and I long to hear it.

1-2

KING HENRY V

1Where is my gracious Lord of Canterbury?

EXETER

2Not here in presence.

KING HENRY V

3Send for him, good uncle.

WESTMORELAND

4Shall we call in the ambassador, my liege?

KING HENRY V

5Not yet, my cousin: we would be resolved,

6Before we hear him, of some things of weight

7That task our thoughts, concerning us and France.

CANTERBURY

8God and his angels guard your sacred throne

9And make you long become it!

KING HENRY V

10Sure, we thank you.

11My learned lord, we pray you to proceed

12And justly and religiously unfold

13Why the law Salique that they have in France

14Or should, or should not, bar us in our claim:

24How you awake our sleeping sword of war:

25We charge you, in the name of God, take heed;

26For never two such kingdoms did contend

27Without much fall of blood; whose guiltless drops

30That make such waste in brief mortality.

CANTERBURY

35Then hear me, gracious sovereign, and you peers,

36That owe yourselves, your lives and services

37To this imperial throne. There is no bar

38To make against your highness' claim to France

39But this, which they produce from Pharamond,

40'In terram Salicam mulieres ne succedant:'

41'No woman shall succeed in Salique land:'

42Which Salique land the French unjustly gloze

43To be the realm of France,

45Yet their own authors faithfully affirm

46That the land Salique is in Germany,

47Between the floods of Sala and of Elbe;

48Where Charles the Great, having subdued the Saxons,

49There left behind and settled certain French;

50Who, holding in disdain the German women

51For some dishonest manners of their life,

52Establish'd then this law; to wit, no female

53Should be inheritrix in Salique land:

54Which Salique, as I said, 'twixt Elbe and Sala,

55Is at this day in Germany call'd Meisen.

56Then doth it well appear that Salique law

57Was not devised for the realm of France:

58Nor did the French possess the Salique land

59Until four hundred one and twenty years

60After defunction of King Pharamond,

61Idly supposed the founder of this law;

67King Pepin, which deposed Childeric,

68Did, as heir general, being descended

69Of Blithild, which was daughter to King Clothair,

70Make claim and title to the crown of France.

71Hugh Capet also, who usurped the crown

72Of Charles the duke of Lorraine, sole heir male

73Of the true line and stock of Charles the Great,

81Could not keep quiet in his conscience,

82Wearing the crown of France, till satisfied

83That fair Queen Isabel, his grandmother,

84Was lineal of the Lady Ermengare,

85Daughter to Charles the foresaid duke of Lorraine:

88So that, as clear as is the summer's sun.

90all

91hold in right and title of the female:

92So do the kings of France unto this day;

93Howbeit they would hold up this Salique law

94To bar your highness claiming from the female,

KING HENRY V

98May I with right and conscience make this claim?

CANTERBURY

99The sin upon my head, dread sovereign!

100For in the book of Numbers is it writ,

101When the man dies, let the inheritance

102Descend unto the daughter. Gracious lord,

103Stand for your own;

104Look back into your mighty ancestors:

105Go, my dread lord, to your great-grandsire's tomb,

106From whom you claim; invoke his warlike spirit,

107And your great-uncle's, Edward the Black Prince,

EXETER

124Your brother kings and monarchs of the earth

125Do all expect that you should rouse yourself,

126As did the former lions of your blood.

WESTMORELAND

127They know your grace hath cause and means and might;

128So hath your highness; never king of England

129Had nobles richer and more loyal subjects,

130Whose hearts have left their bodies here in England

131And lie pavilion'd in the fields of France.

CANTERBURY

132O, let their bodies follow, my dear liege,

133With blood and sword and fire to win your right;

134In aid whereof we of the spiritualty

135Will raise your highness such a mighty sum

136As never did the clergy at one time

137Bring in to any of your ancestors.

KING HENRY V

224Call in the messengers sent from the Dauphin.

225Now are we well resolved; and, by God's help,

226And yours, the noble sinews of our power,

227France being ours, we'll bend it to our awe,

231Or lay these bones in an unworthy urn,

232Tombless, with no remembrance over them:

237Now are we well prepared to know the pleasure

238Of our fair cousin Dauphin; for we hear

239Your greeting is from him, not from the king.

FIRST AMBASSADOR

240May't please your majesty to give us leave

241Freely to render what we have in charge;

242Or shall we sparingly show you far off

243The Dauphin's meaning and our embassy?

KING HENRY V

244We are no tyrant, but a Christian king;

247Therefore with frank and with uncurbed plainness

248Tell us the Dauphin's mind.

FIRST AMBASSADOR

249Thus, then, in few.

250Your highness, lately sending into France,

251Did claim some certain dukedoms, in the right

252Of your great predecessor, King Edward the Third.

253In answer of which claim, the prince our master

254Says that you savour too much of your youth,

258He therefore sends you, meeter for your spirit,

259This tun of treasure; and, in lieu of this,

260Desires you let the dukedoms that you claim

261Hear no more of you. This the Dauphin speaks.

KING HENRY V

262What treasure, uncle?

EXETER

263Tennis-balls, my liege.

KING HENRY V

264We are glad the Dauphin is so pleasant with us;

265His present and your pains we thank you for:

266When we have march'd our rackets to these balls,

267We will, in France, by God's grace, play a set

268Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard.

269Tell him he hath made a match with such a wrangler

270That all the courts of France will be disturb'd

271With chaces. And we understand him well,

272How he comes o'er us with our wilder days,

273Not measuring what use we made of them.

278But tell the Dauphin I will keep my state,

279Be like a king and show my sail of greatness

280When I do rouse me in my throne of France:

286And tell the pleasant prince this mock of his

287Hath turn'd his balls to gun-stones; and his soul

288Shall stand sore charged for the wasteful vengeance

289That shall fly with them: for many a thousand widows

290Shall this his mock mock out of their dear husbands;

291Mock mothers from their sons, mock castles down;

292And some are yet ungotten and unborn

293That shall have cause to curse the Dauphin's scorn.

294But this lies all within the will of God,

295To whom I do appeal; and in whose name

296Tell you the Dauphin I am coming on,

297To venge me as I may and to put forth

298My rightful hand in a well-hallow'd cause.

299So get you hence in peace; and tell the Dauphin

300His jest will savour but of shallow wit,

301When thousands weep more than did laugh at it.

302Convey them with safe conduct. Fare you well.

EXETER

303This was a merry message.

KING HENRY V

304We hope to make the sender blush at it.

309Therefore let our proportions for these wars

310Be soon collected and all things thought upon

311That may with reasonable swiftness add

312More feathers to our wings; for, God before,

313We'll chide this Dauphin at his father's door.

2-1

BARDOLPH

1Well met, Corporal Nym.

NYM

2Good morrow, Lieutenant Bardolph.

BARDOLPH

3What, are Ancient Pistol and you friends yet?

NYM

4For my part, I care not: I say little; but when

5time shall serve,

BARDOLPH

11I will bestow a breakfast to make you friends; and

12we'll be all three sworn brothers to France: let it

13be so, good Corporal Nym.

BARDOLPH

18It is certain, corporal, that he is married to Nell

19Quickly: and certainly she did you wrong; for you

20were troth-plight to her.

NYM

21things must be as they may: men may

22sleep, and they may have their throats about them at

23that time; and some say knives have edges.

25Well, I

26cannot tell.

BARDOLPH

27Here comes Ancient Pistol and his wife: good

28corporal, be patient here.

NYM

29How now, mine host Pistol!

PISTOL

30Base tike, call'st thou me host? Now, by this hand,

31I swear, I scorn the term; Nor shall my Nell keep lodgers.

HOSTESS

32No, by my troth, not long; for we cannot lodge and

33board a dozen or fourteen gentlewomen that live

34honestly by the prick of their needles, but it will

35be thought we keep a bawdy house straight.

