PR saia ^oR THE NEW- HUDSON SHAKESPEARE i^rsKs erve Stomf* Collection Glass. Book. COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT THE Chronicle Hiftory of Henry the fift,with his battell fought at sJgin Qourt in France. Together with an- clent PiBoll* Ask hath bene fundry times fUydty the tight Honou* rabk the Lord chmkrldnc his Seruwts. ?rimcd{orT.^i6o%. Ksf Facsimile of Title-Page, Third Quarto THENEWHUDSON SHAKESPEARE, Ul KING HENRY THE FIFTH INmODUCTTONAtD NOTES BY HENRYNORMAN HUDSON, LkD^ EDITED AND REVISED BY EBENEZER CHARITON BLACK LLD- (GLASGOW) WTltt THE COOPERATION OF ANDREW JACKS ON GEORGE ETTD-CMEERST) SCHOOl. EDITION GINNAND COMPANY LIBRARY of CONGRESS Two Copies Received OCT 21 1908 Copyright entry _, 01ASS txJ W> No. p^jjV* .^ ^ \ «> = brother or sister oLj = brother or sister of the half blood d. = died exc.= executed k.= killed k.A = killed at Agincourt R2 = one of the dramatis persona? in Richard II R3= do. Richard III H4 1= do. 1 Henry IV H 4 2 = do. 2 Henry IV H6!= do. 1 Henry VI H6 2 = do. 2 Henry VI H6 3 = do. 3 Henry VI H5= do. Henry V KJ= do. King John Italics indicate that the person is only mentioned in the play. Numerals in parentheses before a name indicate a first, second, or third marriage. Nu- merals after a king's reign indicate the dates of his reign. xxxii (2) Owen Tudor = Edmund Tudor Henry Tudor Earl of Richmond HENRY VII TUDOR 1485-1509 H6 3 R 3 CONNECTIONS ENGLISH = Philippa of Hainault I d. 1369 I John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster d. 1399 R2 (2) Constance of < Castile (1) Blanche of Lancaster Chaucer's ' Duchesse ' ? d. 1369 Henry Bolingbroke Earl of Derby Duke of Hereford Duke of Lancaster HENRY IV LANCASTER 1399-1413 R2 H4 12 (2) Joan of Navarre d. 1437 (1) Mary de Bohun d. 1394 Edmund Langley : Duke of York d. 1402 R2 > (1) Isabella of Castile, d. 1393 :( 2 ) Joan of Kent (II) Duchess of York R2 (3) Henry, 3 Baron Scrope of Masham Lord Scroop exc. 1415 H 5 Thomas Duke of Gloucester d. 1397 I Edward Earl of Rutland Duke of AUMERLE Duke of York k.A. 1415 R2 H 5 I Richard Earl of Cambridge exc. 1415 H_5 Anne Mortimer I Richard Plantagenet Duke of York d. 1460 H6 123 1 Constance Thomas Despenser d. 1400 Isabella Richard Beauchamp Earl of Warwick d. 1439 H5 EDWARD IV 1461-1483 R 3 H6 23 Elisabeth R3 Edmund Earl of Rutland H6 3 George Duke of Clarence d. 1479 H6 3 R3 I RICHARD III 1483-1485 H6 23 R 3 I Edward of Wales EDWARD V R3 Richard Duke of York R3 Henry of Monmouth • ' Prince Hal' Duke of Lancaster HENRY V 1413-1422 H4H5 KATHARINE OF FRANCE d. 1437 I s HENRY VI 1422-1471 H6 123 T Thomas John Duke of Duke of Clarence Bedford k. 1421 Regent of H4 2 H 5 France d- 1435 H 4 H5 H6 1 Humphrey ' Good Duke Humphrey ' Duke of Gloucester d. 1447 H4 1 H5 H6 12 xxxiv THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE HISTORICAL II. Louis VIII 122^5-1226 KJ 1 Philip III = Isabella of Aragon Philip 1 H5 IV The Fair 1 .1 Louis X Isabella Philip V 1 Charles IV 1314-1316 Edward II (of England) 1 Edward III 1316-1322 1322-1328 (first English claimant of Charles V French crown) 1364-13 80 CHARLES VI = = Isabella 1380-1422 of Bavaria H 5 H 5 Louis Isabella KATHARINE CHARLES VII the Dauphin — d. 1437 1422-1461 d. 1415 (1) RICHARD II H 5 H6 1 H 5 (of England) 1 R2 (i)HENRYV LOUIS XI (2) Charles of England (second English H6 3 Duke of Orleans H5 claimant of French crown) H4 1 H42 H5 (2) Owen Tudor The old chronicler is followed even in his slips, as in the case of (St.) Louis IX, indicated in the above table. One interesting deviation from Holinshed is in representing the Dauphin as present at Agincourt. " Probably Shakespeare felt that as Henry represented the solid qualities of a true INTRODUCTION XXXV CONNECTIONS FRENCH = Blanche of Castile I (St.) Louis IX = Margaret of Provence H5* 1 " Charles of Valois i Duke of Alencon Philip VI 1328-1350 John II 1350-1364 Charles II 2 Duke of Alencon Charles III Peter 3 Duke of Alencon 4 Duke of Alencon 1 I Philip _ J° HN Robert I Louis (I) 1 Duke of Bourbon Peter 2 Duke of Bourbon Louis (II) 3 Duke of Bourbon I John 4 Duke of Duke of Burgundy 1. r Louis John Duke of Orleans the Fearless Duke of Burgundy d. 1419 H 5 5 Duke of Alencon Bourbon (prisoner at Agin- court) H 5 k.A. 1415 1 * Anthony Duke of Brabant k.A. 1415 H 5 Charles the Poet Duke of Orleans (prisoner at Agincourt) H5 John Count of Dunois Bastard of Orleans * See note on I, ii, jj. king, and the Dauphin the mere show and glitter of royalty without the substance, it would add to the dramatic effect that both should meet on the great day of trial, the one to issue from it with glory, the other in reprobation and dis- grace." — Moore Smith. xxxvi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE IX. THE CHARACTERS Why Falstaff is not Introduced Reference has already been made to the promise in the epilogue to King Henry the Fourth that Sir John would be in the continuation of the story. While FalstafT is the hero of The Merry Wives of Windsor, he never appears in King Henry the Fifth. Probably when Shakespeare went to plan- ning the drama, he saw the impracticability of making any- thing more out of him, while there was at least some danger lest the part should degenerate into clap-trap. The very fact of such a promise being made might well imply a pur- pose rather too theatrical for the just rights of truth and art. Falstaff's dramatic office and mission were clearly at an end when his connection with Prince Henry was broken off, one of the obvious designs of the character being to explain the prince's wild and riotous courses. Falstaff must have had so much of manhood in him as to love the prince, else he were too bad a man for the prince to be with ; and when he was so sternly cast off, the grief of this wound must in all reason have sadly palsied his sport-mak- ing powers. To have continued him with his wits shattered or crippled, had been flagrant injustice to him; to have continued him with his wits sound and in good trim, had been something unjust to the prince. The dramatist did well to keep Falstaff in retirement, where, though his once matchless powers no longer give us pleasure, the report of his sufferings gently touches our pity and recovers him to our human sympathies. When at last the Hostess says, " The king has kill'd his heart," INTRODUCTION xxxvii what a volume of redeeming matter is suggested concerning him ! For the first time we begin to respect him as a man, because we see that he has a heart as well as a brain, and that his heart is big and strong enough to outwrestle his profligacy and give death the advantage of him. " The king has kill'd his heart." These six monosyllables prepare for Mrs. Quickly's account of his death, one of the supreme things in literature for sheer simplicity and that humor which is of the essence of pity. With Bardolph's " Would I were with him, wheresome'er he is, either in heaven or in hell ! " the characterization of FalstafT is complete. The sympa- thetic words of the dissolute hanger-on are a fit epitaph for the great character-creation in broad human comedy. The Comic Characters bardolph, nym, the boy The comic portions of King Henry the Fifth give fresh illustration of Shakespeare's versatility and range of genius. There is indeed nothing here that comes up to the scenes at Eastcheap in King Henry the Fourth : so much is im- plied in the absence of Falstaff, for nothing else in rich comedy could equal that delineation. But Hostess Quickly reappears as Mrs. Pistol, the same character but running into an amusing variety of development \ the swaggering Pistol is also the same as before, only in a somewhat more efflorescent stage, ranting out with greater gust than ever the picked-up fustian of the bear-garden and the play- house. Bardolph, too, with his "face all bubukles, and whelks, and knobs, and flames o' fire," but now advanced in rank and carrying a sense of higher importance. With xxxviii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE these we have an altogether original addition in Corporal Nym, a delineation of low character in Shakespeare's most realistic style, with a vein of humor so lifelike as to seem a literal transcript from fact, while the native vulgarity of the man is kept from being disgusting by the freshness and spirit with which his characteristic traits are delineated. These three good-for-nothing profligates are a fitting ex- ample of the human refuse and scum which lately gravi- tated round Sir John, and they serve the double purpose of carrying into the new scenes the memory of the king's former associations and of evincing the king's present severity and rectitude of discipline. They thus help to bridge over the chasm, which might otherwise appear some- thing too abrupt, between what the hero was as Prince of Wales and what he is as King of England. Their presence shows him acting out the purpose which he avowed when he first appears in Shakespeare, of imitating the sun who causes himself to be more wondered at By breaking through the foul and ugly mists Of vapours that did seem to strangle him. [i Henry IV, I, ii, 225-226.] That some such clouds of vileness exhaled from the old haunts of his discarded life should still hang about his path was natural in the course of things and may be set down as a judicious point in the drama. The Boy who figures as servant to " these three swash- ers " is probably the page to Falstaff in the earlier play. His arch and almost unconscious shrewdness of remark was even there a taking feature, and it encouraged the thought of his having enough healthy keenness of perception to INTRODUCTION xxxix ward off the taints and corruptions that beset him. He now translates the follies and vices of his employers into apt themes of sagacious and witty reflection, touching at every point the very pith of their distinctive features. The mixture of penetration and simplicity with which he moral- izes their pretentious nothings is very charming. Thus Pis- tol's turbulent vapor ings draw from him the sage remark, " 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 . . . and they are both hang'd ; and so would this be, if he durst steal any thing adventur- ously " (IV, iv, 65-71). Shakespeare specially delights in thus endowing his children and young people with a kind of unsophisticated shrewdness, the free outcome of a native soundness that enables them to walk unhurt amid the con- tagions of bad example; their own minds being kept pure, and even furthered in the course of manhood, by an instinc- tive oppugnance to the shams and meannesses which beset their path. FLUELLEN, JAMY, MACMORRIS But the comic life of the drama is mainly centered in a very different group of persons. Fluellen, Jamy, and Mac- morris strike out an entirely fresh and original vein of en- tertainment, and these, together with Bates and Williams, aptly represent the practical, working soldiership of the king's army. The conceited and loquacious Welshman, the tenacious and argumentative Scotchman, the hot and im- pulsive Irishman, representatives of nations with whom the English have lately been at war, serve the further purpose of xl THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE displaying how smoothly* the recent national enmities have been reconciled and all the parties drawn into harmonious cooperation by the king's inspiring nobleness of character and the catching enthusiasm of his enterprise. All three are as brave as lions, thoroughly devoted to the cause and mutually emulous of doing good service, each entering into the work with as much heartiness as if his own nation were at the head of the undertaking. All of them, too, are com- pletely possessed with the spirit of the occasion, where " honour's thought reigns solely in the breast of every man," and as there is no swerving from the line of earnest, warlike purpose in quest of any sport or pastime, the amusement we have of them results purely from the spontaneous working- out of their innate peculiarities. While making us laugh, they at the same time win our respect, their very oddities serving to set off their substantial manliness. Fluellen is pedantic, pragmatical, and somewhat queru- lous, but withal a thoroughly honest and valiant soul. He loves to hear himself discourse touching " the true discipline of the wars," and about " Alexander the Pig," and how " For- tune is painted blind, with a muffler afore his eyes, to signify to you that Fortune is blind ; and she is painted also with a wheel, to signify to you, which is the moral of it, that she is turning, and inconstant, and mutability, and variation " (III, vi, 29-33) : but then he is also prompt to own that " Captain Jamy is a marvellous falorous gentleman . . . and of great expedition and knowledge in th' aunchient wars . . . : 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" (III, ii, 73-78). He is indeed rather easily gulled into thinking Pistol a hero, on hearing him utter " as INTRODUCTION xli prave words at the pridge as you shall see in a summer's day " (III, vi, 62-63). This lapse, however, is amply squared when he cudgels the swagger out of the " counterfeit rascal " and persuades him to eat the leek, and then makes him accept a groat to " heal his proken pate." This is one of Shakespeare's raciest and most spirited comic scenes. Note- worthy is his cool discretion in putting up with the mouth- ing braggart's insolence, because the time and place did not properly allow his resenting it on the spot; but when he calls on him to " eat his victuals," and gives him the cudgel for sauce to it, and tells him, " You call'd me yesterday mountain-squire, but I will make you to-day a squire of low degree," there is no mistaking the timber he is made of. When Fluellen sharply reproves one of his superior officers for loud talking in the camp at night by saying, " 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," the king overhears the reproof and hits the white of his character when he says to himself, Though it appear a little out of fashion, There is much care and valour in this Welshman. [IV, i, 82-83.] But perhaps the man's most characteristic passage is in his plain and downright style of speech to the king himself, when the king, referring to the place of his own birth, which was in Wales, addresses him as "good my countryman," and Fluellen replies, " I am your majesty's countryman, I care not who know it ; I will confess it to all the 'orld : I need not to be asham'd of your majesty, prais'd be God, xlii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE so long as your majesty is an honest man" (IV, vii, 105- 108). On the whole, Fluellen is a capital instance of Shakespeare's consideration for the rights of manhood irrespective of rank or title or any adventitious regards. Though a very subordinate person in the drama, there is more wealth of genius shown in the delineation of him than in that of any other except the king. The King The delineation of the king has something of peculiar interest from its personal relation to the author. It em- bodies Shakespeare's ethics of character. Here, for once, he relaxes his strictness of dramatic self-reserve and lets us directly into his own conception of what is good and noble. In his other portraits we have the art and genius of the poet ; here, along with this, are also reflected the conscience and the heart of the man. Henry the Fifth as delineated in the two parts of King Henry the Fourth and in King Henry the Fifth is the most complex and many-sided of all Shakespeare's heroes with the one exception of Hamlet, if indeed even Hamlet ought to be excepted. In this play which bears his name he is great alike in thought, in purpose, and in performance; all the parts of his character drawing together perfectly, as if there were no foothold for distraction among them. Truth, sweet- ness, and terror build in him equally. He loves the plain presence of natural and homely characters where all is genu- ine, forthright, and sincere. Even in his sternest actions as king he shows, he cannot help showing, the motions of a brotherly heart ; there is a certain grace and suavity in his very commands causing them to be felt as benedictions. To INTRODUCTION xliii be frank, open, and affable with all sorts of persons, so as to call their very hearts into their mouths and move them to be free, plain-spoken, and simple in his company, as losing the sense of inferior rank in an equality of manhood, — all this is both an impulse of nature and a rule of judg- ment with him. Nothing contents him short of getting heart to heart with those about or beneath him. All official forms, all the facings of pride, that stand in the way of this, he breaks through, but with so much natural dignity and ease that those who see it are scarcely sensible of it ; they feel a peculiar graciousness in him, but know not why. In his practical sense of things, as well as in his theory, inward merit is the only basis of kingly right and rule. He is so much at home in this thought that he never emphasizes it at all. He understands full well that such merit, where it really lives, will best make its way when left to itself, and that any boasting or putting on airs about it can only betray a lack of it. The character of this crowned gentleman stands together in that native harmony and beauty which is most adorned in being unadorned. His whole behavior appears to be governed by an instinctive sense of this. There is no simu- lation, no disguise, no study for appearances about him ; all got-up dignities, anything put on for effect, whatever savors in the least of sham or shoddy, is his aversion ; and the higher the place where it is used, the more he feels it to be out of place. His supreme delight is to seem just what he is, and to be just what he seems. In other words, he has a steadfast, living, operative faith in the plenipotence of truth ; he wants nothing better ; he scorns to rely on any- thing less ; this is the soul of all his thoughts and designs. xliv THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE The sense of any discrepancy between his inward and his outward parts would be a torment to him. Hence his un- affected heartiness in word and deed. What he cannot en- ter into with perfect wholeness and integrity of mind, he shrinks from having anything to do with. In all that flows from him we feel the working of a heart so full that it can- not choose but overflow. This explains what are deemed the looser parts of his conduct while Prince of Wales. For his character, through all its varieties of transpiration in the three plays where he figures, is perfectly coherent and of a piece. In the air of the court there was something, he hardly knew what, that cut against his grain ; he could not take to it. His father was indeed acting a noble part, and was acting it nobly ; at least the prince thought so, but he could not but feel that his father was acting a part. Dissimulation, artifice, official fiction, attentiveness to show, and all that course of dealing where less is meant than meets the ear, were too much the style and habit of the place ; policy was the method, astute- ness the force, of the royal counsels, and plain truth was not deep enough for one who held it so much his interest to hoodwink the time. Even the virtue there cherished was in great part a made-up surface virtue ; at the best there was a spice of disingenuousness in it. In short, the whole administration of the state manifestly took its shape and tone from the craft of the king, not from the heart of the man. To the prince's keen eye all this was evident, to his healthy feelings it was offensive ; he craved the fellowship of something more fresh and genuine, and was glad to get away from it and play with simpler and honester natures, where he could at least be frank and true and where his INTRODUCTION xlv spirit might run out in natural freedom. " Covering discre- tion with a coat of folly " was better in his sense of things than to have his native sensibilities smothered under such a varnish of solemn plausibility and factitious constraint. Even his inborn rectitude found a more congenial climate where no virtue at all was professed, and where its claims were frankly sported off, than where there was so much of sinister craft and indirection mixed up with it ; the reckless and spontaneous outpourings of moral looseness, the haunts of open-faced profligacy, so they had some sparkling of wit and raciness of humor in them, were more to his taste than the courts of refined hypocrisy and dissimulation, where politicians played at hide and seek with truth and tied up their schemes with shreds of Holy Writ. His Moral Complexion The character of Shakespeare's Henry the Fifth may almost be said to consist of piety, honesty, and modesty. He embodies these qualities in their simplest and purest form ; he is honest and modest in his piety, pious and modest in his honesty. In one of his kingliest moments he says : " If it be a sin to covet honour, I am the most offending soul alive " (IV, iii, 28-29). But honor is with him in the highest sense a social conscience and the rightful basis of self-respect; he deems it a good chiefly as it makes a man clean and strong within, and not as it dwells in the fickle breath of others. As for that conventional figment which small souls make so much ado about, he cares little for it, knowing that it is often got without merit, and lost without deserving. Thus the honor he covets is really to deserve the good thoughts, xlvi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE of men. The inward sense of such desert is enough. If what is fairly his due in that kind be withheld by them, the loss is theirs, not his. In his clear rectitude and piety of purpose he will not go to war with France till he believes religiously and in his conscience that he has a sacred right to the French crown, and that it would be a sin against the divinely-appointed order of human society not to prosecute that claim. This point settled, he goes about the task as if his honor and salvation hung upon it. His Frank Human-Heartedness With all King Henry's stress of warlike ardor and in- tentness, his mind full of cares, thoughtful, provident, self- mastered as he is, his old frank and childlike playfulness and love of harmless fun still cling to him and mingle genially in his working earnestness. Even in his gravest passages, with but one or two exceptions, as in his address to the conspirant lords, there is a dash of jocose humor that is charmingly reminiscent of his most jovial and sport- ive hours. Perhaps the fairest display of his whole varied make-up is in the night before the battle of Agincourt, when, wrapping himself in a borrowed cloak, he goes un- recognized about the camp, allaying the scruples, cheering the hearts, and bracing the courage of his men. His free and kindly nature is so unsubdued and fresh that he craves to be a man among his soldiers and talk familiarly with them face to face, which he knows could not be if he ap- peared among them as their king. Here too his love of plain, unvarnished truth asserts itself : he does not attempt to dis- guise from himself or from them the huge perils of their , situation ; he owns that the odds are fearfully against them. INTRODUCTION xlvii He trusts that all this instead of appalling their hearts will rather serve, as indeed it does, to knit up their energies to a more resolute and strenuous effort. The greater the danger they are in, the greater should their courage be, — that is the principle he acts upon, and he has faith that they will act upon it too. He would have them know the worst of their condition, because he doubts not that they will be all the surer to meet it like men, dying gloriously, if die they must ; and he so frames his speech that it works in them as an inspiration to that effect. In the speeches of Chorus, Shakespeare unbosoms himself in regard to the great national hero. His own personal sense of the king's relations to his soldiers is unequivocally pronounced in the dithyrambic prologue to the fourth act. For forth he goes and visits all his host, Bids them good morrow with a modest smile, And calls them brothers, friends, and countrymen. Upon his royal face there is no note How dread an army hath enrounded him ; Nor doth he dedicate one jot of colour Unto the weary and all-watched night, But freshly looks and over-bears attaint With cheerful semblance and sweet majesty; That every wretch, pining and pale before, Beholding him, plucks comfort from his looks : A largess universal like the sun His liberal eye doth give to every one, Thawing cold fear, that mean and gentle all Behold, as may unworthiness define, A little touch of Harry in the night. [Lines 32-47.] The deep seriousness of the occasion does not repress his native jocularity of spirit. John Bates and Michael Williams, whose hearts are indeed braver and better than their words, xlviii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE speak out their doubts and fears with all plainness, and he falls at once into a strain of grave and apt discourse that satisfies their minds which have been rendered somewhat querulous by the plight they are in ; and when the blunt and downright Williams pushes his freedom into something of sauciness, he meets it with bland good humor and melts out the man's crustiness by contriving in his old style a practical joke, so that we have a right taste of the sportive prince in the most trying and anxious passage of the king. In the same spirit afterwards when the jest is coming to the upshot, as it is likely to breed some bloody work, he takes care that no harm shall be done. He turns it into an occa- sion for letting the men know whom they had talked so freely with. He has himself invited their freedom of speech, because in his full-souled frankness of nature he really loves to be inward with them, and to taste the honest utterance of their minds ; and when upon that disclosure Williams still uses his former plainness, he likes him the better for it, and winds up the jest by rewarding his supposed offence with a glove full of crowns. Such a stroke of genuine mag- nanimity cannot fail to secure the undivided empire of his soldiers' hearts. Henceforth they will make nothing of dying for such a noble fellow, whose wish clearly is not to overawe them by any studied dignity, but to reign within them by his manliness of soul and by making them feel that he is their best friend. His Wooing of Katharine The same merry, frolicsome humor comes out again in his wooing of the Princess Katharine. It is a real holiday of the spirits with him ; his mouth overruns with play ; he INTRODUCTION xlix cracks jokes upon his own person and his speaking of French, and sweetens his way to the lady's heart by genial frankness and simplicity of manner. With the open and true-hearted pleasantry of a child, he laughs through his courtship. All the while we feel a deep undercurrent of seriousness beneath his laughter, and there is to our sense no lapse from dignity in his behavior, because nothing is really more dignified than a man forgetting his dignity in the overflowings of a right noble and generous heart. The king loves men who are better than their words, and it is his nature to be better than he speaks : this is the artless disguise of modesty through which true goodness has its most effective disclosure. Notwithstanding the hero's sport- ive mood in the wooing, when he comes in the same scene to deal with the terms of peace his mood is very different : then he purposely forgot the king in the man ; now he reso- lutely forgets the man in the king, and will not budge a hair from the demands which he holds to be the right of his people. The dignity of his person he freely leaves to take care of itself ; the dignity of his state is to him a sacred thing and he will sooner die than compromise it a jot. X. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS As already indicated, King Henry the Fifth is inferior to many of Shakespeare's plays in respect of proper dra- matic interest and effect. The historic material he had to work with was not altogether fitted for dramatic use ; it gave too little scope for those developments of character and passion wherein the interest of the serious drama mainly consists. As Schlegel remarks, " War is an epic rather than 1 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE a dramatic subject : to yield the right interest for the stage, it must be the means whereby something else is accom- plished, and not the last aim and substance of the whole." Perhaps it was a sense of this unfitness of the matter for dramatic use that led Shakespeare to fuse the dramatic and epic elements with that glowing lyricism which is perhaps the chief characteristic of King Henry the Fifth as com- pared with the other historical plays. The effect is that of a national song of triumph. Hence comes it that the play is so thoroughly charged with the spirit and poetry of a sort of jubilant patriotism, of which King Henry himself is probably the most eloquent impersonation ever delineated. Viewed in this light, the work is as perfect in its way as anything Shakespeare achieved. Nowhere can be found more vigorous, sonorous, stirring poetry; nothing could surpass the speeches of Chorus in vividness of imagery or in potency to kindle and electrify the hearer's imagina- tive forces. The king's speeches to his soldiers at Har- fleur (III, i, 1-34) and to the governor and citizens of the town (III, iii, 1-43), his reflections upon ceremony (IV, i, 228-272), his speech to Westmoreland just before the battle of Agincourt (IV, iii, 18-67), Exeter's description of the deaths of York and of Suffolk (IV, vi, 7-32), and Burgundy's speech in favor of peace (V, ii, 23-67) are examples of that eloquence which creative inspiration and worthy emotion raise far above rhetorical declamation. AUTHORITIES (With the more important abbreviations used in the notes) Qi = First Quarto, 1600. Q 2 = Second Quarto, 1602. Q3 = Third Quarto, 1608. Qq = the three Quartos, 1600 to 1608. Fx = First Folio, 1623. F 2 = Second Folio, 1632. F 3 = Third Folio, 1664. F 4 = Fourth Folio, 1685. Ff = all the seventeenth century Folios. Rowe = Rowe's editions, 1709, 17 14. Pope = Pope's editions, 1723, 1728. Theobald = Theobald's editions, 1733, 1740. Hanmer = Hanmer's edition, 1744. Johnson = Johnson's edition, 1765. Capell = Capell's edition, 1768. Malone = Malone's edition, 1790. Steevens = Steevens's edition, 1793. Globe = Globe edition (Clark and Wright), 1864. Dyce = Dyce's (third) edition, 1875. Delius = Delius's (fifth) edition, 1882. Camb = Cambridge (third) edition (W. A. Wright), 1891. Clar = Clarendon Press edition (W. A. Wright). Daniel = P. A. Daniel and B. Nicholson's Parallel Texts. Stone = W. G. Stone's (Boswell-Stone) edition. Evans = H. A. Evans's Arden edition, Methuen & Co. Verity = A. W. Verity's Pitt Press edition. Moore Smith = G. C. Moore Smith's Warwick edition. Herford = C. H. Herford's Eversley edition. Abbott = E. A. Abbott's A Shakespearian Grammar. Cotgrave = Cotgrave's Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, 161 1. Schmidt = Schmidt's Shakespeare Lexicon. Skeat = Skeat's An Etymological Dictionary. Murray = A New English Dictionary {The Oxford Dictionary^- Century = The Century Dictionary. Holinshed = Holinshed's Chronicles (second edition), 1586- 1587. li -C > p 3 M)2* a, C^5 O £* N Ml ° P{ £ M-H *""' G CO o J-l .&og T3 S w M 3 CD o CO fc*° O rt 3 s o m a .c.25 .5 , ^^•^ 3 s G T3 rt 3 S.S'S 33 .°fo £~ = -• 2JS •n ° * S 1 "^ T3 u*W> co,a « 3 HJ A " CU ■n K23 <»* H.SJ- /2 ^3 'i bJO ed-3' a 8 4-1 CO O rt u CDQ to CO w CO '•8 -3 to T3 2 So CO o*?S .2 CD CD 4^ gn« X < (I) •M CD CD M to '-' ~ -F-l O -PhJfcO H o." M .S o fi-**S o 3 H 3 W COJ3 J-i cu be bjoj^ X! c 3^ r 1 - 3 O) s- O e^ <" ^tt4-3 P 00 a u > a"t: w rt w ^^ 0J43 .-5— >>^ s fll >^\ E o m 2 "8.- U3 : 42 P CO (D^ •»-» > CD Ih .3 S 5 St CO William the Silent assassinated. 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H B •|5o to M > O <+> 53 CD Oh a OQ CO 'rt cu u CU !h O s CU CO °s -, 43 £ y as ^- ■*-> a, u CU 42 S-c O 42 >, •r rt BS co 43 c k: -d ° 2s* g ^^ ©43 Ih O ^ ^ S4hPQ fe rt N 2 En3^ bO O >-4^ 4^^^-n Q-d-d^ .^CU CU ^ 43- C ° -^ cu ^3.3 rt s 4oS CO O VO o VO vo. 1 vo o vo 00 vo C3* v8 vo VO CO VO VO H VO lv THE LIFE OF KING HENRY THE FIFTH DRAMATIS PERSON^ 1 King Henry the Fifth. 2 Duke of Glouces-^ , i brothers to _ TER ' „ f the King. Duke of Bedford,J Duke of Exeter, uncle to the King. Duke of York, cousin to the King. Earls of Salisbury, West- moreland, and Warwick. Archbishop of Canterbury. Bishop of Ely. Earl of Cambridge. Lord Scroop. Sir Thomas Grey. Sir Thomas Erpingham, Gower, Fluellen, Macmor- ris, Jamy, officers in King Henry's army. Bates, Court, Williams, sol- diers in the same. Pistol, Nym, Bardolph. Boy. A Herald. Charles the Sixth, King of France. Lewis, the Dauphin. Dukes of Burgundy, Orleans, and Bourbon. The Constable of France. Rambures and Grandpre, French Lords. Governor of Harfleur. Montjoy, a French Herald. Ambassadors to the King of Eng- land. Isabel, Queen of France. Katharine, daughter to Charles and Isabel. Alice, a lady attending on her. Hostess of a tavern in Eastcheap, formerly Mistress Quickly, and now married to Pistol. Lords, Ladies, Officers, Soldiers, Citizens, Messengers, and At- tendants. Chorus. Scene: England; afterwards France. 1 Rowe was the first to give a list of Dramatis Personam. Rowe's list was corrected by Capell, and this corrected list has been substantially followed by all subsequent editors. 2 Notes on the historical relations of the Dramatis Personam are given when each character is introduced into the play. PROLOGUE Enter Chorus 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 warlike Harry, like himself, 5 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, PROLOGUE. Enter Chorus Prologue, lines 1-34, omitted in I Enter Prologue Ff. Qq. Enter Chorus. The Folios have ' Enter Prologue,' but in line 32 is " Admit me Chorus to this History." The other prologues have ' Enter Chorus.' The Chorus is a significant bequest from the Greek and the Roman drama and appears often in the early Elizabethan plays, usually indicating Senecan influence, as in Gorbodttc. His chief functions in the Elizabethan drama are : (1) to interpret the subject of the play, or of the ' dumb-show ' ; (2) to stimulate the imagination of the audience (cf. lines 18, 23) ; and (3) to bridge over gaps of time between the acts by narrating important events (cf. lines 29-31). 1. The invocation to the Muse strikes the epic key-note of the play, the interest of which is less dramatic than epic. 2. invention. The termination -ion here is dissyllabic. Cf. 'mil- lion,' line 16 ; ' question,' I, i, 5. 7. The image is of three eager hounds held back with a leash or strap till the huntsman sees that the time has come for letting them fly at the game. Cf. Julius Cesar, III, i, 273. In Holinshed is a 3 4 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE The flat unraised spirits that hath dar'd On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth 10 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 15 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 9. hath Ff I have Staunton Globe Camb. 12. fields Fi | field F2F3F4. speech in which Henry V is made to say that " the goddesse of battell, called Bellona, had three handmaidens, ever of necessitie attending upon her, as blood, fire, and famine." 9. For a discussion of the relative with a singular verb after a plural antecedent, see Abbott, § 247. 11. cockpit. The small circular Elizabethan theatre was not unlike the little inclosed areas used for the popular sport of cock-fighting. One well-known theatre was actually called the Cockpit. The space immediately in front of and around the stage was early called the 'pit,' and as it had neither floor nor benches, those who stood there were nicknamed 'groundlings.' Cf. Hamlet, III, ii, 12. 13. These allusions to the Elizabethan theatre are intensely inter- esting. ' This wooden O ' is probably either the Curtain, or the first Globe, built in 1599. ' O ' is used to describe the earth in Antony and Cleopatra, V, ii, 81. Cf. A Midsum?ner Night's Dream, III, ii, 188. — the very: the actual. Malone interprets: " even the casques, or helmets, much less the men by whom they were worn." 15-17. Cf . The Winter's Tale, I, ii, 6-9. — accompt : account. 18. imaginary forces : powers of imagination. Cf. Sonnets, xxvii,9. Shakespeare often uses the passive form with the active sense. See Abbott, § 3. In line 25 ' imaginary ' has the passive, the modern, sense. prologue KING HENRY THE FIFTH 5 Are now conmVd two mighty monarchies, 20 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; 25 Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them . Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth ; For 't is your thoughts that now must deck our kings, Carry them here and there ; jumping o'er times, Turning th' accomplishment of many years 30 Into an hour-glass : for the which supply, Admit me Chorus to this history ; Who, prologue-like, your humble patience pray, Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play. \_Exit\ 21. high upreared Pope Globe | high, vpreared F1F2. 22. perilous narrow ocean. Cf. The Merchant of Venice, III, i, 4. 25. puissance: armed force. A trisyllable here and in II, ii, 190. 29-31. With " this frank declaration by Shakespeare that the so-called dramatic Unities of Time and Place will be ignored " (A. W. Verity), cf. Ben jonson's equally frank declaration, in the Prologue to Every Man in His Hitmonr (added to the play after 1601), that he will observe them strictly: You will be pleas'd to see One such, to-day, as other playes should be. Where neither Chorus waftes you ore the seas ; Nor creaking throne comes downe, the boyes to please ; Nor nimble squibbe is seene, to make afeard The gentlewomen. ACT I Scene I. London. An ante-chamber in the King' 's palace Enter the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely Canterbury. My lord, I '11 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 farther question. 5 Ely. But how, my lord, shall we resist it now? ACT I. Scene I I Actus Pri- Enter the Archbishop . . . Ely mus. Sccena Prima Ff | Qq omit Globe | Enter the two Bishops of this scene. — London. An . . .palace Canterbury and Ely F1F2 I Enter the Globe I Ff omit. Bishops of . . . F3F4. ACT I. Scene I. In the Folios the play is divided into acts, but not into scenes, though Sccena Prima is printed after Actus Primtis. Pope was the first editor to divide the acts into scenes. Actus Pri- mus of the Folios includes Act I and Act II in this edition. Enter the Archbishop of Canterbury. Henry Chichele (Chicheley), born circa 1362, succeeded Thomas Arundel as Arch- bishop in 1414; founded All Souls' College, Oxford; accompanied Henry on his second expedition to France , died in 1443. — Bishop of Ely. John Fordham, translated from Durham to Ely in 1388, was one of the ambassadors to treat of Henry's marriage ; died in 1425. 1. self : same, selfsame. The old sense. See Abbott, § 20. 4. scambling: disordered. Used as a noun in V,ii, 197. See Century. 5. question: consideration. A trisyllable here. Cf. II, iv, 17. 6 scene i KING HENRY THE FIFTH 7 Canterbury. It must be thought on. If it pass against us, We lose the better half of our possession ; For all the temporal lands, which men devout By testament have given to the church, 10 Would they strip from us ; being valued thus : As much as would maintain, to the king's honour, Full fifteen earls and fifteen hundred knights, Six thousand and two hundred good esquires ; And, to relief of lazars and weak age, 15 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 th' year : thus runs the bill. Ely. This would drink deep. Canterbury. 'T would drink the cup and all. Ely. But what prevention ? 21 Canterbury. The king is full of grace and fair regard. Ely. And a true lover of the holy church. 8. lose I loose Fi. — half | halfe 15-16. age, Of Capell | age Of Ff. Fi I part F2F3F4. 19. pounds F1F2 | pound F3F4. 7-19. Holinshed's account of the bill is as follows : That a bill exhibited in the parlement . . . that the temporall lands (de- uoutlie giuen . . .) should be seized . . . sith the same might suffice to main- teine, to the honor of the king . . . fifteen earles, fifteene hundred knights, six thousand and two hundred esquiers, and a hundred almesse-houses, for reliefe onelie of the poore, impotent, and needie persones ; and the king to have cleerelie to his coffers twentie thousand pounds. 15. lazars : beggars afflicted with disease. See Murray. Cf. Para- 'dise Lost, XI, 479-480 : " A lazar-house, it seem'd, wherein were laid Numbers of all diseas'd." 23-24. Keightley suggested giving line 23 to Canterbury and line 24 to Ely, as throughout the dialogue Ely is drawing attention to the difficulties of the situation. 8 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE' act i Canterbury. 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, 26 Seem'd to die too ; yea, at that very moment, Consideration like an angel came, And whipp'd th' offending Adam out of him, Leaving his body as a paradise, 30 T' 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 35 So soon did lose his seat, and all at once, As in this king. Ely. We are blessed in the change. Canterbury. Hear him but reason in divinity, And all-admiring with an inward wish You would desire the king were made a prelate ; 40 Hear him debate of commonwealth affairs, You would say it hath been all in all his study; List his discourse of war, and you shall hear A fearful battle render'd you in music ; 34. currance Fi | currant F2F3 I current F4. 34. heady currance : headlong current. The allusion is plainly to the cleansing of the Augean stables by Hercules. This was the fifth of his " twelve labors " ; the second was the killing of the nine-headed Hydra of Lerna, whence the 'hydra-headed' of line 35. 35. The several heads of the Hydra immediately grew up again as often as they were cut off. Cf. 1 Heizry IV, V, iv, 25. So that 4 hydra-headed wilfulness' is but a strong expression for 'freakish- ness ' or 'waywardness,' — the character of one who drifts before his whims. scene i KING HENRY THE FIFTH 9 Turn him to any cause of policy, 45 The Gordian knot of it he will unloose, Familiar as his garter : that, when he speaks, The air, a charter'd libertine, is still, And the mute wonder lurketh in men's ears, To steal his sweet and honey'd sentences; 50 So that the art and practic part of life Must be the mistress to this theoric : Which is a wonder how his grace should glean it, Since his addiction was to courses vain ; His companies unletter'd, rude, and shallow ; 55 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. 50. honey'd | honyed F1F2. 52. this F3F4 I his F1F2. 48. Cf. the words of Jaques in As You Like It, II, vii, 47-49 : I must have liberty Withal, as large a charter as the wind, To blow on whom I please. The air, or the wind, has by nature a charter of exemption from restraint, a prescriptive right to blow when and where it will. " The wind bloweth where it listeth." 51-52. practic: practice. — theoric: theory. He must have drawn his theory, digested his order and method of thought, from the art and practice of life, instead of shaping the latter by the rules and measures of the former : which is strange, since he has never been seen in the way either of learning the things in question by experi- ence, or of digesting the fruits of experience into theory. 55. companies : companions. The abstract is put for the concrete. Cf. A Midsummer Night* s Dream, I, i, 219. 59. popularity: association with the people. Cf. / Henry IV, III, ii, 68-69. * Vulgarity.' — Schmidt. IO THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i Ely. The strawberry grows underneath the nettle, 60 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, 65 Unseen, yet crescive in his faculty. Canterbury. It must be so ; for miracles are ceas'd ; And therefore we must needs admit the means How things are perfected. Ely. But, my good lord, How now for mitigation of this bill 70 Urg'd by the commons? Doth his majesty Incline to it, or no? Canterbury. He seems indifferent, Or rather swaying more upon our part Than cherishing th' exhibiters against us : 61-62. " Roses and Violets are ever the sweeter and more odor- iferous that grow neere under Garlike and Onions, forasmuch as they suck and draw all the ill savours of the ground unto them." — Montaigne's Essays, III, ix (Florio's Translation, 1603). "Amongst strawberries sow here and there some borage-seed, and you shall find the strawberries under those leaves far more large than their fellows." — Bacon's Sylva Sylvanim, Century V, §441. Cf. Ellacombe's Plant- Lore and Garden-Craft of Shakespeare, page 224. 63-64. In / Henry IV, I, ii, 218-240, Prince Henry deliberately proposes this course to himself and gives his reasons. So of Julius Caesar it is said that in his earlier years he concealed his tremendous energy and power of application under such an exterior of thought- less dissipation that he was set down as a mere young trifler not worth minding. 66. crescive : increasing. Cf. 'crescent,' Hamlet, I, iii, 11. — his : its. 74. cherishing th' exhibiters : supporting the introducers of the bill. Cf. Mistress Page's scheme for revenge on Falstaff, The Merry scene i KING HENRY THE FIFTH II For I have made an offer to his majesty, 75 Upon our spiritual convocation, And in regard of causes now in hand, Which I have open'd to his grace at large, As touching France, to give a greater sum Than ever at one time the clergy yet 80 Did to his predecessors part withal. Ely. How did this offer seem receiv'd, my lord? Canterbury. 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, 85 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. Ely. What was th' impediment that broke this off? 90 Canterbury. 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? Ely. It is. Wives of Windsor, II, i, 29-30 : " Why, I '11 exhibit a bill in the par- liament for the putting down of men." 86. severals and unhidden passages : details and clearly established channels, or lines of descent. In Troilus and Cressida, I, iii, 180, 'severals ' is opposed to 'generals'; in The Winter's Tale it means 'individuals.' Cf. 'all cruels ' in King Lear, III, vii, 65. 89. Isabella, queen of Edward the Second, and mother of Edward the Third, was the daughter of Philip the Fair, of France. She was reputed the most beautiful woman in Europe, and was by many thought the wickedest. The male succession from her father expired in the person of her brother, Charles the Fair. But for the exclu- sion of females, the French crown would have properly descended to her son. 12 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i Canterbury. Then go we in, to know his embassy ; 95 Which I could with a ready guess declare, Before the Frenchman speak a word of it. Ely. I '11 wait upon you, and I long to hear it. \_Exeunt\ Scene II. The same. The Presence chamber E?iter King Henry, Gloucester, Bedford, Exeter, War- wick, Westmoreland, and Attendants King Henry. Where is my gracious Lord of Canterbury? Exeter. Not here in presence. King Henry. Send for him, good uncle. Westmoreland. Shall we call in th' ambassador, my liege? Scene II Pope. — The saine . . . Bedford, Clarence, Warwick, West- chamber Globe | Ff omit. merland, and Exeter Ff. Enter King . . . Attendants Ma- 3. Qq begin the play here. — lone I Enter the King, Humfrey, Westmoreland | Exeter Qq. Enter King Henry . . . Henry V, eldest son of Henry IV, was born in the castle of Monmouth in 1387 ; acceded in 141 3 ; died at Vincennes in 1422. — Gloucester. Prince Humphrey, fourth son of Henry IV, was born in 1391 ; was created Duke of Gloucester in 1 41 4; served through the Agincourt campaign ; after Henry V's death became Protector in England; died in 1447. — Bedford. Prince John, third son of Henry IV, was created Duke of Bedford in 1 41 4; was Lieutenant of England during the Agincourt cam- paign ; became Regent of France for Henry VI ; died in 1435. I- 11 King Henry IV he appears as Prince John of Lancaster. — Exeter. Thomas Beaufort, third son of John of Gaunt and Catharine Swyn- ford, was created Earl of Dorset in 1412 and Duke of Exeter in 1416. He was half-brother to Henry IV, so the king calls him ' uncle ' in line 2. — Warwick. Richard de Beauchamp, born in 1381, became twelfth Earl of Warwick in 1401 ; was created Earl of Albemarle in 1422 ; died in 1439. — Westmoreland. Ralph Neville, eighth Baron scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 13 King Henry. Not yet, my cousin : we would be resolv'd, Before we hear him, of some things of weight 5 That task our thoughts, concerning us and France. Enter the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely Canterbury. God and his angels guard your sacred throne, And make you long become it ! King Henry. Sure, we thank you. My learned lord, we pray you to proceed And justly and religiously unfold 10 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 15 With opening titles miscreate, whose right Suits not in native colours with the truth ; 7. Enter the Archbishop . . . | ii. that Ff | which Qq. Enter two Bishops Ff. 12. bar Ff | stop Qq. Neville of Raby, was created Earl of Westmoreland in 1397; died in 1425. He married Joan Beaufort, daughter of John of Gaunt and half-sister of Henry IV, so the king calls him 'cousin,' I, ii, 4; IV, iii, 19. He appears in both parts of King Henry IV. 4. resolv'd: satisfied, informed. Cf. Julius Ctesar, III, i, 131 ; IV, ii, 14. The primary idea is ' set free from perplexity.' 15. nicely. Usually interpreted here in the sense of c sophistically,' but more probably to be understood in the common Middle English sense of 'foolishly,' 'unwisely,' and as qualifying 'opening' rather than ' charge.' In V, ii, 94, it means ' with insistence upon detail.' 16. miscreate: spurious. The Latin form of the past participle. Cf. 'create ' in II, ii, 31 ; A Midsummer Night* s Dream, V, i, 412. 14 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i For God doth know how many now in health Shall drop their blood in approbation Of what your reverence shall incite us to. 20 Therefore take heed how you impawn our person, How you awake our sleeping sword of war ; We charge you, in the name of God, take heed : For never two such kingdoms did contend Without much fall of blood ; whose guiltless drops 25 Are every one a woe, a sore complaint 'Gainst him whose wrongs gives edge unto the swords That makes such waste in brief mortality. Under this conjuration speak, my lord ; For we will hear, note, and believe in heart 30 That what you speak is in your conscience wash'd As pure as sin with baptism. Canterbury. Then hear me, gracious sovereign, and you peers, That owe yourselves, your lives, and services To this imperial throne. There is no bar 35 To make against your highness' claim to France 22. our Ff I the Qq. Swords, That makes F1F2F3 I 27. wrongs gives Fi | wrong gives Swords ? That makes F4 I sword F2F3F4 I wrongs give Malone Globe That makes Capell. Delius Camb. 29. Under Ff | After Qq. 27-28. swords That makes | 19-20. in approbation Of : in making good. Cf. Cymbeline, I, iv, 134. 21. impawn : pledge. Cf. 1 Henry IV, IV, iii, 108. 27. wrongs : wrong-doings. — gives. For third person plural in s, so common in the First Folio, see Abbott, § ^^. 35-40. From Holinshed's account of the Salic Law : Herein did he much inveie against the surmised and false fained law Salike which the Frenchmen alledge euer against the kings of England in barre of their just title to the crowne of France. The verie words of that supposed .law are these, In terrain Salicam mulieres ne suceedant, that is to scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 1 5 But this, which they produce from Pharamond, * In terrain Salicam mulieres ne succedant ' : 1 No woman shall succeed in Salique land ' : Which Salique land the French unjustly gloze 40 To be the realm of France, and Pharamond The founder of this law and female bar. Yet their own authors faithfully affirm That the land Salique is in Germany, Between the floods of Sala and of Elbe ; 45 Where Charles the Great, having subdued the Saxons, There left behind and settled certain French ; Who, holding in disdain the German women For some dishonest manners of their life, 38. Line omitted in Qq. 45, 52. Elbe Capell | Elme Qq | 44. is Ff I lies Qq Pope. Elue Ff. saie, into the Salike land let not women succeed. Which the French glossers expound to be the realme of France, and that this law was made by king Pharamond. 37. This semi-mythical Frankish chief of the early part of the fifth century is the hero of one of La Calprenede's romances. 40. gloze : expound, interpret. Usually in a bad sense. 43-64. Shakespeare merely versifies the following from Holinshed : Whereas yet their owne authors affirme that the land Salike is in Ger- manie betweene the riuers of Elbe and Sala ; and that when Charles the great had overcome the Saxons, he placed there certeine Frenchmen, which having in disdeine the dishonest maners of the Germane women, made a law, that the females should not succeed to any inheritance within that land, which at this daie is called Meisen, so that, if this be true, this law was not made for the realme of France, nor the Frenchmen possessed the land Salike, till foure hundred and one and twentie yeares after the death of Pharamond, the sup- posed maker of this Salik law, for this Pharamond deceassed in the yeare 426, and Charles the great subdued the Saxons, and placed the Frenchmen in those parts beyond the river of Sala, in the yeare 805. 49. dishonest: unchaste. So 'honest' for 'virtuous' in As You Like It, I, ii, 41 ; III, iii, 34, and elsewhere. 16 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i Establish'd then this law, to wit, no female 50 Should be inheritrix in Salique land : Which Salique, as I said, 'twixt Elbe and Sala, Is at this day in Germany call'd Meisen. Then doth it well appear, the Salique law Was not devised for the realm of France : 55 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 60 Four hundred twenty-six ; and Charles the Great Subdued the Saxons, and did seat the French Beyond the river Sala, in the year Eight hundred five. Besides, their writers say, King Pepin, which deposed Childeric, 65 Did, as heir general, being descended Of Blithild, which was daughter to King Clothair, Make claim and title to the crown of France. Hugh Capet also, who usurp'd the crown Of Charles the Duke of Lorraine, sole heir male 70 Of the true line and stock of Charles the Great, 50. then Ff | there Qq Capell. 54. Then Ff | thus Qq Pope. 64-77. From Holinshed's account of Pepin and Hugh Capet : Moreover, it appeareth by their owne writers that king Pepine, which deposed Childerike, claimed the crowne of France, as heire generall, for that he was descended of Blithild, daughter to king Clothair the first : Hugh Capet also, who usurped the crowne upon Charles Duke of Loraine, the sole heire male of the line and stocke of Charles the great, to make his title seeme true, and appeare good, though in deed it was starke naught 1, conueied himselfe as heire to the ladie Lingard, daughter to king Charlemaine sonne to Lewes the emperour, that was son to Charles the great. 1 absolutely worthless. scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 17 To find his title with some shows of truth, Though, in pure truth, it was corrupt and naught, Convey'd himself as th' heir to th' Lady Lingare, Daughter to Charlemain, who was the son 75 To Lewis the Emperor, and Lewis the son Of Charles the Great. Also King Lewis the tenth, Who was sole heir to the usurper Capet, Could not keep quiet in his conscience, Wearing the crown of France, till satisfied 80 That fair Queen Isabel, his grandmother, Was lineal of the Lady Ermengare, 72. find Ff I fine Qq Pope. — show Qq Capell. shows I shewes F1F2 I shews F3F4 | 73. Though Ff | When Qq Capell. 72. find : furnish, provide. Some editors adopt the Quarto read- ing and interpret 'fine ' as ' embellish,' ' dress,' 'make specious.' 74. Convey'd himself as : fraudulently passed himself off as. The expression is from Holinshed. 'Convey' was a slang Elizabethan term for ' steal.' Cf. The Merry Wives of Windsor, I, iii, 30-33. 75. Charlemain. Trisyllabic. Charles the Bald is meant. 76. Lewis. Here and elsewhere in this scene a monosyllable. 77. Lewis the tenth. This should be ' Lewis the ninth ' (Louis IX, St. Louis, 'the Crusader' and founder of La Sorbonne), but, as the following extract will show, the error is due to Holinshed, whom Shakespeare follows, here and throughout the scene, almost word for word : King Lewes also the tenth, otherwise called saint Lewes, being verie heir to the said usurper Hugh Capet, could never be satisfied in his conscience how he might justlie keepe and possesse the crowne of France, till he was persuaded and fullie instructed that queene Isabell his grandmother was lineallie descended of the ladie Ermengard daughter and heire to the above named Charles duke of Loraine, by the which marriage, the bloud and line of Charles the great was againe united and restored to the crowne and scepter of France, so that more cleeare than the sunne it openlie appeareth that the title of king Pepin, the claime of Hugh Capet, the possession of Lewes, yea and the French kings to this daie, are derived and conveied from the heire female, though they would vnder the colour of such a fained law, barre the kings and princes of this realme of England of their . . . inheritance. 18 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I Daughter to Charles the foresaid Duke of Lorraine : By the which marriage the line of Charles the Great Was re-united to the crown of France. 85 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 ; 90 Howbeit they would hold up this Salique law To bar your highness claiming from the female, And rather choose to hide them in a net Than amply to imbar their crooked titles Usurp'd from you and your progenitors. 95 King Henry. May I with right and conscience make this claim? Canterbury. The sin upon my head, dread sovereign ! For in the book of Numbers is it writ, ' When the man dies, let the inheritance 90. unto Fi I until Qq Pope. bare Rowe | imbare Theobald. 94. imbar F3F4 I imbarre F1F2 I 98. is it QqFiF2 I it is F3F4. imbace Q1Q2 I embrace Q3 I make 99. man Ff | sonne Qq | son Pope. 88. Lewis his satisfaction : Lewis's release from the burden of con- science. ' His' was often used, by mistake, for 's, the sign of the pos- sessive, particularly after a proper name ending in j". See Abbott,§2i7. 94. amply to imbar: "to reject fully." — Schmidt. Rowe read'make bear,' and Theobald ' imbare,' for the ' imbarre ' of the First Folio. Knight understood 'imbar' in the sense of 'bar in,' 'secure.' "The antithesis is between an open (line 94) and a crafty (line 93) means of defence." — Herford. 98-100. " The archbishop further alledged out of the booke of Numbers this saieng : ' When a man dieth without a sonne, let the inheritance descend to his daughter.'" — Holinshed. The passage referred to is Numbers, xxvii, 8, where decision is made in the case of the daughters of Zelophehad. scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 19 Descend unto the daughter.' Gracious lord, 100 Stand for your own ; unwind your bloody flag ; Look back into your mighty ancestors : Go, my dread lord, to your great-grandsire's tomb, From whom you claim ; invoke his warlike spirit, And your great-uncle's, Edward the Black Prince, 105 Who on the French ground play'd a tragedy, Making defeat on the full power of France, Whiles his most mighty father on a hill Stood smiling to behold his lion's whelp Forage in blood of French nobility. no O noble English, that could entertain With half their forces the full pride of France And let another half stand laughing by, All out of work and cold for action ! Ely. Awake remembrance of these valiant dead, 115 And with your puissant arm renew their feats : You are their heir ; you sit upon their throne ; The blood and courage that renowned them Runs in your veins ; and my thrice-puissant liege Is in the very May-morn of his youth, 120 Ripe for exploits and* mighty enterprises. Exeter. Your brother kings and monarchs of the earth Do all expect that you should rouse yourself, no. Forage in | Forrage in Ff | 112. pride Ff | power Qq Pope. Foraging Qi. 114. All F1F2 I And F3F4. 105-110. The reference is to the battle of Crecy, August 26, 1346, where Edward III "stood aloft on a windmill hill." — Holinshed. 114. cold for action : cold for want of action. ' Action ' is a tri- syllable. Such elliptical expressions are common in Shakespeare. Cf. Macbeth, I, v, 37 ; The Tempest, I, ii, 112. 20 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i As did the former lions of your blood : They know your grace hath cause and means and might. 125 Westmoreland. 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. Canterbury. O, let their bodies follow, my dear liege, With blood and sword and fire to win your right : 131 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. 135 King Henry. We must not only arm t' invade the French, But lay down our proportions to defend Against the Scot, who will make road upon us With all advantages. Canterbury. They of those marches, gracious sovereign, Shall be a wall sufficient to defend 141 Our inland from the pilfering borderers. 125. Given to Westmoreland by Ff. by Warburton. 130-131. Given to Westmoreland 131. blood F3F4 I bloods Fi. 130-135. This largess is thus described by Holinshed : He exhorted him to aduance foorth his banner to fight for his right . . . to spare neither bloud, sword, nor fire . . . And to the intent his louing chap- leins and obedient subiects of the spiritualtie might shew themselues will- ing . . . the archbishop declared that in their spirituall conuocation they had granted to his highnesse such a summe of monie, as neuer by no spirituall persons was to any prince before those daies giuen or advanced. 137. lay down our proportions: assign the requisite number of troops. Cf. 'our proportions for these wars,' line 304; 'the propor- tions of defence/ II, iv, 45. scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 21 King Henry. 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; 145 For you shall read that my great-grandfather Never went with his forces into France, But that the Scot on his unfurnish'd kingdom Came pouring, like the tide into a breach, With ample and brim fulness of his force, 150 Galling the gleaned land with hot assays, Girding with grievous siege castles and towns ; That England, being empty of defence, Hath shook and trembled at th' ill neighbourhood. Canterbury. She hath been then more fear'd than harm'd, my liege; 155 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 160 The King of Scots ; whom she did send to France, To fill King Edward's fame with prisoner kings, And make her chronicle as rich with praise 143. snatchers Ff | sneakers Qq. 163. her Capell (Johnson conj.) 155. been Rowe | bin Ff. Globe Camb | their Ff | your Qq. 144. main intendment : general purpose. That is, ' attack,' 'invasion.' 145. still: ever, always. — giddy: fickle, untrustworthy. 151. gleaned : bare of defenders. — assays : attacks. 155. fear'd : frightened. Cf. The Merchant of Venice, II, i, 9. 161. David II was taken prisoner at NevilPs Cross, October 17, 1346, by the English army under Queen Philippa, during Edward Ill's absence in France. He was not sent to France. 22 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i As is the ooze and bottom of the sea With sunken wreck and sunless treasuries. 165 Westmoreland. But there 's a saying, very old and true, 1 If that you will France win, Then with Scotland first begin ' : For once the eagle England being in prey, To her unguarded nest the weasel Scot 170 Comes sneaking and so sucks her princely eggs • Playing the mouse in absence of the cat, To tear and havoc more than she can eat. Exeter. It follows then the cat must stay at home : Yet that is but a crush'd necessity, 175 Since we have locks to safeguard necessaries, And pretty traps to catch the petty thieves. While that the armed hand doth fight abroad, Th' advised head defends itself at home; For government, though high and low and lower, 180 Put into parts, doth keep in one consent, 166. Westmoreland Capell | 173. tear Rowe | tame Ff | spoyle Lord Qq | Bish. Ely Ff. Qq | taint Theobald. 167-168. One line in Ff. 175. crush'd Ff | curst Qq Pope. 166. " When the archbishop had ended . . . Rafe Neuill earle of Westmerland, and as then lord Warden of the marches against Scot- land . . . thought good to mooue the king to begin first with Scotland . . . concluding the summe of his tale with this old saieng: that Who so will France win, must with Scotland first begin?"* — Holinshed. 167. France is here probably dissyllabic. See Abbott, § 486. 175. a crush'd necessity. A proleptical form of speech meaning ' a necessity that may be crushed by the use of other means such as locks or traps.' Many editors accept the reading of the Quartos. 179. advised : thoughtful, deliberate. Cf. " The silver livery of advised age " in 2 Henry VI, V, ii, 47. 181. consent: harmony. More correctly 'concent' (Lat. concentus). scene ir KING HENRY THE FIFTH 23 Congreeing in a full and natural close, Like music. Canterbury. Therefore doth heaven divide The state of man in divers functions, Setting endeavour in continual motion; 185 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 art of order to a peopled kingdom. They have a king and officers of sorts ; 190 Where some, like magistrates, correct at home, Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad, Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings, Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds, Which pillage they with merry march bring home 195 183. Therefore Ff | True : therefore Qq Capell. 182. Congreeing : agreeing. Evidently a Shakespearian coinage. The Quartos read, * Congrueth in a mutuall consent.' Cf. V, ii, 31. — close: cadence. Cf. Milton, Hymn 071 the Nativity, 99-100. 184. state : body politic. Cf. Julius Ccesar, II, i, 67 ; Macbeth, I, iii, T40 ; 2 Henry IV, IV, iii, 118. — in : into. 186. butt: aim, end. A term in archery. The generaLidea of the passage is that action or endeavor has for its rule and measure obe- dience, or rather the thing obeyed, that is, law ; and this law, stand- ing as a common, mark or aim, keeps endeavor from running at cross-purposes with itself. 187. so work the honey-bees. Malone has pointed out the resem- blance between this passage and that on 'the commonwealth of bees ' in Lyly's Enphues and his England. In both passages we have the 'pulpit employment' of fictitious natural history derived from Pliny. Cf. Iliad, II, 87; ALneid, I, 430-436; VI, 707-709; Paradise lost, I, 768-775. 190. sorts: different ranks. Cf. "all sorts and conditions of men." 24 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i To the tent-royal of their emperor ; Who, busied in his majesty, surveys The singing masons building roofs of gold, The civil citizens kneading up the honey, The poor mechanic porters crowding in 200 Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate, The sad-eyed justice, with his surly hum, Delivering o'er to executors pale The lazy yawning drone. I this infer, That many things, having full reference 205 To one consent, may work contrariously : As many arrows, loosed several ways, Come to one mark ; as many ways meet in one town ; As many fresh streams meet in one salt sea ; As many lines close in the dial's centre; 210 So may a thousand actions, once afoot, End in one purpose, and be all well borne Without defeat. Therefore to France, my liege. Divide your happy England into four; Whereof take you one quarter into France, 215 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. 220 197. majesty Qq Rowe | Maies- 209. meet in one salt Ff | run in ties Ff. one self Qq. 199. kneading Ff | lading Qq. 212. End Qq | And Ff. 208. Come Ff | Fly Qq Capell. 213. defeat Ff | defect Qq. 202. sad-eyed : solemn-looking. Cf. 'sad ' in Twelfth Night, III, iv, 5. 203. executors : executioners. Accent on the penult. In IV, ii, 51, the word has its common meaning and pronunciation. , scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 25 King Henry. Call in the messengers sent from the Dauphin. \_Exennt some Attendants] Now are we well resolv'd ; and, by God's help, And yours, the noble sinews of our power, France being ours, we '11 bend it to our awe, Or break it all to pieces : or there we '11 sit, 225 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 230 Speak freely of our acts, or else our grave, Like Turkish mute, shall have a tongueless mouth, Not worshipp'd with a waxen epitaph. Enter Ambassadors of France Now are we well prepar'd to know the pleasure Of our fair cousin Dauphin ; for we hear 235 Your greeting is from him, not from the king. 221. Dauphin | Dolphin QqFf 222. well F1F2 I all F3F4. (and throughout the play). — [Ex- 233. waxen Ff | paper QqMalone. eunt . . . Capell | Ff omit. 234. Scene III Pope. 226. empery: imperial power, dominion. Cf. Titus Andronicus, I, i, 19. Shakespeare uses both ' empire ' and ' empery.' 232. Turkish mute. It was a common belief that attendants in the Turkish court often had the tongue cut out to prevent them from betraying secrets. 233. waxen epitaph. Formerly, in England, it was customary, on the death of an eminent person, for friends to compose short lauda- tory poems or epitaphs, and affix them to the hearse or the grave with pins, paste, or wax. Gifford thinks that Shakespeare here alludes to this custom. He adds, " Henry's meaning therefore is ' I will either have my full histoiy recorded with glory, or lie in an 26 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i i Ambassador. 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? 240 King Henry. We are no tyrant, but a Christian king; Unto whose grace our passion is as subject As is our wretches fetter'd in our prisons : Therefore with frank and with uncurbed plainness Tell us the Dauphin's mind. 1 Ambassador. Thus, then, in few : 245 Your highness, lately sending into France, Did claim some certain dukedoms, in the right Of your great predecessor, King Edward the Third. In answer of which claim, the prince our master Says that you savour too much of your youth, 250 And bids you be 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, 255 237. 1 Ambassador | Amb. Ff 243. is Ff | are Qq Rowe. — fet- (and throughout the scene). ter'd Rowe | fettred Ff. undistinguished grave ; not merely without an inscription sculptured in stone, but unhonoured even by a waxen epitaph,' that is, by the short-lived compliment of a paper fastened on it." 252. galliard : a lively dance. From Fr. gaillarde, ' lively.' 255. tun. In the corresponding scene of The Famous Victories of Heitry the Fifth (see Introduction, Sources), the ambassador, who is the archbishop of Bourges, delivers to the king according to the stage direction " a Tunne of Tennis Balles " as a present from the Dauphin. The king thereupon exclaims, " What ! a guilded Tunne ? I pray you, my Lord of Yorke, looke what is in it." York replies, " And it please scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 27 Desires you let the dukedoms that you claim Hear no more of you. This the Dauphin speaks. King Henry. What treasure, uncle? Exeter. Tennis-balls, my liege. King Henry. We are glad the Dauphin is so pleasant with us ; His present and your pains we thank you for : 260 When we have match'd our rackets to these balls, We will, in France, by God's grace, play a set Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard. Tell him he hath made a match with such a wrangler That all the courts of France will be disturb'd 265 With chaces. And we understand him well, How he comes o'er us with our wilder days, your Grace, Here is a Carpet and a Tunne of Tennis balles." Cf. "a barrell of Paris balles " in the quotation from Holinshed below. The following from The Edinburgh Review, October, 1872, makes the meaning of 'tun' still clearer: " In addition to a large cask con- taining a certain measure of liquids or solids, it was applied to a gob- let, chalice, or drinking-cup, more commonly a silver-gilt goblet." 258-263. Again Holinshed is followed very closely: Whilest in the Lent season the king laie l at Killingworth, there came to him from Charles Dolphin of France certeine ambassadors, that brought with them a barrell of Paris balles ; which from their maister they presented to him for a token that was taken in verie ill part, as sent in scorne, to signifie, that it was more meete for the king to passe the time with such childish exercise than to attempt any worthie exploit . . . Wherfore the king wrote to him, that yer ought 2 long, he woulde tosse him some London balles that perchance should shake the walles of the best court in France. 261. rackets. This and 'set,' 'hazard,' 'wrangler' ('opponent'), 4 courts,' and 'chaces' ('strokes,' 'points in the game'), are all tech- nical terms of court tennis, employed here punningly. 267. comes o'er us : taunts us. Cf. Othello, IV, i, 20. 1 stayed. 