ACT

Sit, cousin Percy; sit, good cousin Hotspur:
For by that name as oft as Lancaster

Doth speak of you, his cheek looks pale; and, with
A rising sigh, he wisheth you in heaven.

Hot. And you in hell, as often as he hears
Owen Glendower spoke of.

Glend. I cannot blame him: at my nativity,
The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes,
Of burning cressets; and, at my birth,
The frame and the foundation of the earth
Shak'd like a coward.

5

III.

Can trace me in the tedious ways of art,
Or hold me pace in deep experiments. [Welsh:-
Hot. I think there is no man speaks better,
I will to dinner.
[mad.
Mort. Peace, cousin Percy; you will make him
Glend. I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
Hot. Why, so can I; or so can any man:
But will they come, when you do call for them?
Glend. Why, I can teach thee, cousin, to com-
[mand
Hot. And I can teach thee, cousin, to shame

10 The devil.

the devil,

By telling truth; Tell truth,and shame the devil.— If thou have power to raise him, bring him hither, 15 And I'll be sworn, I have power to shame him hence.

20

25

30

O, while you live, tell truth, and shame the devil.
Mort. Come, come,

No more of this unprofitable chat. [made head
Glend. Three times hath Henry Bolingbroke
Against my power: thrice, from the banks of Wye,
And sandy-bottom'd Severn, have I sent him,
Booteless home, and weather-beaten back. [too!
Hot. Home without boots, and in foul weather
How 'scapes he agues, in the devil's name?
Glend. Come, here's the map; Shall we divide
our right,

According to our three-fold order taken?

Mort. The archdeacon hath divided it
Into three limits, very equally:

England, from Trent and Severn hitherto,
By south and east, is to my part assign'd:
All westward, Wales beyond the Severn shore,
And all the fertile land within that bound,
35 To Owen Glendower:-and, dear coz, to you
The remnant northward, lying off from Trent.
And our indentures tripartite are drawn:
Which being sealed interchangeably,
(A business that this night may execute)
To-morrow, cousin Percy, you, and I,
And my good lord of Worcester, will set forth,.
To meet your father, and the Scottish power,
As is appointed us, at Shrewsbury.

Within her womb; which, for enlargement striv-40
Shakes the old beldame' earth, and topples down
Steeples, and moss-grown towers. At your birth,
Our grandam earth, having this distemperature,
In passion shook.

Glend. Cousin, of many inen

My father Glendower is not ready yet, 45 Nor shall we need his help these fourteen days:Within that space you may have drawn together Your tenants,friends, and neighbouring gentlemen. [To Glendower.

I do not bear these crossings. Give me leave
To tell you once again,-that, at my birth,
The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes;
The goats ran from the mountains, and the herds
Were strangely clamorous to the frighted fields.
These signs have mark'd me extraordinary;
And all the courses of my life do shew,
I am not in the roll of common men.
Where is he living,-clipp'd in with the sea,
Thatchidesthebanks of England, Scotland, Wales,--55
Which calls me pupil, or hath read to me?
And bring him out, that is but woman's son,

2

Glend. A shorter time shall send me to your lords,
50 And in my conduct shall your ladies come,
From whom you now must steal, and take no leave;
For there will be a world of water shed,
Upon the parting of your wives and you. [here,
Hot. Methinks, my moiety, north from Burton
In quantity equals not one of yours:
See, how this river comes me cranking in,
And cuts me, from the best of all my land,

That is, entrance, beginning. An induction, however, was anciently something introductory to a play. The cresset-lights were lights fixed on a moveable frame, or cross like a turnstile, and were carried on poles, in processions. Beldame is used here simply in the sense of ancient mother. • Perhaps we should read crankling.

3

A huge

A huge half-moon, a monstrous cantle' out.
I'll have the current in this place damm'd up;
And here the smug and silver Trent shall run,
In a new channel, fair and evenly:

It shall not wind with such a deep indent,
To rob me of so rich a bottom here. [doth.
Gland. Not wind? it shall, it must; you see it
Mort. Yea, but mark, how he bears his course,
and runs me up

With like advantage on the other side;
Gelding the opposed continent as much,
As on the other side it takes from you.

