Chorus .

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 war-like 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 hath dar'd 
On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth 
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 confin'd two mighty monarchies ,
Whose high upreared and abutting fronts 
The perilous narrow ocean parts asunder :
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 accomplishment of many years 
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 .


My lord , I'll tell you ; that self bill is urg'd ,
Which in th' 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 further question .

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

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 
Would they strip from us ; being valu'd thus :
As much as would maintain , to the king's honour ,
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 .

This would drink deep .

'Twould drink the cup and all .

But what prevention ?

The king is full of grace and fair regard .

And a true lover of the holy church .

The courses of his youth promis'd 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 ,
To envelop 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 .

We are blessed in the change .

Hear him but reason in divinity ,
And , all-admiring , with an inward wish 
You would desire the king were made a prelate :
Hear him debate of commonwealth affairs ,
You would say it hath been all in all his study :
List his discourse of war , and you shall hear 
A fearful battle render'd you in music :
Turn him to any cause of policy ,
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 ;
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 .

The strawberry grows underneath the nettle ,
And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best 
Neighbour'd by fruit of baser quality :
And so the prince obscur'd his contemplation 
Under the veil of wildness ; which , no doubt ,
Grew like the summer grass , fastest by night ,
Unseen , yet crescive in his faculty .

It must be so ; for miracles are ceas'd ;
And therefore we must needs admit the means 
How things are perfected .

But , my good lord ,
How now for mitigation of this bill 
Urg'd by the commons ? Doth his majesty 
Incline to it , or no ?

He seems indifferent ,
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 
Did to his predecessors part withal .

How did this offer seem receiv'd , my lord ?

With good acceptance of his majesty ;
Save that there was not time enough to hear ,
As I perceiv'd 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 ,
Deriv'd from Edward , his great-grandfather .

What was the impediment that broke this off ?

The French ambassador upon that instant 
Crav'd audience ; and the hour I think is come 
To give him hearing : is it four o'clock ?

It is .

Then go we in to know his embassy ;
Which I could with a ready guess declare 
Before the Frenchman speak a word of it .

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


Where is my gracious lord of Canterbury ?

Not here in presence .

Send for him , good uncle .

Shall we call in the ambassador , my liege ?

Not yet , my cousin : we would be resolv'd ,
Before we hear him , of some things of weight 
That task our thoughts , concerning us and France .


God and his angels guard your sacred throne ,
And make you long become it !

Sure , we thank you .
My learned lord , we pray you to proceed ,
And justly and religiously unfold 
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 .
Therefore take heed how you impawn our person ,
How you awake the sleeping sword of war :
We charge you in the name of God , take heed ;
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 ,
And we will hear , note , and believe in heart ,
That what you speak is in your conscience wash'd 
As pure as sin with baptism .

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 
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 subdu'd 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 
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 ;
Nor did the French possess the Salique land 
Until four hundred one-and-twenty years 
After defunction of King Pharamond ,
Idly suppos'd the founder of this law ;
Who died within the year of our redemption 
Four hundred twenty-six ; and Charles the Great 
Subdu'd 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 Childeric ,
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 Loraine , sole heir male 
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 
That fair Queen Isabel , his grandmother ,
Was lineal of the Lady Ermengare ,
Daughter to Charles the aforesaid Duke of Loraine :
By the which marriage the line of Charles the Great 
Was re-united to the crown of France .
So that , as clear as is the summer's sun ,
King Pepin's title , and Hugh Capet's claim ,
King Lewis his satisfaction , all appear 
To hold in right and title of the female :
So do the kings of France unto this day ;
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 .

May I with right and conscience make this claim ?

The sin upon my head , dread sovereign !
For in the book of Numbers is it writ :
'When the son dies , let the inheritance 
Descend unto the daughter .' Gracious lord ,
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 war-like 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 .
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 .

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-puissantliege 
Is in the very May-morn of his youth ,
Ripe for exploits and mighty enterprises .

Your brother kings and monarchs of the earth 
Do all expect that you should rouse yourself ,
As did the former lions of your blood .

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 .

O ! let their bodies follow , my dear liege ,
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 .

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 .

They of those marches , gracious sovereign ,
Shall be a wall sufficient to defend 
Our inland from the pilfering borderers .

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 ,
Galling the gleaned land with hot essays ,
Girding with grievous siege castles and towns ;
That England , being empty of defence ,
Hath shook and trembled at the ill neighbourhood .

She hath been then more fear'd than harm'd , 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 
The King of Scots ; whom she did send to France ,
To fill King Edward's fame with prisoner kings ,
And make your chronicle as rich with praise 
As is the owse and bottom of the sea 
With sunken wrack and sumless treasuries .

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 
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 .

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 ,
Congreeing in a full and natural close ,
Like music .

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 ;
Where some , like magistrates , correct at home ,
Others , like merchants , venture trade abroad ,
Others , like soldiers , armed in their stings ,
Make 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 
Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate ,
The sad-ey'd 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 ,
Fly 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 ;
So may a thousand actions , once afoot ,
End in one purpose , and be all well borne 
Without defeat . Therefore to France , my liege .
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 policy .

Call in the messengers sent from the Dauphin .

Now are we well resolv'd ; 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'll 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 with full mouth 
Speak freely of our acts , or else our grave ,
Like Turkish mute , shall have a tongueless mouth ,
Not worshipp'd with a waxen epitaph .


Now are we well prepar'd to know the pleasure 
Of our fair cousin Dauphin ; for we hear 

Your greeting is from him , not from the king .

May't please your majesty to give us leave 
Freely to render what we have in charge ;
Or shall we sparingly show you far off 
The Dauphin's meaning and our embassy ?

We are no tyrant , but a Christian king ;
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 .

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 ,
And bids you be advis'd 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 .

What treasure , uncle ?

Tennis-balls , my liege .

We are glad the Dauphin is so pleasant with us :
His present and your pains we thank you for :
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 valu'd this poor seat of England ;
And therefore , living hence , did give ourself 
To barbarous licence ; as 'tis ever common 
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 .
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 
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 .


This was a merry message .

We hope to make the sender blush at it .
Therefore , my lords , omit no happy hour 
That may give furtherance to our expedition ;
For we have now no thought in us but France ,
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'll 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 .

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 .
For now sits Expectation in the air 
And hides a sword from hilts unto the point 
With crowns imperial , crowns and coronets ,
Promis'd to Harry and his followers .
The French , advis'd by good intelligence 
Of this most dreadful preparation ,
Shake in their fear , and with pale policy 
Seek to divert the English purposes .
O England ! model to thy inward greatness ,
Like little body with a mighty heart ,
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 
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 with 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 .
Linger your patience on ; and well digest 
The abuse of distance while we 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'll not offend one stomach with our play .
But , till the king come forth and not till then ,
Unto Southampton do we shift our scene .

Well met , Corporal Nym .

Good morrow , Lieutenant Bardolph .

What , are Ancient Pistol and you friends yet ?

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 .

I will bestow a breakfast to make you friends , and we'll be all three sworn brothers to France : let it be so , good Corporal 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 .

It is certain , corporal , that he is married to Nell Quickly ; and , certainly she did you wrong , for you were troth-plight to her .

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 .


Here comes Ancient Pistol and his wife . Good corporal , be patient here . How now , mine host Pistol !

Base tike , call'st thou me host ?
Now , by this hand , I swear , I scorn the term ;
Nor shall my Nell keep lodgers .

No , by my troth , not long ; for we cannot lodge and board a dozen or fourteen gentlewomen that live honestly by the prick of their needles , but it will be thought we keep a bawdy-house straight . [ 

Good lieutenant ! good corporal ! offer nothing here .

Pish !

Pish for thee , Iceland dog ! thou prickeared cur of Iceland !

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

Will you shog off ? I would have you solus .


Solus , egregious dog ? O viper vile !
The solus in thy most mervailous face ;
The solus in thy teeth , and in thy throat ,
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 .

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 your guts a little , in good terms , as I may ; and that's the humour of it .

O braggart vile and damned furious wight !
The grave doth gape , and doting death is near ;
Therefore exhale .

Hear me , hear me what I say : he that strikes the first stroke , I'll run him up to the hilts , as I am a soldier .