2 ere aught (before very long). 28 THE. NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i Not measuring what use we made of them. We never valued this poor seat of England ; And therefore, living hence, did give ourself 270 To barbarous license ; as 't is 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 : 275 For that I have laid by my majesty, And plodded like a man for working- days, But I will rise there with so full a glory, That I will dazzle all the eyes of France, Yea, strike the Dauphin blind to look on us. 280 And tell the pleasant prince, this mock of his Hath turn'd his balls to gun-stones ; and his soul Shall stand sore charged for the wasteful vengeance That shall fly with them : for many a thousand widows Shall this his mock mock out of their dear husbands ; 285 Mock mothers from their sons, mock castles down; And some are yet ungotten and unborn That shall have cause to curse the Dauphin's scorn. But this lies all within the will of God, To whom I do appeal ; and in whose name 290 Tell you the Dauphin I am coming on, To venge me as I may, and to put forth 274. sail I sayle F1F2F3 I sayl F4 I 276. that Ff | this Qq | here Col- soul Collier | scale Wordsworth. lier. 270. living hence: " withdrawing from the court." — Steevens. 282. gun-stones. Cannon-balls were at first made of stone. "About seaven of the clocke marched forward the light pieces of ordinance, with stone and powder." — Holinshed. scene II KING HENRY THE FIFTH 29 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, 295 When thousands weep more than did laugh at it. Convey them with safe conduct. Fare you well. \_Exeunt Ambassadors] Exeter. This was a merry message. King Henry. We hope to make the sender blush at it. Therefore, my lords, omit no happy hour 300 That may give furtherance to our expedition ; For we have now no thought in us but France, Save those to God, that run before our business. Therefore let our proportions for these wars Be soon collected, and all things thought upon 305 That may with reasonable swiftness add More feathers to our wings ; for, God before, We '11 chide this Dauphin at his father's door. Therefore let every man now task his thought, That this fair action may on foot be brought. 310 \Exeunt\ 300. omit no happy : let slip no propitious. Cf . Richard II, I, iii, 276; Much Ado About Nothing, IV, i, 285. 304. proportions : suitable members of troops. To ' proportion ' a thing is to make it proportionable to a purpose. Cf. line 137 above. 307. God before : God going before. But Abbott, § 203, construes 'before ' as a transposed preposition. Cf. Ill, vi, 153. ACT II PROLOGUE Flourish. Enter Chorus Chorus. 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, 5 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, 10 Promis'd to Harry and his followers. The French, advis'd by good intelligence ACT II. PROLOGUE | QqFf ceding scene in Globe Camb ] omit- omit I Act II. Scene I Johnson. — ted in Delius. Flourish Ff | after Exeunt in pre- 1-42. Qq omit. 6. "A paterne in princehode, a lode-starre in honour, and mirrour of magnificence." — Holinshed. Cf. / Henry VI, I, iv, 74. 8. Cf. Milton's personification in Paradise Lost, VI, 306-307 : " While Expectation stood In horror." 9. hilts. Not the handle of the sword, but, as Deighton explains, the steel bar protecting the handle. The two projections of this bar at right angles to the blade explain the plural form. Cf. II, i, 59 ; Julius Cresar, V, iii, 43. 30 prologue KING HENRY THE FIFTH 3 1 Of this most dreadful preparation, Shake in their fear, and with pale policy Seek to divert the English purposes. 15 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 20 A nest of hollow bosoms, which he fills With treacherous crowns ; and three corrupted men, One, Richard Earl of Cambridge, and the second, Henry Lord Scroop of Masham, and the third, 18. honour would thee do : noble ambition would wish you to do. 22-27. " But see the hap, the night before the daie appointed for their departure, he was crediblie informed, that Richard earle of Cambridge, brother to Edward duke of York, and Henrie lord Scroope of Masham, lord treasuror, with Thomas Graie, a knight of Northumberland, being confederat togither, had conspired his death; wherefore he caused them to be apprehended." — Holin- shed. — Richard Earl of Cambridge. This was Richard Plantagenet, second son to Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, who, again, was the fourth son of Edward III. He was married to Anne Mortimer, sister to Edmund, Earl of March, and great-granddaughter of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, who was the second son of Edward III. From this marriage sprung Richard, who in the next reign was restored to the rights and titles forfeited by his father, and was made Duke of York. This Richard afterwards claimed the crown in right of his mother, and as the lineal heir from the aforesaid Lionel ; and hence arose the long war between the Houses of York and Lancaster. So that this Earl of Cambridge was the grandfather of Edward IV and Richard III. His older brother, Edward, the Duke of York of this pla)4, was killed at the battle of Agincourt, and left no child. — Henry Lord Scroop of Masham. Henry, third Lord Scrope of Masham, eldest son of Sir Stephen Scrope, second Lord Scrope of Masham, was beheaded and attainted in 1415. — Sir Thomas Grey. Of Heton, 32 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii Sir Thomas Grey, knight, of Northumberland, 25 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. 30 Linger your patience on ; and we '11 digest Th' abuse of distance, force a play. The sum is paid ; the traitors are agreed ; The king is set from London ; and the scene Is now transported, gentles, to Southampton ; 35 There is the playhouse now, there must you sit : And thence to France shall we convey you safe, And bring you back, charming the narrow seas To give you gentle pass ; for, if we may, We '11 not offend one stomach with our play. . 40 But, till the king come forth, and not till then, Unto Southampton do we shift our scene. \_Exit~\ Northumberland; married the third daughter of Ralph, Earl of Westmoreland; executed in 141 5. 26. This pun on 'gilt ' and 'guilt ' occurs in Macbeth, II, ii, 56-57. Cf. 2 Henry IV, IV, v, 129. ' Gilt ' meaning ' money ' is still thieves' argot. Murray quotes from Marston's Scourge of Villanie : Now nothing, any thing, euen what you list, So that some guilt may grease his greedy fist. 31-32. digest Th' abuse of distance : " satisfactorily arrange the disregard of space." — Verity. — force a play: "produce a play by compelling many circumstances into a narrow compass." — Steevens. The broken metre here suggests corruption of the text, but H. A. Evans suggests that this is intended to emphasize the amount of effort required on the part of the actors to produce the desired effect. scene i KING HENRY THE FIFTH 33 Scene I. London. A street Enter Corporal Nym and Lieutenant Bardolph Bardolph. Well met, Corporal Nym. Nym. Good morrow, Lieutenant Bardolph. Bardolph. What, are Ancient Pistol and you friends yet ? Nym. For my part, I care not : I say little ; but, when time shall serve, there shall be smiles ; but that shall be as it may. I dare not fight ; but I will wink and hold out mine iron: it is a simple one; but what though? it will toast cheese, and it will endure cold as another man's sword will : and there 's an end. 9 Bardolph. I will bestow a breakfast to make you friends ; and we '11 be all three sworn brothers to France. Let 't be so, good Corporal Nym. Scene I. Hanmer | Act I. Scene 5. smiles Ff | smites Collier. IV Pope. — London. A street Capell 9. an end Ff| the humour of it Qq. Globe I Before Quickly's house in 11. to Ff | in Dyce. — Let 't F1F2 East-cheap Theobald. F3 I Let it Rowe | Let 7 s F4. Enter Corporal Nym. The corporal derives his name from Mid- dle English nimen, ' to take ' (Anglo-Saxon nimaii). ' Nim ' is seven- teenth century slang for 'pilfer' (see Murray), and in the old cant of English thieves ' to steal ' was ' to nim.' Professional thieves take it in ill part if the word 'stealing ' is applied to their action. An expe- rienced English magistrate is said to have remarked, that of the per- sons brought before him for theft many confessed they ' took ' the article in question, but none said they ' stole ' it. 3. ' Ancient ' is a corruption of ' ensign,' through ' ensyne ' having been confounded with ' ancien.' See Murray. The full form of the title was 'ancient-bearer.' Iago was Othello's 'ancient,' i.e. 'ensign.' 11. sworn brothers. " In the time of adventure, it was usual for two Chiefs to bind themselves to share in each other's fortune, and divide their acquisitions between them." — Whalley. 'Sworn brothers' were called fratres jurati. Cf. Richard II, V, i, 20. 34 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii Nym. Faith, I will live so long as I may, that 's the cer- tain 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. 15 Bardolph. It is certain, corporal, that he is married to Nell Quickly : and certainly she did you wrong, for you were troth-plight to her. Nym. I cannot tell : things must be as they may : men may sleep, and they may have their throats about them at that time \ and some say knives have edges. It must be as it may : though patience be a tired mare, yet she will plod. There must be conclusions. Well, I cannot tell. 23 Enter Pistol and Hostess Bardolph. Here comes Ancient Pistol and his wife : good corporal, be patient here. How now, mine host Pistol ! Pistol. Base tike, call'st thou me host? Now, by this hand, I swear, I scorn the term ; Nor shall my Nell keep lodgers. 28 Hostess. No, by my troth, not long ! [Nym draws his sword~\ O well-a-day, Lady, if he be not drawn ! 14. do Ff I die Dyce. 26-28. As in Qq Johnson | prose 22. mare Qq I name Ff | dame in Ff. Hanmer. 29. [Nym draws . . . | Ff omit. 24. Hostess | Quickly Ff | Hostes 30. drawn Theobald | hewneFiF2 Quickly his wife Qq. I hewn F3F4 I Qq omit. 15. rest : determination. A word quibble is involved, but ' to set up one's rest ' was a common Elizabethan phrase for ' to determine to.' Cf. The Merchant of Venice, II, ii, no. The expression is said to have come from the old game of primero, where it meant deter- mination to stand upon the cards held in the hand. 26. tike : dog. The word, still in common use in the north of England and in Scotland, is applied even to dogs in an uncompli- mentary sense. Cf. Burns's " Nae tawted tyke, tho e'er sae duddie." scene i KING HENRY THE FIFTH 35 [Pistol also draws his sword'] Now we shall see wilful murder committed. 32 Bardolph. Good lieutenant ! good corporal ! offer nothing here. Nym. Pish ! 35 Pistol. Pish for thee, Iceland dog ! thou prick-ear'd cur of Iceland ! Hostess. Good Corporal Nym, show thy valour, and put up your sword. Nym. Will you shog off? I would have you solus. 40 Pistol. ' 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 ! 45 I do retort the ' solus ' in thy bowels ; 31. [Pistol also draws . . . | Ff 39. your F1F2 I thy F3F4. omit. 41-48. Ff print as prose. 35. Pish Ff I Push Qq. 42. mervailous F1F2 I marvellous 36, 37. Iceland Steevens (Johnson F3F4. conj.) I Island Ff. 45. nasty Ff | mesfull Qq. 33. The military titles of this roistering band vary amusingly. This is humorously true to life. 36-37. "Besides these also we have sholts or curres daily brought out of Iseland, and made much of among us, because of their sawci- nesse and quarrelling. Moreover they bite verie sore." — Harrison's A Description of England. 40. shog. This is a slang doublet-form of 'jog.' Cf. II, hi, 38. 41. 'Solus,' the Latin for 'alone,' is not understood by Pistol. He evidently thinks it is an insulting term hurled at him by Nym. 42. mervailous. This archaic form of 'marvellous,' like 'perdy' {par dieu) in line 44, accords well with Pistol's mock-heroic verse rant made up of playhouse gleanings and tags from old romances and ballads. 36 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii For I can take, and Pistol's cock is up, And flashing fire will follow. Nym. I am not Barbason ; you cannot conjure me. I have an humour to knock you indifferently well. If you grow foul with me, Pistol, I will scour you with my rapier, as I may, in fair terms : if you would walk off, I would prick your guts a little, in good terms, as I may : and that 's the humour of it. Pistol. O braggart vile, and damned furious wight ! 55 The grave doth gape, and doting death is near ; Therefore exhale. Bardolph. Hear me, hear me what I say : he that strikes the first stroke, I '11 run him up to the hilts, as I am a soldier. \_Draws~\ Pistol. An oath of mickle might ; and* fury shall abate. Give me thy fist, thy fore-foot to me give : Thy spirits are most tall. Nym. I will cut thy throat, one time or other, in fair terms : that is the humour of it. 65 47. take Ff | talke Qq. 62-63. Prose in Ff. 60. [Draws | They drawe Qq I Ff omit. 63. most Ff | more Pope. 47. ' Take ' here means, probably, ' catch fire,' as the rest of the speech is a play on Pistol's name. But it may mean simply ' under- stand.' Some editors interpret it in the sense of ' do deadly harm,' and cite Hamlet, I, i, 163, and King Lear, II, iv, 166. 49. * Barbason ' is the name of a fiend mentioned in The Merry Wives of Windsor, II, ii, 311. Pistol's speech suggests to Nym what Steevens calls "the sounding nonsense uttered by conjurers." 53-54. the humour of it. Nym's catch-phrase. Cf. II, i, 91, 1 16 ; II, iii, 53; III, ii, 5. 57. exhale: draw forth (the sword). A different word from 'ex- hale ' in the sense of ' breathe out.' See Murray. 61. A good example of an Alexandrine (iambic hexameter). scene i KING HENRY THE FIFTH 37 Pistol. ' Couple a gorge ' ! That is the word. I thee defy again. hound of Crete, think'st thou my spouse to get? No \ to the spital go, And from the powdering-tub of infamy 70 Fetch forth the lazar kite of Cressid's kind, Doll Tearsheet she by name, and her espouse : 1 have, and I will hold, the quondam Quickly For the only she ; and — pauca, there 's enough. Go to. 75 Enter the Boy Boy. Mine host Pistol, you must come to my master, and you, hostess ; he is very sick, and would to bed. Good Bardolph, put thy face between his sheets, and do the office of a warming-pan. Faith, he 's very ill. Bardolph. Away, you rogue ! 80 66. Couple a Ff | Couple Qq | 74~75- enough. Go Pope [ enough Coupe a Rowe | Coupe le Capell | to go Ff | enough Qq. Coupe la Dyce. 77. you, hostess Hanmer | your 66-75. Prose in Ff. Hostesse Ff. 67. thee defy Qq | defle thee Ff. 78. face Ff | nose Qq. 66. Pistol's blunder for coupe la gorge. Cf . IV, iv, 36. 69. spital : hospital. Cf. V, i, 74. This aphetized form of ' hospi- tal ' is still common in dialect. It survives in such proper names as Spitalfields, Spital of Glenshee, etc. ' Spital-man,' ' spital-sermon,' were common seventeenth century compounds. 71. ' Kite of Cressid's kind ' seems to have been a bit of common stage slang. In the later developments of the Troy legend, as in Henryson's Teslame7it of Cresseid, Cressida was cursed with leprosy for her faithlessness to Troilus. 74. pauca : to be brief. Cf. " Pauca verba, Sir John : good worts," The Mei'ry Wives of Windsor, I, i, 123 ; also in the same scene, line 134, Nym's " Slice, I say ! pauca, pauca : slice ! that 's my humour." 38 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii Hostess. By my troth, he '11 yield the crow a pudding. one of these days. The king has kill'd his heart. Good hus- band, come home presently. \_Exeunt Hostess and Boy] Bardolph. 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? 86 Pistol. Let floods o'erswell, and fiends for food howl on ! Nym. You '11 pay me the eight shillings I won of you at betting? Pistol. Base is the slave that pays. 90 Nym. That now I will have : that 's the humour of it. Pistol. As manhood shall compound : push home. \_They draw~\ Bardolph. By this sword, he that makes the first thrust, I '11 kill him ; by this sword, I will. Pistol. Sword is an oath, and oaths must have their course. 96 Bardolph. Corporal Nym, and thou wilt be friends, be friends : and thou wilt not, why, then be enemies with me too. Prithee, put up. Nym. I shall have my eight shillings I won of you at betting? 101 83. [Exeunt . . . Capell | Exit Ff . Pope Globe Delius Camb. 92. [They draw] Qq | Draw Ff. ioo-ioi. I shall have. . . you at 97, 98. and I & . . . and Ff | an betting ? Qq Capell | Ff omit. 81. he '11 yield the crow a pudding : the boy will come to the gallows. 82. The king has kill'd his heart. This prepares us for the pathos in the account of Falstaff's death. The words are not in the Quartos. " The finest touch in the comic scenes, if not the finest in the whole portrait of Falstaff, is apparently an afterthought." — Swinburne. 97, 98. and : if. No need to change ' and ' to ' an ' when it means 'if.' See Abbott, §§ 101, 103; also Skeat and Murray. scene i KING HENRY THE FIFTH 39 Pistol. A noble shalt thou have, and present pay ; And liquor likewise will I give to thee, And friendship shall combine, and brotherhood. I '11 live by Nym, and Nym shall live by me ; 105 Is not this just? for I shall sutler be Unto the camp, and profits will accrue. Give me thy hand. Nym. I shall have my noble? Pistol. In cash most justly paid. no Nym. Well, then, that 's the humour of 't. Re-enter Hostess Hostess. As ever you came of women, come in quickly to Sir John. Ah, poor heart ! he is so shak'd of a burning quotidian tertian, that it is most lamentable to behold. Sweet men, come to him. 115 Nym. The king hath run bad humours on the knight; that 's the even of it. Pistol. Nym, thou hast spoke the right ; His heart is fracted and corroborate. Nym. The king is a good king : but it must be as it may ; he passes some humours and careers. 121 Pistol. Let us condole the knight ; for, lambkins, we will live. \Exeunf\ 102-108. Prose in Ff. 113. Ah, | Ah Pope | A Ff. in. that »s F2F3F4 I that Fi. 118-119. Prose in Ff. 112. came QqF2F3F4 | come Fi. 122. lambkins, | (Lambekins) Ff. 114. Dame Quickly uses long words without knowing their mean- ing. A ' quotidian ' recurs every day ; a ' tertian,' every three days. 121. passes . . . careers : indulges whims. In Baret's Alvearie, 1580, 'career' is defined as 'the short turning of a nimble horse, now this way, nowe that way.' 40 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii Scene II. Southampton. A council-chamber Enter Exeter, Bedford, and Westmoreland Bedford. 'Fore God, his grace is bold, to trust these traitors. Exeter. They shall be apprehended by and by. Westmoreland. How smooth and even they do bear themselves ! As if allegiance in their bosoms sat, Crowned with faith and constant loyalty. 5 Bedford. The king hath note of all that they intend, By interception which they dream not of. Exeter. 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 10 His sovereign's life to death and treachery ! Trumpets sound. Enter King Henry, Scroop, Cambridge, a?td Grey King Henry. Now sits the wind fair, and we will aboard. My Lord of Cambridge, and my kind Lord of Masham, Scene II Pope | Scene III John- Ff omit, son I Ff omit. — Southampton Pope 9. dull'd F1F2 I lull'd F3F4. I QqFf omit. — A council- chamber 12. Tru7?tfiets ... Henry | Sound Malone | A Hall of Council Capell | Trumpets. Enter the King Ff. 8-11. " Lord Scroope was in such favour with the king, that he admitted him sometime to be his bed-fellow, in whose fidelitie the king reposed such trust, that when anie . . . councell was in hand, this lord had much in the determination of it." — Holinshed. 12. Scroop. Henry, third Baron Scrope of Masham, eldest son of Sir Stephen Scrope, second Baron Scrope of Masham, was scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 41 And you, my gentle knight, give me your thoughts : Think you not that the powers we bear with us 15 Will cut their passage through the force of France, Doing the execution and the act For which we have in head assembled them ? Scroop. No doubt, my liege, if each man do his best. King Henry. I doubt not that ; since we are well persuaded 20 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. Cambridge. Never was monarch better fear'd and lov'd Than is your majesty : there 's not, I think, a subject 26 That sits in heart-grief and uneasiness Under the sweet shade of your government. Grey. True ; those that were your father's enemies Have steep 'd their galls in honey, and do serve you 30 With hearts create of duty and of zeal. King Henry. We therefore have great cause of thank- fulness ; 29. Grey | Gray F4 I Kni. F1F2F3. — True ; those | Even those Qq. beheaded and attainted in 141 5. — Cambridge. Richard, second son of Edmund, Duke of York, was created Earl of Cambridge in 1414 and executed in 141 5. He was the father of Richard, Duke of York, slain at Wakefield in 1460. — Grey. Sir Thomas Grey, of Heton, Northumberland, the son-in-law of the Earl of Westmore- land, and ancestor of the present Earl Grey, was executed in 141 5. 18. head : organized force. Cf. 1 Henry IV, I, iii, 284 : " To save our heads by raising of a head." So in Hamlet, IV, v, 10 1. 31. create : made of, composed of. The Latin form of the past participle. See note, I, ii, 16. — duty: dutif illness. 42 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act n And shall forget the office of our hand, Sooner than quittance of desert and merit According to the weight and worthiness. 35 Scroop. So service shall with steeled sinews toil, And labour shall refresh itself with hope, To do your grace incessant services. King Henry. We judge no less. Uncle of Exeter, Enlarge the man committed yesterday, 40 That rail'd against our person : we consider It was excess of wine that set him on ; And on his more advice we pardon him. Scroop. That 's mercy, but too much security : Let him be punish'd, sovereign ; lest example 45 Breed, by his sufferance, more of such a kind. King Henry. O, let us yet be merciful. Cambridge. So may your highness, and yet punish too. Grey. Sir, You show great mercy, if you give him life, 50 After the taste of much correction. King Henry. 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 55 When capital crimes, chew'd, swallow'd, and digested, Appear before us? We '11 yet enlarge that man, 35. the weight Ff | their cause Qq. 49-50. One line in Ff. 34. quittance : repayment, requital. Cf. As You Like It, III, v, 133. 43. on his more advice : on further consideration about him. 44. security: over-confidence. Cf. Macbeth, III, v, 32-33: "And you all know security Is mortals' chiefest enemy." 54. distemper : intemperance, intoxication. Cf. Othello, I, i, 99. scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 43 Though Cambridge, Scroop, and Grey, in their dear care And tender preservation of our person, 59 Would have him punish'd. And now to our French causes : Who are the late commissioners? Cambridge. I one, my lord : Your highness bade me ask for it to-day. Scroop. So did you me, my liege. Grey. And I, my royal sovereign. 65 King Henry. 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, 70 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 75 Out of appearance ? Cambridge. I do confess my fault ; And do submit me to your highness' mercy. [ To which we all appeal. Scroop. J King Henry. The mercy that was quick in us but late, By your own counsel is suppress'd and kill'd : 80 65. I Ff I me Qq. 75. hath QqF 4 I haue F1F2F3. 72. lose I loose Fi. 76. appearance ? Rowe I apparance F1F2. 61. late: recently appointed. Cf. 'late ambassadors,' II, iv, 31. 74. cheeks are paper. Cf. ' paper-fac'd villain,' 2 Henry IV, V, iv, 1 2. 79. quick : living, alive. Cf. " the quick and the dead." See Skeat. 44 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 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, 85 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, 90 To kill us here in Hampton : to the which This knight, no less for bounty bound to us Than Cambridge is, hath likewise sworn. But, O, What shall I say to thee, Lord Scroop? thou cruel, Ingrateful, savage, and inhuman creature ! 95 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 100 Could out of thee extract one spark of evil That might annoy my finger? 'tis so strange, * That, though the truth of it stands off as gross As black and white, my eye will scarcely see it Treason and murder ever kept together, 105 As two yoke-devils sworn to either's purpose, 82. into Ff I upon Qq. 87. him F2 I omitted in Fi. 83. you Ff I them Qq. 104. and Ff | from Qq. 86. accord: consent, agree. Cf. A Lover' *s Complaint, 3. 90. practices: plots. Cf. line 144 and King Lear, II, i, 75. 95. In Shakespeare occur 'ingrateful,' 'ungrateful,' 'ingrate.' scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 45 Working so grossly in a natural cause, That admiration did not hoop at them : But thou, 'gainst all proportion, didst bring in Wonder to wait on treason and on murder : no And whatsoever cunning fiend it was That wrought upon thee so preposterously, Hath got the voice in hell for excellence : And other devils that suggest by treasons Do botch and bungle up damnation 115 With patches, colours, and with forms being fetch'd From glistering semblances of piety ; But he that temper'd thee bade thee stand up, Gave thee no instance why thou shouldst do treason, Unless to dub thee with the name of traitor. 120 If that same demon that hath gull'd thee thus Should with his lion gait walk the whole world, He might return to vasty Tartar back, And tell the legions, ' I can never win 107. grossly Ff | closely Hanmer. 114. And Ff | All Hanmer Globe. 108. hoop F3F4 I hoope F1F2 I 118. temper'd Ff | tempted Dyce. whoop Theobald. 122. lion gait | Lyon-gate Ff. 107. " Working so apparently under the influence of some motive which nature excuses at least in some measure ; such as self-preservation, revenge, and the like, which have the greatest sway in the constitution of human nature." — Heath. 108. admiration did not hoop : wonder did not shout in surprise. 109. proportion : the natural order, or fitness, of things. 114. suggest: tempt. Cf. 'suggestion,' Macbeth, I, iii, 134. 119. instance : occasion, inducement, ground. See Murray. 122. lion gait. The reference is plainly to 1 Peter, v, 8. 123. ' Vasty' here, and in II, iv, 105, is probably to be understood in the secondary sense of Lat. vastus, as 'hideous,' 'monstrous.' — Tartar: Tartarus. Cf. Twelfth Night, II, v, 225-226. 46 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii A soul so easy as that Englishman's.' 125 O, how hast thou with jealousy infected The sweetness of affiance ! Show men dutiful? Why, so didst thou : seem they grave and learned? Why, so didst thou : come they of noble family ? Why, so didst thou : seem they religious? 130 Why, so didst thou : or are they spare in diet, Free from gross passion or of mirth or anger, Constant in spirit, not swerving with the blood, Garnish'd and deck'd in modest complement, Not working with the eye without the ear, 135 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 indued With some suspicion. I will weep for thee ; 140 For this revolt of thine, methinks, is like Another fall of man. Their faults are open : Arrest them to the answer of the law; And God acquit them of their practices ! 139. mark the M alone | make thee Ff. 134. deck'd in modest complement : adorned with a modest exterior. 135-136. Not trusting so absolutely in his own perceptions as to despise or neglect the advice of others ; and then not acting upon either till he has brought a judgment purged from the distempers of passion to bear upon the joint result. 137. bolted: sifted like finest flour. Cf. The Winter 's Ta/e, IV, iv, 374 : " snow that's bolted By the northern blasts." 138-140. " For he represented so great gravitie in his countenance, such modestie in behaviour, and so vertuous zeale to all godlinesse in his talke, that whatsoever he said was thought for the most part necessarie to be doone and followed." — Holinshed. scene II KING HENRY THE FIFTH 47 Exeter. I arrest thee of high treason, by the name of Richard Earl of Cambridge. 146 I arrest thee of high treason, by the name of Henry Lord Scroop of Masham. I arrest thee of high treason, by the name of Thomas Grey, knight, of Northumberland. 150 Scroop. Our purposes God justly hath discover'd ; And I repent my fault more than my death ; Which I beseech your highness to forgive, Although my body pay the price of it. Cambridge. For me, the gold of France did not seduce ; Although I did admit it as a motive 156 The sooner to effect what I intended : But God be thanked for prevention ; Which I in sufferance heartily will rejoice, Beseeching God and you to pardon me. 160 Grey. Never did faithful subject more rejoice At the discovery of most dangerous treason Than I do at this hour joy o'er myself, Prevented from a damned enterprise : My fault, but not my body, pardon, sovereign. 165 King Henry. God quit you in his mercy ! Hear your sentence. 147. Henry Qq [ Thomas Ff. 159. I F2 I omitted in Fi. 155-157. According to Holinshed, Cambridge's purpose in joining the conspiracy was to give the crown to his brother-in-law, the Earl of March, and also to open the succession to his own children. As heirs from Lionel, Duke of Clarence, his children would, in strict order, precede the Lancastrian branch, as John of Gaunt, the grand- father of the present king, was the third son of Edward III. 159. At which I will heartily rejoice, even as I suffer the penalty. 166. quit: acquit, absolve. Cf. As You Like It, III, i, 11. 48 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 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, 170 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, 175 Whose ruin you have sought, that to her laws We do deliver you. Get you, therefore, hence, Poor miserable wretches, to your death : The taste whereof, God of his mercy give You patience to endure, and true repentance 180 Of all your dear offences ! Bear them hence. \_Exeunt Cambridge, Scroop, and Grey, guarded~\ Now, lords, for France ; the enterprise whereof Shall be to you as us like glorious. We doubt not of a fair and lucky war, Since God so graciously hath brought to light 185 This dangerous treason, lurking in our way 176. you have Qq Knight Globe 181. [Exeunt Cambridge . . . Camb I you three F2F3F4 I you Fi. guarded} Exit Fi. 174-181. Shakespeare follows closely this from Holinshed: Revenge herein touching my person, though I seeke not ; yet for the safe- gard of you, my deere freends, and for due preservation of all sorts, I am by office to cause example to be shewed. Get ye hence, therefore, ye poore mis- erable wretches, to the receiving of your just reward, wherein Gods majestie give you grace of his mercie and repentance of your henious offenses. And so immediatelie they were had to execution. 175. tender : take tender care of, cherish. Cf. Romeo and Juliet, III, i, 74: "which name I tender As dearly as my own." scene in KING HENRY THE FIFTH 49 To hinder our beginnings ; we doubt not now But every rub is smoothed on our way. Then, forth, dear countrymen : let us deliver Our puissance into the hand of God, 190 Putting it straight in expedition. Cheerly to sea \ the signs of war advance : No King of England, if not King of France. [Exeunt] Scene III. London. Before a tavern Enter Pistol, Nym, Bardolph, Boy, and Hostess Hostess. Prithee, honey-sweet husband, let me bring thee to Staines. Pistol. 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, 5 And we must yearn therefore. Bardolph. Would I were with him, wheresome'er he is, either in heaven or in hell ! 193* \Exeunt\ F2F3F4 | Flourish 1. honey-sweet Theobald Globe Fi. Delius I honey sweet F1F2 I honey, Scene III Pope | Scene IV John- sweet F3F4. son I Ff omit. — Loudon . . . taver?i Ca- 3-6. Prose in Ff. pell I London Pope | Quickly's house 3, 6. yearn | erne F1F2 I yern in Eastcheap Theobald | Ff omit. F3F4. 188. rub : obstacle. A technical term in bowling. Cf. V, ii, 23 5 Richard II, III, iv, 4; Hamlet, III, i, 65; King John, III, iv, 128. 1. bring: accompany. Cf. The Winter' } s Tale, IV, iii, 122. 3. yearn: grieve. This is the only meaning of the word in Shake- speare. It is used transitively in IV, iii, 26. Skeat considers earn (yearn) 'to grieve' of distinct origin from earn (yearn) 'to desire.' Mr. Bradley considers it the same word. 7. wheresome'er. Cf. * whatsome'er ' in AWs Well that Ends Well, III, v, 44. 50 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii Hostess. 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 and it had been any christom child : a parted ev'n just between twelve and one, ev'n at the turning o' th' tide : for after I saw him fumble with the sheets, and play with flowers, and smile upon his fin- gers' ends, I knew there was but one way ; for his nose was as sharp as a pen, and a babbled of green fields. ' How now, Sir John ! ' quoth I : ' what, man ! be o' good cheer.' So a cried out, * God, God, God ! ' three or four times. Now I, to comfort him, bid him a should not think of God ; I hop'd there was no need to trouble himself with any such thoughts yet. So a bade me lay more clothes on his feet : io-ii. a finer F1F2 I finer F3F4 I a 15. ends Qq Capell | end Ff. fine Capell | a final Johnson conj. 16. a babbled of green fields Theo- 11. and it Ff | an it Pope Globe bald | a Table of greene fields F1F2 I Delius Camb | as it Qq. a Table of green fields F3 I a Table 14. play with Ff | talk of Qq. of green Fields F4. 10. A : he. An obsolete or dialectic form, sometimes written 'a or a'. See Murray; also Abbott, § 402. For Chaucer's use of 'a,' see Kittredge's Troilus, page 152. 11. 'Christom' is a corruption of 'chrisom,' the white robe put on a child at baptism (chrism, 'consecrated oil for anointing') as a token of innocence, and worn by it for the first month. If the child died within the month, the chrisom was used as its shroud. A ' christom child,' then, is a child in its chrisom-cloth, in its first innocence. Bunyan's most elaborated scoundrel, Mr. Badman, "died like a lamb, or as they call it like a chrisom-child, quietly, and without fear." 12-13. It is an old belief that persons at the point of death pass as the tide begins to ebb. " ' People can't die along the coast,' said Mr. Peggotty, ' except when the tide 's pretty nigh out. . . . He 's a going out with the tide.' " — David Copperfteld, Chapter XXX. 16. babbled of green fields. This is Theobald's emendation of the text of the Folios (the passage does not occur in the Quartos) and is perhaps the happiest emendation in all literature. scene in KING HENRY THE FIFTH 5 1 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. 24 Nym. They say he cried out of sack. Hostess. Ay, that a did. Bardolph. And of women. Hostess. Nay, that a did not. Boy. Yes, that a did ; and said they were devils in- carnate. 30 Hostess. A never could abide carnation ; 't was a colour he never lik'd. Boy. Do you not remember, a saw a flea stick upon Bardolph's nose, and a said it was a black soul burning in hell-fire? 35 Bardolph. Well, the fuel is gone that maintain'd that fire : that 's all the riches I got in his service. Nym. Shall we shog? the king will be gone from South- ampton. Pistol. Come, let 's away. My love, give me thy lips. 40 Look to my chattels and my movables : Let senses rule ; the word is ' Pitch and pay ' ; Trust none ; For oaths are straws, men's faiths are wafer-cakes, 23. cold as any F1F2 I cold as a up-peer'd and upward Fi | upwar'd F3F4. — knees, and so Ff | knees, and and upward F2. they were as cold as any stone, and 35. hell-fire Q1Q2 I hell Q3FL so Qq Globe Camb. 40-49. Prose in Ff. 24. upward and upward QqF3F4 I 42. word Q1Q3 I world Q2FL 42-46. Pistol reels off a string of stock proverbs. " Pitch and paie, and go your waie " is quoted by Farmer from Florio as a saying inculcating ready-money payment ; and Douce gives, " Brag is a good dog, but Hold-fast is a better." — Caveto : be on your guard. Impera- tive, Lat. cavere. The Quartos have ' cophetua ' — a ludicrous blunder. 52 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act n And hold-fast is the only dog, my duck : 45 Therefore, Caveto be thy counsellor. Go, clear thy crystals. Yoke-fellows in arms, Let us to France ; like horse-leeches, my boys, To suck, to suck, the very blood to suck ! Boy. And that 's but unwholesome food, they say. 50 Pistol. Touch her soft mouth, and march. Bardolph. Farewell, hostess. \_Kissing her] Nym. I cannot kiss, that is the humour of it ; but, adieu. Pistol. Let housewifery appear : keep close, I thee command. 