L.H.
Will.
Brother John Bates, is not that the morning which
breaks yonder?
Bates.
I think it be: but we have no great cause to
desire the approach of day.
Will.
We see yonder the beginning of the day, but, I
think, we shall never see the end of it.—Who goes there?
-- 57 --
K. Hen.
A friend.
[Comes down, R.
Will.
Under what captain serve you?
K. Hen.
Under Sir Thomas Erpingham.
Will.
A good old commander, and a most kind gentleman:
I pray you, what thinks he of our estate?
K. Hen.
Even as men wrecked upon a sand, that look to
be washed off the next tide.
Bates. (L.)
He hath not told his thought to the king?
K. Hen.
No; nor it is not meet he should. (Crosses to centre.)
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:7 note 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 dishearten his army.
Bates.
He may show what outward courage he will;
but I believe, as cold a night as 'tis, he could wish himself
in the Thames up to the neck; and so I would he were,
and I by him, at all adventures, so we were quit here.
K. Hen. (C.)
By my troth, I will speak my conscience of the
king: I think he would not wish himself any where but
where he is.
Bates. (L.)
Then 'would he were here alone; so should he
be sure to be ransomed, and a many poor men's lives saved.
K. Hen.
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 contented
as in the king's company; his cause being just, and his
quarrel honourable.8 note
Will. (R.)
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
-- 58 --
his cause be wrong, our obedience to the king wipes the
crime of it out of us.
Will.
But if the cause be not good, the king himself
hath a heavy rekoning to make, when all those legs and
arms and heads, chopped off in battle, shall join together
at the latter day,9 note and cry all—We died at such 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.10 note I am
afeard there are few die well that die in 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;
whom to disobey were against all proportion of subjection.
K. Hen.
So, if a son, that is by his father sent about
merchandise, do sinfully miscarry upon the sea, the imputation
of his wickedness, by your rule, should be imposed
upon his father that sent him:—But this is not so: the
king is not bound to answer the particular endings of his
soldiers, nor the father of his son, for they purpose not their
death, when they purpose their services. 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 preparation was
gained.
Will.
'Tis certain, every man that dies ill, the ill is upon
his own head; the king is not to answer for it.
Bates.
I do not desire he should answer for me; and yet
I determine to fight lustily for him.
K. Hen.
I myself heard the king say he would not be
ransomed.
Will.
Ay, he said so, to make us fight cheerfully: but,
when our throats are cut, he may be ransomed, and we ne'er
the wiser.
K. Hen.
If I live to see it, I will never trust his word after.
-- 59 --
Will.
That's a perilous shot out of an elder gun, that a
poor and 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'll never trust his
word after! come, 'tis a foolish saying.
K. Hen.
Your reproof is something too round:11 note I should
be angry with you, if the time were convenient.
Will.
Let it be a quarrel between us, if you live.
K. Hen.
I embrace it.
Will.
How shall I know thee again?
K. Hen.
Give me any gage of thine, and I will wear it in
my bonnet: then, if ever thou darest acknowledge it, I will
make it my quarrel.
Will.
Here's my glove: give me another of thine.
K. Hen.
There.
Will.
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.
K. Hen.
If ever I live to see it, I will challenge it.
Will.
Thou darest as well be hanged.
K. Hen.
Well, I will do it, though I take thee in the
king's company.
Will.
Keep thy word: fare thee well.
Bates.
Be friends, you English fools, be friends: (Crosses
to Williams, R.) we have French quarrels enough, if
you could tell how to reckon.
[Exeunt Soldiers, R.H.
K. Hen.
Upon the king! let us our lives, our souls,
Our sins, lay on the king!—we must bear all.
O hard condition, twin-born with greatness,
Subjécted to the breath of every fool.
What infinite heart's ease must king's neglect,
That private men enjoy!
And what have kings, that privates have not too,
Save ceremony, save general ceremony?
And what art thou, thou idol ceremony?
Art thou aught else but place, degree, and form,
Creating awe and fear in other men?
Wherein thou art less happy being fear'd
Than they in fearing.
-- 60 --
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!
