Henry V

[Dramatis Personaechorus king henry the fifthhumphrey, duke of gloucester, john, duke of bedford, the King's brothersduke of clarence,duke of exeter, the King's uncleduke of york, the King's cousinearl of salisburyearl of westmorlandearl of warwickearl of huntingdonarchbishop of canterburybishop of elyrichard, earl of cambridge,     conspiratorshenry, lord scroop of masham,  against the Kingsir thomas grey,sir thomas erpingham, captain gower, captain fluellen, officers in the King's armycaptain macmorris, captain jamy,john bates, alexander court, soldiers in the King's armymichael williams,An English herald pistol, nym, Falstaff's former tavern-matesbardolph, boy, formerly Falstaff's pagehostess, formerly Mistress Quickly, now married to Pistolduke of burgundyfrench king, Charles the Sixthqueen isabel of Francedauphin, Lewiskatharine, Princess of Francealice, a lady attending Katharineduke of orleansduke of berriduke of bourbonduke of brittanyconstable of francelord rambureslord grandpregovernor of harfleurmonsieur le fer, a French soldiermontjoy, the French heraldFrench ambassadors to EnglandLords, Ladies, Officers, Soldiers, Citizens, Messengers, and Attendantsscene: England, afterwards France]Prologue1 Muse of fire (Of the four elements–earth, air, fire, and water–fire is the most sublime and mounting.)2 invention poetic imagination.4 swelling splendid, magnificent5 like himself i.e., presented in a fashion worthy of so great a king6 port bearing8 gentles gentlemen and gentlewomen9 flat unraised uninspired, lifeless.   spirits i.e., actors and playwright.   hath (Elizabethan usage often pairs a plural subject with a singular verb.)10 scaffold stage11 cockpit (Elizabethan theaters were shaped rather like arenas for animal fighting.)12 vasty vast, spacious13 O (Refers to a round theater such as the Globe; the play may have been performed at the Curtain Theater.)   casques helmets15 crooked figure cipher or zero (which, added to a number, will multiply its value tenfold)16 Attest stand for17 account (1) sum total (continuing the metaphor of crooked figure) (2) story18 imaginary forces forces of imagination21 abutting touching, bordering.   fronts (1) frontiers, i.e., the cliffs of Dover and Calais (2) foreheads22 perilous . . . ocean i.e., English Channel25 puissance armed might, army.28 deck dress, adornPrologue  A  Enter [Chorus as] Prologue.chorusOh, for a Muse of fire, that would ascend 1The brightest heaven of invention! 2A kingdom for a stage, princes to act,And monarchs to behold the swelling scene! 4Then should the warlike Harry, like himself, 5Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels, 6Leashed in like hounds, should famine, sword, and  fireCrouch for employment. But pardon, gentles all, 8The flat unraised spirits that hath dared 9On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth 10So great an object. Can this cockpit hold 11The vasty fields of France? Or may we cram 12Within this wooden O the very casques 13That did affright the air at Agincourt?Oh, pardon! Since a crooked figure may 15Attest in little place a million; 16And let us, ciphers to this great account, 17On your imaginary forces work. 18Suppose within the girdle of these wallsAre now confined two mighty monarchies,Whose high upreared and abutting fronts 21The perilous narrow ocean parts asunder. 22Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts:Into a thousand parts divide one man,And make imaginary puissance. 25Think, when we talk of horses, that you see themPrinting their proud hoofs i'th' receiving earth.For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings, 2831 the which supply which service1.1 Location: England. The royal court.1 self same3 like likely (to have passed)4 scambling unsettled5 question consideration.9 temporal used for secular purposes14 esquires members of the gentry, ranking just below knights15 lazars lepers16 corporal physicalCarry them here and there, jumping o'er times,Turning th'accomplishment of many yearsInto an hourglass–for the which supply, 31Admit me Chorus to this history,Who, Prologue-like, your humble patience prayGently to hear, kindly to judge, our play. Exit.1.1  *  Enter the two bishops, [the Archbishop] of Canterbury and [the Bishop of] Ely.canterburyMy lord, I'll tell you. That self bill is urged 1Which in th'eleventh year of the last king's reignWas like, and had indeed against us passed, 3But that the scambling and unquiet time 4Did push it out of farther question. 