55 Hostess. Farewell ; adieu. [Exeunt] Scene IV. France. The King's palace Flourish, Enter the French King, the Dauphin, the Dukes of Berri #;z;/ Bretagne, the Constable, and others French King. Thus comes the English with full power upon us ; And more than carefully it us concerns To answer royally in our defences. Therefore the Dukes of Berri and of Bretagne, 46. Caveto Ff | cophetua Qq. palace Globe | Ff omit. 52. [Kissing her] Capell | Ffomit. Enter . . . others Globe | Enter Scene IV Pope | Scene V John- the French King, the Dolphin, the son I Ffomit. — Fra?ice. TV** King's Dukes of Berry and Britaine Ff. 47. clear thy crystals : dry thine eyes. " That kind of poetic dic- tion which Pistol loves and Shakespeare laughs at." — Moore Smith. 1. French King. Charles VI was born in 1368 and reigned from 1380 to 1422. He survived Henry V by less than two months, but prevented him from ever being actual king of France. — comes. A singular verb often precedes a plural subject in Shakespeare. See scene iv KING HENRY THE FIFTH 53 Of Brabant and of Orleans, shall make forth, 5 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. 10 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. Dauphin. My most redoubted father, It is most meet we arm us 'gainst the foe ; 15 For peace itself should not so dull a kingdom, Though war nor no known quarrel were in question, But that defences, musters, preparations, Should be maintain 'd, assembled and collected, As were a war in expectation. 20 Therefore, I say 't is 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 : 25 Abbott, § 335. But Aldis Wright takes 'English' here as equivalent to ' English king.' Cf. ' the French ' in IV, iv, 72. 7. line : strengthen. Cf . " did line the rebel " in Macbeth, I, iii, 112. 14. Dauphin. Louis, the Dauphin, was the eldest son of Charles, and after a dissolute career died in 141 6. He was succeeded as Dauphin first by his brother John, who died in 141 7, and then by his brother Charles, afterwards Charles VII. 25. morris-dance. This was one of the old popular dances in which the performers were dressed fantastically, representing traditional characters. It was supposed to have been introduced by the Moors 54 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 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. Constable. O peace, Prince Dauphin ! You are too much mistaken in this king : 30 Question your grace the late ambassadors, With what great state he heard their embassy, How well supplied with noble counsellors, How modest in exception, and withal How terrible in constant resolution, 35 And you shall find his vanities forespent Were but the outside of the Roman Brutus, Covering discretion with a coat of folly ; As gardeners do with ordure hide those roots That shall first spring and be most delicate. 40 Dauphin. Well, 't is not so, my lord high constable ; But though we think it so, it is no matter : In cases of defence 't is best to weigh The enemy more mighty than he seems : So the proportions of defence are fill'd ; 45 Which of a weak and niggardly projection, into Spain, and reached England in the reign of Henry VII. The name ' morris ' is through the Spanish morisco, from the late Lat. Moriscus, ' Moorish.' 28. humorous: whimsical, capricious. Cf. Coriolanus, II, i, 51. 34. modest in exception : temperate in expressing disapproval. 45. proportions : proper preparations. Cf. I, ii, 137. 46-48. 'Being' is understood after 'which'; and not merely 'which,' but the whole clause, is the subject of ' doth spoil,' so that the meaning is, The ordering of which after a weak and niggardly project or plan is like the work of a miser who spoils his coat with scanting a little cloth. scene iv KING HENRY THE FIFTH 55 Doth, like a miser, spoil his coat with scanting A little cloth. French King. Think we King Harry strong ; And, princes, look you strongly arm to meet him. The kindred of him hath been flesh'd upon us ; 50 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 55 Of that black name, Edward, Black Prince of Wales ; Whiles that his mountain sire, on mountain standing, Up in the air, crown'd with the golden sun, Saw his heroical seed, and smil'd to see him, Mangle the work of nature, and deface 60 The patterns that by God and by French fathers Had twenty years been made. This is a stem Of that victorious stock ; and let us fear The native mightiness and fate of him. Enter a Messenger Messenger. Ambassadors from Harry King of England Do crave admittance to your majesty. 66 52. haunted Ff | hunted War- 57. mountain sire Ff | mounting burton (Theobald conj.). sire Theobald | mighty sire Collier. 50. flesh'd. Cf. Ill, iii, 11. The figure is taken from the old habit of rewarding hounds or hawks with a portion of the first game they killed. In 1 Henry IV, V, iv, 133-134, 'flesh'd' is used of a sword drawing blood for the first time. 57. mountain sire. This epithet is probably to be taken in the sense of ' mighty.' The repetition of ' mountain ' is thoroughly Shake- spearian. See quotation from Holinshed illustrating I, ii, 105-110. 56 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii French King. We '11 give them present audience. Go, and bring them. \_Exeunt Messenger and certain Lords] You see this chase is hotly follow'd, friends. Dauphin. 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, 71 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. Enter Exeter French King. From our brother of England? 75 Exeter. 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, longs 80 To him and to his heirs ; namely, the crown, And all wide-stretched honours that pertain, By custom and the ordinance of times, Unto the crown of France. That you may know 'T is no sinister nor no awkward claim, 85 67. Two lines in Ff. — [Exeunt son | Ff omit. — brother of Q3Ff | . . . Lords] Capell | Ff omit. brother Q1Q2 Pope Globe Delius. 75. Scene V Pope | Scene VI John- 80. longs Ff | 'long Pope Globe. 70. spend their mouths : give cry. Cf. Venus and Adonis, 695. 80. longs : belong. For the construction, see Abbott, §333. 'Long' is the simple verb, common in Middle English literature, but now superseded in general use by the compound 'belong.' See Murray. 85. awkward : perverse. Used here in primitive sense. See Skeat. scene iv KING HENRY THE FIFTH 57 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 : 90 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. 95 French King. Or else what follows? Exeter. Bloody constraint : for, if you hide the crown Even in your hearts, there will be rake for it : Therefore in fierce tempest is he coming, In thunder and in earthquake, like a Jove, 100 That, if requiring fail, he will compel ; And bids you, in the bow r els 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 105 Turning the widows' tears, the orphans' cries, 99. fierce QqFf | fiery Dyce. 106. Turning Ff | Turns he Qq.- 88. memorable : that which will recall to the memory, or preserve the memory of. Cf. IV, vii, 98, and V, i, 65, where it is used in the same active sense as here. In line 53, above, it is used in a passive sense, 'kept in memory,' 'famous.' Shakespeare uses the word only in this play. — line : genealogy, family tree. 94. indirectly: wrongly. Cf. l indirection,' Julius Ccrsar, IV, iii, 75. 99. fierce. Metrically a dissyllable. See Abbott, § 485. 102. " King Henrie . . . neuerthelesse exhorted the French king, in the bowels of Jesu Christ, to render him that which was his owne ; whereby effusion of Christian bloud might be auoided." — Holinshed. 58 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act n 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 threatening, and my message; no Unless the Dauphin be in presence here, To whom expressly I bring greeting too. French King. For us, we will consider of this further : To-morrow shall you bear our full intent Back to our brother of England. Dauphin. For the Dauphin, 115 I stand here for him : what to him from England? Exeter. Scorn and defiance ; slight regard, contempt, And any thing that may not misbecome The mighty sender, doth he prize you at. Thus says my king; and if your father's highness 120 Do not, in grant of all demands at large, Sweeten the bitter mock you sent his majesty, He '11 call you to so hot an answer of it, That caves and womby vaultages of France Shall chide your trespass, and return your mock 125 In second accent of his ordinance. Dauphin. Say, if my father render fair return, It is against my will; for I desire 107. blood F1F2F3 I bloods F4. — 120. and if Ff | an if Dyce Delius pining Qq Pope Globe | priuy Ff. Globe | and, if Capell. 115. of England Q3Ff | England 126. ordinance Ff | ordenance Q1Q2 Pope Globe Delius Camb. Qq | ordnance Malone Globe Camb. 120. and if. See Abbott, §§ 101-105. Cf. II, i, 97, 98. 124. By ' womby vaultages ' may be meant ' dungeons and vaults.' 125. chide : resound. Cf. A Midsummer Night's Dream, IV, i, 119. 126. ordinance : ordnance. Here the verse demands the trisyllabic pronunciation. In III, Prologue, 26, the word is probably dissyllabic. scene iv KING HENRY THE FIFTH 59 Nothing but odds with England : to that end, As matching to his youth and vanity, 130 I did present him with the Paris balls. Exeter. He '11 make your Paris Louvre shake for it, Were it the mistress-court of mighty Europe : And be assur'd you '11 find a difference, As we his subjects have in wonder found, 135 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. 139 French King. To-morrow shall you know our mind at full. [Flourish] Exeter. Dispatch us with all speed, lest that our king Come here himself to question our delay ; For he is footed in this land already. French King. You shall be soon dispatch'd with fair conditions : A night is but small breath and little pause 145 To answer matters of this consequence. [Exeunt] 129. Line ends at England in Ff. 132. Louvre Pope [ Louer QqFi | 131. the Ff I those Qq Capell. Loover F2 I Lover F3. ACT III PROLOGUE Flourish, Enter Chorus Chorus. 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 5 With silken streamers the young Phoebus fanning : Play with your fancies ; and in them behold Upon the hempen tackle ship-boys climbing; Hear the shrill whistle which doth order give To sounds confus'd ; behold the threaden sails, 10 Borne with th' invisible and creeping wind, Draw the huge bottoms through the furrow'd sea, Breasting the lofty surge. O, do but think ACT III. PROLOGUE | Actus 4. Hampton Theobald | Dover Ff. Secundus Ff | Act II. Scene I Rowe 6. fanning Rowe | fayning F1F2 I I Act III. Scene I Pope. faining F3F4. 2-3. In . . . thought I One line in Ff. 12. furrow'd Rowe | furrowed Ff. 1. with imagin'd wing : on the wing of imagination. ' Imagin'd ' for ' imaginative ' ; another instance of the confusion of active and pas- sive forms. Cf. ' imagin'd speed,' The Merchant of Venice, III, iv, 52. 4. well-appointed : well-equipped. Cf. ' royally appointed,' The Winter's Tale, IV, iv, 602. — Hampton. The Folios read 'Dover.' One of Theobald's famous corrections. 60 prologue KING HENRY THE FIFTH 6l You stand upon the rivage, and behold A city on th' inconstant billows dancing; 15 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, 20 Either past or not arrived to pith and puissance ; For who is he, whose chin is but enrich'd With one appearing hair, that will not follow These cull'd and choice-drawn cavaliers to France? Work, work your thoughts, and therein see a siege ; 25 Behold the ordinance on their carriages, With fatal mouths gaping on girded Harfleur. Suppose th' ambassador from the French comes back ; Tells Harry that the king doth offer him Katharine his daughter ; and with her, to dowry, 30 Some petty and unprofitable dukedoms. The offer likes not : and the nimble gunner With linstock now the devilish cannon touches, [Alarum, and chambers go off~\ And down goes all before them. Still be kind, 34 And eke out our performance with your mind. \Exit\ 17. Harfleur Rowe | Harflew Ff. 35. eke Pope | eech Fi | ech F2 26. ordinance | Ordenance F1F2F3. F3F4. 14. rivage: shore, bank. From Lat. rivus through Fr. rivage. 17. The * Harflew ' of the Folios follows Holinshed's ' Harflue.' 18. to sternage of: astern of. Let your mind follow the fleet. 21. Either. Monosyllabic. For the slurring of ///, see Abbott, § 466. 32. likes: pleases. The original sense. Cf. IV, i, 16; IV, iii, 77. 33. linstock. " A staff about three feet long, having a pointed foot to stick in the deck or ground, and a forked head to hold a lighted 62 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi Scene I. France. Before Harfleur Alarum. Enter King Henry, Exeter, Bedford, Glouces- ter, and Soldiers, with scaling-ladders King Henry. 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, 5 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 10 Like the brass cannon ; let the brow o'erwhelm it As fearfully as doth a galled rock O'er hang and jutty his confounded base, Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean. Now set the teeth, and stretch the nostril wide ; 15 Hold hard the breath, and bend up every spirit Scene I Hanmer | Scene II 1. Once . . . more Pope | two lines Pope. — France . . . scaling-ladders in Ff . I Enter the King, Exeter, Bedford, 7. summon Rowe | commune Ff. and Gloucester. Alarum : Scaling 15. nostril | Nosthrill F1F2. Ladders at Harflew Ff. match." — Murray. — chambers go off. ' Chambers ' were small pieces of artillery, much used on the stage. They were so called because of a detachable box, or chamber, containing the powder. 10. portage: portholes. ' Portage ' occurs in Pericles, III, i, 35. 13. jutty: project over. — confounded: ruined. Cf. Macbeth, II, ii, 12. Used of time in / Henry IV, I, iii, 100 ; Coriolanus, I, vi, 17. 14. Swill'd : greedily gulped down. Cf. Richard III, V, ii, 9. scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 63 To his full height ! On, on, you noblest English, Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof ! Fathers that, like so many Alexanders, Have in these parts from morn till even fought, 20 And 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, 25 Whose limbs were made in England, show us here The mettle of your pasture ; let us swear That you are worth your breeding : which I doubt not ; For there is none of you so mean and base, That hath not noble lustre in your eyes. 30 I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, Straining upon the start. The game 's afoot : Follow your spirit ; and upon this charge Cry ' God for Harry ! England and Saint George ! ' [Exeunt. Alarum, and chambers go off~\ Scene II. The same Enter Nym, Bardolph, Pistol, and Boy Bardolph. On, on, on, on, on ! to the breach, to the breach ! Nym. Pray thee, corporal, stay : the knocks are too hot ; 17. noblest F2F3F4 I Noblish Fi. 34. {Exeunt | Ff omit. 24. men F4 I me F1F2F3. Scene II Hanmer | Scene III 32. Straining Rowe I Straying Ff. Pope | scene continued in Dyce. 18. fet: fetched. Past participle of 'fet' (Anglo-Saxon fetian). 27. mettle of your pasture : excellent quality of your rearing. 64 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 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. 5 Pistol. 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, 10' Doth win immortal fame. Boy. Would I were in an alehouse in London ! I would give all my fame for a pot of ale and safety. Pistol. And I : If wishes would prevail with me, 15 My purpose should not fail with me, But thither would I hie. Boy. As duly, but not as truly, As bird doth sing on bough. Enter Fluellen Fluellen. Up to the breach, you dogs ! avaunt, you cullions ! \_Driving them forward~\ 8-11. As prose in Ff. 21. {Driving ... forward] Globe 15-19. As prose in Ff. Camb | Ff omit. 4. ' Case ' is here either (1) 'a set,' as in a case of instruments; or (2) 'a pair,' as in a case of pistols, a case of poniards. 5. plain-song : a melody without variations. Cf . ' the plain-song cuckoo gray,' A Midsummer Night's Dream, III, i, 134. 20. In former editions of Hudson's Shakespeare, Capell's intro- duction of the Quarto readings here, and elsewhere in this scene, was adopted, and the marked peculiarities of Fluellen's dialect, p for b and t for d, were printed. In the First Folio text, followed in this edition, these peculiarities are merely suggested ; it is left to the actor, or reader, to make as much or as little of them as he pleases. 21. cullions : base, despicable fellows. A term of contempt. scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 65 Pistol. 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 ! 25 Nym. These be good humours ! your honour wins bad humours. [Exeunt all but Boy] Boy. As young as I am, I have observ'd 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 antics do not amount to a man. For Bardolph, he is white-liver'd and red-fac'd; 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 match'd 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. 22-25. As prose in Ff. Camb | Exit Ff. 27. \Exeunt all but Boy] Globe 31. antics | Antiques Ff. 22. duke: commander (Lat. dux). — men of mould: men of earth. 25. bawcock : fine fellow. Fr. beau coq. Cf. IV, i, 44. — ' Chuck ' (corrupted from ' chick ') is the term of endearment Macbeth uses to Lady Macbeth after the murder of Duncan, Macbeth, III, ii, 45. 29. swashers : bullying braggarts. Cf. As You Like It, I, iii, 122. 31. antics : buffoons. The word is from 'antic,' or 'antique' (Lat. antiquus), in the sense of 'old-fashioned,' and so 'odd,' 'fantastic' 32. white-liver'd : cowardly. Cf . The Merchant of Venice, III, ii, 86-87 : "cowards . . . Who, inward search'd, have livers white as milk." 41. purchase : acquisition. Thieves' euphemism for 'stolen goods.' 66 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi Bardolph stole a lute-case, bore it twelve leagues, and sold it for three half-pence. Nym and Bardolph are sworn brothers in niching ; 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 villainy goes against my weak stomach, and therefore I must cast it up. [Exit] Re-enter Fluellen, Gower following Gower. Captain Fluellen, you must come presently to the mines ; the Duke of Gloucester would speak with you. Fluellen. 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 concavi- ties of it is not sufficient ; for, look you, th' athversary — you may discuss unto the duke, look you — is digt himself 44. Calais Pope | Callice F1F2F3 53. Re-enter . . . Steevens | Enter I Calice F4. Gower Ff. 43-44. sworn brothers. See note on II, i, 11. 45. ' To carry coals ' was an Elizabethan slang phrase for ' to do any menial service,' and so, by implication, 'to put up with an affront.' Cf. Ro?neo and Juliet, I, i, 1 : " o' my word, we '11 not carry coals." 49. pocketing up of wrongs : putting up with insults. Cf. the modern 'pocketing affronts.' 'Wrongs' is here used punningly in the sense of (r) 'insults,' and (2) 'wrong actions,' as in I, ii, 27. 57. The touch of pedantry in Fluellen is delightful. 59. digt himself : has dug his own mines. This matter of mining and countermining is from Holinshed : The duke of Glocester, to whome the order of the siege was committed, made three mines vnder the ground ; and, approching to the wals with his scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 67 four yard under the countermines : by Cheshu, I think a will plow, up all, if there is not better directions. 61 Gower. 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. Fluellen. It is Captain Macmorris, is it not? 65 Gower. I think it be. Fluellen. By Cheshu, he is an ass, as in the world : I will verify as much in his beard : he has no more direc- tions in the true disciplines of the wars, look you, of the Roman disciplines, than is a puppy-dog. 70 Enter Macmorris and Captain Jamy Gower. Here a comes ; and the Scots captain, Captain Jamy, with him. Fluellen. Captain Jamy is a marvellous falorous gentle- man, that is certain ; and of great expedition and knowl- edge 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. 78 Jamy. I say gud-day, Captain Fluellen. Fluellen. God-den to your worship, good Captain James. 65. Fluellen | Welch. Ff (and 79. Jamy | Scot. Ff (and through- throughout the scene). out the scene). engins and ordinance, would not suffer them within to take anie rest. . . . They with their countermining somwhat disappointed the Englishmen, and came to fight with them hand to hand. 80. God-den : good evening. Cf. ' God ye good even,' As Yon Like It, V, i, 16. In Romeo and Juliet, I, ii, 58, Quartos and Folios print ' Godgigoden ' for i God give you good even.' 68 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi Gower. How now, Captain Macmorris ! have you quit the mines? have the pioners given o'er? 83 Macmorris. By Chrish, la ! tish ill done ; the work ish give over, the trompet sound the retreat. By my hand, I swear, and my father's soul, the work ish ill done ; it ish give over : I would have blow'd up the town, so Chrish save me, la ! in an hour : O, tish ill done, tish ill done ; by my hand, tish ill done ! 89 Fluellen. 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 touch- ing the direction of the military discipline ; that is the point. 97 Jamy. It sail be vary gud, gud feith, gud captains bath : and I sail quit you with gud leve, as I may pick occasion; that sail I, marry. 100 Macmorris. 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 beseech'd, and the trumpet calls us to the breach ; and we talk, and, be Chrish, do nothing : 't is shame for us all : 84. Macmorris | Irish. Ff (and throughout the scene). 83. pioners : pioneers (old Fr. peon, ' foot-soldier '). For the form, cf. ' mutiner,' Coriolanus, I, i, 254 ; ' enginer,' Hainlet, III, iv, 206. 99. quit you with gud leve : with your permission answer you. 104. beseech'd. Probably Captain Macmorris means not that the town is ' besieged,' for the siege has been going on for some time, but that it is summoned or challenged to surrender. scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 69 so God sa' me, 't is 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 ! 108 Jamy. By the mess, ere theise eyes of mine take them- selves to slomber, I '11 de gud service, or I '11 lig i' the grund for it ; ay, or go to death ; and I '11 pay't as valor- ously as I may, that sail I suerly do, that is the breff and the long. Marry, I wad full fain heard some question 'tween you tway. 114 Fluellen. Captain Macmorris, I think, look you, under your correction, there is not many of your nation — Macmorris. 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? 119 Fluellen. 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 war, and in the derivation of my birth, and in other particularities. 125 Macmorris. I do not know you so good a man as myself : so Chrish save me, I will cut off your head. Gower. Gentlemen both, you will mistake each other. Jamy. A ! that's a foul fault. \A parley sounded '] Gower. The town sounds a parley. 130 113. heard Ff | hear Camb. 129. A ! | A, Ff | Au, Hanmer. — 118. rascal? | Rascall. Ff | rascal. [A parley sounded} Rowe | A par- Camb Delius | rascal — Clar Globe. ley Ff. iio-iii. lig i' the grund : lie on the ground. 112-113. the breff and the long : the long and the short of it. 113. question : talk, conversation. Cf. Ki>ig Lear, IV, iii, 26 ; As You Like Lt, III, iv, 39; Jiclius Ccesar> IV, iii, 165. ;o THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi Fluellen. Captain Macmorris, when there is more bet- ter opportunity to be requir'd, look you, I will be so bold as to tell you I know the disciplines of war ; and there is an end. [Exeunt] Scene III. The same. Before the gates The Governor and some Citizens on the walls ; the English forces below. Eitter King Henry and his train King Henry. 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, 5 A name that, in my thoughts, becomes me best, If I begin the battery once again, I will not leave the half-achieved Harfleur Till in her ashes she lie buried. The gates of mercy shall be all shut up ; 10 And the flesh'd soldier, rough' and hard of heart, In liberty of bloody hand shall range With conscience wide as hell ; mowing like grass Your fresh fair virgins and your flow'ring infants. What is it then to me, if impious war, 15 134. [Exeunt] Rowe | Exit Ff. . . . train | Enter the King and all Scene III Hanmer | Scene IV his Traine before the Gates Ff. Pope I Scene II Dyce. — The same 14. fresh fair | fresh faire Ff | fresh- . . . below Globe | Ff omit. — Enter fair Steevens Camb. 10. gates of mercy. Cf. 'gate of mercy,' j Henry VI, I, iv, 177. n. flesh'd : made fierce, as one who has tasted blood. See note, II, iv, 50. Probably the sense of being seasoned or hardened by acts of cruelty is also involved. Cf. Richard III, IV, iii, 6. scene in KING HENRY THE FIFTH 7 1 Array'd in flames, like to the prince of fiends, Do, with his smirch'd complexion, all fell feats Enlink'd to waste and desolation ? What is 't to me, when you yourselves are cause, If your pure maidens fall into the hand 20 Of hot and forcing violation ? What rein can hold licentious wickedness When down the hill he holds his fierce career? We may as bootless spend our vain command Upon th' enraged soldiers in their spoil, 25 As send precepts to the leviathan To come ashore. Therefore, you men of Harfleur, Take pity of your town and of your people, Whiles yet my soldiers are in my command ; Whiles yet the cool and temperate wind of grace 30 O'erblows the filthy and contagious clouds Of heady murder, spoil, and villainy. 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 ; 35 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 40 26-27. As... ashore | one line in Ff. headdy F2 I deadly Steevens. 32. heady F3F4 I headly Fi | 35. Defile Rowe | Desire Ff. 26. precepts : legal summons. Accented here on second syllable. 28. Shakespeare has both 'take pity of and 'take pity on.' 31. O'erblows: blows away. Cf. Richard II, III, ii, 190. 32. heady : violent, impetuous. Cf. ' heady currance,' I, i, 34. 72 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi At Herod's bloody-hunting slaughtermen. What say you? will you yield, and this avoid? Or, guilty in defence, be thus destroy'd? Governor. Our expectation hath this day an end : The Dauphin, whom of succours we entreated, 45 Returns us, that his powers are yet not ready To raise so great a siege. Therefore, great king, We yield our town and lives to thy soft mercy. Enter our gates ; dispose of us and ours ; For we no longer are defensible. 50 King Henry. 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 55 Upon our soldiers, we '11 retire to Calais. To-night in Harfleur will we be your guest ; To-morrow for the march are we addrest. [Flourish. The King and his train enter the town] 43. After this line Ff have Enter 47. great Ff | dread Qq. Governour. 58. [Flourish . . . enter the town] 45. succours Ff | succour Qq. Globe Camb | Flourish, and enter 46. yet not Ff | not yet Qq. the Towne Ff. 41. The Massacre of the Innocents was one of the most famous incidents represented in the old miracle plays. 45-49. " To whome the Dolphin answered, that the kings power was not yet assembled in such number as was convenient to raise so great a siege. This answer being brought unto the capteins within the towne, they rendered it up to the king of England, after that the third daie was expired." — Holinshed. 50. defensible : capable of being defended. Active form with passive sense. Cf. 2 Henry IV, II, iii, 38. 55. " The dead time of the winter approached." — Holinshed. scene iv KING HENRY THE FIFTH 73 Scene IV. The French King's palace Enter Katharine and Alice Katharine. Alice, tu as ete en Angleterre, et tu paries bien le langage. Alice. Un peu, madame. Katharine. Je te prie, m'enseignez ; il fautque j'apprenne a parler. Comment appelez-vous la main en Anglois ? 5 Alice. La main? elle est appelee de hand. Katharine. De hand. Et les doigts? Alice. Les doigts? ma foi, j'oublie les doigts; mais je me souviendrai. Les doigts? je pense qu'ils sont appeles de fingres ; oui, de fingres. 10 Katharine. La main, de hand ; les doigts, de fingres. Je pense que je suis le bon ecolier ; j'ai gagne deux mots d'Anglois vitement. Comment appelez-vous les ongles? Scene IV Capell | Scene V Pope Enter Katharine and Alice | I Scene III Dyce. Enter Katherine Ff | Enter K. and ' The French Kis^s^a/ace Globe Alice Qq. . I The French Court Theobald | Roan. 1. paries bien Warburton | bien A Room in the Palace Capell |Ff omit. parlas Fi | parte fort bon Qq. Scene IV. Hanmer and many modern editors reject this scene as not Shakespeare's. Its dramatic purpose is not very obvious, though to a certain extent it prepares for the courtship scene in the last act of the play. There is something of humour, too, in the com- pliments Alice bestows upon the princess in assuring her that she speaks English as well as the English themselves. And there is still more of humor implied in the act of thus preparing a conquest of France by introducing a French princess learning to speak English. Enter Katharine. Katharine was the daughter of Charles VI and Isabel the Queen. She was married to Henry V and became the mother of Henry VI. After Henry V's death she married a Welsh gentleman, Owen Tudor, and their son, Edmund Tudor, was the father of Henry VII, the founder of the Tudor dynasty. 74 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi Alice. Les ongles? nous les appelons de nails. Katharine. De nails. Ecoutez ; dites-moi, si je parle bien : de hand, de fingres, et de nails. 16 Alice. C'est bien dit, madame ; il est fort bon Anglois. Katharine. Dites-moi 1' Anglois pour le bras. Alice. De arm, madame. Katharine. Et le coude? 20 Alice. De elbow. Katharine. De elbow. Je m'en fais la repetition de tous les mots que vous m'avez appris des a present. Alice. II est trop difficile, madame, comme je pense. Katharine. Excusez-moi, Alice ; ecoutez : de hand, de fingres, de nails, de arm, de bilbow. 26 Alice. De elbow, madame. Katharine. O Seigneur Dieu, je m'en oublie ! de elbow. Comment appelez-vous le col? Alice. De neck, madame. 30 Katharine. De nick. Et le menton? Alice. De chin. Katharine. De sin. Le col, de nick ; le menton, de sin. Alice. Oui. Sauf votre honneur, en verite, vous pro- noncez les mots aussi droit que les natifs d'Angleterre. 35 Katharine. Je ne doute point d'apprendre, par la grace de Dieu, et en peu de temps. Alice. N'avez-vous pas deja oublie" ce que je vous ai enseigne? Katharine. Non, je reciterai a vous promptement : de hand, de fingres, de mails, — 41 14. nous Globe Camb | Ff omit. 31, 33, 45. nick Fi | Neck F2 18. TAnglois pour Fi I en Anglois F3F4. F2F3F4. 38. pas deja I y desia Ff. 30. neck I Nick Fi. 41. de mails | de Maylees Fi. scene v KING HENRY THE FIFTH 75 Alice. De nails, madame. Katharine. De nails, de arm, de ilbow. Alice. Sauf votre honneur, de elbow. Katharine. Ainsi dis-je ; de elbow, de nick, et de sin. Comment appelez-vous le pied et la robe? 46 Alice. De foot, madame ; et de coun. Katharine. De foot et de coun ! O Seigneur Dieu ! ce sont mots de son mauvais, corruptible, gros, et impudique, et non pour les dames d'honneur d'user : je ne voudrais prononcer ces mots devant les seigneurs de France pour tout le monde. Foh ! le foot et le coun ! Neanmoins, je reciterai une autre fois ma lecon ensemble : de hand, de fingres, de nails, de arm, de elbow, de nick, de sin, de foot, de coun. 55 Alice. Excellent, madame ! Katharine. C'est assez pour une fois : allons-nous a diner. [Exeunt] Scene V. The same Enter the King of France, the Dauphin, the Duke of Bourbon, the Constable of France, and others French King. 'T is certain he hath pass'd the river Somme. Constable. And if he be not fought withal, my lord, 52. Foh ! I fo Fi I il faut F2F3F4. I Scene IV Hanmer. 58. [Exeunt] Exit Ff. Enter . . . a?id others Theobald Scene V Capell | Scene VI Pope | Ff omit the Duke of Bourbon. Enter . . . Duke of Bourbon. He was maternal uncle of Charles VI. Taken prisoner at Agincourt, he died in England. 1-2. Holinshed thus describes the attitude of the French king : The French king being at Rone, and hearing that king Henrie was passed the riuer of Some, was much displeased therewith, and assembling y6 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi Let us not live in France ; let us quit all, And give our vineyards to a barbarous people. Dauphin. O Dieu vivant ! shall a few sprays of us, 5 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? Bourbon. Normans, but bastard Normans, Norman bastards ! 10 Mort de ma vie ! if they march along Unfought withal, but I will sell my dukedom, 7. scions I Syens Ff. 10, 32. Bourbon | Bour. Theo- bald I Bur. Qq | Brit. Ff. his councell, to the number of flue and thirtie, asked their aduise what was to be doone. There was amongst these hue and thirtie, his sonne the Dolphin, calling himselfe king of Sicill ; the dukes of Berrie and Britaine, the earl of Pontieu the kings yoongest sonne, and other high estates. At length thirtie of them agreed that the Englishmen should not depart unfought withall, and hue were of a contrarie opinion, but the greater number ruled. 5. sprays : off-shoots. The reference is to William the Conqueror (illegitimate) and his Norman followers. 7-9. Cf. The Winter' } s Tale, IV, iv, 92-95. — scions: cuttings. The Folio spelling, ' syen,' is etymologically more correct than 'scion.' Cf. the intrusion of the letter 'c' in 'scythe,' which should be ' sythe ' or ' sithe.' See Skeat. 10. In the Folios this speech, and that beginning at line 32, are given to 'Brit.' But the Duke of Britaine does not appear elsewhere in the play, and Theobald was undoubtedly right in assigning these speeches to Bourbon. In the Quartos ' Bur.' is prefixed to the first speech; the second is omitted. "In Holinshed (p. 1077, ed. 1577), the Dukes of Berry and Britaine are mentioned as belonging to the French king's council, and not the Duke of Bourbon. Shakespeare probably first intended to introduce the Duke of Britaine, and then changed his mind but forgot to substitute Bour. for Brit, before the two speeches." — Camb. scene v KING HENRY THE FIFTH yy To buy a slobbery and a dirty farm In that nook-shotten isle of Albion. Constable. Dieu de batailles ! whence have they this mettle ? 1 5 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? 20 And shall our quick blood, spirited with wine, Seem frosty? O, for honour of our land, Let us not hang like roping icicles Upon our houses' thatch, whiles a more frosty people Sweat drops of gallant youth in our rich fields ! — 25 Poor we may call them in their native lords ! Dauphin. By faith and honour, Our madams mock at us, and plainly say Our mettle is bred out and they will give Their bodies to the lust of English youth, 30 13. slobbery | slobbry Ff | foggy 23. roping Ff | frozen Qq. Qq Pope. — dirty | durtie Fi. 25. gallant youth Ff | youthful 14. nook-shotten Ff | short nooke blood Qq | gallant blood Pope. Qq I hook-shotten Rowe | short, 26. we may F2F3F4 I we Fi. nooky Pope. 14. nook-shotten. Either (1) 'thrust into a corner, away from the rest of the world ' (Knight) ; or (2) ' shooting into capes, promon- tories, and nooks of land.' The latter gives the very figure of Great Britain. Marlowe has the expression 'blood-shotten.' 19. sur-rein'd : over-ridden. It was common to give over-ridden or sick horses a ' mash ' of ground malt and hot water mixed. — barley-broth. A contemptuous description of beer or ale by a " na- tive of a rich wine-producing country." — Verity. 23. roping : hanging down like ropes. " Then isycles hung roping down." — Golding's Ovid (1 565-1 575). 78 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi To new- store France with bastard warriors. Bourbon. 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. 35 French King. 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 ; 40 You Dukes of Orleans, Bourbon, and of Berri, Aleneon, Brabant, Bar, and Burgundy ; Jaques Chatillon, Rambures, Vaudemont, Beaumont, Grandpr£, Roussi, and Fauconberg, Foix, Lestrale, Bouciqualt, and Charolois ; 45 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 33. corantos Johnson | Carranto's 45. Foix Capell | Loys Ff. — Bou- Ff . ciqualt Theobald | Bouciquall Ff. — 42. Burgundy | Burgonie Ff. Charolois Capell | Charaloyes F1F2F3 43. Vaudemont | Vandemont Fi. | Charaloys F4. 44. Fauconberg Capell (Holin- 46. knights Pope (Theobald's shed) I Faulcon-bridge Ff. conj.) | Kings Ff. 33. The 'lavolta' (Ital. la volta, 'the whirl') and the 'coranto' (Fr. courante, Ital. coranta, ' running dance,' ' gallop ') were quick, lively dances, picturesquely described by Sir John Davies in his Orchestra, or a Poeme of Dancing, 1596. Cf. Troilus and Cressida, IV, iv, 88; All's Well that Ends Well, II, iii, 49 ; Twelfth Night, I, iii, 137. 39. For the doubling of comparatives, see Abbott, § it. 40. Delabreth : D'Albret. Shakespeare follows Holinshed. 