36O well a day, Lady,we

37shall see wilful adultery and murder committed.

BARDOLPH

38Good lieutenant! good corporal! offer nothing here.

NYM

39Pish!

PISTOL

40Pish for thee, Iceland dog! thou prick-ear'd cur of Iceland!

HOSTESS

41Good Corporal Nym, show thy valour, and put up your sword.

NYM

42Will you shog off?

PISTOL

49I can take, and Pistol's cock is up,

50And flashing fire will follow.

NYM

55I would prick your guts a little,

BARDOLPH

60Hear me, hear me what I say: he that strikes the

61first stroke, I'll run him up to the hilts, as I am a soldier.

PISTOL

62An oath of mickle might; and fury shall abate.

NYM

65I will cut thy throat, one time or other, in fair

66terms: that is the humour of it.

PISTOL

69O hound of Crete, think'st thou my spouse to get?

74I have, and I will hold, the quondam Quickly

75there's enough. Go to.

BOY

76Mine host Pistol, you must come to my master, and

77you, hostess: he is very sick, and would to bed.

78Good Bardolph, put thy face between his sheets, and

79do the office of a warming-pan. Faith, he's very ill.

BARDOLPH

80Away, you rogue!

HOSTESS

81By my troth,

82The king has killed his heart. Good

83husband, come home presently.

BARDOLPH

84Come, shall I make you two friends? We must to

85France together: why the devil should we keep

86knives to cut one another's throats?

PISTOL

87Let floods o'erswell, and fiends for food howl on!

NYM

88You'll pay me the eight shillings I won of you at betting?

PISTOL

89Base is the slave that pays.

NYM

90That now I will have: that's the humour of it.

PISTOL

91As manhood shall compound: push home.

BARDOLPH

92By this sword, he that makes the first thrust, I'll

93kill him; by this sword, I will.

PISTOL

94Sword is an oath, and oaths must have their course.

BARDOLPH

95Corporal Nym, an thou wilt be friends, be friends:

96an thou wilt not, why, then, be enemies with me too.

97Prithee, put up.

HOSTESS

109As ever you came of women, come in quickly to Sir

110John.he is so shaked of a burning

111quotidian tertian, that it is most lamentable to

112behold. Sweet men, come to him.

NYM

113The king hath run bad humours on the knight;

PISTOL

115Nym, thou hast spoke the right;

116His heart is fracted and corroborate.

NYM

117The king is a good king: but it must be as it may;

118he passes some humours

PISTOL

119Let us condole the knight; for, lambkins we will live.

2-2

KING HENRY V

12Now sits the wind fair,

KING HENRY V

39Uncle of Exeter,

40Enlarge the man committed yesterday,

41That rail'd against our person: we consider

42it was excess of wine that set him on;

43And on his more advice we pardon him.

SCROOP

44That's mercy, but too much security:

45Let him be punish'd, sovereign, lest example

46Breed, by his sufferance, more of such a kind.

KING HENRY V

47O, let us yet be merciful.

KING HENRY V

188We doubt not now

189But every rub is smoothed on our way.

190Then forth, dear countrymen: let us deliver

191Our puissance into the hand of God,

192Putting it straight in expedition.

193Cheerly to sea; the signs of war advance:

194No king of England, if not king of France.

2-3

HOSTESS

1Prithee, honey-sweet husband, let me bring thee to Staines.

PISTOL

2No; for my manly heart doth yearn.

3Bardolph, be blithe: Nym, rouse thy vaunting veins:

4Boy, bristle thy courage up; for Falstaff he is dead,

5And we must yearn therefore.

BARDOLPH

6Would I were with him, wheresome'er he is, either in

7heaven or in hell!

HOSTESS

8Nay, sure, he's not in hell: he's in Arthur's

9bosom, if ever man went to Arthur's bosom. A' made

10a finer end and went away an it had been any

11christom child; a' parted even just between twelve

12and one, even at the turning o' the tide: for after

13I saw him fumble with the sheets and play with

14flowers and smile upon his fingers' ends, I knew

15there was but one way; for his nose was as sharp as

16a pen, and a' babbled of green fields. 'How now,

17sir John!' quoth I 'what, man! be o' good

18cheer.' So a' cried out 'God, God, God!' three or

19four times. Now I, to comfort him, bid him a'

20should not think of God; I hoped there was no need

21to trouble himself with any such thoughts yet. So

22a' bade me lay more clothes on his feet: I put my

23hand into the bed and felt them, and they were as

24cold as any stone; then I felt to his knees, and

25they were as cold as any stone, and so upward and

26upward, and all was as cold as any stone.

NYM

27They say he cried out of sack.

HOSTESS

28Ay, that a' did.

BARDOLPH

29And of women.

HOSTESS

30Nay, that a' did not.

BOY

31Yes, that a' did; and said they were devils

32incarnate.

BOY

35A' said once, the devil would have him about women.

HOSTESS

36A' did in some sort, indeed, handle women; but then

37he was rheumatic, and talked of the whore of Babylon.

BOY

38Do you not remember, a' saw a flea stick upon

39Bardolph's nose, and a' said it was a black soul

40burning in hell-fire?

BARDOLPH

41Well, the fuel is gone that maintained that fire:

42that's all the riches I got in his service.

NYM

43Shall we shog? the king will be gone from

44Southampton.

PISTOL

45Come, let's away. My love, give me thy lips.

46Look to my chattels and my movables:

52Go, clear thy crystals. Yoke-fellows in arms,

53Let us to France; like horse-leeches, my boys,

54To suck, to suck, the very blood to suck!

PISTOL

56Touch her soft mouth, and march.

BARDOLPH

57Farewell, hostess.

NYM

58I cannot kiss, that is the humour of it; but, adieu.

PISTOL

59Let housewifery appear: keep close, I thee command.

2-4

FRENCH KING

1Thus comes the English with full power upon us;

2And more than carefully it us concerns

3To answer royally in our defences.

4Therefore the Dukes of Berri and of Bretagne,

5Of Brabant and of Orleans, shall make forth,

6And you, Prince Dauphin, with all swift dispatch,

7To line and new repair our towns of war

8With men of courage and with means defendant;

DAUPHIN

15My most redoubted father,

16It is most meet we arm us 'gainst the foe;

24And let us do it with no show of fear;

25No, with no more than if we heard that England

26Were busied with a Whitsun morris-dance:

27For, my good liege, she is so idly king'd,

29By a vain, giddy, shallow, humorous youth,

30That fear attends her not.

CONSTABLE

31O peace, Prince Dauphin!

32You are too much mistaken in this king:

33Question your grace the late ambassadors,

34With what great state he heard their embassy,

35How well supplied with noble counsellors,

37How terrible in constant resolution,

DAUPHIN

43Well, 'tis not so, my lord high constable;

44But though we think it so, it is no matter:

45In cases of defence 'tis best to weigh

46The enemy more mighty than he seems:

FRENCH KING

54And he is bred out of that bloody strain

55That haunted us in our familiar paths:

57When Cressy battle fatally was struck,

58And all our princes captiv'd by the hand

59Of that black name, Edward, Black Prince of Wales;

65This is a stem

66Of that victorious stock; and let us fear

67The native mightiness and fate of him.

MESSENGER

68Ambassadors from Harry King of England

69Do crave admittance to your majesty.

FRENCH KING

70We'll give them present audience. Go, and bring them.

DAUPHIN

74Good my sovereign,

75Take up the English short, and let them know

76Of what a monarchy you are the head:

77Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin

78As self-neglecting.

FRENCH KING

79From our brother England?

EXETER

80From him; and thus he greets your majesty.

