Enter the King, in his Night-gown; a Page attending. ^note

K. H.
Go, call the earls of Surrey and of Warwick;
But, ere they come, bid them o'er-read these &dagger2; letters,
And well consider of them: Make good speed.— [Exit Page.
How many thousand of my poorest subjects
Are at this hour asleep?—O sleep, o gentle ^note sleep,
Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee,
That thou no more wilt weigh my eye-lids down,
And steep my senses in forgetfulness?
Why rather, sleep, ly'st thou in smoaky cribs,
Upon uneasy pallets ^note stretching thee,
And hush'd with buzzing ^note night-flies to thy slumber;
Than in the pérfum'd chambers of the great,
Under the canopies of costly state,
And lull'd with sounds ^note of sweetest melody?
O thou dull god, why ly'st thou with the vile,
In loathsom beds; and leav'st14Q0690 the kingly couch,
A watch-case, or 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 deaf'ning clamours ^note in the slippery shrouds ^note,
That, with the hurly, death itself awakes?
Canst thou, o partial sleep, give thy repose ^note
To the wet sea-boy in ^note an hour so rude;
And, in the calmest and most stillest night,

With all appliances and means to boot,
Deny it to a king? Then, happy low, lye down;
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. Enter Warwick, and Surrey.

War.
Many good morrows to your majesty.

K. H.
Is it good morrow, lords?

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

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

War.
We have, my liege.

K. H.
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, distemper'd;
Which to his former strength may be restor'd,
With good advice, and little medicine:—
My lord Northumberland will soon be cool'd.

K. H.
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, ^note
The happiest youth,—viewing his progress thorough ^note,
What perils past, what crosses to ensue,—
Would shut the book, and set ^note him down and die.
&lblank; 'Tis not ten years gone,
Since Richard, and Northumberland, great friends,
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 lay'd his love and life under my foot;
Yea, for my sake, even to the eyes of Richard,
Gave him defiance. But which of you was by,
(You, cousin Nevil, [to War.] as I may remember)
When Richard,—with his eye brim-full of tears,
Then check'd and rated by Northumberland,—
Did speak these words, now prov'd a prophesy?
Northumberland, thou ladder, by the which
My cousin Bolingbroke ascends my throne;—
Though then, heaven knows ^note, 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 come, that foul sin, gathering head,
Shall break into corruption:—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 deceas'd:
The which observ'd, a man may prophesy,
With a near aim, of the main chance of things
As yet not come to life; which in ^note their seeds,
And weak beginnings ^note, lye entreasured.
Such things become the hatch and brood of time:
And, by the necessary form of these, ^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.

K. H.
Are these things then necessities?
Then let us meet them like necessities:—
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;
Rumour doth double, like the voice and echo,
The numbers of the fear'd:—Please it your grace,
To go to bed; upon my life, my ^note lord,
The powers, that you already have sent forth,
Shall bring ^note this prize in very easily.
To comfort you the more, I have receiv'd
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. H.
I will take your counsel:
And, were these inward wars once out of hand,
We would, dear lords, unto the holy land. [Exeunt.

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