47. For your great seats : because of your exalted positions. — quit you : exonerate yourselves. Cf. II, ii, 166. scene v KING HENRY THE FIFTH 79 With pennons painted in the blood of Harfleur : Rush on his host, as doth the melted snow 50 Upon the valleys, whose low vassal seat The Alps doth spit and void his rheum upon : Go down upon him, — you have power enough, — And in a captive chariot into Rouen Bring him our prisoner. Constable. This becomes the great. 55 Sorry am I his numbers are so few, His soldiers sick, and famish'd in their march ■ For I am sure, when he shall see our army, He '11 drop his heart into the sink of fear, And for achievement offer us his ransom. 60 French King. 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 Rouen. Dauphin. Not so, I do beseech your majesty. 65 French King. Be patient ; for you shall remain with us. Now forth, lord constable and princes all, And quickly bring us word of England's fall. \_Exeunf\ 54, 64. Rouen M alone | Rone Qq | Roan Ff. 52. void his rheum. Cf. The Merchant of Venice, I, iii, 118. 53-55. " Meanwhile the French nobles deuised a chariot, wherein they might triumphantlie conueie the king captiue to the citie of Paris." — Holinshed. 54. Rouen. The Folio spelling 'Roan' (cf. 'Rone' of the Quartos and Holinshed in quotation above, lines 1-2) probably represents the Elizabethan pronunciation and suits the rhythm of the verse. 60. Instead of achieving a victory over us, make a proposal to buy himself off with a ransom. 80 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi Scene VI. The English camp in Picardy Enter Gower and Fluellen, meeting Gower. How now, Captain Fluellen ! come you from the bridge? Fluellen. I assure you, there is very excellent services committed at the bridge. Gower. Is the Duke of Exeter safe? 5 Fluellen. 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 blessed ! — any hurt in the world ; but keeps the bridge most valiantly, with excellent discipline. There is an aun- cient 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. 15 Scene VI Capell | Scene VII Enter . . . meeting Capell | Enter Pope I Scene V Hanmer. — The Eng- Captaines, English and Welch, Gower lish . . . Picardy M alone | The Eng- and Fluellen F1F2. lish Camp Theobald | Ff omit. 8. life Qq Rowe Globe | Hue Ff. 1-4. Holinshed's description of the keeping of the bridge : The king of England (hearing that the Frenchmen approched, and that there was an other riuer for him to passe with his armie by a bridge, and doubting least if the same bridge should be broken, it would be greatlie to his hinderance.) appointed certeine capteins with their bands, to go thither with all speed before him, and to take possession thereof, and so to keepe it, till his comming thither. Those that were sent, finding the Frenchmen busie to breake downe their bridge, assailed them so vigorouslie, that they dis- comfited them, and took and slue them ; and so the bridge was preserued till the king came, and passed the riuer with his whole armie. 11-12. auncient lieutenant. See note on II, i, 3. scene vi KING HENRY THE FIFTH 8 1 Gower. What do you call him? Fluellen. He is call'd Aunchient Pistol. Gower. I know him not. Enter Pistol Fluellen. Here is the man. Pistol. Captain, I thee beseech to do me favours : The Duke of Exeter doth love thee well. 21 Fluellen. Ay, I praise God ; and I have merited some love at his hands. Pistol. Bardolph, a soldier, firm and sound of heart, And of buxom valour, hath, by cruel fate, 25 And giddy Fortune's furious fickle wheel, That goddess blind, That stands upon the rolling, restless stone — Fluellen. By your patience, Aunchient Pistol. For- tune is painted blind, with a muffler afore his eyes, to signify to you that Fortune is blind ; and she is painted also with a wheel, to signify to you, which is the moral of it, that she is turning, and inconstant, and mutability, and variation : and her foot, look you, is fix'd 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. 37 20-21 ; 24-28. Prose in Ff. 30. his Ff | her Qq Rowe Globe. 25. buxom. The Middle English btihsum (' bough-some,' i.e. easily bent) means 'pliant,' 'obedient.' From this sense came 'unresisting' (cf. Milton's and Dryden's 'buxom air'), and so 'good-natured,' and, in a physical sense, ' plump and comely.' 30. his. Most modern editors alter this to ' her.' " But the mis- take was no doubt intended, confusions of pronoun gender being constant in Welsh-English." — Herford. 82 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi Pistol. Fortune is Bardolph's foe, and frowns on him ; For he hath stolen a pax, and hanged must a be, A damned death ! 40 Let gallows gape for dog ; let man go free, And let not hemp his windpipe suffocate : But Exeter hath given the doom of death For pax of little price. Therefore, go speak; the duke will hear thy voice; 45 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. Fluellen. Aunchient Pistol, I do partly understand your meaning. 50 Pistol. Why, then rejoice therefore. Fluellen. Certainly, aunchient, it is not a thing to re- joice 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 us'd. 55 38-48. Prose in Ff. 38. -" The first line of Pistol's speech . . . conveys an allusion to the famous old ballad, ' Fortune my Foe,' which begins, ' Fortune my foe, why dost thou frown on me ?' " — Staunton. 39. Another Alexandrine or iambic hexameter line. Such lines oc- cur frequently in moral plays and old plays generally. "A souldiour tooke a pix out of a church, for which he was apprehended, and the king not once remooued 1 till the box was restored, and the offendor strangled." — Holinshed. For 'pix' in this passage Shakespeare sub- stitutes 'pax,' which gives occasion for the equivoque in line 44. A 'pix' ('pyx') is the box in which the host or consecrated wafer is preserved; a 'pax' was a small piece of metal or wood, bearing a picture of Christ or of the Crucifixion, "solemnly tendred to all people to kiss." — Fuller. 1 left the place. scene vi KING HENRY THE FIFTH 83 Pistol. Die and be damn'd ! and figo for thy friendship ! Fluellen. It is well. Pistol. The fig of Spain ! [_Exif\ Fluellen. Very good. Gower. Why, this is an arrant counterfeit rascal; I remember him now, a cutpurse. - 61 Fluellen. I '11 assure you, a utter 'd 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. 65 Gower. Why, 't is 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 disgrac'd, what terms the enemy stood on ; and this they con perfectly in the 69. perfect Qq Rowe | perfit Ff. 73. perfectly Qq Rowe | perfitly Ff. 56. figo. This is the Spanish for 'fig,' used as a term of contempt. In The Merry Wives of Windsor, I, iii, 33, we have the Italian form fico : " ' Steal ! ' foh ! a fico for the phrase ! " 58. ' The fig of Spain ! ' is probably but a variation on ' figo ' in line 56, but Steevens reads here a sinister allusion to a Spanish custom of giving poisoned figs to an enemy. 71. sconce : earthwork, fortification. Cf. German schanze. The word is probably adapted from Old Fr. esconse (Lat. absconsa, ab- scojidd), 'hiding-place,' whence 'ensconce.' ' Sconce' is also applied to a helmet (punningly in The Comedy of Errors, II, ii, 37), collo- quially to the head itself (cf. Hamlet, V, i, 1 10). ' Sconce ' also means ' lantern ' and ' brass candlestick in the form of a bracket.' 73. stood on: insisted upon. — con: learn by heart. For the inter- esting history of this word, see Murray. 84 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi phrase of war, which they trick up with new-tun'd oaths : and what a beard of the general's cut and a horrid suit of the camp will do among foaming bottles and ale-wash'd wits, is wonderful to be thought on. But you must learn to know such slanders of the age, or else you may be marvel- lously mistook. 79 Fluellen. I tell you what, Captain Gower ; I do per- ceive 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. \_Drum heard~\ Hark you, the king is coming, and I must speak with him from the pridge. Drum and colours. Enter King Henry, Gloucester, and Soldiers God pless your majesty ! 85 King Henry. How now, Fluellen ! cam'st thou from the bridge ? 74. new-tun'd | new-turned Pope 85. Scene VIII Pope | Scene VI I new-coined Collier. Hanmer. — Drum and colours Ff. — 75. suit I sute Ff I shout Qq Ca- Enter King . . . and Soldiers Ma- pell, lone I Enter the King and his poore 83. [Drum heard] Capell. Souldiers Ff. 74. new-tun'd : of a new tune, new-fangled. 75. beard of the general's cut. The Elizabethans were very partic- ular about the cut of their beards. Certain ranks and callings had their appropriate style. Cf. As You Like It, V, iv, 73-75. — 'Suit' was pronounced ' shoot ' in the sixteenth century. Cf. the Quarto reading 'shout.' In Love's Labour's Lost, IV, i, 109, there is a pun on 'suitor' and 'shooter.' 78. slanders of : scandals to. Nothing would be more common in the Elizabethan time than such blustering braggarts as Pistol. They are the subject of much excellent satire. Cf. Captain Bobadil in Jonson's Every Man in His Humour. 84. from : as one who has just come with news from. scene vi KING HENRY THE FIFTH 85 Fluellen. Ay, so please your majesty. The Duke of Exeter has very gallantly maintain 'd 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 enforc'd to retire, and the Duke of Exeter is master of the pridge : I can tell your majesty, the duke is a prave man. King Henry. What men have you lost, Fluellen? 95 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. 103 King Henry. We would have all such offenders so cut off : and we give express charge that, in our marches through the country, there be nothing compell'd from the villages, nothing taken but paid for, none of the French upbraided or abus'd in disdainful language ; for when lenity and cruelty play for a kingdom, the gentler gamester is the soonest winner. no 100. bubukles Ff | pumples Qq. 108. lenity Qq Rowe | Leuitie Fi 104-110. As verse in Qq Pope. | Levity F2F3F4. 100. bubukles. " A confusion of ' bubo ' and ' carbuncle ' (put into the mouth of Fluellen)." — Murray. — whelks : pustules. A diminu- tive of ' wheal.' Cf . Chaucer's description of the Somnour in The Prologue, The Canterbury Tales: That hadde a fyr-reed cherubinnes face . . . That him mighte helpen of his whelkes whyte, Nor of the knobbes sittinge on his chekes. 86 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act in Tucket. Enter Montjoy Montjoy. You know me by my habit. King Henry. Well then I know thee : what shall I know of thee ? Montjoy. My master's mind. King Henry. Unfold it. 115 Montjoy. Thus says my king : Say thou to Harry of England : Though we seem'd dead, we did but sleep ; advantage is a better soldier than rashness. Tell him, we could have rebuk'd 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 suffer- ance. 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 116-133. Pope prints as verse. 121. cue | kue Qq | Q. Ff. in. Tucket: a peculiar series of notes on a trumpet, "which beinge hearde simply of itselfe, without addition, commands nothing but marching after the leader." — Markham. Probably the word is from the Ital. toccata. — habit: dress. He refers to his richly em- blazoned tabard, or herald's coat, which, by the laws of war, insured his safety even among foes. 120. The implied image is of a boil or tumor, which is best let alone till it has come to a head. 121. upon our cue : at the proper moment. " This phrase the authour learned among players, and has imparted it to kings." — Johnson. See Murray for theories of the etymology of ' cue.' scene vi KING HENRY THE FIFTH 87 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 betray'd his followers, whose condemnation is pronounc'd. So far my king and master ; so much my office. King Henry. What is thy name? I know thy quality. Montjoy. Montjoy. 135 King Henry. 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 't is no wisdom to confess so much 140 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, 145 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 ; 150 138. Calais Rowe | Callice Fi. 145. health Ff | heart Qq. 135. Montjoy. Properly the title of the chief herald of France. 139. impeachment : hindrance, impediment. Fr. empechement. 141. An enemy both cunning in arts of strategy and having the advantage in ground and numbers. A sarcastic echo of Montjoy's "advantage is a better soldier than rashness." 149. blown that vice in me : puffed me up with that vice. The next scene illustrates the vanity and boastfulness of the French. 88 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 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. 155 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 : 160 We would not seek a battle, as we are ; Nor, as we are, we say we will not shun it : So tell your master. Montjoy. I shall deliver so. Thanks to your highness. \_Exit\ Gloucester. I hope they will not come upon us now. King Henry. We are in God's hand, brother, not in theirs. 166 March to the bridge ; it now draws toward night : Beyond the river we '11 encamp ourselves ; And on to-morrow bid them march away. [Exeunt] 164. [Exit] Rowe | Ff omit. 153. God before: God being our guide. Cf. line 166; I, ii, 307. 155- " When he had thus answered the herald, he gaue him a princelie reward, and licence to depart." — Holinshed. 156. advise himself : think the matter over, reflect. Fr. s'aviser. 157-159. Henry's answer is as follows in Holinshed : Mine intent is to doo as it pleaseth God, I will not seeke your maister at this time ; but if he or his seeke me, I will meet with them God willing. If anie of your nation attempt once to stop me in my iournie now towards Calis, at their jeopardie be it ; and yet wish I not anie of you so vnaduised, as to be the occasion that I die your tawnie ground with your red bloud. scene vii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 89 Scene VII. The French camp, near Agincourt Enter the Constable of France, the Lord Rambures, Orleans, Dauphin, with others Constable. Tut ! I have the best armour of the world. Would it were day ! Orleans. You have an excellent armour ; but let my horse have his due. Constable. It is the best horse of Europe. 5 Orleans. Will it never be morning? Dauphin. My Lord of Orleans, and my lord high con- stable, you talk of horse and armour? Orleans. You are as well provided of both as any prince in the world. 10 Dauphin. What a long night is this ! I will not change my horse with any that treads but on four pasterns. Ca, ha ! he bounds from the earth, as if his entrails were hairs ; le cheval volant, the Pegasus, chez les narines de feu ! When Scene VII Hanmer | Scene IX 12. pasterns F2F3F4 I postures Fi. Pope I Scene VI Dyce. — The French — Qa, ha ! Theobald | ch' ha Ff. . . . Agincourt Theobald | Ff omit. 14. chez Theobald | ches Ff | qu'il 8. armour ? Ff | armour, — Capell. ' a Rowe | qui a Capell. Enter the Constable of France. ..." The cheefe leaders of the French host were these : the constable of France, the marshall, the admerall, the lord Rambures, maister of the crosbowes, and others of the French nobilitie." — Holinshed. The Dauphin was not present at the battle of Agincourt (cf. Ill, v, 62) and the Quar- tos, more historically accurate than the Folios, omit him from this scene, assigning his speeches to Bourbon. 13. hairs. Tennis-balls were stuffed with hair. This is alluded to humorously in Much Ado About Nothing, III, ii, 47. 13-14. le cheval volant : the flying horse. — chez les narines de feu : with nostrils breathing fire. An incorrect use of 'chez.' 90 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 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. 17 Orleans. He 's of the colour of the nutmeg. Dauphin. 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. 23 Constable. Indeed, my lord, it is a most absolute and excellent horse. Dauphin. It is the prince of palfreys ; his neigh is like the bidding of a monarch, and his countenance enforces homage. Orleans. No more, cousin. 28 Dauphin. Nay, the man hath no wit that cannot, from the rising of the lark to the lodging of the lamb, vary deserv'd praise on my palfrey : it is a theme as fluent as the sea; turn the sands into eloquent tongues, and my horse is argu- ment for them all : 't is 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 par- ticular functions, and wonder at him. I once writ a sonnet in his praise, and began thus : ' Wonder of nature,' — , 37 20-21. Shakespeare has many allusions to the mediaeval doctrine of the four elements, earth, water, air, and fire, a right proportion of which was supposed to be the principle of all excellence in nature. The finer natures had a preponderance of air and of fire. Cf. Antoity and Cleopatra, V, ii, 292-293 ; Twelfth Night, II, iii, 9-10, etc. 23. ' Jade,' as applied to a horse, is usually a term of contempt, but occasionally, as here, it is used without any depreciatory sense. Cf. ' yaud ' for ' horse ' still often heard in the north of England. 24. absolute: perfect. Cf. Measure for Measure, V, i, 54. scene vii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 91 Orleans. I have heard a sonnet begin so to one's mistress. Dauphin. Then did they imitate that which I compos'd to my courser • for my horse is my mistress. 40 Orleans. Your mistress bears well. Dauphin. Me well ; which is the prescript praise and perfection of a good and particular mistress. Constable. Nay, for methought yesterday your mistress shrewdly shook your back. 45 Dauphin. So, perhaps, did yours. Constable. Mine was not bridled. Dauphin. O, then, belike she was old and gentle ; and you rode, like a kern of Ireland, your French hose off, and in your strait strossers. 50 Constable. You have good judgment in horsemanship. Dauphin. Be warn'd by me, then : they that ride so, and 44. Nay, for Ff | Ma foy Qq Steevens. 49. kern : boor, peasant. Probably the word means ' light-armed foot-soldier,' as in Macbeth, I, ii, 13, and as such soldiers were usually from the poorer classes among the 'wild Irish,' the word came to have the meaning it has here. It was also applied to the Scottish Highlanders, as, collectively, in Elspeth's song in The Antiquary : My horse shall ride through ranks sae rude As through the moorland fern, Then ne'er let the gentle Norman blude Grow cauld for Highland kerne. Cf. 2 Henry VI, IV, ix, 26; Richard II, II, i, 156. — French hose: loose, wide breeches. "The common french-hose (as they list to call them) contayneth length, breadth, and sideness sufficient, and is made very round." — The Anatotnie of Abuses. Cf. Macbeth, II, iii, 16; The Merchant of Venice, I, ii, 79-81. 50. strait strossers : tight trousers. This is of course a humorous reference to the bare legs of the Irish kerns who "wear no Breeches, any more than the Scotch Highlanders do." — Theobald. 92 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi ride not warily, fall into foul bogs. I had rather have my horse to my mistress. Constable. I had as lief have my mistress a jade. 55 Dauphin. I tell thee, constable, my mistress wears his own hair. Constable. I could make as true a boast as that, if I had a sow to my mistress. . 59 Dauphin. ' Le chien est retourne a son propre vomisse- ment, et la truie lavee au bourbier ' : thou mak'st use of any thing. Constable. Yet do I not use my horse for my mistress ; or any such proverb, so little kin to the purpose. 64 Rambures. My lord constable, the armour that I saw in your tent to-night, are those stars or suns upon it ? Constable. Stars, my lord. Dauphin. Some of them will fall to-morrow, I hope. Constable. And yet my sky shall not want. 69 Dauphin. That may be, for you bear a many superflu- ously, and 'twere more honour some were away. Constable. Even as your horse bears your praises ; who would trot as well, were some of your brags dismounted.' Dauphin. 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 pav'd with English faces. 76 55. lief Capell | Hue Fi | live F2 I 61. et Rowe | est Ff. — truie lieve F3F4. Rowe | leuye Ff. 56. his Ff I her Qq Pope. 70. a many | many Pope. 56-57. Shakespeare has many satirical allusions to the custom of wearing false hair, introduced into England in Elizabeth's reign. Cf. The Merchant of Venice, III, ii, 88-98; Lovers Labour's Lost, IV, iii, 259; Timon of Athens, IV, iii, 144; Sonnets, Lxvni, 5-8. 60-61. *Le chien . . . bourbier.' 2 Peter, ii, 22 (Olivetan version). scene vii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 93 Constable. I will not say so, for fear I should be fac'd out of my way : but I would it were morning ; for I would fain be about the ears of the English. 79 Rambures. Who will go to hazard with me for twenty prisoners? Constable. You must first go yourself to hazard, ere you have them. Dauphin. 'T is midnight ; I '11 go arm myself. [Exit] Orleans. The Dauphin longs for morning. 85 Rambures. He longs to eat the English. Constable. I think he will eat all he kills. Orleans. By the white hand of my lady, he 's a gallant prince. Constable. Swear by her foot, that she may tread out the oath. 91 Orleans. He is simply the most active gentleman of France. Constable. Doing is activity ; and he will still be doing. Orleans. He never did harm, that I heard of. 95 Constable. Nor will do none to-morrow : he will keep that good name still. Orleans. I know him to be valiant. Constable. I was told that by one that knows him better than you. 100 Orleans. What 's he? Constable. Marry, he told me so himself ; and he said he car'd not who knew it. Orleans. He needs not ; it is no hidden virtue in him. Constable. By my faith, sir, but it is ; never any body 80. go to hazard with me for : wager with me. Cf. IV, Prologue, 18-19. 87. Cf. Beatrice's flout, Much Ado About A T othing, I, i, 42-45. 94 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi saw it but his lackey : 't is a hooded valour; and when it appears, it will bate. Orleans. Ill will never said well. Constable. I will cap that proverb with * There is flattery in friendship.' no Orleans. And I will take up that with * Give the devil his due/ Constable. Well plac'd : there stands your friend for the devil : have at the very eye of that proverb, with ' A pox of the devil.' 115 Orleans. You are the better at proverbs, by how much 'A fool's bolt is soon shot.' Constable. You have shot over. Orleans. 'T is not the first time you were overshot. Enter a Messenger Messenger. My lord high constable, the English lie within fifteen hundred paces of your tents. 121 Constable. Who hath measured the ground? Messenger. The Lord Grandpre. 120. Scene X Pope | Scene VIII Hanmer. 106-107. This pun depends upon the equivocal use of ' bate/ When a hawk is unhooded, her first action is to 'bate,' that is, 'beat the wings,' or 'flap the wings' before flying. Cf. Romeo and Juliet, III, ii, 14. The Constable insinuates that the Dauphin's courage, when he prepares for encounter, will ' bate,' in the sense of ' abate.' 109. ' Capping ' proverbs was a common Elizabethan amusement. 117. *A fool's bolt is soon shot/ A common proverb from the thir- teenth century to the eighteenth. A ' bolt ' was a short, thick, blunt arrow, for shooting near objects, and so requiring little or no skill. 119. overshot: beaten in the wit-contest. 'Overshot' was also Elizabethan slang for ' intoxicated.' scene vii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 95 Constable. A valiant and most expert gentleman. Would it were day ! Alas, poor Harry of England ! he longs not. for the dawning as we do. 126 Orleans. What a wretched and peevish fellow is this king of England, to mope with his fat-brain 'd followers so far out of his knowledge ! Constable. If the English had any apprehension, they would run away. Orleans. That they lack; for if their heads had any intellectual armour, they could never wear such heavy head-pieces. 134 Rambures. That island of England breeds very valiant creatures \ their mastiffs are of unmatchable courage. Orleans. Foolish curs, that run winking into the mouth of a Russian bear and have their heads crush'd like rotten apples ! You may as well say, that 's a valiant flea that dare eat his breakfast on the lip of a lion. 140 Constable. 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. 145 127. peevish : foolish, thoughtless. Cf. Comedy of Errors, IV, i, 93 ; Cymbeline, I, vi, 54 ; Richard III, I, iii, 194. " None of the ety- mological conjectures hitherto offered are compatible with the sense- history." — Murray. 128. mope. Cf. The Tempest, V, i, 240. — fat-brain'd : stupid. Cf. 1 fat-witted' in / Henry IV, I, ii, 2. 130. apprehension : mental quickness, perception. Cf. A Midsum- mer Night* s Dream, III, ii, 178. But probably the constable uses the word in the double sense of ' intelligence ' and ' fear.' 141. Just, just : exactly, so. — sympathize with : resemble. 96 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi Orleans. Ay, but these English are shrewdly out of beef. Constable. 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? 149 Orleans. It is now two o'clock : but, let me see, — by ten We shall have each a hundred Englishmen. \Exeunt\ 146. shrewdly F2 | shrowdly Fi. 150. o'clock Theobald | a Clock Ff. 147-148. Here, as in The Merchant of Venice, III, v, 93, 'stomach' is used in both the literal sense, 'appetite for food,' and the figurative, 'inclination.' Cf. IV, iii, 35. 150. by ten. " Betwene nine and ten of the clocke." — Holinshed. ACT IV PROLOGUE Enter Chorus Chorus. 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, 5 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 10 ACT IV. PROLOGUE | Actus 6. fix'd sentinels Johnson | fixt Tertius Ff | Act III Scene i Rowe. Centinels Ff. 1. entertain conjecture of: picture vividly to yourselves. 2. poring. " Straining its eyes and yet seeing only the nearest things." — Schmidt. This is an example of transferred epithet. Cf. " the weary and all-watched night," line 38. 6. That: so that. — fix'd: stationed, remaining at their posts. 9. battle: army (cf. 'battalion'). Cf. IV, ii, 54; Julius Ccesar, V, i, 4, 16, etc. — umber'd. It has been suggested that the faces of the soldiers would appear of an 'umber' color when beheld through the light of midnight fires. Perhaps nothing more is meant than 'brown in shadow.' Cf. As You Like It, I, iii, 114. The epithet ' paly flames ' is against the other interpretation. 97 98 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 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, 15 And the third hour of drowsy morning name. Proud of their numbers, and secure in soul, The confident and over-lusty French Do the low-rated English play at dice ; And chide the cripple tardy-gaited night, 20 Who, like a foul and ugly witch, doth limp So tediously away. The poor condemned English, Like sacrifices, by their watchful fires Sit patiently and inly ruminate The morning's danger ; and their gesture sad 25 Investing lank-lean cheeks, and war-worn coats, 16. morning name. Steevens(Tyr- 20. cripple tardy-gaited Capell | whitt conj.) I Morning nam'd, Ff. creeple-tardy-gated Ff. 13. As Douce has made clear, this does not solely refer to the riveting the plate armor before it was put on, but also to a part when it was on. The top of the cuirass had a little projecting bit of iron that passed through a hole in the bottom of the casque. When both were put on, the armorer presented himself, with his riveting hammer, ' to close the rivet up.' 18-19. " For the capteins had determined before how to diuide the spoile, and the soldiers the night before had plaid the English- men at dice." — Holinshed. 25-26. gesture sad Investing. The metaphor of a gesture ' invest- ing ' cheeks seems rather harsh and strained. But ' gesture,' in the sense of the Latin original, may very well be used of a look, or any form of expression addressed to the eye. And to speak of a ' look ' as ' overspreading ' or ' covering ' the face, is legitimate enough. We have a like figure in Much Ado About Nothing, IV, i, 146, "I am so prologue KING HENRY THE FIFTH 99 Presented 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, 30 Let him cry ' Praise and glory on his head ! ' For forth he goes and visits all his host, Bids them good morrow with a modest smile, And calls them brothers, friends, and countrymen. Upon his royal face there is no note 35 How dread an army hath enrounded him ; Nor doth he dedicate one jot of colour Unto the weary and all-watched night, But freshly looks and over-bears attaint With cheerful semblance and sweet majesty ; 40 That every wretch, pining and pale before, Beholding him, plucks comfort from his looks : A largess universal like the sun His liberal eye doth give to every one, Thawing cold fear, that mean and gentle all 45 Behold, as may unworthiness define, A little touch of Harry in the night. 45. fear, that Ff Globe Delius | 46. Behold Ff | Unfold Moberly fear. Then Theobald. conj. — define, Globe | define. Ff. attired in wonder"; also, in Sidney's Astrophel, "Anger invests the face with a lovely grace." The comma after ' cheeks,' as in the Folio, indicates that ' and ' connects ' coats ' with ' gesture.' 39. over-bears attaint : overcomes the stain of weariness. 45-47. that mean and . . . Theobald's emendation has been widely adopted, but the text of the Folios is intelligible, meaning probably, So that all ranks in the English army behold, as far as their unworthy natures admit (or, as I hope our poor actors may be able to repre- sent), a something of Harry, etc. IOO THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv And so our scene must to the battle fly ; Where — O for pity ! — we shall much disgrace With four or five most vile and ragged foils, 50 Right ill-dispos'd in brawl ridiculous, The name of Agincourt. Yet sit and see, Minding true things by what their mockeries be. \_Exif\ Scene I. The English camp at Agincourt Enter King Henry, Bedford, and Gloucester King Henry. 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 ; 5 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. 10 Thus may we gather honey from the weed, And make a moral of the devil himself. ScENElHanmer | Scene II Pope. Enter King Henry . . . | Enter — The English . . . Agincourt Theo- the King . . . Ff . bald I Ff omit. 1. Gloucester | Gloster Ff. 50-51. Cf. Ben Jonson's Every Man in His Humour, Prologue : or, with three rusty swords . . . Fight over Yorke and Lancasters long jarres. 53. Minding: calling to mind. — ■ mockeries: poor representations. 10. dress us : prepare ourselves. From Fr. dresser, l to direct.' scene i KING HENRY THE FIFTH IOI Enter Erpingham Good morrow, old Sir Thomas Erpingham : A good soft pillow for that good white head Were better than a churlish turf of France. 15 Erpingham. Not so, my liege : this lodging likes me better, Since I may say ' Now lie I like a king. ' King Henry. ? T is 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 20 The organs, though defunct and dead before, Break up their drowsy grave, and newly move With casted slough and fresh legerity. Lend me thy cloak, Sir Thomas. Brothers both, Commend me to the princes in our camp ; 25 Do my good morrow to them ; and anon Desire them all to my pavilion. Gloucester. We shall, my liege. Erpingham. Shall I attend your grace? King Henry. No, my good knight ; Go with my brothers to my lords of England : 30 18. pains I paines Fi I paine F2 I 23. legerity | legeritie F1F2 I ce- pain F3F4. lerity F3F4. 13. Sir Thomas Erpingham "is called in the Agincourt Roll 1 stuard of the Kinges house.' He was a great benefactor of the city of Norwich, where he built the well-known Erpingham gateway." — Wright. "A man of great experience in the warre." — Holinshed. 23. The allusion is to the casting of the 'slough' or skin of the snake annually, by which act the reptile is supposed to regain new vigor and fresh youth. Cf. Twelfth Night, II, v, 161. — legerity: nimbleness, alacrity (Fr. legereti). Cf. ' legerdemain.' 102 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv I and my bosom must debate awhile, And then I would no other company. Erpingham. The Lord in heaven bless thee, noble Harry ! [Exeunt all but King Henry] King Henry. God-a-mercy, old heart ! thou speak'st cheerfully. Enter Pistol Pistol. Qui va la? 35 King Henry. A friend. Pistol. Discuss unto me ; art thou officer? Or art thou base, common, and popular? King Henry. I am a gentleman of a company. Pistol. Trail'st thou the puissant pike? 40 King Henry. Even so. What are you? Pistol. As good a gentleman as the emperor. King Henry. Then you are a better than the king. Pistol. The king 's a bawcock, and a heart of gold, A lad of life, an imp of fame ; 45 Of parents good, of fist most valiant. I kiss his dirty shoe, and from heart-string 1 love the lovely bully. What is thy name? King Henry. Harry le Roi. Pistol. Le Roy ! 50 A Cornish name : art thou of Cornish crew? 33. [Exeunt . . . | Exeunt Ff. vous la Ff. 35. Scene III Pope | Scene II 37-38, 44-48. Prose in Ff. Hanmer. — Qui va la Rowe | Che 43. a better F1F2F3 | better F4. 38. popular : plebeian. The ordinary meaning in Shakespeare. 45. imp : scion, shoot of a tree. Cf. " royal imp of fame " in 2 Henry IV, V, v, 45. In Richard II, II, i, 292, < imp ' is used as a verb in the sense of 'graft,' i.e. 'supply with fresh feathers.' sceni l KING HENRY THE FIFTH 103 King Henry. No, I am a Welshman. Pistol. Know 'st thou Fluellen ? King Henry. Yes. Pistol. Tell him, I '11 knock his leek about his pate 55 Upon Saint Davy's day. King Henry. Do not you wear your dagger in your cap that day, lest he knock that about yours. Pistol. Art thou his friend? King Henry. And his kinsman too. 60 Pistol. The figo for thee, then ! King Henry. I thank you : God be with you ! Pistol. My name is Pistol call'd. \_Exif\ King Henry. It sorts well with your fierceness. Enter Fluellen and Gower Gower. Captain Fluellen ! 65 Fluellen. So ! in the name of Jesu 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, 55-56. Prose in Ff. 66. So | 'So Ff. — lower Q3 Malone 64. Manet King Ff. | fewer Ff | lewer Q1Q2. 52. Cf. IV, vii, 11, 99. Henry calls himself a Welshman because he was born at Monmouth in Wales. Hence his surname, Harry of Monmouth. 55-56. The leek is the national emblem of Wales, and Welshmen wear the leek on March 1, the day of St. David, the patron saint of Wales. According to tradition, the Welsh at command of St. David wore leeks in their caps when they won their great victory over the Saxons on March 1, in the year 540. 67. greatest admiration : most wonderful thing. 104 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 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 so- briety of it, and the modesty of it, to be otherwise. 74 Gower. Why, the enemy is loud ; you hear him all night. Fluellen. 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? Gower. I will speak lower. 80 Fluellen. I pray you and beseech you that you will. [Exeunt Gower and Fluellen] King Henry. Though it appear a little out of fashion, There is much care and valour in this Welshman. Enter three soldiers, John Bates, Alexander Court, and Michael Williams Court. Brother John Bates, is not that the morning which breaks yonder ! 85 Bates. I think it be : but we have no great cause to desire the approach of day. Williams. We see yonder the beginning of the day, but I think we shall never see the end of it. Who goes there? King Henry. A friend. 90 Williams. Under what captain serve you? King Henry. Under Sir Thomas Erpingham. Williams. A good old commander and a most kind gentleman : I pray you, what thinks he of our estate? 71. pabble Theobald | bable F1F2 84. Scene IV Pope | Scene III I babble F3F4. Hanmer. 81. [Exeunt . . . Capell | Exit Ff. 92. Thomas Pope | John Ff. scene I KING HENRY THE FIFTH 105 King Henry. Even as men wreck'd upon a sand, that look to be wash'd off the next tide. 96 Bates. He hath not told his thought to the king? King Henry. 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 naked- ness 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 dis- hearten his army. 109 Bates. He may show what outward courage he will ; but I believe, as cold a night as 't is, 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. King Henry. By my troth, I will speak my conscience of the king : I think he would not wish himself any where but where he is. 116 95. wreck'd | wrackt F1F2F3. 101. element: sky. Cf. 2 Henry IV, IV, iii, 58; Twelfth Night, III, i, 65. 102. ceremonies : badges of orifice. Cf . Julius Ccesar, I, i, 70 ; Measure for Measure, II, ii, 59. An adumbration of Carlyle's picture of a naked House of Lords, ' Adamitism,' Sartor Resartus. 104. Another metaphor taken from falconry. Cf. Ill, vii, 106-107. The word ' stoop ' was used technically of the hawk swooping on her prey. Cf. The Taming of the Shrew, IV, i, 194. 