An oath of mickle might , and fury shall abate .
Give me thy fist , thy fore-foot to me give ;
Thy spirits are most tall .

I will cut thy throat , one time or other , in fair terms ; that is the humour of it .

Coupe le gorge !
That is the word . I thee defy again .
O 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 :
I have , and I will hold , the quondam Quickly 
For the only she ; and pauca , there's enough .
Go to 


Mine host Pistol , you must come to my master , and your 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 .

Away , you rogue !

By my troth , he'll yield the crow a pudding one of these days . The king has killed his heart . Good husband , come home presently .


Come , shall I make you two friends ? We must to France together . Why the devil should we keep knives to cut one another's throats ?

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

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

Base is the slave that pays .

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

As manhood shall compound : push home .


By this sword , he that makes the first thrust , I'll kill him ; by this sword , I will .

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

Corporal Nym , an thou wilt be friends , be friends : an thou wilt not , why then , be enemies with me too . Prithee , put up .

I shall have my eight shillings I won of you at betting ?

A noble shalt thou have , and present pay ;
And liquor likewise will I give to thee ,
And friendship shall combine , and brotherhood :
I'll 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 .

I shall have my noble ?

In cash most justly paid .


Well then , that's the humour of it .


As ever you came of women , come in quickly to Sir John . Ah , poor heart ! he is so shaked of a burning quotidian tertian , that it is most lamentable to behold . Sweet men , come to him .

The king hath run bad humours on the knight ; that's the even of it .

Nym , thou hast spoke the right ;
His heart is fracted and corroborate .

The king is a good king : but it must be as it may ; he passes some humours and careers .

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


'Fore God , his Grace is bold to trust these traitors .

They shall be apprehended by and by .

How smooth and even they do bear themselves !
As if allegiance in their bosoms sat ,
Crowned with faith and constant loyalty .

The king hath note of all that they intend ,
By interception which they dream not of .

Nay , but the man that was his bedfellow ,
Whom he hath dull'd and cloy'd with gracious favours ,
That he should , for a foreign purse , so sell 
His sovereign's life to death and treachery !


Now sits the wind fair , and we will aboard .
My Lord of Cambridge , and my kind Lord of Masham ,
And you , my gentle knight , give me your thoughts :
Think you not that the powers we bear with us 
Will cut their passage through the force of France ,
Doing the execution and the act 
For which we have in head assembled them ?

No doubt , my liege , if each man do his best .

I doubt not that ; since we are well persuaded 
We carry not a heart with us from hence 
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 .

Never was monarch better fear'd and lov'd 
Than is your majesty : there's not , I think , a subject 
That sits in heart-grief and uneasiness 
Under the sweet shade of your government .

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 .

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 .

So service shall with steeled sinews toil ,
And labour shall refresh itself with hope ,
To do your Grace incessant services .

We judge no less . Uncle of Exeter ,
Enlarge the man committed yesterday 
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 .

That's mercy , but too much security :
Let him be punish'd , sovereign , lest example 
Breed , by his sufference , more of such a kind .

O ! let us yet be merciful .

So may your highness , and yet punish too .

Sir ,
You show great mercy , if you give him life 
After the taste of much correction .

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 wink'd at , how shall we stretch our eye 
When capital crimes , chew'd , swallow'd , and digested ,
Appear before us ? We'll 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 :
Who are the late commissioners ?

I one , my lord :
Your highness bade me ask for it to-day .

So did you me , my liege .

And I , my royal sovereign .

Then , Richard , Earl of Cambridge , there is yours ;
There yours , Lord Scroop of Masham ; 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 ,
We will aboard to-night . Why , how now , gentlemen !
What 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 ,
That hath so cowarded and chas'd your blood 
Out of appearance ?

I do confess my fault ,
And do submit me to your highness' mercy .

To which we all appeal .

To which we all appeal .

The mercy that was quick in us but late 
By your own counsel is suppress'd and kill'd :
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 conspir'd ,
And sworn unto the practices of France ,
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 practis'd on me for thy use !
May it be possible that foreign hire 
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 
As black from white , my eye will scarcely see it .
Treason and murder ever kept together ,
As two yoke-devils sworn to either's purpose ,
Working so grossly in a natural cause 
That admiration did not whoop at them :
But thou , 'gainst all proportion , didst bring in 
Wonder to wait on treason and on murder :
And whatsoever cunning fiend it was 
That wrought upon thee so preposterously 
Hath got the voice in hell for excellence :
And 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 .
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 ?
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 ,
And but in purged judgment 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 indu'd 
With some suspicion . I will weep for thee ;
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 !

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 .

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 .

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 sufference heartily will rejoice ,
Beseeching God and you to pardon me .

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 .

God quit you in his mercy ! Hear your sentence .
You have conspir'd against our royal person ,
Join'd with an enemy proclaim'd , and from his coffers 
Receiv'd the golden earnest of our death ;
Wherein you would have sold your king to slaughter ,
His princes and his peers to servitude ,
His subjects to oppression and contempt ,
And his whole kingdom into desolation .
Touching our person seek we no revenge ;
But we our kingdom's safety must so tender ,
Whose ruin you have sought , that to her laws 
We do deliver you . 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 ! Bear them hence .

Now , lords , for France ! the enterprise whereof 
Shall be to you , as us , like glorious .
We doubt not of a fair and lucky war ,
Since God so graciously hath brought to light 
This dangerous treason lurking in our way 
To hinder our beginnings . We doubt not now 
But every rub is smoothed on our way .
Then forth , dear countrymen : let us deliver 
Our puissance into the hand of God ,
Putting it straight in expedition .
Cheerly to sea ! the signs of war advance :
No king of England , if not king of France .


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

No ; for my manly heart doth yearn .
Bardolph , be blithe ; Nym , rouse thy vaunting veins ;
Boy , bristle thy courage up ; for Falstaff he is dead ,
And we must yearn therefore .

Would I were with him , wheresome'er he is , either in heaven or in hell !

Nay , sure , he's not in hell : he's in Arthur's bosom , if ever man went to Arthur's bosom . 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 of good cheer .' So a' cried out 'God , God , God !' three or four times : now I , to comfort him , bid him a' should not think of God , I hoped there was no need to trouble himself with any such thoughts yet . So a' bade me lay more clothes on his feet : I put my hand into the bed and felt them , and they were as cold as any stone ; then I felt to his knees , and so upward , and upward , and all was as cold as any stone .

They say he cried out of sack .

Ay , that a' did .

And of women .

Nay , that a' did not .

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

A' could never abide carnation ; 'twas a colour he never liked .

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

A' did in some sort , indeed , handle women ; but then he was rheumatic , and talked of the whore of Babylon .

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 ?

Well , the fuel is gone that maintained that fire : that's all the riches I got in his service .

Shall we shog ? the king will be gone from Southampton .

Come , let's away . My love , give me thy lips .
Look to my chattels and my moveables :
Let senses rule , the word is , 'Pitch and pay ;' 
Trust none ;
For oaths are straws , men's faiths are wafercakes ,
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 !

And that's but unwholesome food , they say .

Touch her soft mouth , and march .

Farewell , hostess .


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

Let housewifery appear : keep close , I thee command .

Farewell ; adieu .

Thus come 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 Britaine ,
Of Brabant and of Orleans , shall make forth ,
And you , Prince Dauphin , with all swift dispatch ,
To line and new repair our towns of war 
With men of courage and with means defendant :
For England his approaches makes as fierce 
As waters to the sucking of a gulf .
It 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 .

My 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 .
Therefore , I say 'tis meet we all go forth 
To view the sick and feeble parts of France :
And let us do it with no show of fear ;
No , 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 .

O peace , Prince Dauphin !
You are too much mistaken in this king .
Question your Grace the late ambassadors ,
With what great state he heard their embassy ,
How well supplied with noble 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 .

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 .

Think we King Harry strong ;
And , princes , look you strongly arm to meet him .
The kindred of him hath been flesh'd upon us ,
And he is bred out of that bloody strain 
That haunted us in our familiar paths :
Witness our too much memorable shame 
When Cressy battle fatally was struck 
And all our princes captiv'd by the hand 
Of that black name , Edward Black Prince of Wales ;
Whiles that his mounting sire , on mountain standing ,
Up in the air , crown'd with the golden sun ,
Saw his heroical seed , and smil'd to see him 
Mangle the work of nature , and deface 
The patterns that by God and by French fathers 
Had twenty years been made . This is a stem 
Of that victorious stock ; and let us fear 
The native mightiness and fate of him .