5elyBut how, my lord, shall we resist it now?canterburyIt must be thought on. If it pass against us,We lose the better half of our possession.For all the temporal lands which men devout 9By testament have given to the ChurchWould they strip from us, being valued thus:As much as would maintain, to the King's honor,Full fifteen earls and fifteen hundred knights,Six thousand and two hundred good esquires, 14And, to relief of lazars and weak age 15Of indigent faint souls past corporal toil, 16A hundred almshouses right well supplied;And to the coffers of the King besideA thousand pounds by th' year. Thus runs the bill.ely  This would drink deep.canterbury  'Twould drink the cup and all.ely  But what prevention?27 mortified killed29 Consideration meditation, reflection30 offending Adam original sin35 heady currance headlong current36 Hydra-headed i.e., many-headed. (Alludes to the Lernaean Hydra, a monster of many heads overcome by Hercules.)37 his seat its throne44 List Listen to45 rendered . . . music i.e., eloquently narrated.46 cause of policy matter of statecraft47 Gordian knot i.e., great difficulty resolved forcefully. (It was foretold that whoever should untie the Gordian knot would rule Asia. Alexander solved the problem by cutting the knot.)48 Familiar as offhandedly or routinely.   that so that49 chartered libertine free spirit, licensed to roam at will50-1 the mute . . . sentences i.e., wonder makes men silent, eagerly listening to hear more of his sweetly profitable wise sayingscanterburyThe King is full of grace and fair regard.elyAnd a true lover of the holy Church.canterburyThe courses of his youth promised it not.The breath no sooner left his father's bodyBut that his wildness, mortified in him, 27Seemed to die too; yea, at that very momentConsideration like an angel came 29And whipped th'offending Adam out of him, 30Leaving his body as a paradiseT'envelop and contain celestial spirits.Never was such a sudden scholar made;Never came reformation in a floodWith such a heady currance, scouring faults; 35Nor never Hydra-headed willfulness 36So soon did lose his seat, and all at once, 37As in this king.ely  We are blessed in the change.canterburyHear him but reason in divinity,And, all-admiring, with an inward wishYou would desire the King were made a prelate.Hear him debate of commonwealth affairs,You would say it hath been all in all his study.List his discourse of war, and you shall hear 44A fearful battle rendered you in music. 45Turn him to any cause of policy, 46The Gordian knot of it he will unloose, 47Familiar as his garter, that, when he speaks, 48The air, a chartered libertine, is still, 49And the mute wonder lurketh in men's ears 50To steal his sweet and honeyed sentences; 5152-3 So . . . theoric so that experience in practical life must have been the teacher by which he acquired his theoretical conception.55 addiction inclination56 companies companions.   rude coarse57 riots reveling.   sports amusements60 open . . . popularity places of public resort and low company.67 crescive . . . faculty naturally inclined to grow.68 miracles are ceased (Protestants generally believed that no miracles occurred after the revelation of Christ.)69 means i.e., natural causes73 indifferent impartial75 exhibiters those who introduce bills in Parliament77 Upon on behalf of.   convocation formal assembly of the clergy78 in hand under consideration79 opened expounded.   at large in full82 withal with.So that the art and practic part of life 52Must be the mistress to this theoric. 53Which is a wonder how His Grace should glean it,Since his addiction was to courses vain, 55His companies unlettered, rude, and shallow, 56His hours filled up with riots, banquets, sports, 57And never noted in him any study,Any retirement, any sequestrationFrom open haunts and popularity. 60elyThe strawberry grows underneath the nettle,And wholesome berries thrive and ripen bestNeighbored by fruit of baser quality;And so the Prince obscured his contemplationUnder the veil of wildness, which, no doubt,Grew like the summer grass, fastest by night,Unseen, yet crescive in his faculty. 67canterburyIt must be so, for miracles are ceased. 68And therefore we must needs admit the means 69How things are perfected.ely   But, my good lord,How now for mitigation of this billUrged by the Commons? Doth His MajestyIncline to it, or no?canterbury      He seems indifferent, 73Or rather swaying more upon our partThan cherishing th'exhibiters against us; 75For I have made an offer to His Majesty,Upon our spiritual convocation 77And in regard of causes now in hand, 78Which I have opened to His Grace at large, 79As touching France, to give a greater sumThan ever at one time the clergy yetDid to his predecessors part withal. 8286 fain gladly87 severals details.   unhidden passages clear lines of descent89 seat throne90 Edward Edward III96 embassy message1.2 Location: England. The royal court.elyHow did this offer seem received, my lord?canterburyWith good acceptance of His Majesty,Save that there was not time enough to hear,As I perceived His Grace would fain have done, 86The severals and unhidden passages 87Of his true titles to some certain dukedoms,And generally to the crown and seat of France, 89Derived from Edward, his great-grandfather. 