[here,

Wor. Yea, but a little charge will trench him
And on this north side win this cape of land;
And then he runs straight and even.

Hot. I'll have it so; a little charge will do it.
Glend. I will not have it alter'd.

Hot. Will not you?

Glend. No, nor you shall not.
Hot. Who shall say me nay?
Glend. Why, that will I.

Hot. Let me not understand you then,
Speak it in Welsh.

Glend. I can speak English, lord, as well as you
For I was train'd up in the English court:
Where, being but young, I framed to the harp
Many an English ditty, lovely well,

And gave the tongue a helpful ornament;
A virtue that was never seen in you.

;

5

As puts me from my faith. I tell you what,—
He held me last night at the least nine hours,
In reckoning up the several devils' names,
That were his lacqueys: I cry'd, hum,—and well,
-go to,-

But mark'd him not a word. O, he's as tedious
As a tired horse, a railing wife;

Worse than a smoaky house :-I had rather live
With cheese and garlick, in a windmill, far;
10 Than feed on cates, and have him talk to me,
In any summer-house in Christendom.

Mort. In faith, he is a very worthy gentleman;
Exceeding well read, and profited

In strange concealments'; `valiant as a lion,
15 And wondrous affable; and as bountiful
As mines of India. Shall I tell you, cousin?
He holds your temper in a high respect,
And curbs himself even of his natural scope,
When you do cross his humour; 'faith, he does:
20I warrant you, that man is not alive,

Might so have tempted him, as you have done,
Without the taste of danger and reproof;
But do not use it oft, let me intreat you.

Wor. In faith, my lord, you are too wilful-blame; 25 And, since your coming hither, have done enough To put him quite beside his patience.

You must needs learn, lord, to amend this fault; Tho' sometimes it shew greatness, courage, blood, (And that's the dearest grace it renders you,)

Hot. Marry, and I'm glad on't with all my heart; 30 Yet oftentimes it doth present harsh rage,

I had rather be a kitten and cry-mew,

Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers:

I had rather hear a brazen candlestick* turn'd,

Or a dry wheel grate on the axle-tree;

And that would nothing set my teeth on edge,
Nothing so much as mincing poetry;
'Tis like the forc'd gait of a shuffling nag.

Glend. Come, you shall have Trent turn'd.
Hot. I do not care: I'll give thrice so much land

To any well-deserving friend;

But, in the way of bargain, mark ye me,
I'll cavil on the ninth part of a hair.

Are the indentures drawn? shall we be gone?
Glend. The moon shines fair, you may away
by night;

( haste the writer') and, withal,
Break with your wives of your departure hence:
I am afraid, my daughter will run mad,
So much she doteth on her Mortimer.

[Exit.

Defect of manners, want of government,
Pride, haughtiness, opinion, and disdain :
The least of which, haunting a nobleman,
Loseth men's hearts; and leaves behind a stain
35 Upon the beauty of all parts besides,
Beguiling them of commendation.

40

Hot. Well, I am school'd; Good manners be
your speed!

Here come our wives, and let us take our leave.
Re-enter Glendower, with the Ladies.
Mort. This is the deadly spight that angers me,
My wife can speak no English, I no Welsh.
Glend. My daughter weeps; she will not part
with you,

45 She'll be a soldier too, she'll to the wars.

Mort. Fie, cousin Percy! how you cross my 50|
father!

Hot. I cannot chuse: sometimes he angers me
With telling me of the moldwarp and the ant',
Of the dreamer Merlin, and his prophecies;
And of a dragon, and a finless fish,

A clip-wing'd griffin, and a moulten raven,
A couching lion, and a ramping cat,
And such a deal of skimble-skamble stuff

55

Mort. Good father, tell her,-she, and my aunt
Percy,

Shall follow in your conduct speedily.