Ambassadors from Harry King of England 
Do crave admittance to your majesty .

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

You see this chase is hotly follow'd , friends .

Turn head , and stop pursuit ; for coward dogs 
Most spend their mouths when what they seem to threaten 
Runs far before them . Good my sovereign ,
Take up the English short , and let them know 
Of what a monarchy you are the head :
Self-love , my liege , is not so vile a sin 
As self-neglecting .


From our brother England ?

From him ; and thus he greets your majesty .
He wills you , in the name of God Almighty ,
That you divest yourself , and lay apart 
The borrow'd glories that by gift of heaven ,
By law of nature and of nations 'long 
To him and to his heirs ; namely , the crown 
And all wide-stretched 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 rak'd ,
He sends you this most memorable line ,

In every branch truly demonstrative ;
Willing you overlook this pedigree ;
And when you find him evenly deriv'd 
From his most fam'd of famous ancestors ,
Edward the Third , he bids you then resign 
Your crown and kingdom , indirectly held 
From him the native and true challenger .

Or else what follows ?

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 ,
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 ,
For husbands , fathers , and betrothed lovers ,
That shall be swallow'd in this controversy .
This is his claim , his threat'ning , and my message ;
Unless the Dauphin be in presence here ,
To whom expressly I bring greeting too .

For us , we will consider of this further :
To-morrow shall you bear our full intent 
Back to our brother England .

For the Dauphin ,
I stand here for him : what to him from England ?

Scorn and defiance , slight regard , contempt ,
And anything that may not misbecome 
The mighty sender , doth he prize you at .
Thus says my king : an if your father's highness 
Do not , in grant of all demands at large ,
Sweeten the bitter mock you sent his majesty ,
He'll call you to so hot an answer of it ,
That caves and womby vaultages of France 
Shall chide your trespass and return your mock 
In second accent of his ordinance .

Say , if my father render fair return ,
It is against my will ; for I desire 
Nothing but odds with England : to that end ,
As matching to his youth and vanity ,
I did present him with the Paris balls .

He'll make your Paris Louvre shake for it ,
Were it the mistress-court of mighty Europe :
And , be assur'd , you'll 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 
In your own losses , if he stay in France .

To-morrow shall you know our mind at full .

Dispatch us with all speed , lest that our king 
Come here himself to question our delay ;
For he is footed in this land already .

You shall be soon dispatch'd with fair conditions :
A night is but small breath and little pause 
To answer matters of this consequence .

Thus with imagin'd wing our swift scene flies 
In motion of no less celerity 
Than that of thought . Suppose that you have seen 
The well-appointed king at Hampton pier 
Embark his royalty ; and his brave fleet 
With silken streamers the young Ph bus fanning :
Play with your fancies , and in them behold 
Upon the hempen tackle ship-boys climbing ;
Hear the shrill whistle which doth order give 
To sounds confus'd ; behold the threaden sails ,
Borne with 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 !
Grapple your minds to sternage of this navy ,
And leave your England , as dead midnight still ,
Guarded with grandsires , babies , and old women ,
Either past or not arriv'd to pith and puissance :
For who is he , whose chin is but enrich'd 
With one appearing hair , that will not follow 
Those call'd and choice-drawn cavaliers to France ?
Work , work your thoughts , and therein see a siege ;
Behold the ordenance 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 ,
Some petty and unprofitable dukedoms :
The offer likes not : and the nimble gunner 
With linstock now the devilish cannon touches ,

And down goes all before them . Still be kind ,
And eke out our performance with your mind .

Once more unto the breach , dear friends , once more ;
Or close the wall up with our English dead !
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man 
As modest stillness and humility :
But when the blast of war blows in our ears ,
Then imitate the action of the tiger ;
Stiffen the sinews , summon up the blood ,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage ;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect ;
Let it pry through the portage of the head 
Like the brass cannon ; let the brow o'erwhelm it 
As fearfully as doth a galled rock 
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base ,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean .
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide ,
Hold hard the breath , and bend up every spirit 
To his full height ! On , on , you 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 ,
And sheath'd 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 .
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 !' 


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

Pray thee , corporal , stay : the knocks are too hot ; and for mine own part , I have not a case of lives : the humour of it is too hot , that is the very plain-song of it .

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 
Doth win immortal fame .


Would I were in an alehouse in London ! I would give all my fame for a pot of ale , and safety .

And I :

If wishes would prevail with me ,
My purpose should not fail with me ,
But thither would I hie .

As duly ,
But not as truly ,
As bird doth sing on bough .

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


Be merciful , great duke , to men of mould !
Abate thy rage , abate thy manly rage !
Abate thy rage , great duke !
Good bawcock , bate thy rage ; use lenity , sweet chuck !

These be good humours ! your honour wins bad humours .


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 not be man to me ; for , indeed three such antiques 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 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 . Nym and Bardolph are sworn brothers in filching , and in Calais they stole a fire-shovel ;I knew by that piece of service the men would carry coals ,they would have me as familiar with men's pockets as their gloves or their handkerchers : which makes much against my manhood if I should take from another's pocket to put into mine ; for it is plain pocketing up of wrongs . I must leave them and seek some better service : their villany goes against my weak stomach , and therefore I must cast it up .

Captain Fluellen , you must come presently to the mines : the Duke of Gloucester would speak with you .

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 yards under the countermines ; by Cheshu , I think , a' will plow up all if there is not better directions .

The Duke of Gloucester , to whom the order of the siege is given , is altogether directed by an Irishman , a very valiant gentleman , i' faith .

It is Captain Macmorris , is it not ?

I think it be .

By Cheshu , he is an ass , as in the world :
I will verify as much in his peard : he has no more directions in the true disciplines of the wars , look you , of the Roman disciplines , than is a puppy-dog .


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

Captain Jamy is a marvellous falorous gentleman , that is certain ; and of great expedition and knowledge in th' aunchient wars , upon my particular knowledge of his directions : by Cheshu , he will maintain his argument as well as any military man in the world , in the disciplines of the pristine wars of the Romans .

I say gud day , Captain Fluellen .

God-den to your worship , good Captain James .

How now , Captain Macmorris ! have you quit the mines ? have the pioners given o'er ?

By Chrish , la ! tish ill done : the work ish give over , the trumpet 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 !

Captain Macmorris , I beseech you now , will you voutsafe me , look you , a few disputations with you , as partly touching or concerning the disciplines of the war , the Roman wars , in the way of argument , look you , and friendly communication ; partly to satisfy my opinion , and partly for the satisfaction , look you , of my mind , as touching the direction of the military discipline : that is the point .

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

and I sall quit you with gud leve , as I may pick occasion ; that sall I , marry .

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 calls us to the breach ; and we talk , 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 !

By the mess , ere theise eyes of mine take themselves to slumber , aile do gud service , or aile lig i' the grund for it ; ay , or go to death ; and aile pay it as valorously as I may , that sal I suerly do , that is the breff and the long . Marry , I wad full fain heard some question 'tween you tway .

Captain Macmorris , I think , look you , under your correction , there is not many of your nation 

Of my nation ! What ish my nation ? ish a villain , and a bastard , and a knave , and a rascal ? What ish my nation ? Who talks of my nation ?

Look you , if you take the matter otherwise than is meant , Captain Macmorris , peradventure I shall think you do not use me with that affability as in discretion you ought to use me , look you ; being as good a man as yourself , both in the disciplines of wars , and in the derivation of my birth , and in other particularities .

I do not know you so good a man as myself : so Chrish save me , I will cut off your head .

Gentlemen both , you will mistake each other .

A ! that's a foul fault .


The town sounds a parley .

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 wars ; and there is an end .

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 ,
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 
Of hot and forcing violation ?
What rein can hold licentious wickedness 
When down the hill he holds his fierce career ?
We may as bootless spend our vain command 
Upon 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 
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 ,
Whiles the mad mothers with their howls confus'd 
Do break the clouds , as did the wives of Jewry 
At Herod's bloody-hunting slaughtermen .
What say you ? will you yield , and this avoid ?
Or , guilty in defence , be thus destroy'd ?