81He wills you, in the name of God Almighty,

82That you divest yourself, and lay apart

83The borrow'd glories that by gift of heaven,

84By law of nature and of nations, 'long

85To him and to his heirs; namely, the crown

94Willing to overlook this pedigree:

95And when you find him evenly derived

96From his most famed of famous ancestors,

97Edward the Third, he bids you then resign

98Your crown and kingdom, indirectly held

99From him the native and true challenger.

FRENCH KING

100Or else what follows?

EXETER

101Bloody constraint; for if you hide the crown

102Even in your hearts, there will he rake for it:

103Therefore in fierce tempest is he coming,

104In thunder and in earthquake, like a Jove,

105That, if requiring fail, he will compel;

114This is his claim, his threatening and my message;

115Unless the Dauphin be in presence here,

116To whom expressly I bring greeting too.

FRENCH KING

117For us, we will consider of this further:

118To-morrow shall you bear our full intent

119Back to our brother England.

DAUPHIN

120For the Dauphin,

121I stand here for him: what to him from England?

EXETER

122Scorn and defiance; slight regard, contempt,

123And any thing that may not misbecome

124The mighty sender, doth he prize you at.

125Thus says my king; an' if your father's highness

126Do not, in grant of all demands at large,

127Sweeten the bitter mock you sent his majesty,

EXETER

137He'll make your Paris Louvre shake for it,

FRENCH KING

145To-morrow shall you know our mind at full.

EXETER

146Dispatch us with all speed, lest that our king

147Come here himself to question our delay;

3-1

KING HENRY V

1Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;

2Or close the wall up with our English dead.

3In peace there's nothing so becomes a man

4As modest stillness and humility:

5But when the blast of war blows in our ears,

6Then imitate the action of the tiger;

7Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,

8Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;

9Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;

10Let pry through the portage of the head

11Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it

12As fearfully as doth a galled rock

13O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,

14Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.

15Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,

16Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit

17To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.

18Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!

19Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,

20Have in these parts from morn till even fought

21And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:

22Dishonour not your mothers; now attest

23That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.

24Be copy now to men of grosser blood,

25And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,

26Whose limbs were made in England, show us here

27The mettle of your pasture; let us swear

28That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;

29For there is none of you so mean and base,

30That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.

31I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,

32Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:

33Follow your spirit, and upon this charge

34Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'

3-2

BARDOLPH

1On, on, on, on, on! to the breach, to the breach!

NYM

2Pray thee, corporal, stay: the knocks are too hot;

PISTOL

7Knocks go and come; God's vassals drop and die;

8And sword and shield,

9In bloody field,

10Doth win immortal fame.

BOY

11Would I were in an alehouse in London! I would give

12all my fame for a pot of ale and safety.

FLUELLEN

19Up to the breach, you dogs! avaunt, you cullions!

PISTOL

20Be merciful, great duke, to men of mould.

21Abate thy rage, abate thy manly rage,

22Abate thy rage

GOWER

53Captain Fluellen, you must come presently to the

54mines; the Duke of Gloucester would speak with you.

FLUELLEN

55To the mines! tell you the duke, it is not so good

56to come to the mines; for, look you, the mines is

57not according to the disciplines of the war: the

58concavities of it is not sufficient; for, look you,

59the athversary, you may discuss unto the duke, look

60you, is digt himself four yard under the

61countermines: by Cheshu, I think a' will plough up

62all, if there is not better directions.

GOWER

63The Duke of Gloucester, to whom the order of the

64siege is given, is altogether directed by an

65Irishman, a very valiant gentleman, i' faith.

FLUELLEN

66It is Captain Macmorris, is it not?

GOWER

67I think it be.

FLUELLEN

68By Cheshu, he is an ass, as in the world: I will

69verify as much in his beard: he has no more

70directions in the true disciplines of the wars, look

71you, of the Roman disciplines, than is a puppy-dog.

GOWER

72Here a' comes; and the Scots captain, Captain Jamy, with him.

FLUELLEN

73Captain Jamy is a marvellous falourous gentleman,

74that is certain; and of great expedition and

75knowledge in th' aunchient wars

JAMY

80I say gud-day, Captain Fluellen.

FLUELLEN

81God-den to your worship, good Captain James.

GOWER

82How now, Captain Macmorris! have you quit the

83mines? have the pioneers given o'er?

MACMORRIS

84By Chrish, la! tish ill done:

85over, the trompet sound the retreat. By my hand, I

86swear, and my father's soul, the work ish ill done;

87it ish give over: I would have blowed up the town, so

88Chrish save me, la! in an hour: O, tish ill done,

89tish ill done; by my hand, tish ill done!

FLUELLEN

90Captain Macmorris, I beseech you now, will you

91voutsafe me, look you, a few disputations with you,

94partly to

95satisfy my opinion, and partly for the satisfaction,

96look you, of my mind, as touching the direction of

97the military discipline; that is the point.

JAMY

98It sall be vary gud, gud feith, gud captains bath:

MACMORRIS

101It is no time to discourse, so Chrish save me: the

102day is hot, and the weather, and the wars, and the

103king, and the dukes: it is no time to discourse. The

104town is beseeched, and the trumpet call us to the

105breach; and we talk, and, be Chrish, do nothing:

106'tis shame for us all: so God sa' me, 'tis shame to

107stand still; it is shame, by my hand: and there is

108throats to be cut, and works to be done; and there

109ish nothing done, so Chrish sa' me, la!

JAMY

110By the mess, ere theise eyes of mine take themselves

111to slomber, ay'll de gud service, or ay'll lig i'

112the grund for it; ay, or go to death; and ay'll pay

113't as valourously as I may, that sall I suerly do,

114that is the breff and the long.I wad full

115fain hear some question 'tween you tway.

FLUELLEN

116Captain Macmorris, I think, look you, under your

117correction, there is not many of your nation--

MACMORRIS

118Of my nation! What ish my nation? Ish a villain,

119and a bastard, and a knave, and a rascal. What ish

120my nation? Who talks of my nation?

FLUELLEN

121Look you, if you take the matter otherwise than is

122meant, Captain Macmorris, peradventure I shall think

123you do not use me with that affability as in

124discretion you ought to use me, look you: being as

125good a man as yourself, both in the disciplines of

126war, and in the derivation of my birth, and in

127other particularities.

MACMORRIS

128I do not know you so good a man as myself: so

129Chrish save me, I will cut off your head.

GOWER

130Gentlemen both, you will mistake each other.

JAMY

131A! that's a foul fault.

GOWER

132The town sounds a parley.

3-3

KING HENRY V

1How yet resolves the governor of the town?

2This is the latest parle we will admit;

GOVERNOR

44Our expectation hath this day an end:

45The Dauphin, whom of succors we entreated,

46Returns us that his powers are yet not ready

47To raise so great a siege. Therefore, great king,

48We yield our town and lives to thy soft mercy.

49Enter our gates; dispose of us and ours;

50For we no longer are defensible.

KING HENRY V

51Open your gates. Come, uncle Exeter,

52Go you and enter Harfleur; there remain,

53And fortify it strongly 'gainst the French:

54Use mercy to them all. For us, dear uncle,

55The winter coming on and sickness growing

56Upon our soldiers, we will retire to Calais.

57To-night in Harfleur we will be your guest;

58To-morrow for the march are we addrest.

3-4

KATHARINE

1Alice, tu as ete en Angleterre, et tu parles bien le langage.

ALICE

2Un peu, madame.

KATHARINE

3Je te prie, m'enseignez: il faut que j'apprenne a

4parler. Comment appelez-vous la main en Anglois?

ALICE

5La main? elle est appelee de hand.

KATHARINE

6De hand. Et les doigts?

ALICE

7Les doigts? ma foi, j'oublie les doigts; mais je me

8souviendrai. Les doigts? je pense qu'ils sont

9appeles de fingres; oui, de fingres.

KATHARINE

10La main, de hand; les doigts, de fingres. Je pense

11que je suis le bon ecolier; j'ai gagne deux mots

12d'Anglois vitement. Comment appelez-vous les ongles?

