West. He is, Sir John; I fear, we shall stay | And pardon absolute yourself, and these,

Herein misled by your suggestion.

Hot. The king is kind; and, well we know,
the king

Knows at what time to promise, when to pay.
My father, and my uncle, and myself,
Did give him that same royalty he wears :
And,-when he was not six and twenty strong,

SCENE III.-The Rebel Camp near Shrews-Sick in the world's regard, wretched and low,

bury.

A poor unminded outlaw sneaking home,--
My father gave him welcome to the shore :

Enter HOTSPUR, WORCESTER, DOUGLAS, and And,-when he heard him swear, and vow to

God,

He came but to be duke of Lancaster,
To sue his livery, and beg his peace;
With tears of innocency, and terms of zeal,-
My father, in kind heart and pity mov'd,
Swore him assistance, and perform'd it too.

Hot. Why say you so? looks he not for sup- Now, when the lords and barons of the realm ply?

Ver. So do we.

Hot. His is certain, our's is doubtful.

Perceiv'd Northumberland did lean to him,
The more and less + came in with cap and knee;
Met him in boroughs, cities, villages;

Wor. Good cousin, be advis'd; stir not to- Attended him on bridges, stood in lanes,

night.

Ver. Do not, my lord.

Doug. You do not counsel well;

You speak it out of fear, and cold heart.

Ver. Do me no slander, Douglas: by my
life,

(And I dare well maintain it with my life,)
If well respected honour bid me on,
I hold as little counsel with weak fear,
As you my lord, or any Scot that lives :-
Let it be seen to-morrow in the battle,
Which of us fears.

Doug. Yea, or to-night.

Ver. Content.

Hot. To-night, say' I.

Ver. Come, come, it may not be.

Laid gifts before him, proffer'd him their oaths,
Gave him their heirs; as pages follow'd him,
Even at the heels, in golden multitudes.
He presently, as greatness knows itself,-
Steps me a little higher than his vow
Made to my father, while his blood was poor,
Upon the naked shore at Ravenspurg;
And now, forsooth, takes on him to reform
Some certain edicts, and some strait decrees,
That lie too heavy on the commonwealth :
Cries out upon abuses, seems to weep
Over his country's wrongs; and, by this face,
This seeming brow of justice, did he win
The hearts of all that he did angle for.
Proceeded further; cut me off the heads
Of all the favourites, and the absent king.

I wonder much, being men of such great lead-In deputation left behind him here,

ing,⚫

That you foresee not what impediments
Drag back our expedition: Certain horse

Of my cousin Vernon's are not yet come up:
Your uncle Worcester's horse came but

day;

And now their pride and mettle is asleep,
Their courage with hard labour tame and dull,
That not a horse is half the half himself.

When he was personal in the Irish war.
Blunt. Tut, I came not to hear this.
Hot. Then, to the point.

In short time after, he deposed the king;
to-Soon after that, depriv'd him of his life;

Hot. So are the horses of the enemy
In general, journey-bated, and brought low;
The better part of our's is full of rest.
Wor. The number of the king exceedeth

ours:

And, in the neck of that, task'd the whole state:
To make that worse, suffer'd his kinsman

March

(Who is, if every owner were well plac'd,
Indeed his king, to be incag'd in Wales,
There without ransom to lie forfeited;
Disgrac'd me in my happy victories;
Sought to entrap me by intelligence;
Rated my uncle from the council-board:
In rage dismiss'd my father from the court;
Broke oath on oath, committed wrong on wroug
And, in conclusion, drove us to seek out
This head of safety; and, withal, to pry
Blunt. I come with gracious offers from the Into his title, the which we find

For God's sake, cousin, stay till all come in.
The Trumpet sounds a parley.

Enter Sir WALTER BLUNT.

To whom they are directed: if you knew
How much they do import, you would make

baste.

Gent. My good lord,

I guess their tenor.

Arch. Like enough, you do.

To-morrow, good Sir Michael, is a day,
Wherein the fortune of ten thousand men
Must 'bide the touch: For, Sir, at Shrewsbury,
As I am truly given to understand,

The king, with mighty and quick-raised power,
Meets with lord Harry: and I fear, Sir Mi-
chael,-

What with the sickness of Northumberland,
(Whose power was in the first proportion,)
And what with Owen Glendower's absence,
thence,

(Who with them was a rated sinew too,

And comes not in, o'er-rul'd by prophecies,)

I fear the power of Percy is too weak

To wage an instant trial with the king.