107. possess him with : communicate to him. Cf. line 278. 106 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Bates. Then I would he were here alone ; so should he be sure to be ransom'd, and a many poor men's lives sav'd. King Henry. 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 con- tented as in the king's company; his cause being just, and his quarrel honourable. 123 Williams. That 's more than we know. Bates. Ay, or more than we should seek after ; for we know enough, if we know we are the king's subjects : if his cause be wrong, our obedience to the king wipes the crime of it out of us. 128 Williams. But, if the cause be not good, the king him- self hath a heavy reckoning to make, when all those legs and arms and heads, chopp'd off in a battle, shall join to- gether 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 ; who to disobey were against all proportion of subjection. 140 131. in a Fi I in F2F3F4. 139. who Fi | whom F2F3F4. 135. rawly : hurriedly, without due provision being made for them. 137. 'Charitably dispose ' alludes to the old doctrine that a Chris- tian's last hours should be spent in making such provision as he can for the poor and needy and suffering human brethren whom he is leaving behind. 'Argument' in Shakespeare is often used to signify any matter in thought or business in hand. scene i KING HENRY THE FIFTH 107 King Henry. So, if a son that is by his father sent about merchandise do sinfully miscarry upon the sea, the impu- tation of his wickedness, by your rule, should be impos'd upon his father that sent him : or, if a servant, under his master's command transporting a sum of money, be assail'd by robbers, and die in many irreconcil'd 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 un- spotted soldiers : some peradventure have on them the guilt of premeditated and contriv'd murder ; some, of be- guiling virgins with the broken seals of perjury ; some, making the wars their bulwark, that have before gor'd the gentle bosom of peace with pillage and robbery. Now, if these men have defeated the law and outrun native punish- ment, 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 punish'd for before-breach of the king's laws in now the king's quarrel : where they fear'd the death, they have borne life away ; and where they would 162. before-breach Capell | before breach Ff. 142. sinfully miscarry : perish impenitent in his sins. 146. The language is elliptical, but the reference is plainly to sins for which peace has not been made with heaven by repentance and restitution. 156. broken seals of perjury: vows broken by perjury. 159-160. native punishment : punishment in their own country. 108 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 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 prepa- ration was gain'd : and, in him that escapes, it were not sin to think that, making God so free an offer, He let them outlive that day to see His greatness, and to teach others how they should prepare. 176 Williams. 'Tis certain, every man that dies ill, the ill upon his own head ; the king is not to answer it. Bates. I do not desire he should answer for me ; and yet I determine to fight lustily for him. 180 King Henry. I myself heard the king say he would not be ransom'd. Williams. Ay, he said so, to make us fight cheerfully : but, when our throats are cut, he may be ransom'd, and we ne'er the wiser. 185 King Henry. If I live to see it, I will never trust his word after. Williams. You pay him then ! That 's a perilous shot 170. mote Malone I Moth Ff. 188. You Ff | 'Mass, you'll Qq. 165. unprovided : unprepared (i.e. spiritually unprovided for). 170. Though the First Folio consistently spells ' mote ' ' moth,' the two words are quite distinct in etymology, and in Elizabethan English were pronounced much as they are to-day. 188. pay: punish. Still used colloquially in this sense. Here there may lurk a punning reference to ' trust ' in the preceding line. scene I KING HENRY THE FIFTH 109 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 '11 never trust his word after ! come, 't is a foolish saying. 193 King Henry. Your reproof is something too round : I should be angry with you, if the time were convenient. 195 Williams. Let it be a quarrel between us, if you live. King Henry. I embrace it. Williams. How shall I know thee again? King Henry. Give me any gage of thine, and I will wear it in my bonnet : then, if ever thou dar'st acknowledge it, I will make it my quarrel. 201 Williams. Here 's my glove : give me another of thine. King Henry. There. Williams. 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. 206 King Henry. If ever I live to see it, I will challenge it. Williams. Thou dar'st as well be hang'd. King Henry. Well, I will do it, though I take thee in the king's company. 210 Williams. Keep thy word : fare thee well. 206. take F1F2 I give F3F4. 189. elder-gun : pop-gun. Pop-guns were often made by punching the pith out of a piece of elder. 194. round : plain-spoken, unceremonious. Cf. Twelfth Night, II, iii, 102 : " Sir Toby, I must be round with you." 206. ' Take ' is etymologically cognate with ' touch.' See Skeat. Hence probably the special meaning of ' take ' here (i.e. ' strike ' ; cf. the common "Touch me, if you dare!"); in IV, vii, 19; in Twelfth Night, II, v, 75, and elsewhere in Shakespeare. IIO THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Bates. Be friends, you English fools, be friends : we have French quarrels enow, if you could tell how to reckon. King Henry. Indeed, the French may lay twenty French crowns to one, they will beat us; for they bear them on their shoulders : but it is no English treason to cut French crowns ; and to-morrow the king himself will be a clipper. [Exeunt Soldiers] Upon the king ! let us our lives, our souls, Our debts, our careful wives, Our children, and our sins lay on the king ! 220 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 ! 225 And what have kings that privates have not too, Save ceremony, save general ceremony? 217. [Exeunt Soldiers] Exit Soul- 221-225. As in Globe Camb | in diers Ff (after line 213). Ff lines end all, greatness, sense, 218. Scene V Pope | Scene IV wringing, neglect, enjoy. Hanmer. 214-217. In Richard II, III, iii, 95-97, is a similar quibble on 1 crowns ' as meaning both ' coins ' and ' heads.' Here ' French crowns ' punningly involves the English name for the French coin called ecu (escu) and a slang Elizabethan term for baldness. Cf. A Midsummer AHght's Dream, I, ii, 99. ' Clipping' the edges of coins was a treasonable offence. 218-272. " There is something very striking and solemn in this soliloquy into which the king breaks immediately ... he is left alone. Something like this . . . every breast has felt." — Johnson. 219. careful : full of care, anxious. Cf. Richard II, II, ii, 75. Some take ' careful ' here as a transferred epithet, interpreting ' our careful wives' as 'the wives we are careful for.' 224. But his own wringing : only his own suffering. scene i KING HENRY THE FIFTH in And what art thou, thou idol ceremony? What kind of god art thou, that suffer'st more Of mortal griefs than do thy worshippers? 230 What are thy rents? what are thy comings in? ceremony, show me but thy worth ! What is thy soul of adoration? Art thou aught else but place, degree, and form, Creating awe and fear in other men? 235 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 ! 240 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, 245 That play'st so subtly with a king's repose : 1 am a king that find thee ; and I know 'T is not the balm, the sceptre, and the ball, The sword, the mace, the crown imperial, 233. What is . . . adoration ? | What ! is . . . Adoration ? Rowe. Knight I What ? is . . . Odoration ? 234. aught Theobald | ought Ff. Fi I What ? is . . . Adoration ? F2F3F4 241. Think 'st Rowe | Thinks Ff. 233. What is the life, virtue, or essence, of the adoration paid to thee ? For this use of ' thy ' see Abbott, § 219. 242. blown from adulation : blown up with the breath of flattery. 248. balm: consecrated oil used in anointing a king at his coro- nation. Cf. j Henry VI, III, i, 17; Richard II, III, ii, 54-55. — ball : symbol of sovereignty carried by a king in his left hand. Cf. Macbeth, IV, i, 1 20-121. 112 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv The intertissued robe of gold and pearl, 250 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, 255 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, 260 Sweats in the eye of Phoebus 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 : 265 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 270 What watch the king keeps to maintain the peace, Whose hours the peasant best advantages. % 263. Hyperion | Hiperion F2 I Hiperio Fi. 251. farced : stuffed out, rilled out with pompous phrases. The metaphor is from the kitchen and refers to the tumid, grandiloquent titles with which a king's name is introduced on occasions of state. 258. distressful bread : bread earned by grievous toil. 263. Rises before the sun-god has harnessed his team. 272. advantages : benefits. The northern plural in s. The sub- ject of the verb is 'whose hours'; 'peasant' is the object. In the scene i KING HENRY THE FIFTH 113 Enter Erpingham Erpingham. My lord, your nobles, jealous of your absence, Seek through your camp to find you. King Henry. Good old knight, Collect them all together at my tent : 275 I '11 be before thee. Erpingham. I shall do 't, my lord. [Exit] King Henry. O God of battles ! steel my soldiers' hearts ; Possess them not with fear ; take from them now The sense of reckoning, if th' opposed numbers Pluck their hearts from them ! Not to-day, O Lord, 280 O, not to-day, think not upon the .fault My father made in compassing the crown ! I Richard's body have interred new ; And on it have bestow'd more contrite tears Than from it issu'd forced drops of blood : 285 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 273. Scene VI Pope | Scene V 279. reckoning, if Steevens (Tyr- Hanmer. — Enter . . . Ff | Re-enter whitt conj.) Globe Camb | reckning . . . Globe Camb. of Ff j reck'ning; lest Theobald. 274-276. Good . . . thee | two lines 288-290. Four lines in Ff, ending in Ff ending together, thee. "blood, chantries, still, do. 'Arden' Shakespeare, H. A. Evans makes 'peasant' the subject and quotes ' advantaging ' from Richard III, IV, iv, 323. 279. Tyrwhitt's conjecture of 'if without a pause at the end of the line, instead of ' of ' with a colon there, as in the Folios, is now all but universally adopted. As Tyrwhitt said, it produces "a given effect with the least possible force." 289. chantries : chapels " endowed for the maintenance of one or more priests to sing daily mass for the souls of the founders or others 114 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Sing still for Richard's soul. More will I do ; 290 Though all that I can do is nothing worth, Since that my penitence comes after all, Imploring pardon. Enter Gloucester Gloucester. My liege ! King Henry. My brother Gloucester's voice? Ay; I know thy errand, I will go with thee : 295 The day, my friends, and all things stay for me. \Exeunf\ Scene II. The French camp Enter the Dauphin, Orleans, Rambures, and others Orleans. The sun doth gild our armour ; up, my lords ! Dauphin. Montez a cheval ! My horse! varlet! laquaisiha! Orleans. O brave spirit ! Scene II Capell | Scene VII 1. armour ; up, Globe Camb | Pope I Scene VI Hanmer. — The armour, up F2F3F4 I Armour vp Fi. French camp Theobald | Ff omit. — 2. Montez a Steevens (Capell Enter . . . and others Capell | Enter conj.) | Monte Ff. — varlet ! Dyce | . . . and Beaumont Ff. Verlot Fi | Valet F2F3F4. specified by them." — Murray. According to Malone, of the chan- tries referred to in the text, one was "for Carthusian monks, and was called Bethlehem ; the other was for religious men and women of the order of St. Bridget, and was named Sion. They were on opposite sides of the Thames, and adjoined the royal manor of Sheen, now called Richmond." 292-293. Since, after all that I have done or can do in works of piety and charity, nothing but true penitence and earnest prayer for pardon will avail to procure a remission of my sins. 2-6. " If any one should find a meaning in these ejaculations, he will probably discover more than Shakespeare intended, if indeed he wrote the lines at all. The actor who took the part of the Dauphin scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 115 Dauphin. Via ! les eaux et la terre ! Orleans. Rien puis ? Pair et le feu ! 5 Dauphin. Ciel ! cousin Orleans. Enter Constable Now, my lord constable ! Constable. Hark, how our steeds for present service neigh ! Dauphin. Mount them, and make incision in their hides, That their hot blood may spin in English eyes, 10 And dout them with superfluous courage, ha ! Rambures. What, will you have them weep our horses' blood? How shall we, then, behold their natural tears? Enter Messenger Messenger. The English are embattled, you French peers. Constable. To horse, you gallant princes ! straight to horse ! 15 Do but behold yond 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 ; 4. les eaux Theobald | les ewes Ff. n. dout Rowe | doubt Ff | daunt 6. Ciel Theobald | Cein F1F2 I Pope. Cien F3F4. probably had a smattering of French, and was supposed to represent the typical Frenchman." — Clar. 11. dout: extinguish. From 'do out.' Cf. ' don ' from 'do on,' * dup ' from ' do up,' ' doff ' from ' do off.' 18. shales: shells. 'Shale' and 'scale' are from the Anglo-Saxon scea/e, ' shell ' or ' scale.' Il6 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Scarce blood enough in all their sickly veins 20 To give each naked curtle-axe a stain, That our French gallants shall to-day draw out, And sheathe for lack of sport : let us but blow on them, The vapour of our valour will o'erturn them. 'Tis positive 'gainst all exceptions, lords, 25 That our superfluous lackeys and our peasants, Who in unnecessary action .swarm About our squares of battle, were enow To purge this field of such a hilding foe ; Though we upon this mountain's basis by 30 Took stand for idle speculation : But that our honours must not. What 's to say? A very little little let us do, And all is done. Then let the trumpet sound The tucket sonance and the note to mount. 35 For our approach shall so much dare the field, That England shall couch down in fear, and yield. 25. 'gainst F2F3F4 I against Fi. 35. sonance Johnson | Sonuance Ff. 21. curtle-axe : cutlass, short sword. ' Curtle-axe ' is a popular perversion of the Fr. coutelas (Lat. cultellns, 'knife '). 29. hilding: paltry, worthless. Cf. 'hilding fellow' in 2 Henry IV, I, i, 57. This word, of uncertain origin, is properly a noun, as in The Taming of the Shrew, II, i, 26. 31. speculation : looking on. To be pronounced as five syllables. 35. tucket sonance : sounding of the tucket. A ' tucket ' (probably from Ital. toccata) was a peculiar series of notes on a trumpet. The word is common in Elizabethan stage directions. The Constable's spirits are dancing in merry scorn. His expressions, as Johnson says, are fitter for a sporting-excursion than for a war-tussle. 36. dare the field : daunt the adversary. ' Dare ' in this sense is etymologically distinct from ' dare ' meaning ' venture.' See Murray. " Birds are ' dared ' when by the falcon in the air they are terrified scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 117 Entej" Grandpre Grandpre. Why do you stay so long, my lords of France ? Yond island carrions, desperate of their bones, Ill-favouredly become the morning field : 40 Their ragged curtains poorly are let loose, And our air shakes them passing scornfully ; Big Mars seems bankrupt in their beggar 'd host, And faintly through a rusty beaver peeps : The horsemen sit like fixed candlesticks, 45 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'd bit Lies foul with chew'd grass, still and motionless : 50 47. dropping the hides Fi | droop- Johnson Globe Camb. ing the hide F2F3F4. 50. chew'd grass | chaw'd-grasse 49. gimmal'd Evans (suggested Fi I chaw'd grasse F2 ! chaw'd grass by Murray) | Iymold Ff | gimmal F3F4. — still | stiff Vaughan con j. from rising, so that they will be sometimes taken by the hand. Such an easy capture the lords expected to make of the English." — Johnson. With this use of ' dare ' cf. Henry VIII, III, ii, 279-282. 40. Ill-favouredly become : make an ugly show upon. 41. ragged curtains. A contemptuous description of the banners. 44. beaver: visor of a helmet. Properly the lower part of the helmet face-guard. Middle English baviere ; Old Fr. baviere, ' a child's bib.' 45. Elizabethan candlesticks were often in the form of human figures holding the sockets for the lights in their extended hands. 49. gimmal'd : made with gimmals (pronounced ji7?i'i?ials) " or joints; consisting of two similar parts hinged together." — Murray. Murray quotes from Edward III, I, ii, " Neuer shall . . . rust in canker, haue the time to . . . lay a side their Jacks of Gymould mayle," and gives sufficient grounds for restoring the reading of the Folios as is done by H. A. Evans. Il8 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 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. 55 Constable. They have said their prayers, and they stay for death. Dauphin. Shall we go send them dinners and fresh suits, And give their fasting horses provender, And after fight with them? Constable. I stay but for my guard ; on to the field ! 60 I will the banner from a trumpet take, And use it for my haste. Come, come, away ! The sun is high, and we outwear the day. \_Exeunf\ 55. lifeless Capell | liuelesse Fi 60. guard; on | Guard: on Ff J F2F3 I liveless F4. guidon : Rann Globe Camb. 60. guard ; on. Malone takes ' guard ' as equivalent to ' body- guard,' — a simple and natural interpretation of the Folio reading. Many modern editors accept Rann's suggestion that ' guidon ' is the true reading here. But while 'guidon' was used in sixteenth century English in the sense of 'standard,' it was applied to the forked pennon carried by inferior officers and would be inappropriate to describe a standard borne by the commander of the French forces. In the follow- ing passage from Holinshed, which has been often quoted in support of Rann's reading, the ' seruants and men of warre ' may properly enough be regarded as a description of the 'my guard' of the Folios : They thought themselves so sure of victorie, that diuerse of the noble men made such hast towards the battell, that they left manie of their seruants and men of warre behind them, and some of them would not once staie for their standards ; as amongst other the duke of Brabant, when his standard was not come, caused a baner to be taken from a trumpet and fastened to a speare, the which he commanded to be borne before him in-steed of his standard. 61. trumpet: trumpeter. Cf. IV, vii, 51 ; 3 Henry VI, V, i, 16. Some editors interpret it literally in the sense of 'banderole.' scene in KING HENRY THE FIFTH 119 Scene III. The English camp Enter Gloucester, Bedford, Exeter, Erpingham, with all his host ; Salisbury ^/^/Westmoreland Gloucester. Where is the king? Bedford. The king himself is rode to view their battle. Westmoreland. Of fighting-men they have full three- score thousand. Exeter. There 's five to one ; besides, they all are fresh. Salisbury. God's arm strike with us ! 't is a fearful odds. God be wi' you, princes all ; I '11 to my charge : 6 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 ! 10 Bedford. Farewell, good Salisbury; and good luck go with thee ! Exeter. 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. \_Exit Salisbury] Bedford. He is as full of valour. as of kindness; 15 Princely in both. Scene III Capell | Scene VIII 13, 14. These lines follow line 11 Pope I Scene VII Hanmer. — The in Ff, and were transposed by Theo- English camp Theobald | Ff omit. bald (Thirlby conj.). 6. be wi' Rowe | buy' Ff. 14. fram'd Fi | fam'd F2F3F4. 3. " Three-score thousand horsemen, besides footmen, wagoners and other." — Holinshed. 4. " Six times as manie or more." — Holinshed. 10. Westmoreland is the ' kind kinsman ' here addressed. 120 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Enter the King Westmoreland. O, that we now had here But one ten thousand of those men in England That do no work to-day ! King Henry. What's he that wishes so? My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin : If we are mark'd to die, we are enow 20 To do our country loss ; and if to live, 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 ; 25 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 : 30 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, 35 16-18. Holinshed does not give the speaker's name : It is said, that as he heard one of the host vtter his wish to another thus : " I would to God there were with vs now so manie good soldiers as are at this houre within England ! " the king answered : " I would not wish a man more here than I haue ; we are indeed in comparison to the enimies but a few, but if God of his clemencie doo favour vs, and our just cause (as I trust he will), we shall speed well inough. But let no man ascribe victorie to our owne strength and might, but onelie to Gods assistance." 24. " He never desired monie to keepe, but to giue. ,, — Holinshed. 26. yearns : grieves. See note, II, iii, 3. scene in KING HENRY THE FIFTH 121 Let him depart ; his passport shall be made, And crowns for convoy put into his purse : We would not die in that man's company That fears his fellowship to die with us. This day is call'd the feast of Crispian : 40 He that outlives this day, and comes safe home, Will stand a tip-toe 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, 45 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 '11 remember with advantages 50 What feats he did that day : then shall our names, Familiar in his mouth as household words, Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter, 44. shall live . . . and see Pope | Camb | Ff Delius omit. shall see . . . Hue Ff. 49. shall he Fi | shall not be 45. neighbours Ff | friends Qq F2F3F4 Capell. Capell. 52. his mouth Ff | their mouths 48. And . . . day Qq Malone Globe Qq Malone | their mouth Pope. 38. die. Coleridge's suggestion that ' live ' should be read here was adopted in previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare. 40. The battle of Agincourt was fought the 25th of October, 141 5. The saints and martyrs who gave name to the day were Crispinus and Crispianus, brothers, born at Rome, from whence they traveled to the town now called Soissons, in France, about the year 303, to propagate Christianity. That they might not be chargeable to others for their maintenance, they worked as shoemakers. Hence they have become the universally recognized patron saints of shoemakers. 45. The 'vigil' of a holy day was the watch kept the night before. 50. advantages : improvements and additions. A humorous touch. 122 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester, Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd. 55 This story shall the good man teach his son ; And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered, We few, we happy few, we band of brothers ; 60 For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother ; be he ne'er so vile, ■ This day shall gentle his condition : And gentlemen in England now a-bed Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here ; 65 And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day. Re-enter Salisbury Salisbury. My sovereign lord, bestow yourself with speed : The French are bravely in their battles set, And will with all expedience charge on us. 70 King Henry. All things are ready, if our minds be so. Westmoreland. Perish the man whose mind is back- ward now ! King Henry. Thou dost not wish more help from Eng- land, coz ? Westmoreland. God's will ! my liege, would you and I alone, 63. gentle his condition : make him a gentleman. In 141 7 Henry V inhibited any person, but such as had a right by inheritance or grant, from bearing coats-of-arms, but he expressly excepted those who fought with him at the battle of Agincourt. 70. expedience : speed, expedition. Cf. Richard ff, II, i, 287. scene in KING HENRY THE FIFTH 123 Without more help, could fight this royal battle ! 75 King Henry. Why, now thou hast unwish'd five thousand men ; Which likes me better than to wish us one. You know your places : God be with you all ! Tucket, Enter Mont joy Montjoy. Once more I come to know of thee, King Harry, If for thy ransom thou wilt now compound, 80 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 85 May make a peaceful and a sweet retire From off these fields, where, wretches, their poor bodies Must lie and fester. King Henry. Who hath sent thee now? 75. could . . . battle Ff | might 79. Scene IX Pope | Scene VIII fight this battle out Qq Capell. Hanmer. 76-77. By wishing only thyself and me, thou hast wished five thou- sand men away. Shakespeare, characteristically inattentive to num- bers, puts ' five thousand,' but in the last scene the French are said to be full ' three-score thousand,' which Exeter declares to be ' five to one.' The numbers of the English vary with different historians. 79-125. Holinshed's account is as follows : The French thus in their jolitie, sent a herald to king Henrie, to inquire what ransome he would offer. Wherevnto he answered, that within two or three houres he hoped it would so happen, that the Frenchmen should be glad to common ! rather with the Englishmen for their ransoms, than the English to take thought for their deliuerance, promising for his owne part, that his dead carcasse should rather be a prize to the Frenchmen, than his living bodie should paie anie ransome. 1 commune, confer. 124 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Montjoy. The Constable of France. King Henry. I pray thee, bear my former answer back : Bid them achieve me, and then sell my bones. 91 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 kilPd with hunting him. A many of our bodies shall no doubt 95 Find native graves ; upon the which, I trust, Shall witness live in brass of this day's work : And those that leave their valiant bones in France, Dying like men, though buried in your dunghills, They shall be fam'd ; for there the sun shall greet them, 100 And draw their honours reeking up to heaven ; Leaving their earthly parts to choke your clime, The smell whereof shall breed a plague in France. Mark then abounding valour in our English ; That, being dead, like to the bullet's grazing, 105 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 no 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, — 95. A F1F2F3 I And Q3F4. — grazing Theobald I grasing F2F3F4 104. abounding Ff | abundant Qq. | erasing Fi | glancing Hudson conj. 105. bullet's Hanmer | bullets Ff. 106. Break Ff | Breaks Qq Capell. 97. Alluding to the plates of brass frequently let into tombstones. 107. relapse of mortality : the returning of the mortal body to its original dust. The accent on the first syllable, the proper noun accent, helps to bring out this meaning. See Abbott, § 492. scene in KING HENRY THE FIFTH 125 And time hath worn us into slovenry : But by the mass our hearts are in the trim; 115 And my poor soldiers tell me, yet ere night They '11 be in fresher robes ; or they will pluck The gay new coats o'er the French soldiers' heads, And turn them out of service. If they do this, — As, if God please, they shall, — my ransom then 120 Will soon be levied. Herald, save thou thy labour ; Come thou no more for ransom, gentle herald : They shall have none, I swear, but these my joints Which if they have as I will leave 'em them, Shall yield them little, tell the constable. 125 Montjoy. I shall, King Harry. And so fare thee well : Thou never shalt hear herald any more. \_Exif\ King Henry. I fear thou wilt once more come again for ransom. Enter York York. My lord, most humbly on my knee I beg The leading of the vaward. 130 King Henry. Take it, brave York. Now, soldiers, march away : And how thou pleasest God, dispose the day ! \_Exeunt] 121. Two lines in Ff. 128. ransom | a Ransome Ff. 124. 'emRowe | vm F1F2F3 I 'urn F4. 131. Two lines in Ff. 114. slovenry : slovenliness. Nowhere else in Shakespeare. 129. Edward, Duke of York, was the son of Edmund of Langley, the youngest son of Edward III. He figures as Aumerle in Richard II. York was killed at Agincourt, and his title passed to his nephew. 130. vaward : vanguard. A spelling of ' vanward.' " He appointed a vaw T ard, of the which he made capteine Edward duke of York who of a haultie 1 courage had desired that office." — Holinshed. 1 haughty (loft)', elevated). 126 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Scene IV. The field of battle Alarum. Excursions. Enter Pistol, French Soldier, and Boy Pistol. Yield, cur ! French Soldier. Je pense que vous etes gentilhomme de bonne quality. Pistol. Qualtitie calmie custure me ! Art thou a gentle- man? what is thy name? jiiscuss. 5 French Soldier. O Seigneur Dieu ! % Pistol. O, Signieur Dew should be a gentleman : Perpend my words, O Signieur Dew, and mark ; Signieur Dew, thou diest on point of fox, Except, O signieur, thou do give to me 10 Egregious ransom. French Soldier. O prenez misericorde ! ayez pitie de moi ! Pistol. Moy shall not serve ; I will have forty moys ; Or I will fetch thy rim out at thy throat In drops of crimson blood. 15 Scene IV Capell | Scene X Pope 13-15. Prose in Ff. 1 Scene IX Hanmer. — The field of 14. Or Hanmer (Theobald conj.) battle I Ff omit. I For Ff . — rim Capell | rym F4 | 7- n. As prose in Ff. rymme F1F2F3. Excursions. This word (an obsolete military term meaning *a sally against an enemy ') of the Folio stage direction probably stands for such ' business ' as single encounters between soldiers. 4. Qualtitie calmie custure me. Pistol's ' patter ' here has been in- geniously interpreted as a popular Elizabethan Irish song-refrain, 9. fox : sword. This fancy term "was given from the circumstance that Andrea Ferrara, and, since his time, other foreign sword-cutlers, adopted a fox as the blade-mark of their weapons." — Staunton. 13. Moy : a measure of grain. Cf. Lat. modins, ' bushel.' 14. rim : midriff, diaphragm. Used here in a general sense. scene iv KING HENRY THE FIFTH 127 French Soldier. Est-il impossible d'echapper la force de ton bras? Pistol. Brass, cur ! Thou damned and luxurious mountain-goat, Offer'st me brass? 20 French Soldier. O, pardonnez-moi ! Pistol. Say'st thou me so? is that a ton of moys? Come hither, boy : ask me this slave in French What is his name. Boy. Ecoutez : comment etes-vous appele? 25 French Soldier. Monsieur le Fer. Boy. He says his name is Master Fer. Pistol. Master Fer ! I'll fer him, and firk him, and ferret him : discuss the same in French unto him. 29 Boy. I do not know the French for fer, and ferret, and firk. Pistol. Bid him prepare ; for I will cut his throat. French Soldier. Que dit-il, monsieur? Boy. II me commande a vous dire que vous faites vous pret ; car ce soldat ici est dispose tout a cette heure de couper votre gorge. . 35 Pistol. Owy, cuppele gorge, permafoy, Peasant, unless thou give me crowns, brave crowns; Or mangled shalt thou be by this my sword. 38 French Soldier. O, je vous supplie, pour l'amour de 18-20. Prose in Ff. vous teniez F2F3F4. 22-24. Prose in Ff. 34. a cette heure Theobald | as- 27, 28. Master Capell Globe De- ture Ff. lius I M. F1F2F3 I Mr. F4. 35. couper I couppes Fi. 33. faites vous | faite vous Fi | 36-38. Prose in Ff. 28-29. firk . . . and ferret : beat and worry. Probably a proverbial expression. Cf. Dekker's use of the words in Northward Ho: "weele ferret them and firk them, in-faith." 128 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Dieu, me pardonner ! Je suis gentilhomme de bonne mai- son ; gardez ma vie, et je vous donnerai deux cents £cus. Pistol. What are his words ? Boy. 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. . 45 Pistol. Tell him my fury shall abate, and I The crowns will take. French Soldier. Petit monsieur, que dit-il? Boy. Encore qu'il est contre son jurement de pardonner aucun prisonnier, neanmoins, pour les ecus que vous l'avez promis, il est content de vous donner la liberte, le franchise- ment. 52 French Soldier. Sur mes genoux je vous donne mille remercimens ; et je m'estime heureux que je suis tombe entre les mains d'un chevalier, je pense, le plus brave, vail- lant, et tres-distingue seigneur d'Angleterre. 56 Pistol. Expound unto me, boy. 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. Pistol. As I suck blood, I will some mercy show. Follow me ! 63 Boy. Suivez-vous le grand capitaine. [Exeunt Pistol, and French Soldier] I did never know so full a voice issue from so empty a heart : but the saying is true, ' The 40. suis F2F3F4 I suis le Fi. — 53. je | se Fi. — donne F2F3F4 I bonne | bon Fi. donnes Fi. 41. gardez Theobald I garde F1F2. 54. remercimens | remercions Fi. 46-47. Prose in Ff. — suis tombe | intombe Fi. 50-51. l'avez promis | layt a pro- 64. Suivez Rowe I Saaue Fi. — mets Fi I luy promettez F2. {Exeunt . . . Pope | Ff omit. scene v KING HENRY THE FIFTH 129 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 hang'd ; and so would this be, if he durst steal any thing adventurously. I must stay with the lackeys, with the luggage of our camp : the French might have a good prey of us, if he knew of it \ for there is none to guard it but boys. \_Exii\ Scene V. Another part of the field Enter the Constable, Orleans, Bourbon, Dauphin, and Rambures Constable. O diable ! Orleans. O Seigneur ! le jour est perdu, tout est perdu ! Dauphin. Mort de ma vie ! all is confounded, all ! Scene V Capell | Scene XI Pope 2. est perdu . . . est perdu Rowe I Scene X Hanmer. — Another part | et perdia . . . et perdie Fi. . . . Theobald | Ff omit. 3. de Rowe | Dieu Ff | du Qq. 68. The Devil was a prominent personage in the old miracle plays and moral plays. He was as turbulent, boisterous, and vainglorious as Pistol. * Ho, ho ! ' and ' Ah, ha ! ' were among his stereotyped ex- clamations or ' roarings.' The Vice used to belabor him with vari- ous indignities, and, among them, threaten to pare his nails with the 1 dagger of lath,' the Devil choosing to keep his claws long and sharp. Cf. Twelfth Night, IV, ii, 136. 1-3. Coleridge comments thus on the opening of this scene : Ludicrous as these introductory scraps of French appear, so instantly fol- lowed by good, nervous mother-English, yet they are judicious, and produce the impression Shakespeare intended : a sudden feeling struck at once on the ears, as well as the eyes, of the audience, that ' here come the French, the baf- fled French braggards ! ' And this will appear the more judicious, when we reflect on the scanty apparatus of distinguishing dresses in Shakespeare's tiring-room. 130 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Reproach and everlasting shame Sits mocking in our plumes. O mechante fortune ! 5 Do not run away. [_A short alarum~\ Constable. Why, all our ranks are broke. Dauphin. O perdurable shame ! let 's stab ourselves. Be these the wretches that we play'd at dice for? Orleans. Is this the king we sent to for his ransom? 9 Bourbon. Shame, and eternal shame, nothing but shame ! Let us die in honour : once more back again. Constable. Disorder, that hath spoil'd us, friend us now ! Let us on heaps go offer up our lives. Orleans. We are enow, yet living in the field, To smother up the English in our throngs, 15 If any order might be thought upon. Bourbon. The devil take order now ! I'll to the throng : Let life be short ; else shame will be too long. [_Exeunt] Scene VI. Another part of the field Alarum. Enter King Henry and his train, with prisoners King Henry. Well have we done, thrice-valiant country- men : But all 's not done ; yet keep the French the field. Exeter. The Duke of York commends him to your majesty. King Henry. Lives he, good uncle? thrice within this hour 11. Let us die in honour : once instant : — once Theobald. Globe Camb | Let's die in honour: 18. [Exeunt] Rowe | Exit Ff. once Knight | Let's dye with honour Scene VI Capell | Scene XIJ Qq I Let us dye in once Fi I Let us Pope 1 Scene XI Hanmer. flye in once F2F3F4 I Let us dye, scene vi KING HENRY Tlffi FIFTH 131 I saw him down; thrice up again, and fighting; 5 From helmet to the spur all blood he was. Exeter. 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 Siiffolk also lies. 10 Suffolk first died : and York, all haggled over, Comes to him, where in gore he lay insteep'd, And takes him by the beard ; kisses the gashes That bloodily did yawn upon his face ; He cries aloud, * Tarry, my cousin Suffolk ! 