ALICE

13Les ongles? nous les appelons de nails.

KATHARINE

14De nails. Ecoutez; dites-moi, si je parle bien: de

15hand, de fingres, et de nails.

ALICE

16C'est bien dit, madame; il est fort bon Anglois.

KATHARINE

17Dites-moi l'Anglois pour le bras.

ALICE

18De arm, madame.

KATHARINE

19Et le coude?

ALICE

20De elbow.

KATHARINE

21De elbow. Je m'en fais la repetition de tous les

22mots que vous m'avez appris des a present.

ALICE

23Il est trop difficile, madame, comme je pense.

KATHARINE

24Excusez-moi, Alice; ecoutez: de hand, de fingres,

25de nails, de arma, de bilbow.

ALICE

26De elbow, madame.

KATHARINE

27O Seigneur Dieu, je m'en oublie! de elbow. Comment

28appelez-vous le col?

ALICE

29De neck, madame.

KATHARINE

30De nick. Et le menton?

ALICE

31De chin.

KATHARINE

32De sin. Le col, de nick; de menton, de sin.

ALICE

33Oui. Sauf votre honneur, en verite, vous prononcez

34les mots aussi droit que les natifs d'Angleterre.

KATHARINE

35Je ne doute point d'apprendre, par la grace de Dieu,

36et en peu de temps.

ALICE

37N'avez vous pas deja oublie ce que je vous ai enseigne?

KATHARINE

38Non, je reciterai a vous promptement: de hand, de

39fingres, de mails--

ALICE

40De nails, madame.

KATHARINE

41De nails, de arm, de ilbow.

ALICE

42de elbow.

KATHARINE

43Ainsi dis-je; de elbow, de nick, et de sin. Comment

44appelez-vous le pied et la robe?

ALICE

45De foot, madame; et de coun.

KATHARINE

46De foot et de coun! O Seigneur Dieu! ce sont mots

47de son mauvais, corruptible, gros, et impudique, et

48non pour les dames d'honneur d'user: je ne voudrais

49prononcer ces mots devant les seigneurs de France

50pour tout le monde. Foh! le foot et le coun!

51Neanmoins, je reciterai une autre fois ma lecon

52ensemble: de hand, de fingres, de nails, de arm, de

53elbow, de nick, de sin, de foot, de coun.

ALICE

54Excellent, madame!

KATHARINE

55C'est assez pour une fois: allons-nous a diner.

3-5

FRENCH KING

1'Tis certain he hath pass'd the river Somme.

CONSTABLE

2And if he be not fought withal, my lord,

3Let us not live in France; let us quit all

4And give our vineyards to a barbarous people.

BOURBON

10Normans, but bastard Normans, Norman bastards!

11if they march along

12Unfought withal, but I will sell my dukedom,

13To buy a slobbery and a dirty farm

14In that nook-shotten isle of Albion.

CONSTABLE

15Dieu de batailles! where have they this mettle?

16Is not their climate foggy, raw and dull,

17On whom, as in despite, the sun looks pale,

18Killing their fruit with frowns?

21And shall our quick blood, spirited with wine,

22Seem frosty?

DAUPHIN

27By faith and honour,

28Our madams mock at us, and plainly say

29Our mettle is bred out and they will give

30Their bodies to the lust of English youth

31To new-store France with bastard warriors.

FRENCH KING

36Where is Montjoy the herald? speed him hence:

37Let him greet England with our sharp defiance.

38Up, princes! and, with spirit of honour edged

48Bar Harry England, that sweeps through our land

49With pennons painted in the blood of Harfleur:

53Go down upon him, you have power enough,

54And in a captive chariot into Rouen

55Bring him our prisoner.

CONSTABLE

56This becomes the great.

57Sorry am I his numbers are so few,

58His soldiers sick and famish'd in their march,

59For I am sure, when he shall see our army,

60He'll drop his heart into the sink of fear

61And for achievement offer us his ransom.

FRENCH KING

62Therefore, lord constable, haste on Montjoy.

65Prince Dauphin, you shall stay with us in Rouen.

DAUPHIN

66Not so, I do beseech your majesty.

FRENCH KING

67Be patient, for you shall remain with us.

68Now forth, lord constable and princes all,

69And quickly bring us word of England's fall.

3-6

GOWER

66Why, 'tis a gull, a fool, a rogue, that now and then

67goes to the wars, to grace himself at his return

68into London under the form of a soldier.

75and what

76of

77the camp will do among foaming bottles and

78ale-washed wits, is wonderful to be thought on.

MONTJOY

114You know me by my habit.

KING HENRY V

115Well then I know thee: what shall I know of thee?

MONTJOY

116My master's mind.

KING HENRY V

117Unfold it.

MONTJOY

118Thus says my king: Say thou to Harry of England:

119Though we seemed dead, we did but sleep:

120Tell him we

121could have rebuked him at Harfleur, but that we

122thought not good to bruise an injury till it were

123full ripe: now we speak upon our cue, and our voice

124is imperial: England shall repent his folly, see

125his weakness, and admire our sufferance. Bid him

126therefore consider of his ransom; which must

127proportion the losses we have borne, the subjects we

128the disgrace we have digested;

130For our losses, his exchequer is too poor; for the

131effusion of our blood, the muster of his kingdom too

132faint a number; and for our disgrace, his own

133person, kneeling at our feet, but a weak and

134worthless satisfaction. To this add defiance: and

135tell him, for conclusion, he hath betrayed his

136followers, whose condemnation is pronounced. So far

137my king and master; so much my office.

KING HENRY V

138What is thy name? I know thy quality.

MONTJOY

139Montjoy.

KING HENRY V

140Thou dost thy office fairly. Turn thee back.

141And tell thy king I do not seek him now;

142But could be willing to march on to Calais

143Without impeachment: for, to say the sooth,

146My people are with sickness much enfeebled,

147My numbers lessened,

154Go therefore, tell thy master here I am;

155My ransom is this frail and worthless trunk,

156My army but a weak and sickly guard;

157Yet, God before, tell him we will come on,

158Though France himself and such another neighbour

159Stand in our way. There's for thy labour, Montjoy.

161If we may pass, we will; if we be hinder'd,

162We shall your tawny ground with your red blood

163Discolour: and so Montjoy, fare you well.

165We would not seek a battle, as we are;

166Nor, as we are, we say we will not shun it:

167So tell your master.

MONTJOY

168I shall deliver so. Thanks to your highness.

KING HENRY V

171March to the bridge; it now draws toward night:

172Beyond the river we'll encamp ourselves,

173And on to-morrow, bid them march away.

3-7

CONSTABLE

1Tut! I have the best armour of the world. Would it were day!

ORLEANS

2You have an excellent armour; but let my horse have his due.

CONSTABLE

3It is the best horse of Europe.

ORLEANS

4Will it never be morning?

DAUPHIN

5My lord of Orleans, and my lord high constable, you

6talk of horse and armour?

ORLEANS

7You are as well provided of both as any prince in the world.

DAUPHIN

8What a long night is this! I will not change my

9horse with any that treads but on four pasterns.

10Ca, ha! he bounds from the earth,

12When I bestride him, I

14sings when he touches it;

ORLEANS

16He's of the colour of the nutmeg.

DAUPHIN

17And of the heat of the ginger.

18he is pure air and fire;

21and all other jades you

22may call beasts.

CONSTABLE

23Indeed, my lord, it is a most absolute and excellent horse.

DAUPHIN

24It is the prince of palfreys; his neigh is like the

25bidding of a monarch and his countenance enforces homage.

ORLEANS

26No more, cousin.

DAUPHIN

27Nay, the man hath no wit that cannot, from the

28rising of the lark to the lodging of the lamb, vary

29deserved praise on my palfrey:

35I

36once writ a sonnet in his praise and began thus:

37'Wonder of nature,'--

ORLEANS

38I have heard a sonnet begin so to one's mistress.