And be no more an exhal'd meteor,
A prodigy of fear, and a portent

of broached mischief to the unborn times?
Wor. Hear me, my liege:

For mine own part, I could be well content
To entertain the lag-end of my life
With quiet hours; for, I do protest,

I have not sought the day of this dislike.
K. Hen. You have not sought for it! how
comes it then?

Fal. Rebellion lay in his way, and he found
it.

K. Hen. Peace, chewet, peace.

Wor. It pleas'd your majesty to turn your
looks

Of favour, from myself and all our house;
And yet I must remember you, my lord,
We were the first and dearest of your friends.
For you, my staff of office did I break
In Richard's time; and posted day and night
To meet you on the way, and kiss your hand,

Gent. Why, good my lord, you need not fear; When yet you were in place and in account

there's Douglas,

And Mortimer.

Arch. No, Mortimer's not there.

Gent. But there is Mordake, Vernon, lord
Harry Percy,

And there's my lord of Worcester; and a head
Of gallant warriors, noble gentlemen.

Arch. And so there is: but yet the king hath
drawn,

The special head of all the land together ;-
The prince of Wales, lord John of Lancaster,
The noble Westmoreland, and warlike Blunt;
And many more corrivals, and dear men
Of estimation and command in arms.

Gent. Doubt not, my lord, they shall be well
oppos'd.

Arch. I hope no less, yet needful 'tis to fear;
And, to prevent the worst, Sir Michael, speed:
For, if lord Percy thrive not, ere the king
Dismiss his power, he means to visit us,-
For he hath heard of our confederacy,-
And 'tis but wisdom to make strong against
him;

Therefore, make haste: I must go write again
To other friends; and so farewell, Sir Michael.
[Exeunt severally.

ACT V.

Nothing so strong and fortunate as I.

It was myself, my brother, and his son,
That brought you home, and boldly did out-
dare,

The dangers of the time: You swore to us,-
And you did swear that oath at Doncaster,-
That you did nothing purpose 'gainst the state;
Nor claim no further than your new-fall'n
right,

The seat of Gaunt, dukedom of Lancaster:
To this we swore our aid. But, in short space,
It rain'd down fortune showering on your
head;

And such a flood of greatness fell on you,-
What with our help; what with the absent
king;

What with the injuries of a wanton time;
The seeming sufferances that you had borne ;
And the contrarious winds, that held the king
So long in his unlucky Irish wars,
That all in England did repute him dead,-
And, from this swarm of fair advantages,
You took occasion to be quickly woo'd
To gripe the general sway into your hand:
Forgot your oath to us at Doncaster;
And, being fed by us, you us'd us so
As that ungentle gull, the cuckoo's bird,
Useth the sparrow: did oppress our nest;
Grew by our feeding to so great a bulk,

That even our love durst not come near your
sight

SCENE 1.-The King's Camp near Shrews-We were enforc'd, for safety sake, to fly

For fear of swallowing; but with nimble wing

bury.

Enter King HENRY, Prince HENRY, Prince
JOHN of Lancaster, Sir WLLTER BLUNT,

and Sir JOHN FALSTAFF.

K. Hen. How bloodily the sun begins to peer Above yon busky hill! the day looks pale

At his distemperature,

P. Hen. The southern wind

Doth play the trumpet to his purposes;
And, by his hollow whistling in the leaves,
Foretells a tempest, and a blustering day.
K. Hen. Then with the losers let it sym-
pathize;

For nothing can seem foul to those that win.

Trumpet-Enter WORCESTER and VERNON.
How now, my lord of Worcester? 'tis not well,
That you and I should meet upon such terms
As now we meet: You have deceiv'd our trust;
And made us doff our easy rebes of peace,
To crush our old limbs in ungentle steel:
This is not well, my lord, this is not well.
What say you to't? will you again unknit
This churlish knot of all-abhorred war?
And move in that obedient orb again,
Where you would give a fair and natural light;

Out of your sight, and raise this present head:
Whereby we stand opposed by such means
AS you yourself have forg'd against yourself;
By unkind usage, dangerous countenance,
And violation of all faith and troth
Sworn to us in your younger enterprize.

