Dramatis Personæ. King Henry the Eighth. Cardinal Wolsey. Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. Duke of Norfolk. Duke of Buckingham. Duke of Suffolk. Earl of Surrey. Lord Chamberlain. Cardinal Campeius, the Pope's Legate. Capucius, Ambassador from the Emperor Charles the Fifth. Sir Thomas Audley, Lord Keeper [Lord Chancellor]. Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester. Bishop of Lincoln. Lord Abergavenny. Lord Sands [Lord Sandys]. Sir Henry Guildford. Sir Thomas Lovell. Sir Anthony Denny. Sir Nicholas Vaux. Sir William Sands. Cromwell, Servant to Wolsey. Griffith, Gentleman-Usher to Queen Catharine. Three Gentlemen [Gentleman 1], [Gentleman 2], [Gentleman 3]. Doctor Butts, Physician to the King. Garter, King at Arms, Surveyor to the Duke of Buckingham. Brandon. Serjeant at Arms [Sergeant at Arms]. Door-Keeper of the Council-Chamber [Doorkeeper]. Porter, and his Man.

Queen Catharine [Queen Katharine]. Anne Bullen. An old Lady, Friend to Anne Bullen. Patience, Woman to Queen Catharine. Several Lords and Ladies in the Dumb Shows. Women attending upon the Queen; Spirits, which appear to her. Scribes, Officers, Guards, and other Attendants. [Secretary], [Lord Chamberlain], [Servant], [Scribe], [Crier], [Usher], [Gentleman], [Messenger], [Boy] The SCENE lies mostly in London and Westminster; once, at Kimbolton. ^note

The LIFE of King HENRY VIII.

PROLOGUE.
I come no more to make you laugh; things now,
That bear a weighty and a serious brow,
Sad, high, and working, full of state and woe;
Such noble scenes, as draw the eye to flow,
We shall present. Those, that can pity, here
May, if they think it well, let fall a tear;
The subject will deserve it. Such, as give
Their money out of hope they may believe,
May here find truth too. Those, that come to see
Only a show or two, and so agree,
The Play may pass, if they be still and willing,
I'll undertake, may see away their shilling
Richly in two short hours. Only they,
That come to hear a merry, bawdy play;
A noise of targets; ^{1 note}
or to see a fellow
In a long motley coat, guarded with yellow;
Will be deceiv'd: for, gentle hearers, know,
To rank our chosen truth with ^{2 note}
such a show
As fool and fight is, besides forfeiting
Our own brains, and ^{3 note}


th' opinion that we bring

To make that only true we now intend,
Will leave us ne'er an understanding friend.
Therefore, for goodness' sake, as you are known
The first and happiest hearers of the town,
Be sad, as we would make ye. ^{4 note}

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