DAUPHIN

39Then did they imitate that which I composed to my

40courser, for my horse is my mistress.

CONSTABLE

44methought yesterday your mistress shrewdly

45shook your back.

RAMBURES

63My lord constable, the armour that I saw in your tent

64to-night, are those stars or suns upon it?

CONSTABLE

65Stars, my lord.

DAUPHIN

66Some of them will fall to-morrow, I hope.

DAUPHIN

68That may be,

DAUPHIN

72Will

73it never be day? I will trot to-morrow a mile, and

74my way shall be paved with English faces.

RAMBURES

78Who will go to hazard with me for twenty prisoners?

DAUPHIN

80'Tis midnight; I'll go arm myself.

ORLEANS

81The Dauphin longs for morning.

RAMBURES

82He longs to eat the English.

CONSTABLE

83I think he will eat all he kills.

ORLEANS

88He never did harm, that I heard of.

CONSTABLE

89Nor will do none to-morrow: he will keep that good name still.

ORLEANS

90I know him to be valiant.

CONSTABLE

91I was told that by one that knows him better than

92you.

ORLEANS

93What's he?

CONSTABLE

94Marry, he told me so himself; and he said he cared

95not who knew it

MESSENGER

110My lord high constable, the English lie within

111fifteen hundred paces of your tents.

CONSTABLE

112Who hath measured the ground?

MESSENGER

113The Lord Grandpre.

CONSTABLE

114A valiant and most expert gentleman. Would it were

115day! Alas, poor Harry of England! he longs not for

116the dawning as we do.

ORLEANS

117What a wretched and peevish fellow is this king of

118England, to mope with his fat-brained followers so

119far out of his knowledge!

CONSTABLE

120If the English had any apprehension, they would run away.

ORLEANS

121That they lack; for if their heads had any

122intellectual armour, they could never wear such heavy

123head-pieces.

RAMBURES

124That island of England breeds very valiant

125creatures; their mastiffs are of unmatchable courage.

ORLEANS

126Foolish curs, that run winking into the mouth of a

127Russian bear and have their heads crushed like

128rotten apples! You may as well say, that's a

129valiant flea that dare eat his breakfast on the lip of a lion.

CONSTABLE

130Just, just; and the men do sympathize with the

131mastiffs

132give them

133great meals of beef and iron and steel, they will

134eat like wolves and fight like devils.

ORLEANS

135Ay, but these English are shrewdly out of beef.

CONSTABLE

136Then shall we find to-morrow they have only stomachs

137to eat and none to fight. Now is it time to arm:

138come, shall we about it?

ORLEANS

139It is now two o'clock: but, let me see, by ten

140We shall have each a hundred Englishmen.

4-1

KING HENRY V

1Gloucester, 'tis true that we are in great danger;

2The greater therefore should our courage be.

13Good morrow, old Sir Thomas Erpingham:

14A good soft pillow for that good white head

15Were better than a churlish turf of France.

ERPINGHAM

16Not so, my liege: this lodging likes me better,

17Since I may say 'Now lie I like a king.'

KING HENRY V

24Lend me thy cloak, Sir Thomas.

KING HENRY V

32I and my bosom must debate awhile,

33And then I would no other company.

ERPINGHAM

34The Lord in heaven bless thee, noble Harry!

KING HENRY V

35God-a-mercy, old heart!

PISTOL

36Qui va la?

KING HENRY V

37A friend.

PISTOL

38Discuss unto me; art thou officer?

39Or art thou base, common and popular?

KING HENRY V

40I am a gentleman of a company.

PISTOL

41Trail'st thou the puissant pike?

KING HENRY V

42Even so. What are you?

PISTOL

43As good a gentleman as the emperor.

KING HENRY V

44Then you are a better than the king.

PISTOL

45The king's a bawcock, and a heart of gold,

46A lad of life, an imp of fame;

47Of parents good, of fist most valiant.

48I kiss his dirty shoe, and from heart-string

49I love the lovely bully. What is thy name?

KING HENRY V

50Harry le Roy.

PISTOL

51Le Roy! a Cornish name: art thou of Cornish crew?

KING HENRY V

52No, I am a Welshman.

PISTOL

53Know'st thou Fluellen?

KING HENRY V

54Yes.

PISTOL

55Tell him, I'll knock his leek about his pate

56Upon Saint Davy's day.

KING HENRY V

57Do not you wear your dagger in your cap that day,

58lest he knock that about yours.

PISTOL

59Art thou his friend?

KING HENRY V

60And his kinsman too.

PISTOL

61The figo for thee, then!

KING HENRY V

62I thank you: God be with you!

PISTOL

63My name is Pistol call'd.

KING HENRY V

64It sorts well with your fierceness.

GOWER

65Captain Fluellen!

FLUELLEN

66in the name of Jesu Christ, speak lower.

69if you would take the pains but to

70examine the wars of Pompey the Great, you shall

71find, I warrant you, that there is no tiddle toddle

72nor pibble pabble in Pompey's camp; I warrant you,

73you shall find the ceremonies of the wars, and the

74cares of it, and the forms of it,

75to be otherwise.

GOWER

76Why, the enemy is loud; you hear him all night.

FLUELLEN

77If the enemy is an ass and a fool and a prating

78coxcomb, is it meet, think you, that we should also,

79look you, be an ass and a fool and a prating

80coxcomb? in your own conscience, now?

GOWER

81I will speak lower.

FLUELLEN

82I pray you and beseech you that you will.

KING HENRY V

83Though it appear a little out of fashion,

84There is much care and valour in this Welshman.

COURT

85Brother John Bates, is not that the morning which

86breaks yonder?

BATES

87I think it be: but we have no great cause to desire

88the approach of day.

WILLIAMS

89We see yonder the beginning of the day, but I think

90we shall never see the end of it. Who goes there?

KING HENRY V

91A friend.

WILLIAMS

92Under what captain serve you?

KING HENRY V

93Under Sir Thomas Erpingham.

WILLIAMS

94A good old commander and a most kind gentleman: I

95pray you, what thinks he of our estate?

KING HENRY V

96Even as men wrecked upon a sand, that look to be

97washed off the next tide.

BATES

98He hath not told his thought to the king?

KING HENRY V

99No; nor it is not meet he should. For,

100I think the king is but a man, as I

101am: the violet smells to him as it doth to me:

103his ceremonies

104laid by, in his nakedness he appears but a man;

107Therefore when he sees reason of fears, as we

108do, his fears, out of doubt, be of the same relish

109as ours are: yet,no man should possess

110him with any appearance of fear, lest he, by showing

111it, should dishearten his army.

BATES

112He may show what outward courage he will; but I

113believe, as cold a night as 'tis, he could wish

114himself in Thames up to the neck; and so I would he

115were, and I by him, at all adventures, so we were quit here.

KING HENRY V

116By my troth, I will speak my conscience of the king:

117I think he would not wish himself any where but

118where he is.

BATES

119Then I would he were here alone; so should he be

120sure to be ransomed, and a many poor men's lives saved.

KING HENRY V

123methinks I could not die any where so

124contented as in the king's company; his cause being

125just and his quarrel honourable.

WILLIAMS

126That's more than we know.

BATES

127Ay, or more than we should seek after; for we know

128enough, if we know we are the kings subjects: if

129his cause be wrong, our obedience to the king wipes

130the crime of it out of us.