[Glendower speaks to her in Welsh, and she answers him in the same. Glend. She's desperate here; a peevish selfwill'd harlotry, one

That no persuasion can do good upon.

[Lady speaks to Mortimer in Welsh. Mort.Tunderstand thy looks: that pretty Welsh Which thou pourest down from these swelling heavens,

I am too perfect in; and, but for shame,

A cantle is a corner or piece of any thing. 2 Mr. Steevens says that the real name of Owen Glendower was laughan, and that he was originally a barrister of the Middie Temple. i. e. the English Janguage. The word is written-canstick in the quartos 1598, 1599, and 1608; and so it might have been pronounced. 'He means the writer of the articles. This alludes to an old prophecy, which is said to have induced Owen Glendower to take up arms against king Henry. The mould-warp is the mele, so called because it renders the surface of the earth unlevel by the hillocks which it raises. i. e. skilled in wonderful secrets.

In such a parley should I answer thee.
[The lady again in Welsh.

I understand thy kisses, and thou mine,
And that's a feeling disputation:
But I will never be a truant, love,

'Till I have learn'd thy language; for thy tongue
Makes Welsh as sweet as ditties highly penn'd,
Sung by a fair queen in a summer's bower,
With ravishing division, to her lute.
Glend. Nay, if you melt, then will she run mad.
[The lady speaks again in Welsh.
Mort. O, I am ignorance itself in this.
Glend. She bids you,
Upon the wanton rushes' lay you down,
And rest your gentle head upon her lap,
And she will sing the song that pleaseth you,
And on your eye-lids crown the god of sleep',
Charming your blood with pleasing heaviness;
Making such difference betwixt wake and sleep,
As is the difference betwixt day and night,
The hour before the heavenly-harness'd team
Begius his golden progress in the east. [sing:
Mort. With all my heart I'll sit, and hear her
By that time will our book, I think, be drawn.
Glend. Do so;

"And those musicians that shall play to you,
Hang in the air a thousand leagues from hence;
Yet straight they shall be here; sit, and attend.

5

Lady. What's that?

Hot. Peace! she sings.

[Here the lady sings a Welsh song. Come, Kate, I'll have your song too. Lady. Not mine, in good sooth. Hot. Not yours, in good sooth! 'Heart, you swear like a comfit-maker's wife! Not you, in good sooth; and, As true as I live; and, As God shall mend me; and, As sure as day: and givest 10 such sarcenet surety for thy oaths, as if thou never walk'dst further than Finsbury'.

Swear me, Kate, like a lady, as thou art,

A good mouth-filling oath! and leave In sooth,
And such protests of pepper ginger-bread',
15 To velvet guards, and sunday-citizens.
Come, sing.

Lady. I will not sing.

Hot. 'Tis the next way to turn tailor1o, or be
Red-breast teacher". An the indentures be
20 drawn, I'll away within these two hours; and so
come in when you will.
[Exit.
Glend. Come, come, lord Mortimer; you are
as slow,

As hot lord Percy is on fire to go.
25 By this, our book is drawn; we will but seal,
And then to horse immediately.
Mort. With all my heart.

Hot. Come, Kate, thou art perfect in lying down: Come, quick, quick; that I may lay my 30 head in thy lap.

Lady. Go, ye giddy goose. [The music plays. Hot. Now, I perceive, the devil understa ds And 'tis no marvel, he's so humorous. [Welsh; By'r-Lady, he's a good musician.

Lady. Then should you be nothing but musical; for you are altogether govern'd by humours. Lie still, ye thief, and hear the lady sing in Welsh. Hot. I had rather hear Lady, my brach, howl in Irish.

Lady. Would'st have thy head broken?
Hot. No.

Lady. Then be still.

Hot. Neither; 'tis a woman's fault".
Lady. Now God help thee!

Hot. To the Welsh lady's bed.

