P. Hen. Got with much ease. horse; Now merrily to The thieves are scattered, and possessed with fear Away, good Ned. Falstaff sweats to death, [Exeunt. SCENE III. Warkworth. A Room in the Castle. Enter HOTSPUR, reading a letter.1 ·But, for my own part, my lord, I could be well contented to be there, in respect of the love I bear your house. He could be contented,-why is he not, then? In respect of the love he bears our house, he shows in this, he loves his own barn better than he loves our house. Let me see some more. The purpose you undertake is dangerous;-why, that's certain; 'tis dangerous to take a cold, to sleep, to drink! But I tell you, my lord fool, out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety. The purpose you undertake is dangerous; the friends you have named, uncertain; the time itself unsorted; and your whole plot too light, for the counterpoise of so great an opposition.-Say you so, say you so? I say unto you again, you are a shallow, cowardly hind, and you lie. What a lack-brain is this! By the Lord, our plot is a good plot as ever was laid; our friends true and constant; a good plot, good friends, and full of expectation; an excellent plot, very good friends. What a frosty-spirited rogue is this! Why, my lord of York commends the plot, and the general course of the action. 'Zounds, an I were now by this rascal, I could brain him with his lady's fan. Is there not my 1 This letter was from George Dunbar, earl of March, in Scotland. 2 Richard Scroop, archbishop of York. father, my uncle, and myself? lord Edmund Mortimer, my lord of York, and Owen Glendower? Is there not, besides, the Douglas? Have I not all their letters, to meet me in arms by the ninth of the next month? and are they not, some of them, set forward already? What a pagan rascal is this! an infidel! Ha! you shall see now, in very sincerity of fear and cold heart, will he to the king, and lay open all our proceedings. O, I could divide myself, and go to buffets, for moving such a dish of skimmed milk with so honorable an action! Hang him! let him tell the king. We are prepared; I will set forward to-night. Enter LADY PERCY. How now, Kate?1 I must leave you within these two hours. Lady. O, my good lord, why are you thus alone? For what offence have I, this fortnight, been A banished woman from my Harry's bed? Tell me, sweet lord, what is't that takes from thee Thy stomach, pleasure, and thy golden sleep? Why dost thou bend thine eyes upon the earth, And start so often when thou sit'st alone? Why hast thou lost the fresh blood in thy cheeks, And given my treasures, and my rights of thee, To thick-eyed musing, and cursed melancholy? In thy faint slumbers, I by thee have watched, And heard thee murmur tales of iron wars; Speak terms of manage to thy bounding steed; Cry; Courage!-to the field! And thou hast talked Of sallies, and retires; of trenches, tents, Of palisadoes, frontiers,3 parapets; 1 Shakspeare either mistook the name of Hotspur's wife (which was not Katharine, but Elizabeth), or else designedly changed it, out of the remarkable fondness he seems to have had for the name of Kate. Hall and Holinshed call her, erroneously, Elinor. 2 Retires are retreats. 3 Frontiers formerly meant, not only the bounds of different territories, but also the forts built along or near those limits. Of basilisks,1 of cannon, culverin; Of prisoners' ransom, and of soldiers slain, 2 Thy spirit within thee hath been so at war, And in thy face strange motions have appeared, Some heavy business hath my lord in hand, And I must know it, else he loves me not. Hot. What, ho! is Gilliams with the packet gone? Enter Servant. Serv. He is, my lord; an hour ago. Hot. Hath Butler brought those horses from the sheriff? Serv. One horse, my lord, he brought even now. Hot. That roan shall be my throne. Well, I will back him straight. O esperance ! Bid Butler lead him forth into the park. ? [Exit Servant. Lady. But hear you, my lord. ape! A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen, As you are tossed with. In faith, I'll know your business, Harry, that I will. I fear my brother Mortimer doth stir 1 Basilisks are a species of ordnance, probably so named from the imaginary serpent or dragon, with figures of which it was ordinary to ornament great guns. 2 Occurrences. 3 The motto of the Percy family. About his title; and hath sent for you, In faith, I'll break thy little finger, Harry, 2 Away, you trifler!-Love? I love thee not, Lady. Do you not love me? do you not indeed? Thou wilt not utter what thou dost not know; Lady. How! so far? Hot. Not an inch further. But hark you, Kate! Whither I go, thither shall you go too; 1 i. e. to strengthen. 2 Mammets were puppets or dolls, here used by Shakspeare for a female plaything; a diminutive of mam. Mr. Gifford has thrown out a conjecture about the meaning of mammets from the Italian mammetta, which signified a bosom as well as a young wench. To-day will I set forth, to-morrow you.— Lady. It must, of force. [Exeunt. SCENE IV. Eastcheap. A Room in the Boar's Head Tavern. Enter PRINCE HENRY and POINS. P. Hen. Ned, pr'ythee, come out of that fat room, and lend me thy hand to laugh a little. Poins. Where hast been, Hal? 2 P. Hen. With three or four loggerheads, amongst three or four score hogsheads. I have sounded the very base string of humility. Sirrah, I am sworn brother to a leash of drawers; and can call them all by their Christian names, as-Tom, Dick, and Francis. They take it already upon their salvation, that, though I be but prince of Wales, yet I am the king of courtesy ; and tell me flatly I am no proud Jack, like Falstaff; but a Corinthian, a lad of mettle, a good boy,-by the Lord, so they call me; and when I am king of England, I shall command all the good lads in Eastcheap. They call-drinking deep, dyeing scarlet: and when you breathe in your watering, they cry-hem! and bid you play it off.3-To conclude, I am so good a proficient in one quarter of an hour, that I can drink with any tinker in his own language during my life. I tell thee, Ned, thou hast lost much honor, that thou wert 1 Eastcheap is selected, with propriety, for the scene of the prince's merry meetings, as it was near his own residence: a mansion called Cold Harbor (near All Hallows church, Upper Thames street) was granted to Henry prince of Wales. 11 Henry ÍV. 1410. Rymer, vol. viii. p. 628. In the old, anonymous play of King Henry V., Eastcheap is the place where Henry and his companions meet:-" Hen. V. You know the old tavern in Eastcheap; there is good wine." Shakspeare has hung up a sign for them that he saw daily; for the Boar's Head tavern was very near Black friars' playhouse.-Stowe's Survey. 2 A Corinthian was a debauchee. 3 "To breathe in your watering," is "to stop and take breath when you are drinking." |