Canst thou, when thou command'st the beggar's knee,
Command the health of it? No, thou proud dream,
That play'st so subtly with a king's repose:
I am a king that find thee; and I know,
'Tis not the balm, the sceptre, and the ball,
The sword, the mace, the crown imperial,
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,
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;
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.
Enter Erpingham, R.H.
Erp.
My lord, your nobles, jealous of your absence,
Seek through your camp to find you.
K. Hen.
Good old knight,
Collect them all together at my tent:
I'll be before thee.
[Gives back the Cloak to Erpingham.
Erp.
I shall do't, my lord.
[Exit, R.H.
K. Hen.
O God of battles! steel my soldier's hearts;
Possess them not with fear; take from them now
The sense of reckoning, lest the opposed numbers
Pluck their hearts from them!—Not to-day, O Lord,
O, not to-day, think not upon the fault
My father made in compassing the crown!
I Richard's body have interred new;(C)8Q0072
And on it have bestow'd more contrite tears,
Than from it issu'd forced drops of blood:
Five hundred poor I have in yearly pay,
Who twice a day their wither'd hands hold up
Toward heaven, to pardon blood:
More will I do—
[Trumpet sounds without, R.
The day, my friends, and all things stay for me.
[Exit, R.H.
-- 61 --
Scene II.
—THE FRENCH CAMP—SUNRISE.
Flourish of trumpets.
Enter Dauphin, Grandprè, Rambures,12 note and Others.
Dau.
The sun doth gild our armour; up, my lords!
My horse! varlet! lacquay! ha!
[Servants exeunt hastily.
Grand.
O brave spirit!
Dau.
Cousin Orleans.—
Enter Constable, L.H.
Now, my lord Constable!
Con.
Hark, how our steeds for present service neigh!
Dau.
Mount them, and make incision in their hides,
That their hot blood may spin in English eyes,
And dout them13 note with superfluous courage, Ha!
Con.
What, will you have them weep our horses' blood?
How shall we, then, behold their natural tears?
Enter Montjoy, R.H.
Mont.
The English are embattled, you French peers.
[Exit R.H.
Con.
To horse, you gallant princes! straight to horse!
Do but behold yon poor and starved band.
There is not work enough for all our hands;
Scarce blood enough in all their sickly veins,
To give each naked curtle-ax a stain.
'Tis positive 'gainst all exceptions, lords,
That our superfluous lackeys, are enough
To purge this field of such a hilding foe.14 note
A very little little let us do,
And all is done. Then let the trumpets sound:
For our approach shall so much dare the field,
That England shall couch down in fear, and yield.
Enter Orleans,(D)8Q0073 hastily, R.H.
Orl.
Why do you stay so long, my lords of France?
-- 62 --
Yon island carrions,15 note desperate of their bones,
Ill-favour'dly become the morning field:
Their ragged curtains poorly are let loose,16 note
And our air shakes them passing scornfully:
Big Mars seems bankrupt in their beggar'd host,
And their executors, the knavish crows,
Fly o'er them, all impatient for their hour.
Description cannot suit itself in words
To démonstrate the life of such a battle
In life so lifeless as it shows itself.
Dau.
Shall we go send them dinners and fresh suits,
And give their fasting horses provender,
And after fight with them?
Con.
On, to the field!
Come, come, away!
The sun is high, and we outwear the day.
[Exeunt, R.H.
Flourish of trumpets.
Scene III.
—THE ENGLISH POSITION AT AGINCOURT.
The English Army drawn up for battle;(E)8Q0074 Gloster, Bedford,
Exeter, Salisbury, Erpingham, and Westmoreland.
Glo. (R.C.)
Where is the king?
Bed. (L.C.)
The king himself is rode to view their battle.17 note
West. (L.)
Of fighting men they have full threescore thousand.
Exe. (L.C.)
There's five to one; besides, they all are fresh.
Erp.
It is fearful odds.
If we no more meet till we meet in heaven,
Then, joyfully,—my noble lord of Bedford,—
[Crosses to L.