35

SCENE

[Exeunt.

II.

The presence-chamber in Windsor.
Enter King Henry, Prince of Wales, Lords, and
others.

K. Henry. Lords, give us leave; the Prince of
Wales and I

Must have some private conference: But be near
At hand, for we shall presently have need of you.—
[Exeunt Lords.

I know not whether God will have it so,
For some displeasing service" I have done,
40 That, in his secret doom, out of my blood
He'll breed revengement and a scourge for me:
But thou dost, in thy passages of life,
Make me believe, that thou art only mark'd
For the hot vengeance and the rod of heaven,
45 To punish my mis-treadings. Tell me else,
Could such inordinate, and low desires,

A

It was long the custom in this country, to strew the floors with rushes, as we now cover them with carpets. The expression is beautiful; intimating, that the god of sleep should not only sit on his eye-lids, but that he should sit crown'd, that is, pleased and delighted. i. e. our papers of conditions, our articles. Every composition, whether play, ballad, or history, was anciently called a book. *And for an, which often signifies in our author if or tho', is frequently used by old writers. proverbial expression; meaning, that it is the usual fault of women never to do what they are bid or desired to do. Open walks and fields near Chiswell-street, London-Wall, by Moorgate; and at that time the cominon resort of the citizens. i. e. protestations as common as the letters which children learn from an alphabet of ginger-bread. What we now call spice, was then denominated pepper, gingerbread. i. e. to such as have their cloaths adorned with shreds of velvet, which appear then to have been a city fashion. The next way-is the nearest way. 10 Tailors seem to have been as remarkable for singing as weavers, of whose musical turn Shakspeare has before made mention in this play. "The honourable Daines Barrington observes, that "a gold-finch still continues to be called a proud tailor, in some parts of England," which renders this passage intelligible, that otherwise seems to have no meaning whatsoever. Perhaps this bird is called proud tailor, because his plumage is va ried like a suit of cloaths made out of remnants of different colours, such as a tailor might be supposed to wear. The sense then will be this :-The next thing to singing oneself, is to teach birds to sing, the gold-finch and the Robin. See note above. "Service for action, simply. 14 i. e. in the pas

sages of thy life.

12

Such

Such poor, such bare, such lewd, such mean at-1
tempts',

Such barren pleasures, rude society,
As thou art match'd withal, and grafted to,
Accompany the greatness of thy blood,
And hold their level with thy princely heart?
P. Henry. So please your majesty, I would, I
Quit all offences with as clear excuse [could
As well as, I am doubtless, I can purge
Myself of many I am charg'd withal:
Yet such extenuation let me beg,

As, in reproof of many tales devis'd,-
Which oft the ear of greatness needs must hear,-
By smiling pick-thanks' and base news-mongers,
I inay, for some things true, wherein my youth
Hath faulty wander'd and irregular,
Find pardon on my true submission.

K. Henry. Heaven pardon thee!-yet let me
wonder, Harry,

At thy affections, which do hold a wing
Quite from the flight of all thy ancestors.
Thy place in council thou hast rudely lost,
Which by thy younger brother is supply'd;
And art almost an alien to the hearts
Of all the court and princes of my blood:
The hope and expectation of thy time
Is ruin'd; and the soul of every man
Prophetically does fore-think thy fall.
Had I so lavish of my presence been,
So common-hackney'd in the eyes of men,
So stale and cheap to vulgar company;
Opinion, that did help me to the crown,
Had still kept loyal to possession';
And left me in reputeless banishment,
A fellow of no mark, nor likelihood.
By being seldom seen, I could not stir,
But, like a comet, I was wonder'd at:
That men would tell their children, This is he;'
Others would say, 'Where? which is Bolingbroke?'
And then I stole all courtesy from heaven*,
And dress'd myself in such humility,
That I did pluck allegiance from men's hearts,
Loud shouts and salutations from their mouths,
Even in the presence of the crowned king.
Thus did I keep my person fresh, and new;
My presence, like a robe pontifical,
Ne'er seen but wonder'd at: and so my state,
Seldom, but sumptuous, shewed like a feast;
And won, by rareness, such solemnity.
The skipping king, he ambled up and down
With shallow jesters, and rash bavin' wits,
Soon kindled, and soon burnt: carded his state;
Mingled his royalty with carping' fools;

