King.
Go call the Earls of Surrey and of Warwick;
But, ere they come, bid them o'er-read these letters,
And well consider of them: make good speed. [Exit Page. ^note
How many thousand ^note of my poorest subjects
Are at this hour asleep! O sleep, O gentle sleep ^note,
Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee,
That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down,
And steep my senses in forgetfulness?
Why rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs,
Upon uneasy pallets ^note stretching thee,
And hush'd ^note with buzzing night-flies ^note to thy slumber,
Than in the perfumed chambers of the great,
Under the ^note canopies of costly state ^note,
And lull'd with sound ^note of sweetest melody?
O thou dull god, why liest thou with the vile
In loathsome beds, and leavest the kingly couch
A watch-case or ^note a common 'larum-bell?
Wilt thou upon the high and giddy mast ^note
Seal up the ship-boy's eyes, and rock his brains
In cradle of the rude imperious surge,
And in the visitation of the winds,
Who take the ruffian billows ^note by the top,
Curling their monstrous heads and hanging them

With deafening ^note clamour ^note in the slippery clouds ^note,
That, with the hurly, death itself awakes?
Canst thou, O partial sleep, give thy ^note repose
To the wet sea-boy ^note in an hour so rude;
And in the calmest and most stillest ^note night,
With all appliances and means to boot,
Deny it to a ^note king? Then happy low, lie down! ^note
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. Enter ^note Warwick and Surrey. ^note

War.
Many good morrows to your majesty!

King.
Is it good ^note morrow, lords?

War.
'Tis one o'clock, and past.

King.
Why, then, good morrow to you all, ^note my lords.
Have you read o'er the letters ^note that I sent you?

War.
We have, my liege.

King.
Then you perceive the body of our kingdom
How foul it is; what rank diseases grow,
And with what danger, near the heart of it.

War.
It is but as a body yet ^note distemper'd;
Which to his former strength may be restored
With good advice and little medicine:
My Lord Northumberland will soon be cool'd ^note.

King.
O God ^note! that one might read the book of fate,
And see the revolution of the times

Make mountains level, and the continent,
Weary of solid firmness, melt itself
Into the sea! and, other times, to see
The beachy girdle of the ocean
Too wide for Neptune's hips; how chances mock ^note,
And changes fill the cup of alteration
With divers liquors! O, if this were seen,
The happiest youth, viewing his progress through ^note,
What perils past, what crosses to ensue,
Would shut the book, and sit him ^note down and die. ^note
'Tis not ten years gone ^{note note}
Since Richard and Northumberland, great friends ^note,
Did feast together, and in two years ^note after
Were they at wars: it is but eight years since
This Percy was the man nearest my soul;
Who like a brother toil'd in my affairs,
And laid his love and life under my foot;
Yea, for my sake, even to the eyes of Richard
Gave him defiance. But ^note which of you was by—
You, cousin Nevil, as I may remember— [To Warwick.
When Richard, with his eye brimful ^note of tears,
Then check'd and rated by Northumberland,
Did speak these words, now proved a prophecy?
‘Northumberland, thou ladder by the which
My cousin Bolingbroke ascends my throne;’
Though then, God ^note knows, I had no such intent,
But that necessity so bow'd the state,
That I and greatness were compell'd to kiss:
‘The time shall come,’ thus did he follow it,
‘The time will ^note come, that foul sin, gathering head,

Shall break into corruption ^note:’ so went on,
Foretelling this same time's condition,
And the division of our amity.

War.
There is a history in all men's lives,
Figuring the nature ^note of the times deceased;
The which observed, a man may prophesy,
With a near aim, of the main chance of things
As yet not come to life, which ^note in their seeds
And weak beginnings ^note lie intreasured.
Such things become the hatch and brood of time;
And by the necessary form of this ^note
King Richard might create a perfect guess
That great Northumberland, then false to him,
Would of that seed grow to a greater falseness;
Which should not find a ground to root upon,
Unless on you.

King.
Are these things then ^note necessities?
Then let us meet them like necessities ^note:
And that same word even now cries out on us:
They say the bishop and Northumberland
Are fifty thousand strong.

War.
It cannot be, my lord ^note;
Rumour doth double, like the voice and echo,
The numbers of the fear'd. Please it your grace
To go to bed. Upon my soul ^note, my lord,
The powers that you already have sent forth
Shall bring ^note this prize in very easily.
To comfort you the more, I have received
A certain instance that Glendower is dead.
Your majesty hath been this fortnight ill;
And these unseason'd hours perforce must add
Unto your sickness.

K. Hen.
I will take your counsel:
And were these inward wars once out of hand,
We would, dear lords, unto the Holy Land. [Exeunt. ^{note note}

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