My dear lord Gloster,—and my good lord Exeter,—
Warriors all, adieu!
[Crosses back to R.
-- 63 --
West.
O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day!(F)8Q0075
Enter King Henry, attended.(G)8Q0076 U.E.L.H.
K. Hen. (C.)
What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland?—No, my fair cousin:
If we are mark'd to die, we are enough
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
I pray thee, wish not one man more.
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he who hath no stomach to this fight,
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:(H)8Q0077
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 friends,18 note
And say—to-morrow is Saint Crispian:
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say, those wounds I had on Crispin's day.
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages19 note
What feats he did that day: Then shall our names,
Familiar in their mouths as household words,—
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloster,—(I)8Q0078
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
-- 64 --
From this day to the ending20 note of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered.
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
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:21 note
And gentlemen in England, now a-bed,
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here;
And hold their manhoods cheap while any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
Enter Gower, hastily, U.E.L.H.
Gow. (R.C.)
My sovereign lord, bestow yourself with speed:
The French are bravely in their battles set,22 note
And will with all expedience charge on us.
K. Hen. (C.)
All things are ready, if our minds be so.
West.
Perish the man whose mind is backward now!
K. Hen.
Thou dost not wish more help from England,
cousin?
West. (L.)
Would you and I alone, my liege,
Without more help, might fight this battle out!
Trumpet sounds without, L.H.
Enter Montjoy, and attendants, U.E.L.H.
Mont. (uncovers and kneels.)
Once more I come to know of thee, King Harry,
If for thy ransom thou wilt now compound,
Before thy most assured overthrow.
-- 65 --
K. Hen. (C.)
Who hath sent thee now?
Mont.
The Constable of France.
K. Hen.
I pray thee, bear my former answer back:
Bid them achieve me,23 note and then sell my bones.
Good Heaven! Why should they mock poor fellows thus?
The man, that once did sell the lion's skin
While the beast liv'd, was kill'd with hunting him.
Let me speak proudly:—Tell the Constable,
We are but warriors for the working-day:24 note
Our gayness and our guilt25 note are all besmirch'd
With rainy marching in the painful field,
And time hath worn us into slovenry.
But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim;
And my poor soldiers tell me—yet ere night
They'll be in fresher robes; or they will pluck
The gay new coats o'er the French soldiers' heads,
And turn them out of service.
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 to them,
Shall yield them little, tell the Constable.
Mont.
I shall, King Harry. (Rises from his knee.) And so, fare thee well:
Thou never shalt hear herald any more.
[Exit with Attendants, U. E. L. H.
K. Hen.
Now, soldiers, march away:—
And how thou pleasest, Heaven, dispose the day!(K)8Q0079)
Trumpet March.
[Exeunt L.H.
Scene IV.
—ANOTHER PART OF THE FIELD OF BATTLE.
Alarums. Enter Dauphin, Orleans, Bourbon, Constable,
Rambures, and Others, hastily, and in confusion, L.H.
-- 66 --
Dau. (C.)
All is confounded, all!
Reproach and everlasting shame
Sits mocking in our plumes.
[Alarums, L.
Con.
Why, all our ranks are broke.
Dau.
O perdurable shame!26 note—let's stab ourselves.
Be these the wretches that we play'd at dice for?
Orl. (L.C.)
Is this the king we sent to for his ransom?
Dau.
Shame, and eternal shame, nothing but shame!
Let us die in honor: Once more back again.
Con. (C.)
Disorder, that hath spoil'd us, friend us now!
Let us in heaps go offer up our lives
Unto these English, or else die with fame.
Dau. (R.C.)
We are enough, yet living in the field,
To smother up the English in our throngs,
If any order might be thought upon.
Con.
The devil take order now! I'll to the throng:
Let life be short; else shame will be too long.
Alarums.
[Exeunt L.H.
Scene V.
—THE FIELD OF AGINCOURT AFTER THE BATTLE.
[The bodies of the Duke of York(L)8Q0080 and Earl
of Suffolk are borne across the stage by soldiers.
Trumpets sound.
Enter King Henry with a part of the English forces; Warwick,
Bedford, Gloster, Exeter, and others, L.H.