Had his great name profaned with their scorns;
And gave his countenance against his name,
To laugh at gybing boys, and stand the push
Of every beardless vain comparative':

5 Grew a companion to the common streets,
Enfeoff'd 10 himself to popularity:

That being daily swallow'd by men's eyes,
They surfeited with honey; and began
To loath the taste of sweetness, whereof a little
10 More than a little is by much too much.
So when he had occasion to be seen,

He was but as the cuckow is in June,
Heard, not regarded; seen, but with such eyes,
As, sick and blunted with community,
15 Afford no extraordinary gaze,
Such as is bent on sun-like majesty
When it shines seldom with admiring eyes:
But rather drowz'd, and hung their eye-lids down,
Slept in his face, and render'd such aspect
20 As cloudy men use to their adversaries;
Being with his presence glutted, gorgʼd, and full.
And in that very line, Harry, stand'st thou :
For thou hast lost thy princely privilege,
With vile participation; not an eye

25 But is a-weary of thy common sight,
Save mine, which hath desir'd to see thee more;
Which now doth what I would not have it do,
Make blind itself with foolish tenderness.

[lord,

P. Henry. I shall hereafter, my thrice gracious

30 Be more myself.

K. Henry. For all the world,

As thou art to this hour, was Richard then
When I from France set foot at Ravenspurg;
And even as I was then, is Percy now.
35 Now by my sceptre, and my soul to boot,
He hath more worthy interest to the state,
Than thou, the shadow of succession:
For, of no right, nor colour like to right,

He doth fill fields with harness in the realm;
40 Turns head against the lion's armed jaws;
And, being no more in debt to years than thou,
Leads ancient lords and reverend bishops on,
To bloody battles, and to bruising arms.
What never-dying honour hath he got
45 Against renowned Douglas; whose high deeds,
Whose hot incursions, and great name in arms,
Holds from all soldiers chief majority,

And military title capital,

Through all the kingdoms that acknowledgeChrist? 50 Thrice hath this Hotspur Mars in swathing cloaths, This infant warrior, in his enterprizes

Discomfited great Douglas; ta'en him once,
Enlarged him, and made a friend of him,

1 Mean attempts are unworthy undertakings. Lewd does not in this place barely signify wanton, but licentious. i. e. officious parasites. i. e. True to him that had then possession of the crown. This is an allusion to the story of Prometheus's theft, who stole fire from thence; and as with this he made a man, so with that Bolingbroke made a king. Rash is heady, thoughtless: bavin is brushwood, which, tired, burns fiercely, but is soon out. The metaphor seems to be taken from mingling course wool with fine, and carding them together, whereby the value of the latter is diminished. The king means, that Richard mingled and carded together his royal state with carping fools, &c. To card is used by other writers for, to mix. 'i. e. jesting, prating, &c. The quarto 1598, reads cap'ring i. e. made his presence injurious to his reputation. "Meaning, of every boy whose vanity incited him to try his wit against the king's. Comparative, means equal, or rival in any thing. enfeoff is a law term, signifying to invest with possessions.

fools.