WILLIAMS

131But if the cause be not good, the king himself hath

132a heavy reckoning to make, when all those legs and

133arms and heads, chopped off in battle, shall join

134together at the latter day and cry all 'We died at

135such a place;' some swearing, some crying for a

136surgeon, some upon their wives left poor behind

137them, some upon the debts they owe, some upon their

138children rawly left. I am afeard there are few die

139well that die in a battle; for how can they

140charitably dispose of any thing, when blood is their

141argument? Now, if these men do not die well, it

142will be a black matter for the king that led them to

143it;

KING HENRY V

145So, if a son that is by his father sent about

146merchandise do sinfully miscarry upon the sea, the

147imputation of his wickedness by your rule, should be

148imposed upon his father that sent him:

153but this is not so: the king is not

154bound to answer the particular endings of his

155soldiers, the father of his son, nor

156for they purpose not their death, when

157they purpose their services.

175Every

176subject's duty is the king's; but every subject's

177soul is his own.

WILLIAMS

186'Tis certain, every man that dies ill, the ill upon

187his own head, the king is not to answer it.

BATES

188But I do not desire he should answer for me; and

189yet I determine to fight lustily for him.

KING HENRY V

190I myself heard the king say he would not be ransomed.

WILLIAMS

191Ay, he said so, to make us fight cheerfully: but

192when our throats are cut, he may be ransomed, and we

193ne'er the wiser.

KING HENRY V

194If I live to see it, I will never trust his word after.

WILLIAMS

195 That's a perilous shot out of an

196elder-gun, that a poor and private displeasure can

197do against a monarch! you may as well go about to

198turn the sun to ice with fanning in his face with a

199peacock's feather. You'll never trust his word

200after! come, 'tis a foolish saying.

KING HENRY V

201Your reproof is something too round: I should be

202angry with you, if the time were convenient.

WILLIAMS

203Let it be a quarrel between us, if you live.

BATES

219Be friends, you English fools, be friends: we have

220French quarrels enow, if you could tell how to reckon.

KING HENRY V

226Upon the king! let us our lives, our souls,

227Our debts, our careful wives,

228Our children and our sins lay on the king!

229We must bear all.

232What infinite heart's-ease

233Must kings neglect, that private men enjoy!

234And what have kings, that privates have not too,

235Save ceremony,

236And what art thou, thou idle ceremony?

237that suffer'st more

238Of mortal griefs than do thy worshippers?

246What drink'st thou oft, instead of homage sweet,

247But poison'd flattery? O, be sick, great greatness,

248And bid thy ceremony give thee cure!

252Canst thou, when thou command'st the beggar's knee,

253Command the health of it? No, thou proud dream,

254That play'st so subtly with a king's repose;

255I am a king that find thee, and I know

257the crown imperial,

260The throne he sits on, nor the tide of pomp

261That beats upon the high shore of this world,

262No, not all these,

263laid in bed majestical,

264Can sleep so soundly as the wretched slave,

265Who with a body fill'd and vacant mind

266Gets him to rest, cramm'd with distressful bread;

267Never sees horrid night, the child of hell,

268But, like a lackey, from the rise to set

269Sweats in the eye of Phoebus and all night

270Sleeps in Elysium; next day after dawn,

271Doth rise and help Hyperion to his horse,

272And follows so the ever-running year,

273With profitable labour, to his grave:

274And, but for ceremony, such a wretch,

275Winding up days with toil and nights with sleep,

276Had the fore-hand and vantage of a king.

ERPINGHAM

281My lord, your nobles, jealous of your absence,

282Seek through your camp to find you.

KING HENRY V

283Good old knight,

284Collect them all together at my tent:

285I'll be before thee.

KING HENRY V

287O God of battles! steel my soldiers' hearts;

288Possess them not with fear; take from them now

289The sense of reckoning, if the opposed numbers

290Pluck their hearts from them.

GLOUCESTER

304My liege!

KING HENRY V

306I know thy errand, I will go with thee:

307The day, my friends and all things stay for me.

4-2

ORLEANS

1The sun doth gild our armour; up, my lords!

DAUPHIN

2Montez A cheval! My horse! varlet! laquais! ha!

ORLEANS

3O brave spirit!

DAUPHIN

4Via! les eaux et la terre.

ORLEANS

5Rien puis? L'air et la feu.

DAUPHIN

6Ciel, cousin Orleans.

CONSTABLE

8Hark, how our steeds for present service neigh!

DAUPHIN

9Mount them, and make incision in their hides,

10That their hot blood may spin in English eyes,

11And dout them with superfluous courage, ha!

MESSENGER

14The English are embattled, you French peers.

CONSTABLE

33A very little little let us do.

34And all is done. Then let the trumpets sound

35The tucket sonance and the note to mount;

CONSTABLE

62Come, come, away!

63The sun is high, and we outwear the day.

4-3

GLOUCESTER

1Where is the king?

BEDFORD

2The king himself is rode to view their battle.

WESTMORELAND

3Of fighting men they have full three score thousand.

EXETER

4There's five to one; besides, they all are fresh.

SALISBURY

5God's arm strike with us! 'tis a fearful odds.

6God be wi' you, princes all; I'll to my charge:

7If we no more meet till we meet in heaven,

8Then, joyfully, my noble Lord of Bedford,

9My dear Lord Gloucester, and my good Lord Exeter,

10And my kind kinsman, warriors all, adieu!

BEDFORD

11Farewell, good Salisbury; and good luck go with thee!

EXETER

12Farewell, kind lord;

WESTMORELAND

17O that we now had here

18But one ten thousand of those men in England

19That do no work to-day!

KING HENRY V

20What's he that wishes so?

21My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin:

22If we are mark'd to die, we are enow

23To do our country loss; and if to live,

24The fewer men, the greater share of honour.

25God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.

36Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,

37That he which hath no stomach to this fight,

38Let him depart; his passport shall be made

39And crowns for convoy put into his purse:

40We would not die in that man's company

41That fears his fellowship to die with us.

42This day is called the feast of Crispian:

43He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,

44Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,

45And rouse him at the name of Crispian.

46He that shall live this day, and see old age,

47Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,

48And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'

49Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.

50And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'

51Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,

52But he'll remember with advantages

53What feats he did that day: then shall our names.

54Familiar in his mouth as household words

55Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,

56Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,

57Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.

58This story shall the good man teach his son;

59And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,

60From this day to the ending of the world,

61But we in it shall be remember'd;

62We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

63For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

64Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

66And gentlemen in England now a-bed

67Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,

68And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

69That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

SALISBURY

70My sovereign lord, bestow yourself with speed:

71The French are bravely in their battles set,

72And will with all expedience charge on us.

KING HENRY V

73All things are ready, if our minds be so.

WESTMORELAND

74Perish the man whose mind is backward now!

KING HENRY V

75Thou dost not wish more help from England, coz?

WESTMORELAND

76God's will! my liege, would you and I alone,

77Without more help, could fight this royal battle!

KING HENRY V

80You know your places: God be with you all!

MONTJOY

81Once more I come to know of thee, King Harry,

82If for thy ransom thou wilt now compound,

83Before thy most assured overthrow:

KING HENRY V

91Who hath sent thee now?

MONTJOY

92The Constable of France.

KING HENRY V

93I pray thee, bear my former answer back:

94Bid them achieve me and then sell my bones.

95Good God! why should they mock poor fellows thus?

96The man that once did sell the lion's skin

97While the beast lived, was killed with hunting him.

98A many of our bodies shall no doubt

99Find native graves; upon the which, I trust,

100Shall witness live in brass of this day's work:

101And those that leave their valiant bones in France,

102Dying like men, though buried in your dunghills,

103They shall be famed; for there the sun shall greet them,

104And draw their honours reeking up to heaven;

105Leaving their earthly parts to choke your clime,

106The smell whereof shall breed a plague in France.

111Let me speak proudly: tell the constable

112We are but warriors for the working-day;

113Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd

114With rainy marching in the painful field;

117And time hath worn us into slovenry:

118But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim;

125Come thou no more for ransom, gentle herald:

126They shall have none, I swear, but these my joints;

127Which if they have as I will leave 'em them,

128Shall yield them little, tell the constable.