15 My soul shall thine keep company to heaven ; Tarry, sweet soul, for mine, then fly a-breast ; As in this glorious and well-foughten field We kept together in our chivalry ! ' Upon these words, I came and cheer'd him up : 20 He smiPd 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 ; 25 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 : 15. He Ff Delius I And Qq Pope Globe Delius Camb. Globe Camb. — myFf | dearQq Pope 21. raught F1F2 | caught F3F4. 8. Larding: enriching with his blood. Cf. 1 Henry IV, II, ii, 116. n. haggled: hacked, mangled. "A weakened form of 'hackle,' frequentative of ' hack.' " — Skeat. 21. raught : reached. The old past tense of ' reach.' 132 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv But I had not so much of man in me, 30 And all my mother came into mine eyes, And gave me up to tears. King Henry. I blame you not ; For, hearing this, I must perforce compound With mistful eyes, or they will issue too. \_Alarum\ But, hark ! what new alarum is this same? 35 The French have reinforc'd their scatter'd men : Then every soldier kill his prisoners ; Give the word through. [Exeunt] Scene VII. Another part of the field Enter Fluellen and Gower Fluellen. Kill the poys and the luggage ! 't is expressly against the law of arms : 't is as arrant a piece of knavery, mark you now, as can be offer't ; in your conscience, now, is it not? 4 Gower. 'T is certain there 's not a boy left alive ; and 31. And all Ff | But all Qq Pope. Pope | Scene XII Hanmer | Actus 34. mistful Theobald | mixtfulFf. Quartus Ff | Act IV. Scene I Rowe. 38. {Exeunt] Rowe | Exit F1F2. 1. Kill Ff | Godes plud kil Qq. Scene VII Capell | Scene XIII 3. offer't; in | offert in Ff. 31. all my mother : all that is womanly in me. Cf. Hamlet, IV, vii, 190 ; Twelfth Night, II, i, 42-43. 37. This incident is related in full by Holinshed. It appears after- wards that the king, on finding that the danger was not so great as he at first thought, stopped the slaughter, and was able to save a great number. It is observable that the king gives as his reason for the order, that he expected another battle, and had not men enough to guard one army and fight another. Gower (vii, 5-9) assigns a dif- ferent reason. Holinshed gives both reasons, and Shakespeare chose to put one in the king's mouth, the other in Gower's. scene vii 'KING HENRY THE FIFTH 133 the cowardly rascals that ran from the battle ha' done this slaughter : besides, they have burn'd and carried away all that was in the king's tent ■ wherefore the king, most wor- thily, hath caus'd every soldier to cut his prisoner's throat. O, 'tis a gallant king ! 10 Fluellen. Ay, he was porn at Monmouth, Captain Gower. What call you the town's name where Alexander the Pig was born? Gower. Alexander the Great. 14 Fluellen. 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. Gower. I think Alexander the Great was born in Mace- don : his father was called Philip of Macedon, as I take it. 19 Fluellen. I think it is in Macedon where Alexander is porn. I tell you, captain, if you look in the maps of the 'orld, I warrant you sail find, in the comparisons between Macedon and Monmouth, that the situations, look you, is both alike. There is a river in Macedon ; and there is also moreover a river at Monmouth : it is called Wye at Mon- mouth \ but it is out of my prains what is the name of the other river : but 't is all one ; 't is 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 best friend, Cleitus. 35 16. great F2F3F4 I grear Fi. 35, 41. Cleitus | Clytus Ff. 134 TH E NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Gower. Our king is not like him in that : he never kill'd any of his friends. Fluellen. It is not well done, mark you now, to take the tales out of my mouth, ere it is made and finish'd. I speak but in the figures and comparisons of it : As Alexander kill'd his friend Cleitus, being in his ales and his cups ; so also Harry Monmouth, being in his right wits and his good judgments, turn'd 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. 45 Gower. Sir John Falstaff. Fluellen. That is he. I '11 tell you there is good men porn at Monmouth. Gower. Here comes his majesty. Alarum. Enter King Henry and forces ; Warwick, Gloucester, Exeter, with prisoners. Flourish King Henry. I was not angry since I came to France 50 Until this instant. Take a trumpet, herald ; Ride thou unto the horsemen on yond hill : If they will fight with us, bid them come down, Or void the field ; they do offend our sight : If they '11 do neither, we will come to them, 55 And make them skirr away, as swift as stones Enforced from the old Assyrian slings : 43-44. great-belly doublet Clar 1 50. Scene XIV Pope | Scene XIII great belly-doublet Theobald | great Hanmer. — Enter . . . Exeter | En- belly doublet Ff. ter King Harry and Burbon Ff. 56. skirr : scurry, hurry. Cf. "skirr the country," Macbetk,Y, iii, 35. 57. Enforced : driven by force. Cf. the special meaning of 'enforce- ment ' in 2 Henry IV, I, i, 1 20. scene vii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 135 Besides, we '11 cut the throats of those we have ; And not a man of them that we shall take Shall taste our mercy. Go, and tell them so. 60 Enter Mont joy Exeter. Here comes the herald of the French, my liege. Gloucester. His eyes are humbler than they us'd to be. King Henry. 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? Montjoy. No, great king : 65 I come to thee for charitable license That we may wander o'er this bloody field To book our dead, and then to bury them ; To sort our nobles from our common men ; For many of our princes — woe the while ! — 70 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 68. book F3F4 I booke F1F2 | look 73. and their Malone | and with Collier. Ff | while there Pope | and the Capell. 61-85. Holinshed thus describes the king's interview with Montjoy: In the morning Montioie king at armes and foure other French heralds came to the K. to know the number of prisoners, and to desire buriall for the dead. Before he made them answer (to vnderstand what they would saie) he demanded of them whie they made to him that request, considering that he knew not whether the victorie was his or theirs ? When Montioie by true and just confession had cleered that doubt to the high praise of the king, he desired of Montioie to vnderstand the name of the castell neere adioining ; when they had told him that it was called Agincourt, he said, " Then shall this conflict be called the battell of Agincourt." 68. book: register. Cf. 2 Henry IV, IV, iii, 50; Sonnets, cxvn, 9. 136 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Fret fetlock deep in gore, and with wild rage Yerk. out their armed heels at their dead masters, 75 Killing them twice. O, give us leave, great king, To view the field in safety, and dispose Of their dead bodies ! King Henry. I tell thee truly, herald, I know not if the day be ours or no ; For yet a many of your horsemen peer 80 And gallop o'er the field. Montjoy. The day is yours. King Henry. Praised be God, and not our strength, for it ! What is this castle call'd that stands hard by? Montjoy. They call it Agincourt. King Henry. Then .call we this the field of Agincourt, 85 Fought on the day of Crispin Crispianus. Fluellen. 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 3 most prave pattle here in France. 90 King Henry. They did, Fluellen. Fluellen. Your majesty says very true : if your majesties is remember'd of it, the Welshmen did good service in a garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their Mon- mouth caps ; which, your majesty know, to this hour is an honourable badge of the service ; and I do believe your maj- esty takes no scorn to wear the leek upon Saint Tavy's day. 94-95. "The best caps were formerly made at Monmouth, where the Cappers chapel doth still remain. ... If at this day the phrase of ' wearing a Monmouth cap ' be taken in a bad acception, I hope the inhabitants of that town will . . . disprove the occa- sion." — Fuller. scene vii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 137 King Henry. I" wear it for a memorable honour \ For I am Welsh, you know, good countryman. 99 Fluellen. All the water in Wye cannot wash your maj- esty's Welsh plood out of your pody, I can tell you that : God pless it, and preserve it, as long as it pleases his grace, and his majesty too ! King Henry. Thanks, good my countryman. 104 Fluellen. By Jeshu, I am your majesty's countryman, I care not who know it ; I will confess it to all the 'orld : I need not to be asham'd of your majesty, prais'd be God, so long as your majesty is an honest man. King Henry. God keep me so ! Enter Williams Our heralds go with him : Bring me just notice of the numbers dead no On both our parts. Call yonder fellow hither. \_Points to Williams. Exeunt Heralds with Montjoy] Exeter. Soldier, you must come to the king. King Henry. Soldier, why wear'st thou that glove in thy cap? 114 Williams. And 't please your majesty, 't is the gage of one that I should fight withal, if he be alive. King Henry. An Englishman? 117 Williams. And 't please your majesty, a rascal that swag- ger'd with me last night; who if alive, and ever dare to 104. countryman | Countrymen Fi. — Exeunt . . . Theobald | Ff omit. 109. God F3F4 I Good F1F2. 112. Scene XV Pope | Scene XIV in. [Points to Williams Malone. Hanmer. 115, 118, 126. And 't : if it. Modern editors usually spell ' an 't.' See Abbott, §101. Cf. 'and' in lines 150, 155. 138 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv challenge this glove, I have sworn to take him a box o' th' ear : or, if I can see my glove in his cap, which he swore, as he was a soldier, he would wear if alive, I will strike it out soundly. 123 King Henry. What think you, Captain Fluellen ! is it fit this soldier keep his oath? Fluellen. He is a craven and a villain else, and ? t please your majesty, in my conscience. King Henry. It may be his enemy is a gentleman of great sort, quite from the answer of his degree. 129 Fluellen. Though he be as good a gentleman as the devil is, as Lucifer and Beelzebub himself, it is necessary, look your grace, that he keep his vow and his oath : if he be perjur'd, 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. 135 King Henry. Then keep thy vow, sirrah, when thou meet'st the fellow. Williams. So I will, my liege, as I live. King Henry. Who serv'st thou under? Williams. Under Captain Gower, my liege. 140 Fluellen. Gower is a good captain, and is good knowl- edge and literatur'd in the wars. King Henry. Call him hither to me, soldier. Williams. I will, my liege. \Exif\ King Henry. Here, Fluellen ; wear thou this favour for me, and stick it in thy cap : when Alencon and myself were down together, I pluck'd this glove from his helm : if any 128-129. of great sort: of high rank. Cf. IV, viii, 71. 146-147. Henry was " almost felled by the duke of Alanson, yet with plaine strength he . . . felled the duke himselfe." — Holinshed. scene vii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 139 man challenge this, he is a friend to Alencon, and an enemy to our person ; if thou encounter any such, apprehend him, and thou dost me love. 150 Fluellen. Your grace doo's me as great honours as can be desir'd in the hearts of his subjects : I would fain see the man, that has but two legs, that shall find himself aggrief'd at this glove, that is all; but I would fain see it once, and please God of his grace that I might see. 155 King Henry. Know'st thou Gower? Fluellen. He is my dear friend, and please you. King Henry. Pray thee, go seek him, and bring him to my tent. Fluellen. I will fetch him. \_Exif] King Henry. My Lord of Warwick, and my" brother Gloucester, 160 Follow Fluellen closely at the heels : The glove which I have given him for a favour May haply purchase him a box o' th' ear ; It is the soldier's ; I by bargain should Wear it myself. Follow, good cousin Warwick : 165 If that the fellow 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, 170 And quickly will return an injury : Follow, and see there be no harm between them. Go you with me, uncle of Exeter. \Exeunf\ 151. doo's F1F2 I do'sF 3 I doesF4. 163. o' th' | a' th' Ff. 157. and Ff | an 't Delius Camb. 167. his F1F2 I this F3F4. 163. i Purchase ' {Fr.pour, chasser) originally means ' get in hunting.' 140 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Scene VIII. Before King Henry's J>avz/wn Enter Gower and Williams Williams. I warrant it is to knight you, captain. Enter Fluellen Fluellen. God's will and his pleasure, captain, I beseech you now, come apace to the king : there is more good toward you peradventure than is in your knowledge to dream of. Williams. Sir, know you this glove? 5 Fluellen. Know the glove ! I know the glove is a glove. Williams. I know this ; and thus I challenge it. \_Strikes hinf\ Fluellen. 'Sblood, an arrant traitor as any is in the universal world, or in France, or in England ! Gower. How now, sir ! you villain ! 10 Williams. Do you think I '11 be forsworn ? Fluellen. Stand away, Captain Gower ; I will give trea- son his payment into plows, I warrant you. Williams. I am no traitor. 14 Fluellen. That 's a lie in thy throat. I charge you in his majesty's name, apprehend him : he's a friend of the Duke Alencon's. Enter Warwick and Gloucester Warwick. How now, how now ! what 's the matter? 18 Fluellen. My Lord of Warwick, here is — prais'd be God for it ! — a most contagious treason come to light, Scene VIII Capell | Scene XVI 8. 'Sblood | Sblud F1F2. — any is Pope I Scene XV Hanmer. — Before | any es F1F2F3 I any's F4. . . .pavilion Theobald | Ff omit. 13. into | in two Heath conj. scene viii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 141 look you, as you shall desire in a summer's day. Here is his majesty. Enter King Henry and Exeter King Henry. How now ! what's the matter? 23 Fluellen. 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 Alencon. Williams. My liege, this was my glove ; here is the fellow of it ; and he that I gave it to in change promis'd to wear it in his cap : I promis'd 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. 31 Fluellen. Your majesty hear now, saving your majesty's manhood, what an arrant, rascally, beggarly, lousy knave it is : I hope your majesty is pear me testimony, and witness, and will avouchment, that this is the glove of Alencon, that your majesty is give me, in your conscience, now. 36 King Henry. Give me thy glove, soldier : look, here is the fellow of it. 'Twas I, indeed, thou promised'st to strike; And thou hast given me most bitter terms. 40 Fluellen. And please your majesty, let his neck answer for it, if there is any martial law in the world. King Henry. How canst thou make me satisfaction? 27-36. Verity notes how fine a contrast between two types of national character is afforded by these two speeches. 37. Here ■ thy glove ' evidently means the glove that Williams has in his cap. The king and Williams had exchanged gloves, so each has the other's glove in pledge. But the king has just given to Fluellen the glove he received from Williams; and he now takes from his pocket the mate to the one that Williams received from him. 142 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Williams. All offences, my liege, come from the heart : never came any from mine that might offend your majesty. King Henry. It was ourself thou didst abuse. 46 Williams. Your majesty came not like yourself: you appear'd to me but as a common man ; witness the night, your garments, your lowliness; and, what your highness suffer'd 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. 53 King Henry. 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. 58 Fluellen. 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. Williams. I will none of your money. 64 Fluellen. 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 : 't is a good silling, I warrant you, or I will change it. Enter an English Herald King Henry. Now, herald, are the dead numbered? 69 69. Scene XVII Pope | Scene Malone | Enter Herauld Ff | Enter a XVI Hanmer. — Enter . . . Herald Herald, and others Capell. scene viii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 143 Herald. Here is the number of the slaughter'd French. King Henry. What prisoners of good sort are taken, uncle ? Exeter. 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. 75 King Henry. 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, 80 71-102. Holinshed's account is again followed closely : It was no marvell though this battell was lamentable to the French nation, for in it were taken and slaine the flower of all the nobilitie of France. There were taken prisoners, Charles duke of Orleance, nephue to the French king, John duke of Burbon, the lord Bouciqualt one of the marshals of France (he after died in England) with a number of other lords, knights, and esquiers, at the least fifteene hundred, besides the common people. There were slaine in all of the French part to the number of ten thousand men, whereof were princes and noble men bearing baners one hundred twentie and six ; to these, of knights, esquiers, and gentlemen, so manie as made up the number of eight thousand and foure hundred (of the which five hundred were dubbed knights the night before the battell) so as of the meaner sort, not past sixteene hun- dred. Amongst those of the nobilitie that were slaine, these were the cheefest, Charles lord de la Breth high constable of France, Iaques of Chatilon lord of Dampier admerall of France, the Lord Rambures master of the crossebowes, sir Guischard Dolphin great master of France, Iohn duke of Alanson, An- thonie duke of Brabant brother to the duke of Burgognie, Edward duke of Bar, the earle of Nevers an other brother to the duke of Burgognie, with the erles of Marie, Vaudemont, Grandpree, Roussie, Fauconberge, Fois and Lestrake, beside a great number of lords and barons of name. Of English- men, there died at this battell, Edward duke of Yorke, the earle of Suffolke, sir Richard Kikelie, and Dauie Gamme esquier, and of all other not above fiue and twentie persons, as some doo report. 144 THE NE W HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 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, 85 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 ; 90 Great Master of France, the brave Sir Guichard Dolphin ; John Duke of Alencon ; Antony Duke of Brabant, The brother to the Duke of Burgundy ; And Edward Duke of Bar : of lusty earls, Grandpre and Roussi, Fauconberg and Foix, 95 Beaumont and Marie, Vaudemont and Lestrale. Here was a royal fellowship of death ! Where is the number of our English dead? [Herald presents another paper] Edward the Duke of York, the Earl of Suffolk, Sir Richard Ketly, Davy Gam, esquire; 100 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, 98. [Herald . . . paper\ Capell | Ff omit. 100. Davy Gam, esquire. A pleasing anecdote is told of this brave Welshman in Sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World. Having been sent out before the battle to reconnoitre the enemy, he reported, " May it please you, my liege, there are enough to be killed, enough to be taken prisoners, and enough to run away." It is said that among his other feats at Agincourt he saved the king's life. scene viii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 145 Ascribe we all ! When, without stratagem, But in plain shock and even play of battle, 105 Was ever known so great and little loss On one part and on th' other ? Take it, God, For it is only thine ! Exeter. 'T is wonderful ! King Henry. Come, go we in procession to the village ; And be it death proclaimed through our host no To boast of this, or take that praise from God Which is his only. Fluellen. Is it not lawful, and please your majesty, to tell how many is kill'd? 114 King Henry. Yes, captain \ but with this acknowledge- ment, That God fought for us. Fluellen. Yes, my conscience, he did us great good. King Henry. Do we all holy rites : Let there be sung ' Non nobis ' and ' Te Deum.' The dead with charity enclos'd in clay, 120 And then to Calais ; and to England then ; Where ne'er from France arriv'd more happy men. \_Exeitnt\ 109. we F2F3F4 I me Fi. 121. And Ff | Weele Qq | We '11 118. rites Pope | Rights Ff. Capell. — Calais Rowe | Callice Fi. 120. enclos'd Ff | enterred Qq. 122. happy Ff | happier Qq Capell. 119. This is Holinshed's graphic account : And so, about foure of the clocke in the after noone, the king, when he saw no apperance of enimies, caused the retreit to be blowen ; and gathering his army togither, gave thanks to almightie God for so happie a victorie, caus- ing his prelats and chapleins to sing this psalme, In exitu Israel de sEgyflto ; and commanded euerie man to kneele downe on the ground at this verse, Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam. "Which doone, he caused Te Deum with certeine anthems to be soong, giuing laud and praise to God, without boasting of his owne force or anie humane power. ACT V PROLOGUE Enter Chorus Chorus. 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 th' excuse Of time, of numbers, and due course of things, Which cannot in their huge and proper life 5 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, 10 Whose shouts and claps out-voice the deep-mouth'd sea, Which, like a mighty whiffler 'fore the king, ACT V. PROLOGUE | Actus 2. of such Ff | to such Pope | for Quintus Ff | Act V. Scene I Rowe | such Capell. Theobald continues the scene. 10. with wives F2F3F4 1 wives Fi. 6-7. " When the king of England had well refreshed himselfe, and his souldiers (that had taken the spoile of such as were slaine,) he, with his prisoners, in good order, returned to the towne of Calis. . . . The sixt daie of Nouember, he with all his prisoners tooke shipping, and the same daie landed at Douer." — Holinshed. 10. Pales in : fences around, incloses as with palings. 12. whiffler : one who walks or rides at the head of a procession to clear the way. Originally the word was applied to a piper or fifer (' one who blows in whiffs ') preceding an army. 146 prologue KING HENRY THE FIFTH 147 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 15 You may imagine him upon Blackheath ; Where that his lords desire him to have borne His bruised helmet and his bended sword Before him through the city, he forbids it, Being free from vainness and self-glorious pride ; 20 Giving full trophy, signal, and ostent, Quite from himself to God. But now behold, In the quick forge and working-house of thought, How London doth pour out her citizens ! The mayor and all his brethren, in best sort, 25 Like to the senators of th' antique Rome, With the plebeians swarming at their heels, Go forth and fetch their conquering Caesar in : As, by a lower but loving likelihood, 29. lower but Globe Camb | lower, but by Ff. 14. solemnly : with ordered pomp and ceremony. 17-19. Whereas his lords wish him to have his bruised helmet and his bent sword borne before him, he forbids it. " He would not suffer his helmet to be caried with him, whereby might haue appeared to the people the blowes and dints that were to be seene in the same ; neither would he suffer any ditties to be made and soong by minstrels of his glorious victorie, for that he would wholie haue the praise and thanks altogither giuen to God." — Holinshed. 21. ostent : external show. The king " seemed little to regard such vaine pompe and shewes as were in triumphant sort deuised for his welcomming home." — Holinshed. 25. " The maior of London, and the aldermen, apparelled in orient grain scarlet, and four hundred commoners clad in beautiful murrie, well mounted and trimlie horssed, with rich collars, & great chaines, met the king on Blackheath, reioising at his returne. 1 ' — Holinshed. 148 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v Were now the general of our gracious empress, 30 As in good time he may, from Ireland coming, Bringing rebellion broached on his sword, How many would the peaceful city quit, To welcome him ! much more, and much more cause, Did they this Harry. Now in London place him ; 35 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, 40 Till Harry's back-return again to France : There must we bring him ; and myself have play'd The interim, by remembering you 't is past. Then brook abridgement; and your eyes advance, After your thoughts, straight back again to France. \_Exif\ 8. The emperor 's | The Emperour's Ff | The emperor Delius. 30-32. The allusion is to the Earl of Essex, who in April, 1599, set out for Ireland, as governor, to put down the rebellion of Tyrone. His departure was an occasion of great enthusiasm, people of all ranks thronging around him and showering benedictions upon him. But these bright anticipations were sadly disappointed. The expedition failed utterly ; and the earl's return, in September fol- lowing, was unhonoured and unmarked. — broached: spitted. 38. The emperor *s coming : the emperor is coming. Sigismund "came into England to the intent that he might make an attone- ment betweene king Henrie and the French king." — Holinshed. The Emperor Sigismund, who had married a cousin of Henry V, visited England in May, 141 6. His main object was to enlist Henry's aid in terminating the great schism in the Catholic Church ; the Council of Constance, which eventually ended the schism by electing Martin V Pope, sat from 1414 to 1418 under the pres- idency of Sigismund. When his mediation between England and France failed, Sigismund "made an alliance with Henry. — Verity. 38. scene i KING HENRY THE FIFTH 149 Scene I. France. The English camp Enter Fluellen and Gower Gower. Nay, that 's right ; but why wear you your leek to-day? Saint Davy's day is past. Fluellen. There is occasions and causes why and where- fore 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 world know to be no petter than a fellow, look you now, of no merits, he is come to me, and prings me pread and salt yesterday, look you, and pid me eat my leek : it was in a place where I could not breed no contention with him ; but I will be so bold as to wear it in my cap till I see him once again, and then I will tell him a little piece of my desires. 12 Enter Pistol Gower. Why, here he comes, swelling like a turkey-cock. Fluellen. 'Tis no matter for his swellings nor his turkey-cocks. God pless you, Auncient Pistol ! you scurvy, lousy knave, Got pless you ! 16 Scene I Hanmer I Scene II Pope. 2. Davy's | Dauies Ff | David's — France . . . camp Globe Camb | Rowe. A Court of Guard Capell | Ff omit. 4. asse my Ff | asse a Rowe. Scene I. In previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare, this scene was made the ninth and last of the fourth act. The suggestion came from Johnson, who held that the quarrel happened before the return of the army to England ; but, as Steevens makes clear, Fluellen says, line 8, that it was ' yesterday ' he was bade by Pistol to eat the leek, so that this quarrel is not immediately concerned with the outbreak in the sixth scene of the third act. 5. scald : scabby, scurvy. An Elizabethan term of contempt. 150 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v Pistol. Ha! art thou bedlam? dost thou thirst, base Trojan, To have me fold up Parca's fatal web? Hence ! I am qualmish at the smell of leek. 19 Fluellen. I peseech you heartily, scurvy, lousy knave, at my desires, and my requests, and my petitions, to eat, look you, this leek : because, look you, you do not love it, nor your affections, and your appetites, and your digestions, doo's not agree with it, I would desire you to eat it. Pistol. Not for Cadwallader and all his goats. 25 Fluellen. There is one goat for you. \_Strikes Aim'] Will you be so good, scald knave, as eat it? Pistol. Base Trojan, thou shalt die. Fluellen. 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. [Strikes hint] You calPd 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. Gower. Enough, captain : you have astonish'd him. 35 Fluellen. I say, I will make him eat some part of my bek, or I will peat his pate four days. Bite, I pray you; it is good for your green wound and your ploody coxcomb. Pistol. Must I bite ? 39 17-19. Prose in Ff. 26. [Strikes hini\ Ff. 24. doo's F1F2F3 I does F4. 31. [Strikes him\ Ff omit. 25. Cadwallader, the last of the British (Welsh) kings, defended Wales against the invading Saxons. — goats. Cf. 1 Henry IV, III, 1,39. 32. In Cymbeline 'mountaineer' is a term of contempt. 33. a squire of low degree. The quibble involved is the more effective because it involves the title of a popular old romance in verse beginning, " It was a squyre of lowe degre." scene I KING HENRY THE FIFTH 151 Fluellen. Yes, certainly, and out of doubt, and out of question too, and ambiguities. Pistol. By this leek, I will most horribly revenge : I eat and eat, I swear — Fluellen. Eat, I pray you : will you have some more sauce to your leek? there is not enough leek to swear by. 45 Pistol. Quiet thy cudgel ; thou dost see I eat. Fluellen. 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. 50 Pistol. Good. Fluellen. Ay, leeks is good : hold you, there is a groat to heal your pate. Pistol. Me a groat ! 54 Fluellen. Yes, verily and in truth, you shall take it ; or I have another leek in my pocket, which you shall eat. Pistol. I take thy groat in earnest of revenge. Fluellen. If I owe you any thing, I will pay you in cudgels : you shall be a woodmonger, and buy nothing of me but cudgels. God b' wi' you, and keep you, and heal your pate. \_Exit] Pistol. All hell shall stir for this. 62 Gower. 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 predeceas'd valour, — and dare not avouch in your deeds 44. Eat, I I eate I Ff | eke I Rann. F1F2 I Gud bu'y F3F4. 60. God V wi' Capell | God bu'y 64. begun Capell | began Ff. 43. Moore Smith punctuates: "I, eat and eat? I swear — ." 65. respect: consideration, reason. Cf. Hamlet, III, 1, 68. 152 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 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. \_Exif\ Pistol. Doth Fortune play the huswife with me now? News have I that my Doll is dead i' the spital ; And there my rendezvous is quite cut off. 75 Old I do wax ; and from my weary limbs Honour is cudgell'd. To England will I steal, and there I '11 steal : And patches will I get unto these cudgell'd scars, 79 And swear I got them in the Gallia wars. \_Exif\ 73-78. Prose in Ff. 79. cudgell'd | Qq Pope omit. 74. Doll Ff I Nell Capell. 80. swear F3F4 I swore F1F2. 67. gleeking : jeering. Cf . A Midsummer Night's Dream, III, i, 1 50, where Bottom says to Titania, " Nay, I can gleek upon occasion." — galling : saying galling things. Cf. I, ii, 151. 69. garb : fashion. In the five places where Shakespeare uses ' garb,' it is in the sense of a prevailing ' mode ' or custom, ' the fashion.' 72. condition: temper, disposition. Cf. V, ii, 275. 73. huswife: jilt. ' Hussy ' in this sense is still in common use. 74. spital : hospital. See note on II, i, 69. 80. \Exif\ Johnson comments thus characteristically : The comick scenes of The History of Henry the Fourth and Fifth are now at an end, and all the comick personages are now dismissed. Falstaff and Mrs. Quickly are dead ; Nym and Bardolph are hanged ; Gadshill was lost immediately after the robbery ; Poins and Peto have vanished since, one knows not how; and Pistol is now beaten into obscurity. I believe every reader regrets their departure. scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 153 Scene II. France. A royal palace Enter, at one door, King Henry, Exeter, Bedford, Gloucester, Warwick, Westmoreland, and other Lords; at another, the French King, Queen Isabel, the Princess Katharine, Alice, and other Ladies ; the Duke of Burgundy, and his train King Henry. Peace to this meeting, wherefore we are met 1 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, 5 By whom this great assembly is contriv'd, We do salute you, Duke of Burgundy ; And, princes French, and peers, health to you all ! French King. Right joyous are we to behold your face, Most worthy brother England ; fairly met : 10 So are you, princes English, every one. Queen Isabel. 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 ; Scene II Hanmer | Scene III doore, King Henry, Exeter, Bedford, Pope. — France . . . palace Globe Warwicke, and other Lords. At Camb I Troyes in Champagne. An another, Queene Isabel, the King, Apartment in the French King's the Duke of Bourgongne, and other Palace Malone | Ff omit. French Ff. Enter . . . train | Enter at one 12. England F2F3F4 I Ireland Fi. 1. The French and the English kings have met for discussion of the terms of peace, and King Henry begins by wishing peace to the meeting: " Peace, for which we are met, be to this meeting ! " 154 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v Your eyes, which hitherto have borne in them 15 Against the French, that met them in their bent, The fatal balls of murdering basilisks : The venom of such looks, we fairly hope, Have lost their quality ; and that this day Shall change all griefs and quarrels into love. 20 King Henry. To cry amen to that, thus we appear. Queen Isabel. You English princes all, I do salute you. Burgundy. 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, 25 To bring your most imperial majesties Unto this bar and royal interview, Your mightiness on both parts best can witness. Since then my office hath so far prevail'd That, face to face and royal eye to eye, 30 You have congreeted, let it not disgrace me, If I demand, before this royal view, 16. bent: direction of an eye-glance. Cf. 'bend,' Julius Ccesar, I, ii, 123. 17. There is a quibble here. The name * basilisk ' was given to (1) a fabulous serpent, whose very glance was fatal, Richard III, I, ii, 151, and (2) a large cannon, 1 Henry IV, II, iii, 56. 19. Have lost. The verb is attracted into the plural by the nearer substantive. See Abbott, § 412. 27. bar : place of conference. Ordinarily, when sovereigns met in the field for purposes of conference, a barrier was erected at the place agreed upon, as a protection of either party against the pos- sible violence or treachery of the other. Hence ' bar ' came to be used for any place of meeting. 28. mightiness. The word is plural. For the omission of es, see Abbott, § 471. Cf. 'highness' in I, ii, 36. 31. congreeted : met and saluted. A Shakespearian ' nonce-word.' scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 155 What rub or what impediment there is, Why that the naked, poor, and mangled Peace, Dear nurse of arts, plenties, and joyful births, 35 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 it own fertility. 40 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, 45 Do root upon, while that the coulter rusts That should deracinate such savagery ; The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth The freckled cowslip, burnet, and green clover, Wanting the scythe, all uncorrected, rank, 50 Conceives by idleness, and nothing teems 40. it F1F2 [ it's F3F4. 45. fumitory F4 1 FemetaryFiF2F3. 42. even-pleach'd Hanmer 1 even 46. coulter Johnson | Culter Ff. pleach'd F1F2 I even, pleach'd F3F4. 50. all Rowe | withall Ff. 40. it : its. This use of ' it ' as a possessive still survives in dialect. 'It own' was very common. Cf. The Tempest, II, i, 163. 42. even-pleach'd: evenly interwoven. Cf. Much Ado About Noth- ing, III, i, 7 : "And bid her steal into the pleached bower." 45. Cf. the description of the weeds with which Lear in his mad- ness crowned himself, King Lear, IV, iv, 3-6. 47. deracinate : pluck up by the roots, eradicate. Cf Troilus and Cressida, I, iii, 99. — savagery : wild growth. 49. freckled cowslip. Cf. A Midsummer Night \r Dream, II, i, 10-13. — burnet. An herb used in stanching wounds. So called from the hue of its flowers, ' burnet ' being an old adjective meaning * dark brown.' 156 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burs, Losing both beauty and utility ; And all our vineyards, fallows, meads, and hedges, Defective in their natures, grow to wildness. 55 Even so our houses and ourselves and children Have lost, or do not learn for want of time, The sciences that should become our country ; But grow, like savages, — as soldiers will That nothing do but meditate on blood, — 60 To swearing and stern looks, defus'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 65 Should not expel these inconveniences, And bless us with her former qualities. King Henry. If, Duke of Burgundy, you would the peace, Whose want gives growth to th' imperfections 54-55. all . . . wildness. Ff | as. . . 