K. Hen. These things, indeed, you have arti

culated,

Proclaim'd at market-crosses, read in churches;
To face the garment of rebellion

With some fine colour, that may please the

cye

Of fickle changelings, and poor discontents,
Which gape, and rub the elbow, at the news
Of hurlyburly innovation:

And never yet did insurrection want
Such water-colours, to impaint his cause;
Nor moody beggars, starving for a time
Of pell-mell havoc and confusion.

P. Hen. In both our armies, there is many
a soul

Shall pay full dearly for this encounter,

If once they join in trial. Tell your nephew,
The prince of Wales doth join with all the
world

In praise of Henry Percy; By my hopes,
This present enterprize set off his head,

• A chattering bird, a pie

I do not think a braver gentleman,

More active-valiant, or more valiant-young,
More daring, or more bold, is now alive,
To grace this latter age with noble deeds.
For my part, I may speak it to my shame,
I have a truant been to chivalry;

And so, I bear, he doth account me too :
Yet this before my father's majesty,

I am content, that he shall take the odds

Of his great name and estimation;

And will, to save the blood on either side,
Try fortune with him in a single fight.

Interpretation will misquote our looks;
And we shall feed like oxen at a stall,
The better cherish'd, still the nearer death.
My nephew's trespass may be well forgot,
It hath the excuse of youth, and heat of blood;
And an adopted name of privilege,--

A hair-brain'd Hotspur, govern'd by a spleen :
All his offences live upon my head,

And on his father's ;-we did train him on ;
And, his corruption being ta'en from us,
We, as the spring of all, shall pay for all.
Therefore, good cousin, let not Harry know,

K. Hen. And, prince of Wales, so dare we In any case, the offer of the king.
venture thee:

Albeit, considerations infinite

Do make against it :-No, good Worcester, no,
We love our people well; even those we love,
That are misled upon your cousin's part:
And, will they take the offer of our grace,
Both he, and they, and you, yea, every man
Shall be my friend again, and I'll be his;
So tell your cousin, and bring me word
What he will do:-But if he will not yield,
Rebuke and dread correction wait on us,
And they shall do their office. So, be gone;
We will not now be troubled with reply:
We offer fair, take it advisedly.

[Exeunt WORCESTER and VERNON.
P. Hen. It will not be accepted, on my life:
The Douglas and the Hotspur, both together
Are confident against the world in arms.

K. Hen. Hence, therefore, every leader to
his charge;

For, on their answer, will we set on them:
And God befriend us, as our cause is just !

[Exeunt KING, BLUNT, and Prince JOHN. Fal. Hal, if thou see me down in the battle, and bestride me so; 'tis a point of friend

ship.

Ver. Deliver what you will, I'll say, 'tis so, Here comes your cousin.

Enter HOTSPUR and DOUGLAS; and Officers
and Soldiers, behind.

Hot. My uncle is return'd :-Deliver up
My lord of Westmoreland.-Uncle, what news?
Wor. The king will bid you battle presently.
Doug. Defy him by the lord of Westmore.

land.

P. Hen. Nothing but a Colossus can do thee | A brave defiance in king Henry's teeth, that friendship. Say thy prayers, and fare- And Westmoreland, that was engaged, did bear it :

well.

Fal. I would it were bed-time, Hal, and all well.

P. Hen. Why, thou owest God a death.

[Exit.
Fal. 'Tis not due yet; I would be loath to
pay him before his day. What need I be so
forward with him that calls not on me? Well,
'tis no matter; Honour pricks me on. Yea, but
how if honour prick me off when I come on:
how then? Can honour set to a leg? No. Or an
arm? No. Or take away the grief of a wound?
No. Honour hath no skill in surgery then? No.
What is honour? a word. What is in that word,
honour? What is that honour? Air. A trim
reckoning!-Who hath it? He that died o'
Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. Doth he
hear it? No. Is it insensible then? Yea, to the
dead. But will it not live with the living?
No. Why? Detraction will not suffer it :-there-
fore I'll none of it: Honour is a mere scutcheon,
and so ends my catechism.
[Exit.
SCENE II.-The Rebel Camp.-Enter WOR-
CESTER and VERNON.

Wor. O no, my nephew must not
Sir Richard,

The liberal kind offer of the king.
Ver. "Twere best he did.