Our expectation hath this day an end .
The Dauphin , whom of succour 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 .

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 ,
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 .


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

Un peu , madame .

Je te prie , m'enseignez ; il faut que j'apprenne   parler . Comment appellez vous la main en Anglois ?

La main ? elle est appell e , de hand .

De hand . Et les doigts ?

Les doigts ? ma foy , je oublie les doigts ; mais je me souviendray . Les doigts ? je pense qu'ils sont appell s de fingres ; ouy , de fingres .

La main , de hand ; les doigts , de fingres . Je pense que je suis le bon escolier . J'ai gagn  deux mots d'Anglois vistement . Comment appellez vous les ongles ?

Lesongles ? nous les appellons , de nails .

De nails . Escoutez ; dites moy , si je parle bien : de hands , de fingres , et de nails .

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

Dites moy l'Anglois pour le bras .

De arm , madame .

Et le coude ?

De elbow .

De elbow . Je m'en fais la r p tition de tous les mots que vous m'avez appris d s   pr sent .

Il est trop difficile , madame , comme je pense .

Excusez moy , Alice ; escoutez : de hand , de fingres , de nails , de arma , de bilbow .

De elbow , madame .

O Seigneur Dieu ! je m'en oublie ; de elbow . Comment appellez vous le col ?

De nick , madame .

De nick . Et le menton ?

De chin .

De sin . Le col , de nick : le menton , de sin .

Ouy . Sauf vostre honneur , en v rit  vous prononcez les mots aussi droict que les natifs d'Angleterre .

Je ne doute point d'apprendre par la grace de Dieu , et en peu de temps .

N'avez vous d j  oubli  ce que je vous ay enseign e ?

Non , je reciteray   vous promptement .
De hand , de fingre , de mails ,

De nails , madame .

De nails , de arme , de ilbow .

Sauf vostre honneur , d'elbow .

Ainsi dis je ; d'elbow , de nick , et de sin . Comment appellez vous le pied et la robe ?

De foot , madame ; et de coun .

De foot , et de coun ? O Seigneur Dieu ! ces sont mots de son mauvais , corruptible , gros , et impudique , et non pour les dames d'honneur d'user . Je ne voudrois prononcer ces mots devant les seigneurs de France , pour tout le monde . Foh ! le foot , et le coun . N antmoins je reciterai une autre fois ma le on ensemble : de hand , de fingre , de nails , d'arm , d'elbow , de nick , de sin , de foot , de coun .

Excellent , madame !

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


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

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 .

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 ?

Normans , but bastard Normans , Norman bastards !
Mort de ma vie ! if they march along 
Unfought withal , but I will sell my dukedom ,
To buy a slobbery and a dirty farm 
In that nook-shotten isle of Albion .

Dieu de battailes ! 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 ,
Decoct their cold blood to such valiant heat ?
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 .

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 
To new-store France with bastard warriors .

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 .

Where is Montjoy the herald ? speed him hence :
Let him greet England with our sharp defiance .
Up , princes ! and , with spirit of honour edg'd 
More sharper than your swords , hie to the field :
Charles Delabreth , High Constable of France ;
You Dukes of Orleans , Bourbon , and Berri ,
Alen on , Brabant , Bar , and Burgundy ;
Jaques Chatillon , Rambures , Vaudemont ,
Beaumont , Grandpr , 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 
Upon the valleys , whose low vassal seat 
The Alps doth spit and void his rheum upon :
Go down upon him , you have power enough ,
And in a captive chariot into Roan 
Bring him our prisoner .

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'll drop his heart into the sink of fear ,
And for achievement offer us his ransom .

Therefore , lord constable , haste on Montjoy ,
And let him say to England that we send 
To know what willing ransom he will give .
Prince Dauphin , you shall stay with us in Roan .

Not so , I do beseech your majesty .

Be patient , for you shall remain with us .
Now forth , lord constable and princes all ,
And quickly bring us word of England's fall .


How now , Captain Fluellen ! come you from the bridge ?

I assure you , there is very excellent services committed at the pridge .

Is the Duke of Exeter safe ?

The Duke of Exeter is as magnanimous as Agamemnon ; and a man that I love and honour with my soul , and my heart , and my duty , and my life , and my living , and my uttermost power : he is not God be praised and plessed !any hurt in the world ; but keeps the pridge 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 Antony ; and he is a man of no estimation in the world ; but I did see him do as gallant service .

What do you call him ?

He is called Aunchient Pistol .

I know him not .


Here is the man .

Captain , I thee beseech to do me favours :
The Duke of Exeter doth love thee well .

Ay , I praise God ; and I have merited some love at his hands .

Bardolph , a soldier firm and sound of heart ,
And of buxom valour , hath , by cruel fate 
And giddy Fortune's furious fickle wheel ,
That goddess blind ,
That stands upon the rolling restless stone ,

By your patience , Aunchient Pistol . Fortune is painted plind , with a muffler afore her eyes , to signify to you that Fortune is plind : 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 truth , the poet makes a most excellent description of it : Fortune is an excellent moral .

Fortune is Bardolph's foe , and frowns on him ;
For he hath stol'n 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 :
Speak , captain , for his life , and I will thee requite .

Aunchient Pistol , I do partly understand your meaning .

Why then , rejoice therefore .

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 .

Die and be damn'd ; and figo for thy friendship !

It is well .

The fig of Spain !


Very good .

Why , this is an arrant counterfeit rascal : I remember him now ; a bawd , a cutpurse .

I'll assure you a' uttered as prave words at the pridge as you shall see in a summer's day . But it is very well ; what he has spoke to me , that is well , I warrant you , when time is serve .

Why , 'tis a gull , a fool , a rogue , that now and then goes to the wars to grace himself at his return into London under the form of a soldier . And such fellows are perfect in the great commanders' names , and they will learn you by rote where services were 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 the camp will do among foaming bottles and ale-washed wits , is wonderful to be thought on . But you must learn to know such slanders of the age , or else you may be marvellously mistook .

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 .

Hark you , the king is coming ; and I must speak with him from the pridgo .


God pless your majesty !

How now , Fluellen ! cam'st thou from the bridge ?

Ay , so please your majesty . The Duke of Exeter hath 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 Exeter is master of the pridge . I can tell your majesty the duke is a prave man .

What men have you lost , Fluellen ?

The perdition of th' athversary hath been very great , reasonable great : marry , for my part , 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 fire's out .

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 disdainful language ; for when lenity and cruelty play for a kingdom , the gentler gamester is the soonest winner .


You know me by my habit .

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

My master's mind .

Unfold it .

Thus says my king : Say thou to Harry of England : Though we seemed dead , we did but sleep : advantage is a better soldier than rashness . Tell him , we could have rebuked him at 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 : England shall repent his folly , see his weakness , and admire our sufferance . Bid him therefore consider of his ransom ; which must proportion the losses we have borne , the subjects we have lost , the disgrace we have digested ; which , 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 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 .

What is thy name ? I know thy quality .

Montjoy .

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 ,
Though 'tis no wisdom to confess so much 
Unto an enemy of craft and vantage ,
My people are with sickness much enfeebled ,
My 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 
Hath blown that vice in me ; I must repent .
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 , Montjoy .
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 .
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 .

I shall deliver so . Thanks to your highness .


I hope they will not come upon us now .

We are in God's hand , brother , not in theirs .
March to the bridge ; it now draws toward night :
Beyond the river we'll encamp ourselves ,
And on to-morrow bid them march away .


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

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

It is the best horse of Europe .

Will it never be morning ?

My Lord of Orleans , and my lord high constable , you talk of horse and armour 

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

What a long night is this ! I will not change my horse with any that treads but on four pasterns .  a , ha ! He bounds from the earth as if his entrails were hairs : le cheval volant , the Pegasus , qui a les narines de feu ! When I bestride 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 .

He's of the colour of the nutmeg .

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 .

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

It is the prince of palfreys ; his neigh is like the bidding of a monarch and his countenance enforces homage .

No more , cousin .

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 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 apart their particular functions and wonder at him . I once writ a sonnet in his praise and began thus : 'Wonder of nature !' 