K. Hen. (C.)
I was not angry since I came to France,
Until this instant.—Take a trumpet, herald;
Ride thou unto the horsemen on yon hill:(M)8Q0081
If they will fight with us, bid them come down,
Or void the field;27 note they do offend our sight:
If they'll do neither, we will come to them;
-- 67 --
And make them skirr away, as swift as stones
Enforced from the old Assyrian slings.
Go, and tell them so.
[Exit Herald with Trumpeter, R.H.
Exe.
The Duke of York commends him to your majesty.
K. Hen.
Lives he, good uncle? thrice within this hour,
I saw him down; thrice up again and fighting;
From helmet to the spur, all blood he was.
Exe.
In which array, (brave soldier), did he lie,
Larding the plain; and by his bloody side,
(Yoke fellow to his honour-owing wounds),
The noble Earl of Suffolk also lay.
Suffolk first died: and York, all haggled over,
Comes to him, where in gore he lay insteep'd,
And takes him by the hand; kisses the gashes,
That bloodily did yarn upon his face;
And cries aloud:—Tarry, dear cousin Suffolk!
My soul shall thine keep company to heaven:
Tarry, sweet soul, for mine, then fly abreast;
As in this glorious and well foughten field,
We keep together in our chivalry!
Upon these words I came, and cheer'd him up:
He smil'd me in the face, raught me his hand,28 note
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;
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;
But I had not so much of man in me,
But all my mother came into mine eyes,
And gave me up to tears.
[Re-enter English Herald and Trumpeter, R.H.
K. Hen.
I blame you not:
For, hearing this, I must perforce compound
With mistful eyes, or they will issue too.
[Trumpet without, R.
-- 68 --
Exe.
Here comes the herald of the French, my liege.
Glo.
His eyes are humbler than they us'd to be.
Enter Montjoy,(N)8Q0082 and attendants, R.H. Montjoy uncovers and kneels.
K. Hen.
How now! what means this, herald?
Com'st thou again for ransom?
Mont.
No, great king:
I come to thee for charitable licence,
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!)
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
Fret fetlock deep in gore, and, with wild rage
Yerk out their armed heels at their dead masters,
Killing them twice. O, give us leave, great king,
To view the field in safety, and dispose
Of their dead bodies!
K. Hen.
I tell thee truly, herald,
I know not if the day be ours or no;
For yet a many of your horsemen peer
And gallop o'er the field.
Mont.
The day is yours.
K. Hen.
Praised be Heaven, and not our strength, for it!—
What is this castle call'd that stands hard by?
Mont.
They call it—Agincourt.
K. Hen.
Then call we this—the field of Agincourt,
Fought on the day of Crispin Crispianus.
[Loud flourish of Trumpets, and shouts of the
soldiers. Montjoy rises from his knee, and stands R.
Flu. (L.)
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 a most
prave pattle here in France.
K. Hen. (C.)
They did, Fluellen.
Flu.
Your majesty says very true: if your majesties is
remembered of it, the Welshman did goot service in a
-- 69 --
garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their Monmouth
caps;29 note which, your majesty knows, to this hour is
an honourable padge of the service; and I do believe, your
majesty takes no scorn to wear the leek upon Saint Tavy's
day.
K. Hen.
I wear it for a memorable honour;
For I am Welsh, you know, good countryman.
Flu.
All the water in Wye cannot wash your majesty's
Welsh plood out of your pody, I can tell you that: Heaven
pless it, and preserve it, as long as it pleases his grace, and
his majesty too!
K. Hen.
Thanks, good my countryman.
Flu.
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
ashamed of your majesty, praised be Heaven, so long as
your majesty is an honest man.
K. Hen.
Heaven keep me so!—Our herald go with him:
Bring me just notice of the numbers dead
On both our parts.—
[Exeunt Montjoy and attendants, with English Herald, R.H.
Call yonder fellow hither.
[Points to Williams, who is standing in the ranks up the stage, L.
Exe.
Soldier, you must come to the king.