MONTJOY

129I shall, King Harry. And so fare thee well:

130Thou never shalt hear herald any more.

KING HENRY V

134Now, soldiers, march away:

135And how thou pleasest, God, dispose the day!

4-5

DAUPHIN

8O perdurable shame! let's stab ourselves.

9Be these the wretches that we play'd at dice for?

ORLEANS

10Is this the king we sent to for his ransom?

BOURBON

11Shame and eternal shame, nothing but shame!

12Let us die in honour: once more back again;

ORLEANS

20We are enow yet living in the field

21To smother up the English in our throngs,

22If any order might be thought upon.

BOURBON

23The devil take order now! I'll to the throng:

24Let life be short; else shame will be too long.

4-7

FLUELLEN

1Kill the poys and the luggage! 'tis expressly

2against the law of arms: 'tis as arrant a piece of

3knavery, mark you now, as can be offer't; in your

4conscience, now, is it not?

GOWER

5'Tis certain there's not a boy left alive; and the

6cowardly rascals that ran from the battle ha' done

7this slaughter

GOWER

52Here comes his majesty.

KING HENRY V

53I was not angry since I came to France

54Until this instant. Take a trumpet, herald;

55Ride thou unto the horsemen on yon hill:

56If they will fight with us, bid them come down,

57Or void the field; they do offend our sight:

EXETER

64Here comes the herald of the French, my liege.

GLOUCESTER

65His eyes are humbler than they used to be.

KING HENRY V

66How now! what means this, herald?

68Comest thou again for ransom?

MONTJOY

69No, great king:

70I come to thee for charitable licence,

71That we may wander o'er this bloody field

72To look our dead, and then to bury them;

MONTJOY

87The day is yours.

KING HENRY V

88Praised be God, and not our strength, for it!

89What is this castle call'd that stands hard by?

MONTJOY

90They call it Agincourt.

KING HENRY V

91Then call we this the field of Agincourt,

92Fought on the day of Crispin Crispianus.

4-8

HERALD

71Here is the number of the slaughter'd French.

KING HENRY V

77This note doth tell me of ten thousand French

78That in the field lie slain:

99Where is the number of our English dead?

100Edward the Duke of York, the Earl of Suffolk,

101Sir Richard Ketly, Davy Gam, esquire:

102and of all other men

103But five and twenty. O God, thy arm was here;

EXETER

110'Tis wonderful!

KING HENRY V

111Come, go we in procession to the village.

KING HENRY V

121Let there be sung 'Non nobis' and 'Te Deum;'

122The dead with charity enclosed in clay:

123And then to Calais; and to England then:

124Where ne'er from France arrived more happy men.

5-1

GOWER

1Nay, that's right; but why wear you your leek today?

2Saint Davy's day is past.

FLUELLEN

3There is occasions and causes why and wherefore in

4all things: I will tell you, asse my friend,

5Captain Gower: the rascally, scald, beggarly,

6lousy, pragging knave, Pistol, which you and

7yourself and all the world know to be no petter

8than a fellow, look you now, of no merits, he is

9come to me and prings me pread and salt yesterday,

10look you, and bid me eat my leek: it was in place

11where I could not breed no contention with him; but

12I will be so bold as to wear it in my cap till I see

13him once again, and then I will tell him a little

14piece of my desires.

GOWER

15here he comes, swelling like a turkey-cock.

FLUELLEN

16'Tis no matter for his swellings nor his

17turkey-cocks. God pless you,Pistol! You

18scurvy, lousy knave, God pless you!

PISTOL

19Ha! art thou bedlam?

21Hence! I am qualmish at the smell of leek.

FLUELLEN

22I peseech you heartily, scurvy, lousy knave,

23to eat,

24look you, this leek:

PISTOL

28Not for Cadwallader and all his goats.

FLUELLEN

29There is one goat for you.

30Will you be so good,as eat it?

PISTOL

31Base Trojan, thou shalt die.

FLUELLEN

32You say very true,when God's will is:

33I will desire you to live in the mean time, and eat

34your victuals: come, there is sauce for it.

37if you can mock a leek, you can eat a leek.

FLUELLEN

40Bite, I pray you;

PISTOL

42Must I bite?

FLUELLEN

43and out of doubt and out of question

44too

PISTOL

45By this leek, I will most horribly revenge: I eat

46and eat, I swear--

FLUELLEN

50Nay, pray

51you, throw none away; the skin is good for your

52broken coxcomb. When you take occasions to see leeks

53hereafter, I pray you, mock at 'em; that is all.

PISTOL

54Good.

FLUELLEN

55Ay, leeks is good: hold you, there is a groat to

56heal your pate.

PISTOL

57Me a groat!

FLUELLEN

58Yes, verily and in truth, you shall take it; or I

59have another leek in my pocket, which you shall eat.

FLUELLEN

63God b' wi' you, and keep you, and heal your pate.

PISTOL

64All hell shall stir for this.

GOWER

65Go, go; you are a counterfeit cowardly knave.

70 You

71thought, because he could not speak English in the

72native garb, he could not therefore handle an

73English cudgel: you find it otherwise; and

74henceforth let a Welsh correction teach you a good

75English condition.

PISTOL

76Doth Fortune play the huswife with me now?

77News have I, that my Nell is dead i' the spital

78Of malady of France;

79And there my rendezvous is quite cut off.

80Old I do wax; and from my weary limbs

81Honour is cudgelled. Well, bawd I'll turn,

82And something lean to cutpurse of quick hand.

83To England will I steal, and there I'll steal:

84And patches will I get unto these cudgell'd scars,

85And swear I got them in the Gallia wars.

5-2

KING HENRY V

1Peace to this meeting, wherefore we are met!

2Unto our brother France, and to our sister,

3Health and fair time of day; joy and good wishes

4To our most fair and princely cousin Katharine;

5And, as a branch and member of this royalty,

7We do salute you, Duke of Burgundy;

8And, princes French, and peers, health to you all!

FRENCH KING

9Right joyous are we to behold your face,

10Most worthy brother England; fairly met:

11So are you, princes English, every one.

QUEEN ISABEL

12So happy be the issue, brother England,

13Of this good day and of this gracious meeting,

14As we are now glad to behold your eyes;

15Your eyes, which hitherto have borne in them

16Against the French, that met them in their bent,

17The fatal balls of murdering basilisks:

18The venom of such looks, we fairly hope,

19Have lost their quality, and that this day

20Shall change all griefs and quarrels into love.

KING HENRY V

21To cry amen to that, thus we appear.

BURGUNDY

23My duty to you both, on equal love,

24Great Kings of France and England!

29Since then my office hath so far prevail'd

30That, face to face and royal eye to eye,

31You have congreeted, let it not disgrace me,

32If I demand, before this royal view,

34Why that the naked, poor and mangled Peace,

35Dear nurse of arts and joyful births,

36Should not in this best garden of the world

37Our fertile France, put up her lovely visage?

38Alas, she hath from France too long been chased,

39And all her husbandry doth lie on heaps,

40Corrupting in its own fertility.

41Her vine, the merry cheerer of the heart,

42Unpruned dies; her hedges even-pleach'd,

44Put forth disorder'd twigs; her fallow leas

45The darnel, hemlock and rank fumitory

46Doth root upon, while that the coulter rusts

47That should deracinate such savagery;

48The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth

49The freckled cowslip, burnet and green clover,

50Wanting the scythe, all uncorrected, rank,

51Conceives by idleness and nothing teems

52But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burs,

53Losing both beauty and utility.

56Even so our houses and ourselves and children

57Have lost, or do not learn for want of time,

58The sciences that should become our country;

59But grow like savages,--as soldiers will

60That nothing do but meditate on blood,--

61To swearing and stern looks, diffused attire

62And every thing that seems unnatural.