Wor. Then are we all undone.
It is not possible, it cannot be,

Which cannot choose bat bring him quickly on.
Wor. The prince of Wales stepp'd forth before
the king,

And nephew, challeng'd you to single fight.
Hot. O 'would the quarrel lay upon our

heads;

[day, And that no man might draw short breath to But I and Harry Monmouth! Tell me, tell me, How show'd his tasking? seem'd it in contempt ?

Ver. No, by my soul; I never in my life
Did hear a challenge urg'd more modestly,
Unless a brother should a brother dare
To gentle exercise and proof of arms.
He gave you all the duties of a mau ;
Trimm'd up your praises with a princely
tongue;
Spoke your deservings like a chronicle;
Making you ever better than his praise,
By still dispraising praise, valued with you:
And, which became him like a prince indeed,
He made a blushing cital of himself;
And chid his truant youth with such a grace,
As if he master'd there a double spirit
know, Of teaching and of learning, instantly.
There did he pause: but let me tell the
world,-

The king should keep his word in loving us :
He will suspect us still, and find a time
To punish this offence in other faults:
Suspicion shall be all stuck full of eyes:
For treason is but trusted like the fox;
Who, ne'er so tame, so cherish'd, and lock'd
up,

Will have a wild trick of his ancestors.
Look how we can, or sad, or merrily,

It is common for the king to be here seated on a drum, and to rise at this line: when Falstaff, who is strangely placed behind him, tumbles down, to create a very ill-timed Bartholomew-fair laugh.

If he outlive the envy of this day,
England did never owe so sweet a hope,
So much misconstrued in his wantonness.
Hot. Cousin, I think thou art enamoured
Upon his follies; never did I hear
Of any prince, so wild, at liberty :-
But, be he as he will, yet once ere night
I will embrace him with a soldier's arm,
That he shall shrink under my courtesy.--
Arm, arm, with speed :--And, fellows, soldiers,
friends,

Better consider what you have to do,
Than I, that have not well the gift of tongue,
Can lift your blood up with persuasion.

• Own.

Mess. My lord, prepare; the king comes on Under the hoofs of vaunting enemies,
Whose deaths are unreveng'd:

Doug. All's done, all's won; here breathless And heaven forbid a shallow scratch should

but upon the pate.-Soft! who art thou? Sir I am the Douglas, fatal to all those

well, great heart!—

That wear those colours on them.-What art P. Hen. For worms, brave Percy: Fare thee
That counterfeit'st the person of a king? [thou,
K. Hen. The king himself; who, Douglas,
grieves at heart,

So many of his shadows thou hast met,
And not the very king. I have two boys,
Seek Percy and thyself about the field:
But, seeing thou fall'st on me so luckily,
I will assay thee; so defend thyself.

Doug. I fear thou art another counterfeit ;
And yet, in faith, thou bear'st thee like a king:
But mine, I am sure, thou art, who'er thou be,
And thus I win thee.

[They fight; the KING being in danger, enter Prince HENRY.

P. Hen. Hold up thy head, vile Scot, or thou
art like

Never to hold it up again! the spirits
Of Shirley, Stafford, Blunt, are in my arms:
It is the prince of Wales that threatens thee;
Who never promiseth, but he means to pay.--
[They fight; DOUGLAS flies.
Cheerly, my lord; How fares your grace ?-
Sir Nicholas Gawsey hath for succour sent,
And so hath Clifton; I'll to Clifton straight.
K. Hen. Stay, and breathe a while :-
Thou hast redeem'd thy lost opinion; ⚫ [life,
And show'd thou mak'st some tender of my
In this fair rescue thou hast brought to me.
P. Hen. O heaven! they did me too much
injury,

That ever said I hearken'd for your death.
If it were so, I might have let alone

Ill weav'd ambition, how much art thou shrunk!
When that this body did contain a spirit,
A kingdom for it was too small a bound:
But now, two paces of the vilest earth

Is room enough;-This earth, that bears thee
Bears not alive so stout a gentleman. [dead,
If thou wert sensible of courtesy,

I should not make so dear a show of zeal :-
But let my favours hide thy mangled face;
And, even in thy behalf, I'll thank myself
For doing these fair rites of tenderness.
Adieu, and take thy praise with thee tɔ heaven!
Thy ignomy sleep with thee in the grave,
But not remembered in thy epitaph!-