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

Then did they imitate that which I composed to my courser ; for my horse is my mistress .

Your mistress bears well .

Me well ; which is the prescript praise and perfection of a good and particular mistress .

Ma foi , methought yesterday your mistress shrewdly shook your back .

So perhaps did yours .

Mine was not bridled .

O ! then belike she was old and gentle ; and you rode , like a kern of Ireland , your French hose off and in your straight strossers .

You have good judgment in horsemanship .

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 .

I had as lief have my mistress a jade .

I tell thee , constable , my mistress wears his own hair .

I could make as true a boast as that if I had a sow to my mistress .

Le chien est retourn    son propre vomissement , et la truie lav e au bourbier : thou makest use of any thing .

Yet do I not use my horse for my mistress : or any such proverb so little kin to the purpose .

My lord constable , the armour that I saw in your tent to-night , are those stars or suns upon it ?

Stars , my lord .

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

And yet my sky shall not want .

That may be , for you bear a many superfluously , and 'twere more honour some were away .

Even as your horse bears your praises ; who would trot as well were some of your brags dismounted .

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 .

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 .

Who will go to hazard with me for twenty prisoners ?

You must first go yourself to hazard , ere you have them .

'Tis midnight : I'll go arm myself .


The Dauphin longs for morning .

He longs to eat the English .

I think he will eat all he kills .

By the white hand of my lady , he's a gallant prince .

Swear by her foot , that she may tread out the oath .

He is simply the most active gentleman of France .

Doing is activity , and he will still be doing .

He never did harm , that I heard of .

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

I know him to be valiant .

I was told that by one that knows him better than you .

What's he ?

Marry , he told me so himself ; and he said he cared not who knew it .

He needs not ; it is no hidden virtue in him .

By my faith , sir , but it is ; never any body saw it but his lackey : 'tis a hooded valour ; and when it appears , it will bate .

'Ill will never said well .' 

I will cap that proverb with 'There is flattery in friendship .' 

And I will take up that with 'Give the devil his due .' 

Well placed : there stands your friend for the devil : have at the very eye of that proverb , with 'A pox of the devil .' 

You are the better at proverbs , by how much 'A fool's bolt is soon shot .' 

You have shot over .

'Tis not the first time you were overshot .


My lord high constable , the English lie within fifteen hundred paces of your tents .

Who hath measured the ground ?

The Lord Grandpr .

A valiant and most expert gentleman . Would it were day ! Alas ! poor Harry of England , he longs not for the dawning as we do .

What a wretched and peevish fellow is this King of England , to mope with his fatbrained followers so far out of his knowledge !

If the English had any apprehension they would run away .

That they lack ; for if their heads had any intellectual armour they could never wear such heavy head-pieces .

That island of England breeds very valiant creatures : their mastiffs are of unmatchable courage .

Foolish curs ! that run winking into the mouth of a Russian bear and have their heads crushed like rotten apples . You may as well say that's a valiant flea that dare eat his breakfast on the lip of a lion .

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 .

Ay , but these English are shrewdly out of beef .

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 ?

It is now two o'clock : but , let me see , by ten 
We shall have each a hundred Englishmen .


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 
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 
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 
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 ,
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 overbears attaint 
With cheerful semblance and sweet majesty ;
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 . Then 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 ,
Right ill dispos'd in brawl ridiculous ,
The name of Agincourt . Yet sit and see ;
Minding true things by what their mockeries be .

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 .
Thus may we gather honey from the weed ,
And make a moral of the devil himself .


Good morrow , old Sir Thomas Erpingham :
A good soft pillow for that good white head 

Were better than a churlish turf of France .

Not so , my liege : this lodging likes me better ,
Since I may say , 'Now lie I like a king .' 

'Tis good for men to love their present pains 
Upon example ; so the spirit is eas'd :
And when the mind is quicken'd , out of doubt ,
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 
Desire them all to my pavilion .

We shall , my liege .


Shall I attend your Grace ?

No , my good knight ;
Go with my brothers to my lords of England :
I and my bosom must debate awhile ,
And then I would no other company .

The Lord in heaven bless thee , noble Harry !


God-a-mercy , old heart ! thou speak'st cheerfully .


Qui va l ?

A friend .

Discuss unto me ; art thou officer ?
Or art thou base , common and popular ?

I am a gentleman of a company .

Trail'st thou the puissant pike ?

Even so . What are you ?

As good a gentleman as the emperor .

Then you are a better than the king .

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 my heart-string 
I love the lovely bully . What's thy name ?

Harry le Roy .

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

No , I am a Welshman .

Know'st thou Fluellen ?

Yes .

Tell him , I'll knock his leek about his pate 
Upon Saint Davy's day .

Do not you wear your dagger in your cap that day , lest he knock that about yours .

Art thou his friend ?

And his kinsman too .

The figo for thee then !

I thank you . God be with you !

My name is Pistol called .


It sorts well with your fierceness .

Captain Fluellen !

Sol in the name of Cheshu Christ , speak lower . It is the greatest admiration in the universal world , when the true and auncient prerogatifes 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 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 .

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

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 ?

I will speak lower .

I pray you and peseech you that you will .


Though it appear a little out of fashion ,
There is much care and valour in this Welshman .


Brother John Bates , is not that the morning which breaks yonder ?

I think it be ; but we have no great cause to desire the approach of day .

We see yonder the beginning of the day , but I think we shall never see the end of it . Who goes there ?

A friend .

Under what captain serve you ?

Under Sir Thomas Erpingham .

A good old commander and a most kind gentleman : I pray you , what thinks he of our estate ?

Even as men wracked upon a sand , that look to be washed off the next tide .

He hath not told his thought to the king ?

No ; nor it is not meet he should . For , 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 conditions : 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 . Therefore when he sees reason of fears , as we do , his fears , out of doubt , be of the same relish as ours are : yet , in reason , no man should possess him with any appearance of fear , lest he , by showing it , should dishearten his army .

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 .

By my troth , I will speak my conscience of the king : I think he would not wish himself any where but where he is .

Then I would he were here alone ; so should he be sure to be ransomed , and a many poor men's lives saved .

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 .

That's more than we know .

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 .

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 , 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 . 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 subjection .

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 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 bulwark , 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 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 unprovided , no more is the king guilty of their damnation than he was before guilty of those impieties 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 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 .

'Tis certain , every man that dies ill , the ill upon his own head : the king is not to answer it .

I do not desire he should answer for me ; and yet I determine to fight lustily for him .

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

Ay , he said so , to make us fight cheerfully ; but when our throats are cut he may be ransomed , and we ne'er the wiser .

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

You pay him then . That's a perilous shot out of an elder-gun , that a poor and a private displeasure can do against a monarch . You may as well go about to turn the sun to ice with fanning in his face with a peacock's feather . You'll never trust his word after ! come , 'tis a foolish saying .

Your reproof is something too round ; I should be angry with you if the time were convenient .

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

I embrace it .

How shall I know thee again ?

Give me any gage of thine , and I will wear it in my bonnet : then , if ever thou darest acknowledge it , I will make it my quarrel .

Here's my glove : give me another of thine .

There .

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 .

If ever I live to see it , I will challenge it .

Thou darest as well be hanged .

Well , I will do it , though I take thee in the king's company .

Keep thy word : fare thee well .

Be friends , you English fools , be friends : we have French quarrels enow , if you could tell how to reckon .

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 .

Upon the king ! let us our lives , our souls ,
Our debts , our careful wives ,
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 idle ceremony ?
What kind of god art thou , that suffer'st more 
Of mortal griefs than do thy worshippers ?
What are thy rents ? what are thy comings-in ?
O 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 .
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 ;
I 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 ,
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 fill'd and vacant mind 
Gets him to rest , cramm'd with distressful bread ;
Never sees horrid night , the child of hell ,
But , like a lackey , from the rise to set 
Sweats in the eye of Ph bus , 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 ,
Enjoys it ; but in gross brain little wots 
What watch the king keeps to maintain the peace ,
Whose hours the peasant best advantages .


My lord , your nobles , jealous of your absence ,
Seek through your camp to find you .

Good old knight ,
Collect them all together at my tent :
I'll be before thee .

I shall do't , my lord .