61. defus'd F1F2 I diffus'd F3F4. wildness, Capell Globe Camb. 68. Burgundy Rowe | Burgonie Fi. 52. kecksies: hemlocks. The word is often applied to the dry hollow stalks of various coarse umbelliferous plants. The spelling in the text is the provincial form of 'kexes,' which seems itself to be a double plural from 'keck.' See Skeat. 54-55. There seems no good reason for rejecting the reading of the Folios here. — Defective in their natures. Not defective in their productive virtue, for they grew to wildness ; but defective in their proper virtue, which is to serve man with food and support. 61. defus'd : disordered, confused. Cf. ' defuse,' King Lear, I,iv, 2. 63. reduce : bring back. Lat. re-ducere. — favour : appearance. Cf. Measure for Measure, IV, ii, 34. 65. let: hindrance. Cf. 'let,' the verb, in Hamlet, I, iv, 85. So " sore let and hindered " in the Book of Common Prayer. scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 157 Which you have cited, you must buy that peace 70 With full accord to all our just demands ; Whose tenours and particular effects You have, enschedul'd briefly, in your hands. Burgundy. The king hath heard them; to the which as yet There is no answer made. King Henry. Well, then, the peace, 75 Which you before so urg'd, lies in his answer. French King. 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 80 To re-survey them, we will suddenly Pass our accept and peremptory answer. King Henry. Brother, we shall. Go, uncle Exeter, And brother Clarence, and you, brother Gloucester, Warwick, and Huntingdon, go with the king ; 85 72. tenoursTheobald I Tenures Ff. Q1Q2 I cursory Hanmer. 75-76. Well . . . urg'd | one line 82. Pass our accept Ff | Pass, or in Ff. accept Theobald. 77. cursorary Q3 Pope | curselarie 85. Huntingdon | Huntington Ff. Fi I curselary F2F3F4 I cursenary 77. cursorary : cursory, hasty. The word ' cursory,' printed by Hanmer in the text, was just coming into use in Shakespeare's day ; " some latitude, therefore, especially under stress of metrical needs, is excusable, and the manifest perplexity of the printers of the Folio and Quartos easily intelligible." — H. A. Evans. 79. presently : immediately. Like ' anon ' and other words mean- ing 'without delay,' 'presently' came to mean 'after a while.' 82. Pronounce our accepted and decisive answer. Schmidt and others interpret ' accept ' as a shortened form of ' acceptance ' ; it is more likely to be a participle, as Murray, Clar, etc., suggest. 85. Huntingdon. John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon, who after- wards married the widow of Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March. 158 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v And take with you free power to ratify, Augment, or alter, as your wisdoms best Shall see advantageable for our dignity, Any thing in or out of our demands; And we '11 consign thereto. Will you, fair sister, 90 Go with the princes, or stay here with us? Queen Isabel. 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. 94 King Henry. Yet leave our cousin Katharine here with us : She is our capital demand, compris'd Within the fore-rank of our articles. Queen Isabel. She hath good leave. [Exeunt all except Henry, Katharine, and Alice] King Henry. Fair Katharine, and most fair ! Will you vouchsafe to teach a soldier terms Such as will enter at a lady's ear, 100 And plead his love-suit to her gentle heart? Katharine. Your majesty shall mock at me ; I cannot speak your England. King Henry. O fair Katharine, if you will love me soundly with your French heart, I will be glad to hear you 93. Haply F4 I Happily Fi | Hap- Camb | Exeunt omnes. Manet King pely F2F3. and Katherine Ff. — Scene IV Pope 98. {Exeunt all . . . Alice] Globe | Scene III Hanmer. Neither Huntingdon nor Clarence (line 84) is in the list of dramatis personam, as neither of them speaks a word. 88. advantageable : advantageous. This confusion of active and passive forms, both in adjectives and participles, is common in Shakespeare. See Abbott, §§ 3, 374. 94. nicely : fastidiously, captiously. Cf. ' nice,' line 258. — stood : insisted. Cf. j Henry VI, IV, vii, 58. scene n KING HENRY THE FIFTH 159 confess it brokenly with your English tongue. Do you like me, Kate? 107 Katharine. Pardonnez-moi, I cannot tell wat is 'like me.' King Henry. An angel is like you, Kate, and you are like an angel. no Katharine. Que dit-il ? que je suis semblable a les anges ? Alice; Oui, vraiment, sauf votre grace, ainsi dit-il. King Henry. I said so, dear Katharine; and I must not blush to affirm it. 114 Katharine. O bon Dieu ! les langues des hommes sont pleines de tromperies. King Henry. What says she, fair one? that the tongues of men are full of deceit? Alice. Oui, dat de tongues of de mans is be full of de- ceits : dat is de princess. 120 King Henry. 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 farther 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? Katharine. Sauf votre honneur, me understand well. 130 108. wat Ff I vat Rowe Globe 120. is de | says de Mason conj. Camb. — 'like me' Globe | like me Ff. 129. so F1F2 I F3F4 omit. 116. pleines Pope | plein Ff. 130. well Ff | veil Rowe Globe. 120. dat is de princess. Probably this means, This is what the princess really feels. But see Mason's conjecture in textual notes. 126. mince it. See Abbott, § 226. — directly: straightforwardly. 160 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v King Henry. 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 urg'd, nor never break for urging. If thou canst love a fel- low of this temper, Kate, whose face is not worth sun-burn- ing, that never looks in his glass for love of any thing he sees there, let thine eye be thy cook. I speak to thee plain soldier : if thou canst love me for this, take me ; if not, to say to thee that I shall die, is true ; but for thy love, by the Lord, no ; yet I love thee too. And, while thou liv'st, dear Kate, take a fellow of plain and uncoin'd 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 rhyme themselves into ladies' favours, they do always reason themselves out again. What ! a speaker is but a 135. vaulting F3F4 1 vawtingFiF2. 148-149. by the Lord | by the L. Ff. 134. measure. The quibble involves the three senses of 'measure,' — 'verse rhythm,' 'dancing,' and 'amount.' Cf. Richard II, III, iv, 7 ; Much Ado About Nothings II, i, 74. 139-140. jack-an-apes. See Murray for the history of this word. 150. uncoin'd constancy : an affection that has never ' gone forth,' a heart like virgin gold that has never had any image stamped upon it. scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 161 prater ; a rhyme is but a ballad. A good leg will fall ; a straight back will stoop ; a black beard will turn white ; a curl'd 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 say'st thou, then, to my love? speak, my fair, and fairly, I pray thee. Katharine. Is it possible dat I sould love de enemy of France? 165 King Henry. 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. 171 Katharine. I cannot tell wat is dat. King Henry. 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 moi, — let me see, what then ? Saint Denis be my speed ! — done votre est France et vous etes mienne. It is as easy for me, Kate, to conquer the king- dom, as to speak so much more French : I shall never move thee in French, unless it be to laugh at me. 181 172. wat Ff I vat Globe Camb. 176-177. le . . . le | la . . . la Capell. 155. fall: fall away, shrink. Cf. As You Like It, II, vii, 160-161. 177-178. Saint Denis be my speed : may St. Denis (the patron saint of France) help me to success ! For ' speed ' see Skeat. 162 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v Katharine. Sauf votre Honneur, le Frangois que vous parlez, il est meilleur que l'Anglois lequel je parle. King Henry. 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 under- stand thus much English, canst thou love me? Katharine. I cannot tell. 188 King Henry. Can any of your neighbours tell, Kate? I '11 ask them. Come, I know thou lovest me : and at night, when you come into your closet, you '11 question this gentle- woman about me; and I know, Kate, you will to her dis- praise 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 beest mine, Kate, as I have a saving faith within me tells me thou shalt, I get thee with scambling, and thou must therefore needs prove a good soldier-breeder : shall not thou and I, between Saint Denis and Saint George, compound a boy, half French, half English, that shall go to Constantinople and take the Turk by the beard? shall we not? what say'st thou my fair flower- de-luce? 202 Katharine. I do not know dat. King Henry. No ; 't is hereafter to know, but now to promise : do but now promise, Kate, you will endeavour for your French part of such a boy ; and for my English moiety take the word of a king and a bachelor. How answer you, la plus belle Katharine du monde, mon tres-cher et divin deesse? 209 183. il est I il & Ff . — meilleur | melieus F1F2. 197. scambling : struggling, fighting. Used as a present participle in I, i, 4. The form ' scramble ' is not found in Shakespeare. scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 163 Katharine. Your majeste ave fausse French enough to deceive de most sage demoiselle dat is en France. 211 King Henry. 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 un- tempering 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? 236 211. demoiselle | damoiseil F1F2. 225. your maiden | those Maiden F3F4. 233. broken music. The expression, a technical one to describe certain kinds of 'part-music,' is here used, for the sake of the quibble implicit in it, to denote ' sweetest music' Cf. As You Like It, I, ii, 150. 164 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v Katharine. Dat is as it shall please de roi mon pere. King Henry. Nay, it will please him well, Kate, it shall please him, Kate. Katharine. Den it sail also content me. 240 King Henry. Upon that I kiss your hand, and I call you my queen. Katharine. Laissez, mon seigneur, laissez, laissez : ma foi, je ne veux point que vous abaissiez votre grandeur en baisant la main d'une de votre seigneurie indigne serviteur ; excusez-moi, je vous supplie, mon tres-puissant seigneur. King Henry. Then I will kiss your lips, Kate. 247 Katharine. Les dames et demoiselles pour etre baisees devant leur noces, il n'est pas la coutume de France. King Henry. Madam my interpreter, what says she? Alice. Dat it is not be de fashion pour les ladies of France, — I cannot tell wat is baiser en Anglish. King Henry. To kiss. Alice. Your majesty entendre bettre que moi. King Henry. It is not a fashion for the maids in France to kiss before they are married, would she say? Alice. Oui, vraiment. 257 King Henry. O Kate, nice customs curtsy to great kings. Dear Kate, you and I cannot be confm'd within the weak 243. Laissez Rowe | Laisse Ff. 249. noces Dyce Globe Camb | 244. abaissiez | abbaisse Ff. nopcese Ff. 245. d'une . . . indigne Globe 251. les Theobald | le Ff. Camb I d'une nostre Seigneur in- 252. wat F1F2F3 | vat Globe dignie Ff. Camb. — baiser Hanmer | buisse Ff. 246. excusez-moi Rowe | excuse 255. It is F1F2 I Is it F3F4. moy Ff. 258. curtsy | cursie Ff | courtesy 248. baise'es Theobald | baisee Fi. Globe Camb. 258. nice customs curtsy : prudish conventions yield. Cf. ' nice,' line 263; 'nicely,' line 94. See note, I, ii, 15. scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 165 list of a country's fashion : we are the makers of manners, Kate ; and the liberty that follows our places stops the mouth of all find-faults ; as I will do yours for upholding the nice fashion of your country in denying me a kiss : therefore, patiently and yielding. \Kissing her] 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 Eng- land than a general petition of monarchs. Here comes your father. 269 Re-enter the French King and his Queen, Burgundy, and other Lords Burgundy. God save your majesty ! my royal cousin, Teach you our princess English? King Henry. I would have her learn, my fair cousin, how perfectly I love her ; and that is good English. Burgundy. Is she not apt? 274 King Henry. 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. 278 Burgundy. Pardon the frankness of my mirth, if I answer you for that. If you would conjure in her, you must make 264. [Kissingker] Rowe | Ffomit. pell Globe Camb | Enter the French 270. Scene V Pope I Scene IV Han- Power, and the English Lords Ff. mer. — Re-enter . . . other Lords Ca- 274. not F1F2 I F3F4 omit. 260. list: barrier. Cf. 1 Henry IV, IV, i, 51. The plural usually denoted the inclosed space within which tilting-matches, or tourna- ments, were held. 280-281. Conjurers used to mark out a circle on the ground, w T ithih w T hich their conjuring was to take effect by the appearance 1 66 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 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 ros'd over with the virgin crimson of mod- esty, if she deny the appearance of a naked blind boy? It were, my lord, a hard condition for a maid to consign to. '285 King Henry. Yet they do wink and yield, as love is blind and enforces. Burgundy. They are then excus'd, my lord, when they see not what they do. King Henry. Then, good my lord, teach your cousin to consent winking. 291 Burgundy. I will wink on her to consent, my lord, if you will teach her to know my meaning : for maids, well summer'd and warm kept, are like flies at Bartholomew- tide, blind, though they have their eyes. 295 King Henry. 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. Burgundy. As love is, my lord, before it loves. 299 King Henry. 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. French King. Yes, my lord, you see them perspectively, the cities turn'd into a maid ; for they are girdled with maiden walls that war hath never enter'd. 305 305. never Rowe | not Capell | Ff omit. of the beings invoked. Probably an equivoque is here intended, 'circle' being also used for 'crown.' 294-295. Bartholomew-tide : St. Bartholomew's Day, August 24. 303. perspectively: as in a 'perspective.' A 'perspective' was " a glass cut in such a manner as to produce an optical deception scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 167 King Henry. Shall Kate be my wife? French King. So please you. King Henry. 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. 310 French King. We have consented to all terms of reason. King Henry. Is 't so, my lords of England? Westmoreland. The king hath granted every article : His daughter first ; and then in sequel all, According to their firm proposed natures. 315 Exeter. 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 high- ness in this form and with this addition, in French, Notre tres-cher fils Henri, roi d'Angleterre, heritier de France ; and thus in Latin, Prseclarissimus filius noster Henricus, rex Anglise, et haeres Franciae. 322 French King. Nor this I have not, brother, so denied, But your request shall make me let it pass. 314. and then F2F3F4 I and Fi. 320. heritier Globe Camb | Here- 317. any F1F2 I F3F4 omit. tere Ff. when looked through." — Schmidt. Cf. Twelfth Night, V, i, 224-225 : One face, one voice, one habit and two persons, A natural perspective that is and is not. 321. 'Praeclarissimus'isfor'praecarissimus.' In this blunder Shake- speare follows Holinshed, who followed the second (1550) edition of Hall's Chronicle, where the * precharissimus ' of the first edition (1548), used correctly to translate 'tres cher' in the original treaty of Troyes, is misprinted 'preclarissimus.' "Also that our said father, during his life, shall name, call, and w T rite vs in French in this maner : Nostre treschier filz Henry roy tV Engleterre heretere de France. And in Latine in this maner : Praclarissimus filius noster Henricus rex Anglice 6° hceres Francice" — Holinshed. 1 68 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v King Henry. I pray you, then, in love and dear alliance, Let that one article rank with the rest ; 326 And thereupon give me your daughter. French King. Take her, fair son ; and from her blood raise up Issue to me ; that the contending kingdoms Of France and England, whose very shores look pale 330 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. 335 All. Amen ! King Henry. Now, welcome, Kate; and bear me wit- ness all, That here I kiss her as my sovereign queen. [FlourisJt] Queen Isabel. God, the best maker of all marriages, Combine your hearts in one, your realms in one ! 340 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, 345 334. bosoms I breasts Pope. 345. paction Theobald | pation F1F2 I 336. All Rowe | Lords Ff. passion F3F4. 330. A fanciful allusion to the white cliffs of the two countries. Cf. Austria's description of England, King John, II, i, 23 : " that pale, that white-fac'd shore, Whose foot spurns back the ocean's roaring tides." 343. ill office : unworthy action. Cf. Two Gentlemen of Verona, III, ii, 40: "'Tis an ill office for a gentleman." 345. Thrust in : intrude. — paction : alliance, league. scene ii KING HENRY THE FIFTH 169 To make divorce of their incorporate league ; That English may as French, French Englishmen, Receive each other ! God speak this Amen ! All. Amen ! King Henry. Prepare we for our marriage : on which day, 350 My Lord of Burgundy, we '11 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 ! [Sennet. Exeunt] 352. peers' Capell | Peeres Ff. — 354. [Sennet | Senet Fi I Sonet leagues | league Dyce. F2F3F4 I Sonnet Rowe. 349-354. In Holinshed the matter is stated thus : When this great matter was finished, the kings sware for their parts to obserue all the couenants of this league and agreement. Likewise the Duke of Burgognie and a great number of other princes and nobles which were present receiued an oth. . . . This doone, the morow after Trinitie sundaie being the third of Iune, the mariage was solemnized and fully consummate betwixt the king of England and the said ladie Katharine. 354. Sennet. This is a term common in Elizabethan stage direc- tions to describe a set of notes on a trumpet sounded as a signal of entrance or departure. It is etymologically of uncertain origin, but is probably connected with Old Fr. szgnet, Lat. signum. Cf. 'signa- ture ' in musical notation. " The printer of the second Folio when he misread ' Sonet' for ' Senet ' probably supposed it to be the title of the poem of fourteen lines, which the Chorus speaks, though the position of the word is ambiguous. The printer of the fourth Folio and Rowe place it as if it belonged to the Enter Chorus." — Clar. EPILOGUE Enter Chorus Chorus. 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 5 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; 10 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. \_Exit] EPILOGUE I Ff omit. 12. made Fi | make F2F3F4. 8. lord. Fi I lord, F2F3F4. 14. [Exit] Capell | Ff omit. EPILOGUE. This is in the form of a regular Shakespearian sonnet, — three quatrains, with alternate rhyme, and a couplet. 2. bending. Steevens's interpretation is, " unequal to the weight of his subject, and bending beneath it; or ... as in Hamlet, III, ii, 160, ' Here stooping to your clemency.' " 4. Giving only fragmentary glimpses of their glorious careers. 6. star of England. "A lode-starre in honour." — Holinshed. 11. Whose state . . . the managing. For this idiom see Abbott, § 93. 13. oft. The reference is to the three parts of Henry VI, which, it is implied here, had been received favorably. 170 INDEX I. WORDS AND PHRASES This Index includes the most important words, phrases, etc., explained in the notes. The figures in heavy-faced type refer to the pages ; those in plain type, to the lines containing what is explained. A (he): 50 10. absolute : 90 24. accept (accepted) : 157 82. accompt: 4 17. accord : 44 86. ActV, Scene I: 149 l. Act IE, Scene IV, au- thenticity of: 73 l. admiration did not hoop : 45 108. advantageable : 158 88. advantages: 112 272, 121 50. advice : 42 43. advise himself: 88 156. advised : 22 179. Agincourt: 121 40. air, a charter'd liber- tine : 9 48. Alexandrine verse : 36 61, 82 39. all my mother : 132 31. ancient: 33 3. and (if): 38 97, 98. and if : 58 120. and't: 137 115, 118,126. antics: 65 31. apprehension : 95 130. approbation: 14 19. Archbishop of Canter- bury: 6 l. argument: 106 138. assays : 21 151. auncient lieutenant : 80 11-12. awkward : 56 85. babbled of green fields : 50 16. ball: 111 248. balm: 111 248. bar: 154 27. Barbason : 36 49. barley broth: 77 19. Bartholomew-tide: 166 294-295. basilisk: 154 17. bate : 94 107. battle (army) : 97 9. bawcock : 65 25. beard of the general's cut : 84 75. beaver: 117 44. Bedford: 12 l. bending: 170 2. bent: 154 16. berries thrive, etc.: 10 61-62. beseech'd : 68 104. Bishop of Ely: 6 l. blown from adulation : 111 242. blown that vice in me : 87 149. bolted : 46 137. book: 135 68. 171 breff : 69 112. bring : 49 1. broached: 148 32. broken metre : 32 32. broken music : 163 233. broken seals of per- jury : 107 156. bubukles : 85 100. burnet: 155 49. butt: 23 186. buxom: 81 25. Cadwallader: 150 25. Cambridge: 40 12. Cambridge, his object in joining the con- spiracy: 47 155-157. candlesticks: 117 45. cap : 94 109. careful: 110 219. carry coals : 66 45. case : 64 4. caveto : 52 46. ceremonies: 105 102. chaces : 27 266. chantries : 113 289. charitably dispose: 106 137. Charlemain : 1 7 75. charter' d libertine : 9 48. cheeks are paper: 43 74. cherishing the exhib- iters : 10 74. 172 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE cheval volant : 89 14. chez : 89 14. chide : 58 125. chien . . . bourbier : 92 60-61, christom: 50 n. chuck : 65 25. circle: 165 280-281. close : 23 182. cockpit: 4 11. comes o'er us : 27 267. comic scenes ended : 152 80. companies (compan- ions) : 9 55. con : 83 73. condition: 152 72. confounded : 62 13. congreeing : 23 182. congreeted : 154 31. consent : 22 181. convey'd himself as : 17 74. corantos : 78 33. couple a gorge : 37 66. craft and vantage : 87 141. create : 41 31. crescive : 10 66. Crispian: 121 40. crowns : 110 214-217. crush'd necessity : 22 175. crystals: 52 47. cue: 86 121. cullions : 64 21. cursorary : 157 77. curtle-axe : 116 21. dare the field: 116 36. darnel, hemlock, etc.: 155 45. dat is de princess : 1 5 9 120. Dauphin: 53 14. Dauphin not present at Agincourt : -89 l. Dauphin's ejaculations : 114 2-6. Davy Gam: 144 loo. deck'd in modest com- pliment : 46 134. defective in their na- tures : 156 55. defensible : 72 50. defus'd: 156 61. Delabreth: 78 40. deracinate: 155 47. devil: 129 68. die (live, Coleridge): 121 38. digest the abuse of dis- tance : 32 31-32. digt himself : 66 59. directly: 159 126. dishonest : 15 49. distemper : 42 54. distressful bread : 1 12 258. division into acts and scenes : 6 l. double comparatives : 78 39. dout: 115 11. Dramatis Personam : 2, note i. dress us : 100 10. duke : 65 22. Duke of Bourbon : 75 i. Duke of Britaine: 76 10. duty: 41 31. eat all he kills : 93 87. Edward, Duke of York : 125 129. Edward, his great- grandfather: 11 89. Edward the Black Prince: 19 105. either (monosyllabic) : 61 21. elder-gun: 109 189. element (sky): 105 101. elements : 90 20. emperor (Sigismund): 148 38. empery: 25 226. enforced: 134 57. England . . . shores look pale: 168 330. enter Chorus : 3 l. entertain conjecture of: 97 l. Epilogue: 170 l. Erpingham: 101 13. Essex's expedition to Ireland : 148 30-32. even-pleach'd : 155 42. excursions : 126 l. executors : 24 203. Exeter: 12 l. exhale : 36 57. expectation :30 s. expedience : 122 70. fall: 161 155. famine, sword, and fire : 3 7. farced: 112 251. fat-brain'd: 95 128. favour : 156 63. fear'd: 21 155. fet: 63 18. fierce (dissyllabic) : 57 99. fig of Spain: 83 58. figo: 83 56. find: 17 72. firk . . . ferret : 127 28- 29. five thousand: 123 76. fix'd : 97 6. flesh'd: 55 50, 70 11. Fluellen's dialect: 64 20. Fluellen's pedantry : 66 57. fool's bolt, etc. : 94 117. for (for want of): 19 114. INDEX 173 force a play : 32 32. fortune ... foe : 82 38. fox: 126 9. France (dissyllabic) : 22 167. freckled cowslip : 155 49. French hose: 91 49. French king: 52 1. from : 84 84. galliard : 26 252. garb: 152 69. gates of mercy: 70 10. gentle his condition : 122 63. gesture sad investing : 98 25-26. giddy: 21 145. gilt . . . guilt : 32 26. gimmal'd: 117 49. gives (third person plural in s): 14 27. gleaned : 21 151. gleeking: 152 67. Gloucester: 12 1. gloze : 15 40. goats : 150 25. God before: 29 307, 88 153. God-den: 67 80. great seats: 78 47. great sort: 138 129. greatest admiration : 103 67. Grey : 40 12. guard; on: 118 60. gun-stones : 28 282. habit: 86 ill. haggled: 131 11. hairs : 89 13. Hampton : 60 4. Harfleur: 61 17. hazard: 93 80. head: 41 18. heady: 71 32. heady currance : 8 34. help Hyperion to his horse: 112 263. Henry V, birth, acces- sion and death : 12 1. Henry V a Welshman : 103 52. Henry Lord Scroop of Masham: 31 24. Herod's . . . slaughter- men: 72 41. hilding: 116 29. hilts : 30 9. his : 81 30. his(\r): 18 88. honey-bees : 23 187. honour would thee do : 31 18. humour of it : 36 54. humorous : 54 28. Huntingdon: 157 85. huswif : 152 73. hydra-headed : 8 35. I eat and eat: 151 43. Iceland dog : 35 36. if (Tynvhitt's conj.) : 113 279. ill-favouredly become : 117 40. ill office: 168 343. imaginary forces : 4 18. imagin'd wing : 60 1. imbar : 1 8 94. imp : 102 45. impawn: 14 21. impeachment : 87 139. in (into) : 23 184. indirectly: 57 94. ingrateful : 44 95. instance : 45 119. intendment: 21 144. -ion (dissyllabic): 3 2, 19 114. irreconciPd iniquities : 107 146. it (its): 155 40. jack-an-apes : 160 139- 140. jade : 90 23. just, just : 95 141. jutty: 62 13. Katharine: 73 1. kecksies : 156 52. kern: 91 49. keynote of the play: 3 1. kind kinsman : 1 1 9 10. king has kill'd his heart: 38 82. King Henry's glove : 141 37. King of Scots : 21 161. kite of Cressid's kind : 37 71. larding: 131 8. late: 43 61. lavoltas: 78 33. lazars : 7 15. leash'd in like hounds : 3 7. leek: 103 55. legerity: 101 23. let: 156 65. Lewis (monosyllabic) : 17 76. - Lewis his satisfaction: 18 88. Lewis the tenth : 1 7 77. lieutenant-corporal: 35 33. lig i' the grund : 69 110-111. likes : 61 32. line : 53 7. linstock : 61 33. lion gait : 45 122. list: 165 260. live in brass : 124 97. living hence : 28 270. longs (belong): 56 80. mangling . . . course . . . glory: 170 4. 174 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE mean and gentle, etc.: 99 45-47. measure: 160 134. memorable : 57 88. men of mould: 65 22. mervailous : 35 42. mettle of your pasture : 63 27. mightiness (plural): 154 28. mince it: 159 126. minding: 100 53. miscreate : 13 16. mockeries : 100 53. modest in exception : 54 34. Monmouth caps: 136 94-95. Montjoy: 87 135. mope : 95 128. morris dance: 53 25. mote: 108 170. mountain sire : 55 57. mountaineer: 150 32. moy: 126 13. native punishment: 107 159. new-tun'd: 84 74. nice customs curtsy: 164 258. nicely: 13 15, 158 94. nook-shotten : 77 14. Nym: 33 1. 0: 4 13. obscure his contem- plation: 10 63-64. diable, etc. : 129 1-3. o'erblows: 71 31. oft: 170 13. omit no happy hour : 29 300. ordinance : 58 126. ostent : 147 21. over-bears attaint : 99 39. overshot: 94 119. own hair : 92 57. paction: 168 345. pales in: 146 10. passes . . . careers : 39 121. pauca: 37 74. pay: 108 188. peace to this meeting : 153 l. peevish : 95 127. penitence . . . pardon: 114 292-293. Pepin and Hugh Capet: 16 65-69. perdy: 35 44. perilous narrow ocean : 5 22. perspectively: 166303. Pharamond : 15 37. pioners: 68 83. pitch and pay : 5 1 42. pity of : 71 28. pix (pax): 82 39. plain-song : 64 5. plural in s: 112 272. pocketing up of wrongs : 66 49. popular: 102 38. popularity : 9 59. poring: 97 2. portage: 62 10. possess him with : 105 107. practic: 9 51. practices : 44 90. praeclarissimus : 167 321. precepts: 71 26. presently: 157 79. prisoners to be killed : 132 37. proportion: 45 109. proportions: 20 137, 29 304, 54 45. puissance : 5 25. purchase: 65 41,1 39163. qualtitie calmie, etc. : 126 4. question: 6 5, 69 113. quick: 43 79. quit: 47 166. quit you: 78 47. quit you with gud leve: 68 99. quittance : 42 34. quotidian tertian : 39 114. rackets : 27 261. ragged curtains: 117 41. raise ... a mighty sum: 20 133. raught : 131 21. rawly: 106 135. reduce: 156 63. relapse of mortality: 124 107. relative with singular verb after plural an- tecedent: 4 9. resolv'd: 13 4. respect : 151 65. rest (determination) : •34 15. Richard Earl of Cam- bridge : 31 23. rim : 126 14. ripe : 86 120. rivage : 61 14. rivets : 98 13. roping: 77 23. Rouen : 79 54. round: 109 194. rub : 49 188. sad-eyed : 24 202. Saint Denis be my speed: 161 177-178. Salic law: 14 35-40, 15 43-64. savagery: 155 47. scald : 149 5. scambling:6 4,162l97. INDEX 175 scions : 76 8. sconce : 83 71. Scroop : 40 12. security : 42 44. self (same) : 6 l. sennet: 169 354. severals : 1 1 86. shales: 115 18. snog : 35 40. sinfully miscarry: 107 142. singular verb before plural subject: 52 1. Sir Thomas Gray: 31 24. skirr: 134 56. slanders of : 84 78. slough: 101 23. slovenry : 125 114. solemnly: 147 14. solus: 35 41. sorts: 23 190. speculation: 116 31. speed: 161 177. spend their mouths : 56 70. spital: 37 69, 152 74. sprays: 76 5. squire of low degree : 150 33. state : 23 184. sternage : 61 18. still: 21 145. stomach: 96 148. stood: 158 94. stood on : 83 73. stoop: 105 104. strait strossers : 91 50. sufferance : 47 159. suggest: 45 114. suit : 84 75. sur-rein'd : 77 19. swashers : 65 29. swill'd: 62 14. sworn brothers : 33 11, 66 43-44. sympathize with: 95 141. take : 36 47, 109 2C6. tender: 48 175. that (so that) : 97 6. theoric : 9 52. thrust in: 168 345. thy : 1 1 1 233. tike : 34 26. trumpet: 118 61. tucket: 86 ill. tucket sonance : 116 35. tun : 26 255. Turkish mute : 25 232. turning of the tide : 50 13. umber'd: 97 9. uncoin'd constancy : 160 150. unities of time and place : 5 29-31. unprovided: 108 165. upon the king, etc. : 110 218-272. vasty : 45 123. vaward : 125 130. verb attracted to plural: 154 19. very : 4 ]3. vigil : 121 45. vile and rugged foils : 100 50. void his rheum : 79 52. Warwick: 12 1. waxen epitaph: 25 233. well-appointed : 60 4. Westmoreland: 12 1. whelks : 85 100. wheresome'er : 49 7. which . . . projection . . . cloth: 54 46-48. whiffler: 146 12. white liver'd: 65 32. whose state . . . man- aging : 170 11. Williams and Fluellen types of national character: 141 27- 36. womby vaultages : 5 8 124. working . . . cause: 45 107. wrangler : 27 264. wringing : 110 224. wrongs: 14 27. yearn: 49 3, 120 26. yield the crow a pud- ding: 38 81. II. QUOTATIONS FROM HOLINSHED Agincourt (the battle so named) : 135 61-85. Agincourt, list of the slain : 143 71-102. Te Deum sung after the victory: 145 119. Alengon and myself, etc. : 138 146-147. attitude of the French Agincourt, psalms and king: 75 1-2. bill to seize lands, etc. : 7 7-19. book of Numbers : 1 8 98. bowels of the Lord : 57 102. 176 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE bruised helmet . . . for- bids it: 147 18-19. by ten : 96 150. Calais : 146 7. captive chariot : 79 54. covetous for gold : 120 24. defection of Cambridge, Scroop, and Grey : 31 22-27. Edward III at Crecy: 19 105. emperor (Sigismund) : 148 38. Erpingham : 101 13. famine, sword, and fire: 3 7. five to one: 119 4. French leaders : 89 1. gun stones : 28 282. Henry's answer to Mont joy: 88 157- 159. if that you will France win : 22 167. keeping the bridge: 80 1-4. King Henry's ransom : 123 79-125. Lewis the tenth : 17 77. Mayor and all his brethren, etc.: 14725. mining and countermin- ing : 66 59. mirror of . . . kings : 30 6. Mont joy rewarded : 88 155. pax (pix) : 82 39. Pepin and Hugh Capet : 16 64-77. play at dice : 98 19. prseclarissimus : 167 321. prepare we for our mar- riage: 169 350. raise ... a mighty sum: 20 133. Salic law: 14 35-40, 15 43-64. Scroop in favor with the king: 40 8-11. Scroop's character: 46 138-140. sentence of the con- spirators : 48 174- 181. star of England: 170 6. surrender of Harfleur : 72 45^-49. tennis-balls : 27 258. three score thousand : 119 3. trophy . . . signal . . . to God : 147 21-22. what 's he that wishes so: 120 18. winter coming on: 72 55. ANNOUNCEMENTS HUDSON'S HARVARD SHAKESPEARE COMPLETE WORKS By HENRY N. HUDSON, Author of " Life, Art, and Characters of Shakespeare " j Editor of " School Shakespeare," etc. In twenty volumes, duodecimo, two plays in each volume ; also in ten volumes of four plays each. Retail prices : twenty-volume edition : cloth, $25.00 ; half morocco, $$55.00; ten-volume edition : cloth, $20.00; half morocco, $40.00. 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HUDSON In two volumes. i2mo. 1003 pages. Retail prices: cloth, $4.00; half morocco, $8.00 Edwin Booth, the great actor and eminent Shakespearean scholar, once said that he received more real good from the orig- inal criticisms and suggestive comments as given by Dr. Hudson in these two books than from any other writer on Shakespeare. GINN & COMPANY Publishers BOOKS ON ENGLISH LITERATURE Alexander's Introduction to the Poetry of Robert Browning Athenaeum Press Series: 26 volumes now ready. Baldwin's Inflections and Syntax of Malory's Morte d'Arthur Bellamy's Twelve English Poets .... Browne's Shakspere's Versification ... Corson's Primer of English Verse .... Emery's Notes on English Literature . . . Garnett's Selections in English Prose from Elizabeth to Victoria Gayley's Classic Myths in English Literature Gayley and Scott's Literary Criticism . . Gummere's Handbook of Poetics .... Hudson's Classical English Reader . . . 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Winchester's Five Short Courses of Reading in English Literature „ List Mailing price price #1.00 $I.IO I.40 •75 .25 1. 00 1. 00 1.50 1.50 1.25 1. 00 1. 00 .25 1.25 1.25 .60 .90 1.50 1.50 .90 1. 00 1.50 1.25 .80 1.50 .85 1. 10 1. 10 1.65 1.65 1.40 1. 10 1. 10 .27 1.40 1.40 .70 •95 1.65 1.65 •95 1. 10 1.65 1.40 .90 1.25 1.40 •3° -35 1.00 1. 10 .40 .45 GINN & COMPANY Publishers THE BEST ELIZABETHAN PLAYS Edited, with an Introduction, by WILLIAM R. THAYER 611 pages. For introduction, $1.25 THE selection comprises The Jew of Malta, by Marlowe ; The Alchemist, by Ben Jonson ; Philaster, by Beaumont and Fletcher ; The Two Noble Kinsmen^ by Fletcher and Shakes- peare ; and The Duchess of Malfi, by Webster. It thus affords not only the best specimen of the dramatic work of each of the five Elizabethan poets who rank next to Shakespeare, but also a general view of the development of English drama from its rise in Marlowe to its last strong expression in Webster. This book has long been needed, and seems to be unanimously welcomed and recommended by the professors of English literature. We present as a specimen of their opinions the following letter. From Professor ALBERT S. COOK of Yale University. New Haven, May 17, 1890. Dear Sirs: You have done well in bringing out Thayer's edition of "The Best Elizabethan Plays." It will naturally be the book first resorted to by those who have gained some familiarity with Shakes- peare, and who wish to compare and contrast him with his great, though lesser, rivals. It is to this edition they will turn, because they can nowhere else find the same masterpieces, or so large a number of equally fine ones, in so cheap, convenient, and well-printed a volume, undisfigured by the coarseness of expression which occasionally sullied the pages of the original editions, and which we are less willing than the Elizabethans to condone, in view of the vigor and high imagination in which the dramas of this period abound. Very truly yours, Messrs. Ginn & Company. ALBERT S. COOK. GINN «S COMPANY Publishers Boston New YorK Chicago San Francisco Atlanta Dallas Columbus London The Beginnings of the English Romantic Flovement By WILLIAM LYON PHELPS, A.M. (Harvard), Ph.D. (Yale), Instructor in English Literature at Yale University. 12mo. Cloth, viii+ 192 pages. Introduction price, $1.00, 'TT'HIS book is a study of the germs of English ^* Romanticism between 1725 and 1765. No other work in this field has ever been published, hence the results given here are all the fruit of first-hand investigation. The book discusses, with abundant references and illustrations, the various causes that brought about the transitions of taste from Classi- cism to Romanticism — such as the Spenserian revival, the influence of Milton's minor poetry, the love of mediaeval life, the revival of ballad literature, the study of Northern mythology, etc. It is believed that this book is a contribution to our knowledge of English literary history ; and it will be especially valuable to advanced classes of students who are interested in the development of literature. The treatment is historical rather than argumentative. GINN & COriPANY, Publishers, Boston. New York. Chicago. Atlanta. Dallas. Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 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