[He sees FALSTAFF on the ground.
What! old acquaintance! could not all this flesh
Keep in a little life? Poor Jack, farewell!
I could have better spar'd a better man.
OI should have a heavy miss of thee,
If I were much in love with vanity.
Death hath not struck so fat a deer to-day,
Though many dearer, in this bloody fray :-
Embowell'd will I see thee by and by;
Till then, in blood by noble Percy lie. [Exit.
Fal. [Rising slowly.] Embowelled! if thou
embowel me to-day, I'll give you leave to pow-
der me, and eat me too, to-morrow. 'Sblood,
'twas time to counterfeit, or that hot termagant
Scot had paid me scot and lot too. Counter-
feit? I lie, am no counterfeit: To die, is to be a
counterfeit; for he is but the counterfeit of a
man, who hath not the life of a man: but to
counterfeit dying, when a man thereby liveth,
is to be no counterfeit, but the true and perfect
image of life indeed. The better part of valour
Nich-is-discretion; in the which better part, I have
saved my life. 'Zounds, I am afraid of this
gunpowder Percy, though he be dead: How,
if he should counterfeit too, and rise? I am
afraid he would prove the better counterfeit.
Therefore I'll make him sure: yea, and I'll
swear I killed him. Why may not he rise, as
well as I nothing confutes ine but eyes, and
nobody sees me. Therefore, Sirrah, [Stabbing
him.] with a new wound in your thigh, come you
along with me. [Takes HOTSPUR on his back.
Re-enter Prince HENRY and Prince JOHN.
P. Hen. Come, brother John, full bravely
hast thou flesh'd
Thy maiden sword.

The insulting hand of Douglas over you;
Which would have been as speedy in your end,
As all the poisonous potions in the world,
And sav'd the treacherous labour of your son.
K. Hen. Make up to Clifton, I'll to Sir
olas Gawsey. [Exit King HENRY.

Enter HOTSPUR.
Hot. If I mistake not, thou art Harry
mouth.

P. Hen. Thou speak'st as if I would
my name.

Hot. My name is Harry Percy.
P. Hen. Why, then I see

A very valiant rebel of the name.

Mon

deny

I am the prince of Wales; and think not, Percy,
To share with me in glory any more:
Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere;
Nor can one England brook a double reign,
Of Harry Percy and the prince of Wales.

Hot. Nor shall it, Harry, for the hour is come
To end the one of us; And 'would to God,
Thy name in arms were now as great as mine!
P. Hen. I'll make it greater, ere I part from
And all the budding honours on thy crest [thee;
I'll crop to make a garland for my head.
Hot. I can no longer brook thy vanities.
[They fight.

Enter EALSTAFF.

Fal. Well said, Hal! to it, Hal!-Nay, you shall find no boy's play here, I can tell you. Enter DOUGLAS; he fights with FALSTAFF, who falls down as if he were dead, and exit DOUGLAS. HOTSPUR is wounded, and jal's.

Het. O Harry, thou hast robb'd me of my
I better brook the loss of brittle life, [youth,
Than those proud titles thou hast won of me;
They wound my thoughts, worse than thy sword
my flesh;
[fool
But thought's the slave of life, and life time's
And time, that takes survey of all the world,
Must have a stop. O I could prophesy,
But that the earthy and cold hand of death
Lies on my tongue :-No, Percy, thou art dust,
And food for--

[Dies.

There is no reason to suppose that Hotspur was slain by the Prince of Wales: he probably fell by an unknown hand.

† Reputation.

P. John. But, soft! whom have we here?
Did you not tell me, this fat man was dead?
P. Hen. I did; I saw him dead, breathless,
Upon the ground.--
[and bleeding
Art thou alive ? or is it fantasy
[speak;
That plays upon our eyesight? I pr'ythee
We will not trust our eyes, without our ears :-
Thou art not what thou seem'st.

Fal. No, that's certain; I am not a double man but if I be not Jack Falstaff, then am I a Jack. There is Percy: [Throwing the body down.] if your father will do me any honour so; if not, let him kill the next Percy himself. look to be either earl or duke, I can assure

you.

P. Hen. Why, Percy I killed myself, and saw thee dead.

Fal. Didst thou? Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying!-I grant you, I was down, and out of breath; and so was he: but we arose both at an instant, and fought a long hour by Shrewsbury clock. If I may be believed, so; if not, let them that should reward valour bear the sin upon their own heads. I'll take it upon my death, I gave him this wound in the thigh: if the man were alive, and would deny it, I would make him eat a piece of my sword. P. John. This is the strangest tale that e'er 1 heard.