63Which to reduce into our former favour

64You are assembled:

KING HENRY V

68IfDuke of Burgundy,

70you must buy that peace

71With full accord to all our just demands;

FRENCH KING

78I have but with a cursorary eye

79O'erglanced the articles: pleaseth your grace

80To appoint some of your council presently

81To sit with us

82 we will suddenly

83Pass our accept and peremptory answer.

KING HENRY V

84Brother, we shall.

91Will you, fair sister,

92Go with the princes, or stay here with us?

QUEEN ISABEL

93Our gracious brother, I will go with them:

94Haply a woman's voice may do some good,

95When articles too nicely urged be stood on.

KING HENRY V

96Yet leave our cousin Katharine here with us:

QUEEN ISABEL

99She hath good leave.

KING HENRY V

100Fair Katharine, and most fair,

101Will you vouchsafe to teach a soldier terms

102Such as will enter at a lady's ear

103And plead his love-suit to her gentle heart?

KATHARINE

104Your majesty shall mock at me; I cannot speak your England.

KING HENRY V

105O fair Katharine, if you will love me soundly with

106your French heart, I will be glad to hear you

107confess it brokenly with your English tongue. Do

108you like me, Kate?

KATHARINE

109Pardonnez-moi, I cannot tell vat is 'like me.'

KING HENRY V

110An angel is like you, Kate, and you are like an angel.

KATHARINE

111Que dit-il? que je suis semblable a les anges?

ALICE

112Oui, vraiment, sauf votre grace, ainsi dit-il.

KATHARINE

115O bon Dieu! les langues des hommes sont pleines de

116tromperies.

KING HENRY V

117What says she, fair one? that the tongues of men

118are full of deceits?

ALICE

119Oui, dat de tongues of de mans is be full of

120deceits:

KING HENRY V

121I' faith,

122Kate,I am

123glad thou canst speak no better English; for, if

124thou couldst, thou wouldst find me such a plain king

125that thou wouldst think I had sold my farm to buy my

126crown. I know no ways to mince it in love, but

127directly to say 'I love you:'

129Give me your answer; i' faith, do: and so

130clap hands and a bargain: how say you, lady?

KATHARINE

131Sauf votre honneur, me understand vell.

KING HENRY V

132Marry, if you would put me to verses or to dance for

133your sake, Kate, why you undid me:

140if I might buffet for my love, or bound my horse

141for her favours, I could lay on like a butcher and

142sit like a jack-an-apes, never off. But, before God,

143Kate, I cannot look greenly nor gasp out my

144eloquence, nor I have no cunning in protestation;

146If thou canst love a

147fellow of this temper, Kate, whose face is not worth

148sun-burning, that never looks in his glass for love

149of any thing he sees there,

151take me: if not, to say to thee

152that I shall die, is true; but for thy love, by the

153Lord, no; yet I love thee too. And while thou

154livest, dear Kate, take a fellow of plain

155constancy;

157for these fellows of infinite tongue, that

158can rhyme themselves into ladies' favours, they do

159always reason themselves out again.a

160speaker is but a prater; a rhyme is but a ballad.

161a straight back will stoop; a

162black beard will turn white;

163a fair face will wither; a full eye will wax

164hollow: but a good heart, Kate, is the sun and the

165moon;

167If thou would have such a one, take

168me; and take me, take a soldier; take a soldier,

169take a king. And what sayest thou then to my love?

170speak, my fair, and fairly, I pray thee.

KATHARINE

171Is it possible dat I sould love de enemy of France?

KING HENRY V

172No;

173Kate: but, in loving me, you should love

174the friend of France; for I love France so well that

175I will not part with a village of it; I will have it

176all mine: and, Kate, when France is mine and I am

177yours, then yours is France and you are mine.

KATHARINE

178I cannot tell vat is dat.

KING HENRY V

179No, Kate? I will tell thee in French; which I am

180sure will hang upon my tongue like a new-married

181wife about her husband's neck, hardly to be shook

182off. Je quand sur le possession de France, et quand

183vous avez le possession de moi,

184--donc votre est

185France et vous etes mienne.

187I shall never move thee in French,

188unless it be to laugh at me.

KATHARINE

189Sauf votre honneur, le Francois que vous parlez, il

190est meilleur que l'Anglois lequel je parle.

KING HENRY V

191No, faith, is't not, Kate: but thy speaking of my

192tongue, and I thine,must needs

193be granted to be muchat one.But, Kate, dost thou

194understand thus much English, canst thou love me?

KATHARINE

195I cannot tell.

KING HENRY V

196Can any of your neighbours tell, Kate? I'll ask

197them. Come, I know thou lovest me: and at night,

198when you come into your closet, you'll question this

199gentlewoman about me; and I know, Kate, you will to

200her dispraise those parts in me that you love with

201your heart: but, good Kate, mock me mercifully; the

202rather, gentle princess, because I love thee

203cruelly.

210what sayest thou, my fair

211flower-de-luce?

KING HENRY V

217la plus belle Katharine du monde, mon tres cher

218et devin deesse?

KATHARINE

219Your majestee ave fausse French enough to deceive de

220most sage demoiselle dat is en France.

KING HENRY V

221Now, fie upon my false French! By mine honour, in

222true English, I love thee, Kate: by which honour I

223dare not swear thou lovest me; yet my blood begins to

224flatter me that thou dost,

236Put off your maiden blushes;

237thoughts of your heart with the looks of an empress;

238take me by the hand, and say 'Harry of England I am

239thine:' which word thou shalt no sooner bless mine

240ear withal, but I will tell thee aloud 'England is

241thine, Ireland is thine, France is thine, and Harry

242Plantagenet is thine;'

246therefore, queen of

247all, Katharine, break thy mind to me in broken

248English; wilt thou have me?

KATHARINE

249Dat is as it sall please de roi mon pere.

KING HENRY V

250Nay, it will please him well, Kate it shall please

251him, Kate.

KATHARINE

252Den it sall also content me.

KING HENRY V

253Upon that I kiss your hand, and I call you my queen.

KATHARINE

254Laissez, mon seigneur, laissez, laissez: ma foi, je

255ne veux point que vous abaissiez votre grandeur en

256baisant la main d'une de votre seigeurie indigne

257serviteur; excusez-moi, je vous supplie, mon

258tres-puissant seigneur.

KING HENRY V

259Then I will kiss your lips, Kate.

KATHARINE

260Les dames et demoiselles pour etre baisees devant

261leur noces, il n'est pas la coutume de France.

KING HENRY V

262Madam my interpreter, what says she?

ALICE

263Dat it is not be de fashion pour les ladies of

264France,--I cannot tell vat is baiser en Anglish.

KING HENRY V

265To kiss.

ALICE

266Your majesty entendre bettre que moi.

KING HENRY V

267It is not a fashion for the maids in France to kiss

268before they are married, would she say?

ALICE

269Oui, vraiment.

KING HENRY V

270O Kate, nice customs curtsy to great kings. Dear

271Kate, you and I cannot be confined within the weak

272list of a country's fashion: we are the makers of

273manners, Kate;

276therefore, patiently

277and yielding.

278You have witchcraft in your lips, Kate:

BURGUNDY

283God save your majesty! my royal cousin, teach you

284our princess English?

KING HENRY V

285I would have her learn, my fair cousin, how

286perfectly I love her; and that is good English.

KING HENRY V

322Shall Kate be my wife?

FRENCH KING

345Take her, fair son,

346that the contending kingdoms

347Of France and England, whose very shores look pale

348With envy of each other's happiness,

349May cease their hatred,

351that never war advance

352His bleeding sword 'twixt England and fair France.

BURGUNDY, CLARENCE, EXETER, FRENCH KING, GLOUCESTER, HUNTINGDON, FRENCH KING, QUEEN ISABEL, WARWICK, WESTMORELAND, KING HENRY V, KATHARINE, ALICE

353Amen!