O God of battles ! steel my soldiers' hearts ;
Possess them not with fear ; take from them now 
The sense of reckoning , if the opposed numbers 
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 interr'd anew ,
And on it have bestow'd more contrite tears 
Than from it issu'd 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 
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 .


My liege !

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 .


The sun doth gild our armour : up , my lords !

Montez   cheval ! My horse ! varlet ! lacquais ! ha !

O brave spirit !

Via ! les eaux et la terre !

Rien puis ? l'air et le feu .

Ciel ! cousin Orleans .

Now , my lord constable !

Hark how our steeds for present service neigh !

Mount them , and make incision in their hides ,
That their hot blood may spin in English eyes ,
And dout them with superfluous courage : ha !

What ! will you have them weep our horses' blood ?
How shall we then behold their natural tears ?


The English are embattail'd , you French peers .

To horse , you gallant princes ! straight to horse !
Do but behold yon 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 
To give each naked curtal-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 valour 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 
Took stand for idle speculation :
But that our honours must not . What's to say ?
A very little little let us do ,
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 .


Why do you stay so long , my lords of France ?
Yon island carrions desperate of their bones ,
Ill-favour'dly become the morning field :
Their ragged curtains poorly are let loose ,
And our air shakes them passing scornfully :
Big Mars seems 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 ;
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 .

They have said their prayers , and they stay for death .

Shall we go send them dinners and fresh suits ,
And give their fasting horses provender ,
And after fight with them ?

I stay but for my guard : on , to the field !
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 .


Where is the king ?

The king himself is rode to view their battle .

Of fighting men they have full three-score thousand .

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

God's arm strike with us ! 'tis a fearful odds .
God be wi' you , princes all ; I'll 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 !

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

Farewell , kind lord . Fight valiantly to-day :
And yet I do thee wrong to mind thee of it ,
For thou art fram'd of the firm truth of valour .


He is as full of valour as of kindness ;
Princely in both .


O ! that we now had here 
But one ten thousand of those men in England 
That do no work to-day .

What's he that wishes so ?
My cousin Westmoreland ? No , my fair cousin :
If we are mark'd to die , we are enow 
To do our country loss ; and if to live ,
The fewer men , the greater share of honour .
God's will ! I 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 , wish not a man from England :
God's peace ! I would not lose so great an honour 
As one man more , methinks , would share from me ,
For the best hope I have . O ! do not wish 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 :
He that outlives this day , and comes safe home ,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd ,
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 will 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'll remember with advantages 
What feats he did that day . Then shall our names ,
Familiar in his mouth as household words ,
Harry the king , Bedford and Exeter ,
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 ;
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 accurs'd they were not here ,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks 
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day .


My sov'reign lord , bestow yourself with speed :
The French are bravely in their battles set ,
And will with all expedience charge on us .

All things are ready , if our minds be so .

Perish the man whose mind is backward now !

Thou dost not wish more help from England , coz ?

God's will ! my liege , would you and I alone ,
Without more help , could fight this royal battle !

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 !


Once more I come to know of thee , King Harry ,
If for thy ransom thou wilt now compound ,
Before thy most assured overthrow :
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 off these fields , where , wretches , their poor bodies 
Must lie and fester .

Who hath sent thee now ?

The Constable of France .

I pray thee , bear my former answer back :
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 liv'd , was kill'd 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 dung-hills ,
They shall be fam'd ; for there the sun shall greet them ,
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 
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'll 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 
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 .

I shall , King Harry . And so , fare thee well :
Thou never shalt hear herald any more .


I fear thou'lt once more come again for ransom .


My lord , most humbly on my knee I beg 
The leading of the vaward .

Take it , brave York . Now , soldiers , march away :
And how thou pleasest , God , dispose the day !


Yield , cur !

Je pense que vous estes le gentilhomme de bonne qualit .

Quality ? Calen O custure me ! Art thou a gentleman ?
What is thy name ? discuss .

O Seigneur Dieu !

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 .

O , prenez misericorde ! ayez piti  de moy !

Moy shall not serve ; I will have forty moys ;
Or I will fetch thy rim out at thy throat 
In drops of crimson blood .

Est-il impossible d'eschapper la force de ton bras ?

Brass , cur !
Thou damned and luxurious mountain goat ,
Offer'st me brass ?

O pardonnez moy !

Sayst thou me so ? is that a ton of moys ?
Come hither , boy : ask me this slave in French 
What is his name .

Escoutez : comment estes vous appell ?

Monsieur le Fer .

He says his name is Master Fer .

Master Fer ! I'll fer him , and firk him , and ferret him . Discuss the same in French unto him .

I do not know the French for fer , and ferret , and firk .

Bid him prepare , for I will cut his throat .

Que dit-il , monsieur ?

Il me commande   vous dire que vous faites vous prest ; car ce soldat icy est dispos  tout   cette heure de couper vostre gorge .

Ouy , cuppele gorge , permafoy .
Peasant , unless thou give me crowns , brave crowns ;
Or mangled shalt thou be by this my sword .

O ! je vous supplie pour l'amour de 
Dieu , me pardonner ! Je suis le gentilhomme de bonne maison : gardez ma vie , et je vous donneray deux cents escus .

What are his words ?

He prays you to save his life : he is a gentleman of a good house ; and , for his ransom he will give you two hundred crowns .

Tell him , my fury shall abate , and I 
The crowns will take .

Petit monsieur , que dit-il ?

Encore qu'il est contre son jurement de pardonner aucan prisonnier ; neant-moins , pour les escus que vous l'avez promis , il est content de vous donner la liberte , le franchisement .

Sur mes genoux , je vous donne mille remerciemens ; et je m'estime heureux que je suis tomb  entre les mains d'un chevalier , je pense , le plus brave , valiant , et tr s distingu  seigneur d'Angleterre .

Expound unto me , 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 .

As I suck blood , I will some mercy show .
Follow me !


Suivez vous le grand capitaine . I did never know so full a voice issue from so empty a heart : but the saying is true , 'The empty vessel makes the 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 anything 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 .


O seigneur ! le jour est perdu ! tout est perdu !

Mort de ma vie ! all is confounded , all !
Reproach and everlasting shame 
Sit mocking in our plumes . O meschante fortune !
Do not run away .


Why , all our ranks are broke .

O perdurable shame ! let's stab ourselves .
Be these the wretches that we play'd at dice for ?

Is this the king we sent to for his ransom ?

Shame , and eternal shame , nothing but shame !
Let's die in honour ! once more back again ;
And he that will not follow Bourbon now ,
Let him go hence , and with his cap in hand ,
Like a base pander , hold the chamber-door 
Whilst by a slave , no gentler than my dog ,
His fairest daughter is contaminated .

Disorder , that hath spoil'd us , friend us now !
Let us on heaps go offer up our lives .

We are enough yet living in the field 
To smother up the English in our throngs ,
If any order might be thought upon .

The devil take order now ! I'll to the throng :
Let life be short , else shame will be too long .


Well have we done , thrice-valiant countrymen :
But all's not done ; yet keep the French the field .

The Duke of York commends him to your majesty .

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 .

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 .
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 ;
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 :
He smil'd 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 espous'd to death , with blood he seal'd 
A testament of noble-ending love .
The pretty and sweet manner of it forc'd 
Those waters from me which I would have stopp'd ;
But I had not so much of man in me ,
And all my mother came into mine eyes 
And gave me up to tears .

I blame you not ;
For , hearing this , I must perforce compound 
With mistful eyes , or they will issue too .

But hark ! what new alarum is this same ?
The French have reinforc'd their scatter'd men :
Then every soldier kill his prisoners !
Give the word through .


Kill the poys and the luggage ! 'tis expressly against the law of arms : 'tis as arrant a piece of knavery , mark you now , as can be offer't : in your conscience now , is it not ?

'Tis certain , there's not a boy left alive ; and the cowardly rascals that ran from the battle have 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 ! 'tis a gallant king .

Ay , he was porn at Monmouth , Captain Gower . What call you the town's name where Alexander the Pig was born ?

Alexander the Great .

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 .

I think Alexander the Great was born in Macedon : his father was called Philip of Macedon , as I take it .