90elyWhat was th'impediment that broke this off?canterburyThe French ambassador upon that instantCraved audience; and the hour I think is comeTo give him hearing. Is it four o'clock?ely   It is.canterburyThen go we in to know his embassy, 96Which I could with a ready guess declareBefore the Frenchman speak a word of it.elyI'll wait upon you, and I long to hear it. Exeunt.[1.2]  * Enter the King, Humphrey [Duke of Gloucester], Bedford, Clarence, Warwick, Westmorland, and Exeter [with attendants].kingWhere is my gracious lord of Canterbury?exeterNot here in presence.King     Send for him, good uncle.4 cousin (A form of address customarily used by royalty in addressing their nobles. In this case, Westmorland is in fact related to the King by marriage.)   be resolved come to a decision6 task engage, occupy8 become adorn, grace11 Salic (See explanation at lines 39-45.)12 Or either15 nicely charge subtly and foolishly burden16 opening titles miscreate expounding spurious claims17 Suits . . . colors i.e., does not naturally harmonize19 approbation support, proof20 your reverence (1) an honorific title for an archbishop, Your Reverence (2) your sacred authority21 impawn put under an obligation26 woe grievance.   sore severe, grievous27 wrongs wrongdoings28 in brief mortality i.e., among mortal, short-lived men.29 conjuration solemn adjurationwestmorlandShall we call in th'ambassador, my liege?kingNot yet, my cousin. We would be resolved, 4Before we hear him, of some things of weightThat task our thoughts, concerning us and France. 6Enter two bishops, [the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely].canterburyGod and his angels guard your sacred throne,And make you long become it!king    Sure we thank you. 8My learned lord, we pray you to proceed,And justly and religiously unfoldWhy the law Salic that they have in France 11Or should or should not bar us in our claim. 12And God forbid, my dear and faithful lord,That you should fashion, wrest, or bow your reading,Or nicely charge your understanding soul 15With opening titles miscreate, whose right 16Suits not in native colors with the truth; 17For God doth know how many now in healthShall drop their blood in approbation 19Of what your reverence shall incite us to. 20Therefore take heed how you impawn our person, 21How you awake our sleeping sword of war.We charge you in the name of God take heed;For never two such kingdoms did contendWithout much fall of blood, whose guiltless dropsAre every one a woe, a sore complaint 26'Gainst him whose wrongs gives edge unto the  swords 27That makes such waste in brief mortality. 28Under this conjuration speak, my lord; 29For we will hear, note, and believe in heart37 Pharamond legendary Frankish king40 gloze gloss45 floods rivers46 Charles the Great Charlemagne49 dishonest unchaste58 defunction death59 Idly foolishly65 which who. (As also in line 67.)That what you speak is in your conscience washedAs pure as sin with baptism.canterburyThen hear me, gracious sovereign, and you peers,That owe yourselves, your lives, and servicesTo this imperial throne. There is no barTo make against Your Highness' claim to FranceBut this, which they produce from Pharamond: 37"In terram Salicam mulieres ne succedant,""No woman shall succeed in Salic land."Which Salic land the French unjustly gloze 40To be the realm of France, and PharamondThe founder of this law and female bar.Yet their own authors faithfully affirmThat the land Salic is in Germany,Between the floods of Saale and of Elbe; 45Where, Charles the Great having subdued the Saxons, 46There left behind and settled certain French,Who, holding in disdain the German womenFor some dishonest manners of their life, 49Established then this law: to wit, no femaleShould be inheritrix in Salic land–Which Salic, as I said, twixt Elbe and Saale,Is at this day in Germany called Meissen.Then doth it well appear the Salic lawWas not devised for the realm of France;Nor did the French possess the Salic landUntil four hundred one-and-twenty yearsAfter defunction of King Pharamond, 58Idly supposed the founder of this law, 59Who died within the year of our redemptionFour hundred twenty-six; and Charles the GreatSubdued the Saxons, and did seat the FrenchBeyond the River Saale, in the yearEight hundred five. Besides, their writers say,King Pepin, which deposed Childeric, 6566 heir general heir through male or female line72 find provide74 Conveyed himself passed himself off75 Charlemagne (Holinshed's and Hall's error, followed by Shakespeare, for Charles the Bald or Charles II, emperor of the West; Luitgard [Shakespeare's Lingard] became Charlemagne's wife after the death of Fastrada in 794.)