10

To

Τα

K. Henry. The earl of Westmoreland set forth
With him my son, lord John of Lancaster;
For this advertisement is five days old:-
On Wednesday next, Harry, thou shalt set forward:
On Thursday, we ourselves will march:
10 Our meeting is Bridgnorth: and, Harry, you
Shall march through Glostershire; by which ac-

But wherefore do I tell these news to thee?
Why, Harry, do I tell thee of my foes,
Which art my near'st and dearest enemy?
Thou that art like enough,-through vassal fear,
Base inclination, and the start of spleen,-
To fight against me under Percy's pay,
To dog his heels, and curt'sy at his frowns,
To shew how much thou art degenerate.
P. Henry. Do not think so, you shall not find it 15
And heaven forgive them, that so much have
sway'd

3

[so:

Your majesty's good thoughts away from me!
I will redeem all this on Percy's head,
And, in the closing of some glorious day,
Be bold to tell you, that I am your son:
When I will wear a garment all of blood,
And stain my favours in a bloody mask,
Which, wash'd away, shall scour my shame with it.
And that shall be the day, whene'er it lights,
That this same child of honour and renown,
This gallant Hotspur, this all-praised knight,
And your unthought-of Harry, chance to meet:
For every honour sitting on his helm,

'Would they were multitudes; and on my head
My shames redoubled! for the time will come,
That I shall make this northern youth exchange
His glorious deeds for my indignities.
Percy is but my factor, good my lord,
To engross up glorious deeds on my behalf:
And I will call him to so strict account,
That he shall render every glory up,
Yea, even the slightest worship of his time,
Or I will tear the reckoning from his heart.
This, in the name of God, I promise here:
The which if he be pleas'd I shall perform,
I do beseech your majesty, may salve
The long-grown wounds of my intemperance:
If not, the end of life cancels all bands;
And I will die a hundred thousand deaths,
Ere break the smallest parcel of this vow.
K. Henry. A hundred thousand rebels die in
this:-

Thou shalt have charge, and sovereign trust herein.
Enter Blunt.

How now, good Blunt? thy looks are full of

20

The Boar's-head Tavern in East-cheap.
Enter Falstaff and Bardolph.

Fal. Bardolph, am I not fallen away vilely since this last action? do I not bate? do I not dwindle? Why, my skin hangs about me like an 25 old lady's loose gown; I am wither'd like an old apple-John. Well, I'll repent, and that suddenly, while I am in some liking; I shall be out of heart shortly, and then I shall have no strength to repent. An I have not forgotten what the inside of 30a church is made of, I am a pepper-corn, a brewer's horse; the inside of a church :-Company, villainous company, hath been the spoil of me.

35

Bard. Sir John, you are so fretful, you cannot live long.

Ful. Why, there it is:-come, sing me a bawdy song; make me merry. I was as virtuously given as a gentleman need to be; virtuons enough: swore little; dic'd, not above seven times a week; went to a bawdy-house, not above once in a quar40 ter-of an hour; paid money that I borrow'd, three or four times; liv'd well, and in good compass: and now I live out of all order, out of all compass.

Bard. Why, you are so fat, Sir John, that you 45 must needs be out of all compass; out of all reasonable compass, Sir John.

50

Fal. Do thou amend thy face, and I'll amend my life: thou art our admiral, thou bearest the lanthorn in the poop,-but 'tis in the nose of thee; thou art the knight of the burning lamp.

Bard. Why, sir John, my face does you no harm. Fal. No, I'll be sworn; I make as good use of it as many a man doth of a death's head, or a me mento mori: I never see thy face, but I think upon 155 hell-fire, and Dives that liv'd in purple; for

1i. e. make head. Dearest here means mostfatal, most mischievous, and should be spelled derest. 'Favours mean some decoration usually worn by knights in their helmets, as a present from a mistress, or a trophy from an enemy. + Mr. Steevens conjectures, that a brewer's horse does not, perhaps, mean a dray-horse, but the cross-beam on which beer-barrels are carried into cellars, &c. and that the allusion may be to the taper form of this machine; while Mr. Tyrwhitt thinks, that "Falstaff does not mean to point out any similitude to his own condition, but, on the contrary, some striking dissimilitude. He says here, I am a pepper-corn, a brewer's horse; just as in act II. sc. iv. he asserts the truth of several parts of his narrative, on pain of being considered as a rogue-a Jew-an Ebrew Jew -a bunch of radish-a horse."

there