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 sall 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 Monmouth ; but it is out of my prains what is the name of the other river ; but 'tis all one , 'tis alike as my fingers is to my fingers , and there is salmons in both . If you mark Alexander's life well , Harry of Monmouth's life is come after it indifferent 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 intoxicates in his prains , did , in his ales and his angers , look you , kill his pest friend , Cleitus .

Our king is not like him in that : he never killed any of his friends .

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 comparisons 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 judgments , turned away the fat knight with the great belly-doublet : he was full of jests , and gipes , and knaveries , and mocks ; I have forgot his name .

Sir John Falstaff .

That is he . I'll tell you , there is goot men porn at Monmouth .

Here comes his majesty .

I was not angry since I came to France 
Until this instant . Take a trumpet , herald ;
Ride thou unto the horsemen on yon hill :
If they will fight with us , bid them come down ,
Or void the field ; they do offend our sight .
If they'll do neither , we will come to them ,
And make them skirr away , as swift as stones 
Enforced from the old Assyrian slings .
Besides , we'll 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 .


Here comes the herald of the French , my liege .

His eyes are humbler than they us'd to be .

How now ! what means this , herald ? know'st thou not 
That I have fin'd these bones of mine for ransom ?
Com'st thou again for ransom ?

No , great king .
I come to thee for charitable licence ,
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 
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 .

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 .

The day is yours .

Praised be God , and not our strength , for it !
What is this castle call'd that stands hard by ?

They call it Agincourt .

Then call we this the field of Agincourt ,
Fought on the day of Crispin Crispianus .

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 .

They did , Fluellen .

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 .

I wear it for a memorable honour ; For I am Welsh , you know , good countryman .

All the water in Wye cannot wash your majesty's Welsh plood out of your pody , I can tell you that : Got pless it and preserve it , as long as it pleases his grace , and his majesty too !

Thanks , good my countryman .

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 be ashamed of your majesty , praised be God , so long as your majesty is an honest man .

God keep me so ! Our heralds go with him :
Bring me just notice of the numbers dead 
On both our parts . Call yonder fellow hither .


Soldier , you must come to the king .

Soldier , why wear'st thou that glove in thy cap ?

An't please your majesty , 'tis the gage of one that I should fight withal , if he be alive .

An Englishman ?

An't please your majesty , a rascal that swaggered with me last night ; who , if a' live and ever dare to challenge this glove , I have sworn to take him a box o' the 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 .

What think you , Captain Fluellen ? is it fit this soldier keep his oath ?

He is a craven and a villain else , an't please your majesty , in my conscience .

It may be his enemy is a gentleman of great sort , quite from the answer of his degree .

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 reputation is as arrant a villain and a Jack-sauce as ever his black shoe trod upon God's ground and his earth , in my conscience , la !

Then keep thy vow , sirrah , when thou meetest the fellow .

So I will , my liege , as I live .

Who servest thou under ?

Under Captain Gower , my liege .

Gower is a goot captain , and is good knowledge and literatured in the wars .

Call him hither to me , soldier .

I will , my liege .


Here , Fluellen ; wear thou this favour for me and stick it in thy cap . When Alen on and myself were down together I plucked this glove from his helm : if any man challenge this , he is a friend to Alen on , and an enemy to our person ; if thou encounter any such , apprehend him , an thou dost me love .

Your Grace does 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 , and please God of his grace that I might see .

Knowest thou Gower ?

He is my dear friend , an't please you .

Pray thee , go seek him , and bring him to my tent .

I will fetch him .


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' the ear ;
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 will keep his word ,
Some sudden mischief may arise of it ;
For I do know Fluellen valiant ,
And touch'd with choler , hot as gunpowder ,
And quickly will return an injury :
Follow and see there be no harm between them .
Go you with me , uncle of Exeter .


I warrant it is to knight you , captain .


God's will and his pleasure , captain , I peseech you now come apace to the king : there is more good toward you peradventure than is in your knowledge to dream of .

Sir , know you this glove ?

Know the glove ! I know the glove is a glove .

I know this ; and thus I challenge it .


'Sblood ! an arrant traitor as any's in the universal 'orld , or in France , or in England 

How now , sir ! you villain !

Do you think I'll be forsworn ?

Stand away , Captain Gower ; I will give treason his payment into plows , I warrant you .

I am no traitor .

That's a lie in thy throat . I charge you in his majesty's name , apprehend him : he is a friend of the Duke Alen on's .


How now , how now ! what's the matter ?

My Lord of Warwick , here is ,praised be God for it !a most contagious treason come to light , look you , as you shall desire in a summer's day . Here is his majesty .


How now ! what's the matter ?

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 Alen on .

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 strike him , if he did : I met this man with my glove in his cap , and I have been as good as my word .

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 avouchments , that this is the glove of Alen on that your majesty is give me ; in your conscience now .

Give me thy glove , soldier : look , here is the fellow of it .
'Twas I , indeed , thou promisedst to strike ;
And thou hast given me most bitter terms .

An't please your majesty , let his neck answer for it , if there is any martial law in the 'orld .

How canst thou make me satisfaction ?

All offences , my lord , come from the heart : never came any from mine that might offend your majesty .

It was ourself thou didst abuse .

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 suffered under that shape , I beseech you , 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 .

Here , uncle Exeter , fill this glove with crowns ,
And give it to this fellow . Keep it , fellow ;
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 .

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 .

I will none of your money .

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 shilling , I warrant you , or I will change it .


Now , herald , are the dead number'd ?

Here is the number of the slaughter'd French .


What prisoners of good sort are taken , uncle ?

Charles Duke of Orleans , nephew to the king ;
John Duke of Bourbon , and Lord Bouciqualt :
Of other lords and barons , knights and squires ,
Full fifteen hundred , besides common men .

This note doth tell 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 twenty-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 ,
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 Guischard Dauphin ;
John Duke of Alen on ; Antony Duke of Brabant ,
The brother to the Duke of Burgundy ,
And Edward Duke of Bar : of lusty earls ,
Grandpr  and Roussi , Fauconberg and Foix ,
Beaumont and Marle , Vaudemont and Lestrale .
Here was a royal fellowship of death !
Where is the number of our English dead ?

Edward the Duke of York , the Earl of Suffolk ,
Sir Richard Ketly , Davy Gam , esquire :
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 ,
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 the other ? Take it , God ,
For it is none but thine !

'Tis wonderful !

Come , go we in procession to the village :
And be it death proclaimed through our host 
To boast of this or take the praise from God 
Which is his only .

Is it not lawful , an please your majesty , to tell how many is killed ?

Yes , captain ; but with this acknowledgment ,
That God fought for us .

Yes , my conscience , he did us great good .

Do we all holy rites :
Let there be sung Non nobis and Te Deum ;
The dead with charity enclos'd in clay .
We'll then to Calais ; and to England then ,
Where ne'er from France arriv'd more happy men .

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 
Of time , of numbers , and due course of things ,
Which cannot in their huge and proper life 
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 ,
Whose shouts and claps out-voice the deep-mouth'd sea ,
Which , like a mighty whiffler '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 ;
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 C sar in :
As , by a lower but loving likelihood ,
Were now the general of our gracious empress ,
As in good time he may ,from Ireland coming ,
Bringing rebellion broached on his sword ,
How many would the peaceful city quit 
To welcome him ! much more , and much more cause ,
Did they this Harry . Now in London place him ;
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 chanc'd ,
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 abridgment , and your eyes advance ,
After your thoughts , straight back again to France .

Nay , that's right ; but why wear you your leek to-day ? Saint Davy's day is past .

There is occasions and causes why and wherefore in all things : I will tell you , asse my friend , Captain Gower . The rascally , scald , beggarly , lousy , pragging knave , Pistol ,which you and yourself and all the 'orld 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 pid me eat my leek . It was in a place where I could not preed no contention with him ; but I will be so pold 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 .

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


'Tis no matter for his swellings nor his turkey-cocks . God pless you , Aunchient Pistol ! you scurvy , lousy knave , God pless you !

Ha ! art thou bedlam ? dost thou thirst , base Troyan ,
To have me fold up Parca's fatal web ?
Hence ! I am qualmish at the smell of leek .

I peseech you heartily , scurvy lousy knave , at my desires and my requests and my petitions to eat , look you , this leek ; pecause , look you , you do not love it , nor your affections and your appetites and your digestions does not agree with it , I would desire you to eat it .

