1 ^note

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ. King Henry the Eighth. Cardinal Wolsey. Cardinal Campeius. Capucius, Ambassador from the Emperor Charles V. Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. Duke of Norfolk. Duke of Buckingham. Duke of Suffolk. Earl of Surrey. Lord Chamberlain. 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. Secretaries to Wolsey. Cromwell, Servant to Wolsey. Griffith, Gentleman-usher to Queen Katharine. Three Gentlemen. Doctor Butts, Physician to the King. Garter King-at-Arms. [Garter, King at Arms] Surveyor to the Duke of Buckingham. Brandon, and a Sergeant-at-Arms. [Sergeant at Arms] Door-keeper of the Council-chamber [Doorkeeper]. Porter, and his Man. Page to Gardiner. A Crier. Queen Katharine, wife to King Henry, afterwards divorced. Anne Bullen, her Maid of Honour, afterwards Queen. An old Lady, friend to Anne Bullen. Patience, woman to Queen Katharine. Several Lords and Ladies in the Dumb Shows; Women attending upon the Queen; Scribes, Officers, Guards, and other Attendants. Spirits. [Secretary 1], [Gentleman 1], [Gentleman 2], [Gentleman 3], [Gentleman], [Scribe], [Crier], [Messenger] Scene: London; Westminster; Kimbolton.

THE FAMOUS HISTORY OF THE LIFE OF KING HENRY VIII.

THE PROLOGUE.
I come no more to make you laugh: things now,
That bear a weighty and a serious brow,
Sad, high and working ^note, full ^note of state and woe,
Such noble scenes as draw the eye to flow,
We now ^note 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 ^note
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, or to see a fellow
In a long motley coat guarded with yellow,
Will be deceived; for, gentle hearers, know,
To rank our chosen truth with such a show
As fool and fight is, beside ^note forfeiting
Our own brains and the opinion that we bring
To make ^note that only true we now intend ^note,

Will leave us never ^note an understanding friend.
Therefore, for goodness' sake, and as ^note you are known
The first and happiest hearers of the town,
Be sad, as we would make ye: think ye see ^note
The very persons of our noble story ^note
As they were living; think you see them great
And follow'd with the general throng and sweat
Of thousand friends; then, in a moment, see
How soon this mightiness meets misery:
And if you can be merry then, I'll say
A man may weep upon his wedding-day.

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