K. Hen. (C.)
Soldier, why wear'st thou that glove in thy
cap?
Will. (kneels R.)
An't please your majesty, 'tis the gage
of one that I should fight withal, if he be alive.
[Rises from his knee.
K. Hen.
An Englishman?
Will.
An't please your majesty, a rascal that swaggered
with me last night; who, if 'a live, and ever dare to challenge
this glove, I have sworn to take him a box o' the 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.
-- 70 --
K. Hen.
What think you, Captain Fluellen? is it fit this
soldier keep his oath?
Flu. (L.)
He is a craven and a villain else, an't please your
majesty, in my conscience.
K. Hen.
It may be his enemy is a gentleman of great
sort,30 note quite from the answer of his degree.31 note
Flu.
Though he be as goot a gentleman as the tevil is, as
Lucifer and Belzebub himself, it is necessary, look your
grace, that he keep his vow and his oath.
K. Hen.
Then keep thy vow, sirrah, when thou meet'st
the fellow.
Will.
So I will, my liege, as I live.
K. Hen.
Who servest thou under?
Will.
Under Captain Gower, my liege.
Flu.
Gower is a goot captain, and is good knowledge and
literature in the wars.
K. Hen.
Call him hither to me, soldier.
Will.
I will, my liege.
[Exit, R.H.
K. Hen.
Here, Fluellen; wear thou this favour for me,
and stick it in thy cap: When Alençon and myself were
down together,(O)8Q0083 I plucked this glove from his helm: if any
man challenge this, he is a friend to Alençon and an enemy
to our person; if thou encounter any such, apprehend him,
an thou dost love me.
Flu.
Your grace does me as great honours as can be
desired in the hearts of his subjects: I would fain see
the man, that has but two legs, that shall find himself
aggriefed at this glove, that is all.
K. Hen.
Knowest thou Gower?
Flu.
He is my dear friend, an please you.
K. Hen.
Pray thee, go seek him, and bring him to my
tent.
Flu. (L.)
I will fetch him.
[Crosses to R., and exit R.H.
K. Hen. (L.C.)
My lord of Warwick,—and my brother Gloster,
[Both advance to the King.
Follow Fluellen closely at the heels:
-- 71 --
The glove which I have given him for a favour
May haply purchase him a box o' the ear;
It is the soldier's; I, by bargain, should
Wear it myself. Follow, good cousin Warwick:
[Warwick crosses to R.
If that the soldier 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,
And quickly will return an injury:
Follow, (Gloster crosses to R.) and see there be no harm between them.—
[Warwick and Gloster exeunt R.H.
Go you with me, Uncle of Exeter.
[Exeunt Omnes, L.H.
Trumpets sound.
Scene VI.
—BEFORE KING HENRY'S PAVILION.
Enter Gower and Williams, R.H.
Will.
I warrant it is to knight you, captain.
Enter Fluellen, R.H.
Flu.
Heaven's will and pleasure, captain, I peseech you
now, come apace to the king: there is more goot toward
you peradventure than is in your knowledge to dream of.
Will.
Sir, know you this glove?
Flu. (C.)
Know the glove! I know, the glove is a glove.
Will. (R.C.)
I know this; and thus I challenge it.
[Strikes him.
Flu.
'Sblud, an arrant traitor as any's in the universal
'orld, or in France, or in England!
Gow. (L.C.)
How now, sir! you villain!
Will.
Do you think I'll be forsworn?
Flu.
Stand away, Captain Gower; I will give treason his
payment in plows, I warrant you.
Will.
I am no traitor.
Flu.
That's a lie in thy throat.—I charge you in his
majesty's name, apprehend him: he's a friend of the duke
Alençon's.
-- 72 --
Enter Warwick and Gloster,(P)8Q0084 R.H.
Glos. (crosses to C.)
How now, how now! what's the
matter?
Flu.
My lord of Gloster, here is (praised be Heaven
for it!) a most contagious treason come to light, look you,
as you shall desire in a summer's day. Here is his majesty.
Enter King Henry, Exeter, and others, U.E.L.H.