Not for Cadwallader and all his goats .

There is one goat for you .
Will you be so good , scald knave , as eat it ?

Base Troyan , thou shalt die .

You say very true , scald 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 .

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 .

Enough , captain : you have astonished him .

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 .

Must I bite ?

Yes , certainly , and out of doubt and out of question too and ambiguities .

By this leek , I will most horribly revenge . I eat and eat , I swear 

Eat , I pray you : will you have some more sauce to your leek ? there is not enough leek to swear by .

Quiet thy cudgel : thou dost see I eat .

Much good do you , scald 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 .

Good .

Ay , leeks is good . Hold you , there is a groat to heal your pate .

Me a groat !

Yes , verily and in truth , you shall take it ; or I have another leek in my pocket , which you shall eat .

I take thy groat in earnest of revenge .

If I owe you anything I will pay you in cudgels : you shall be a woodmonger , and buy nothing of me but cudgels . God be wi' you , and keep you , and heal your pate .


All hell shall stir for this .

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 a vouch 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 , he could not therefore handle an English cudgel : you find it otherwise ; and henceforth let a Welsh correction teach you a good English condition . Fare ye well .


Doth Fortune play the huswife with me now ?
News have I that my Nell 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'll turn ,
And something lean to cutpurse of quick hand .
To England will I steal , and there I'll steal :
And patches will I get unto these cudgell'd scars ,
And swear I got them in the Gallia wars .

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 contriv'd ,
We do salute you , Duke of Burgundy ;
And , princes French , and peers , health to you all !

Right joyous are we to behold your face ,
Most worthy brother England ; fairly met :
So are you , princes English , every one .

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 .

To cry amen to that , thus we appear .

You English princes all , I do salute you .

My 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 ,
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 chas'd ,
And all her husbandry doth lie on heaps ,
Corrupting in its own fertility .
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 ,
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 ,
To swearing and stern looks , diffus'd 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 .

If , Duke of Burgundy , you would the peace ,
Whose want gives growth to the imperfections 
Which you have cited , you must buy that peace 
With full accord to all our just demands ;
Whose tenours and particular effects 
You have , enschedul'd briefly , in your hands .

The king hath heard them ; to the which as yet ,
There is no answer made .

Well then the peace ,
Which you before so urg'd , lies in his answer .

I have but with a cursorary eye 
O'erglanc'd the articles : pleaseth your Grace 
To appoint some of your council presently 
To sit with us once more , with better heed 
To re-survey them , we will suddenly 
Pass our accept and peremptory answer .

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 ,
Anything in or out of our demands ,
And we'll consign thereto . Will you , fair sister ,
Go with the princes , or stay here with us ?

Our gracious brother , I will go with them .
Haply a woman's voice may do some good 
When articles too nicely urg'd be stood on .

Yet leave our cousin Katharine here with us :
She is our capital demand , compris'd 
Within the fore-rank of our articles .

She hath good leave .


Fair Katharine , and most fair !
Will you vouchsafe to teach a soldier terms ,
Such as will enter at a lady's ear ,
And plead his love-suit to her gentle heart ?

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

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 ?

Pardonnez moy , I cannot tell vat is 'like me .' 

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

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

Ouy , vrayment , sauf vostre grace , ainsi dit-il .

I said so , dear Katharine ; and I must not blush to affirm it .

O bon Dieu ! les langues des hommes sont pleines des tromperies .

What says she , fair one ? that the tongues of men are full of deceits ?

Ouy , dat de tongues of de mans is be full of deceits : dat is de princess .

The princess is the better Englishwoman . I' faith , Kate , my wooing is fit for thy understanding : 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 further than to say 'Do you in faith ?' I wear out my suit . Give me your answer ; i' faith do : and so clap hands and a bargain . How say you , lady ?

Sauf vostre honneur , me understand vell .

Marry , if you would put me to verses , or to 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 quickly leap into a wife . Or if I might buffet 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 caust love a fellow of this temper , Kate . whose face is not worth sun-burning , that never looks in his glass for love of anything 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 infinite tongue , that can rime themselves into ladies' favours , they do always reason themselves out again . What ! a speaker is but a prater ; a rime 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 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 ; 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 .

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

No ; 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 , Kate , when France is mine and I am yours , then yours is France and you are mine .

I cannot tell vat is dat .

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 possession de France , et quand vous avez le possession de moy ,let me see , what then ? Saint Denis be my speed !donc vostre est France , et vous estes 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 .

Sauf vostre honneur , le Fran ois que vous parlez est meilleur que l'Anglois lequel je parle .

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 , Kate , dost thou understand thus much English , Canst thou love me ?

I cannot tell .

Can any of your neighbours tell , Kate ? I'll ask them . Come , I know thou lovest me ; and at night when you come into your closet you'll 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 , because I love thee cruelly . If ever thou be'st 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 Constantinople and take the Turk by the beard ? shall we not ? what sayest thou , my fair flower-de-luce ?

I do not know dat .

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 tr s cher et divine d esse ?

Your majest  ave fausse French enough to deceive de most sage demoiselle dat is en France .

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 ambition ! 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 come to woo ladies I fright them . But , in faith , Kate , the elder I wax the better I shall appear : my comfort is , 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 , will 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 '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 English : wilt thou have me ?

Dat is as it sall please de roy mon p re .

Nay , it will please him well , Kate ; it shall please him , Kate .

Den it sall also content me .

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

Laissez , mon seigneur , laissez , laissez ! Ma foy , je ne veux point que vous abaissez vostre grandeur , en baisant la main d'une vostre indigne serviteure : excusez moy , je vous supplie , mon tr s puissant seigneur .

Then I will kiss your lips , Kate .

Les dames , et demoiselles , pour estre bais es devant leur noces , il n'est pas la coutume de France .

Madam my interpreter , what says she ?

Dat it is not be de fashion pour les ladies of France ,I cannot tell what is baiser in English .

To kiss .

Your majesty entendre bettre que moy .

It is not a fashion for the maids in France to kiss before they are married , would she say ?

Ouy , vrayment .

O Kate ! nice customs curtsy 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 mouths of all find-faults , as I will do yours , for upholding the nice fashion of your country in denying me a kiss : therefore , patiently , and yielding 

. You have witchcraft in your lips , Kate : there 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 .

God save your majesty ! My royal cousin , teach you our princess English ?

I would have her learn , my fair cousin , how perfectly I love her ; and that is good English .

Is she not apt ?

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 .

Pardon the frankness of my mirth if I answer 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 .

Yet they do wink and yield , as love is blind and enforces .

They are then excused , my lord , when they see not what they do .

Then , good my lord , teach your cousin to consent winking .

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 .

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 .

As love is , my lord , before it loves .

It is so : and you may , some of you , thank love for my blindness , who cannot see many a fair French city for one fair French maid that stands in my way .

Yes , my lord , you see them perspectively , the cities turned into a maid ; for they are all girdled with maiden walls that war hath never entered .

Shall Kate be my wife ?

So please you .

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 .

We have consented to all terms of reason .

Is't so , my lords of England ?

The king hath granted every article :
His daughter first , and then in sequel all ,
According to their firm proposed natures .

Only he hath not yet subscribed this :
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 tr s cher filz Henry roy d'Angleterre , H retier de France ; and thus in Latin , Pr clarissimus filius noster Henricus , Rex Angli , et H res Franci .

Nor this I have not , brother , so denied ,
But your request shall make me let it pass .

I pray you then , in love and dear alliance ,
Let that one article rank with the rest ;
And thereupon give me your daughter .

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 ,
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 .

Amen !

Now , welcome , Kate : and bear me witness all ,
That here I kiss her as my sovereign queen .


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 ,
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 ;
That English may as French , French Englishmen ,
Receive each other ! God speak this Amen !

Amen !

Prepare we for our marriage : on which day ,
My Lord of Burgundy , we'll take your oath ,
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 !

Thus far , with rough and all-unable pen ,
Our bending author hath pursu'd 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 liv'd 
This star of England : Fortune made his sword ,
By which the world's best garden he achiev'd ,
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 ;
Whose state so many had the managing ,
That they lost France and made his England bleed :
Which oft our stage hath shown ; and , for their sake ,
In your fair minds let this acceptance take .