K. Hen. (coming down centre.)
How now! what's the
matter?
Flu. (L.H.)
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 Alençon.
Will. (R.C.)
My liege, this was my glove; here is the fellow
of it; and he that I gave it to in change promised to wear it
in his cap: I promised 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.
Flu.
Your majesty hear now (saving your majesty's
manhood) what an arrant, rascally, beggarly, lowsy knave
it is: I hope, your majesty is pear me testimony, and witness,
and avouchments, that this is the glove of Alençon,
that your majesty is give me, in your conscience, now.
K. Hen.
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.
[Williams falls on his knee.
Flu.
An please your majesty, let his neck answer for it,
if there is any martial law in the 'orld.
K. Hen.
How can'st thou make me satisfaction?
Will.
All offences, my liege, come from the heart: never
came any from mine, that might offend your majesty.
K. Hen.
It was ourself thou didst abuse.
Will.
Your majesty came not like yourself: you appeared
to me but as a common man; witness the night, your garments,
your lowliness; and what your highness suffered
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.
K. Hen.
Here, uncle Exeter, fill this glove with crowns,
-- 73 --
And give it to this fellow.—(Williams rises.) 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.
[The King goes up the stage with Exeter, Bedford, and Gloster.
Flu.
By this day and this light, the fellow has mettle
enough in his pelly.—Hold, there is twelve pence for you;
and I pray you to serve Heaven, and keep you out of prawls,
and prabbles, and quarrels, and dissensions, and, I warrant
you, it is the petter for you.
Will.
I will none of your money.
Flu.
It is with a goot 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 goot: 'tis a goot silling, I
warrant you, or I will change it.
[Exit Williams, R.H.
Enter English Herald, R.H.
K. Hen. (coming down C.)
Now, herald, are the dead number'd?
[Herald uncovers, kneels, and delivers papers.
The King gives one paper to Exeter.
K. Hen. (C.)
What prisoners of good sort are taken, uncle?
Exe. (L.C.)
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.
K. Hen. (C.)
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,
Eight thousand and four hundred; of the which,
Five hundred were but yesterday dubb'd knights:32 note
So that, in these ten thousand they have lost,
-- 74 --
There are but sixteen hundred mercenaries:33 note
The rest are—princes, barons, lords, knights, 'squires,
And gentlemen of blood and quality.
Here was a royal fellowship of death!—(Q)8Q0085
What is the number of our English dead?
Exe. (L.C.)
Edward the duke of York, the earl of Suffolk,
Sir Richard Ketley, Davy Gam, esquire:
None else of name; and of all other men
But five and twenty.
K. Hen.
O Heaven, thy arm was here;
And not to us, but to thy arm alone,
Ascribe we all! When, without stratagem,
But in plain shock and even play of battle,
Was ever known so great and little loss
On one part and on the other?—Take it, Heaven,
For it is only thine!
[[Returns papers to Herald, who rises and stands L.
Exe.
'Tis wonderful!
K. Hen.
Come, go we in procession to the village:
And be it death proclaimed through our host
To boast of this, or take that praise from Heaven
Which is his only.
Flu. (R.C.)
Is it not lawful, and please your majesty, to tell
how many is killed?
K. Hen. (up the stage C.)
Yes, captain; but with this acknowledgment,
That Heaven fought for us.
Flu.
Yes, my conscience, he did us great goot.
K. Hen.
Do we all holy rites:(R)8Q0086
[The curtains of the Royal Pavilion are drawn aside, and discover an Altar and Priests.
Let there be sung Non nobis and Te Deum;
The dead with charity enclos'd in clay:
We'll then to Calais; and to England then;
Where ne'er from France arriv'd more happy men.
[Organ music; all kneel, and join in Song of Thanksgiving.
END OF ACT FOUR.
-- 75 --
Charles Kean [1859], Shakespeare's play of King Henry the Fifth, arranged for representation at the Princess's Theatre, with historical and explanatory notes, by Charles Kean, F.S.A., as first performed On Monday, March 28th, 1859 (Printed by John K. Chapman and Co. [etc.], London) [word count] [S35800].
