The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works

by William Shakespeare

  May waste the memory of the former days.

  More would I, but my lungs are wasted so

  That strength of speech is utterly denied me.

  How I came by the crown, O God forgive,

  And grant it may with thee in true peace live!

  PRINCE HARRY My gracious liege,

  You won it, wore it, kept it, gave it me;

  Then plain and right must my possession be,

  Which I with more than with a common pain

  ’Gainst all the world will rightfully maintain.

  Enter Prince John of Lancaster ⌈followed by⌉ the Earl of Warwick ⌈and others⌉

  KING HENRY

  Look, look, here comes my John of Lancaster.

  PRINCE JOHN

  Health, peace, and happiness to my royal father!

  KING HENRY

  Thou bring’st me happiness and peace, son John;

  But health, alack, with youthful wings is flown

  From this bare withered trunk. Upon thy sight

  My worldly business makes a period.

  Where is my lord of Warwick?

  PRINCE HARRY My lord of Warwick!

  ⌈Warwick comes forward to the King⌉

  KING HENRY

  Doth any name particular belong

  Unto the lodging where I first did swoon?

  WARWICK

  ’Tis called Jerusalem, my noble lord.

  KING HENRY

  Laud be to God! Even there my life must end.

  It hath been prophesied to me many years

  I should not die but in Jerusalem,

  Which vainly I supposed the Holy Land;

  But bear me to that chamber; there I’ll lie;

  In that Jerusalem shall Harry die.

  Exeunt, bearing the King in his bed

  5.1 Enter Shallow, ⌈Silence,⌉ Sir John Falstaff, Bardolph, and the Page

  SHALLOW (to Sir John ) By cock and pie, you shall not away tonight.—What, Davy, I say!

  SIR JOHN You must excuse me, Master Robert Shallow.

  SHALLOW I will not excuse you; you shall not be excused; excuses shall not be admitted; there is no excuse shall serve; you shall not be excused.—Why, Davy!

  Enter Davy

  DAVY Here, sir.

  SHALLOW Davy, Davy, Davy; let me see, Davy; let me see. William Cook—bid him come hither.—Sir John, you shall not be excused.

  DAVY Marry, sir, thus: those precepts cannot be served. And again, sir: shall we sow the headland with wheat?

  SHALLOW With red wheat, Davy. But for William Cook; are there no young pigeons?

  DAVY Yes, sir. Here is now the smith’s note for shoeing and plough-irons.

  SHALLOW Let it be cast and paid. Sir John, you shall not be excused.

  DAVY Sir, a new link to the bucket must needs be had; and, sir, do you mean to stop any of William’s wages, about the sack he lost at Hinkley Fair?

  SHALLOW A shall answer it. Some pigeons, Davy, a couple of short-legged hens, a joint of mutton, and any pretty little tiny kickshaws, tell William Cook.

  DAVY Doth the man of war stay all night, sir?

  SHALLOW Yea, Davy. I will use him well; a friend i’th’ court is better than a penny in purse. Use his men well, Davy, for they are arrant knaves, and will backbite.

  DAVY No worse than they are back-bitten, sir, for they have marvellous foul linen.

  SHALLOW Well conceited, Davy. About thy business, Davy.

  DAVY I beseech you, sir, to countenance William Visor of Wo’ncot against Clement Perks o’th’ Hill.

  SHALLOW There is many complaints, Davy, against that Visor. That Visor is an arrant knave, on my knowledge.

  DAVY I grant your worship that he is a knave, sir; but yet God forbid, sir, but a knave should have some countenance at his friend’s request. An honest man, sir, is able to speak for himself, when a knave is not. I have served your worship truly, sir, this eight years. An I cannot once or twice in a quarter bear out a knave against an honest man, I have little credit with your worship. The knave is mine honest friend, sir; therefore I beseech you let him be countenanced.

  SHALLOW Go to; I say he shall have no wrong. Look about, Davy. ⌈Exit Davy⌉ Where are you, Sir John? Come, off with your boots.—Give me your hand, Master Bardolph.

  BARDOLPH I am glad to see your worship. 49

  SHALLOW I thank thee with all my heart, kind Master Bardolph. ⌈To the Page⌉ And welcome, my tall fellow.—Come, Sir John.

  SIR JOHN I’ll follow you, good Master Robert Shallow.

  Exit Shallow ⌈With Silence⌉

  Bardolph, look to our horses. 54

  Exit Bardolph ⌈With the Page⌉

  If I were sawed into quantities, I should make four dozen of such bearded hermits’ staves as Master Shallow. It is a wonderful thing to see the semblable coherence of his men’s spirits and his. They, by observing him, do bear themselves like foolish justices; he, by conversing with them, is turned into a justice-like servingman. Their spirits are so married in conjunction, with the participation of society, that they flock together in consent like so many wild geese. If I had a suit to Master Shallow, I would humour his men with the imputation of being near their master; if to his men, I would curry with Master Shallow that no man could better command his servants. It is certain that either wise bearing or ignorant carriage is caught as men take diseases, one of another; therefore let men take heed of their company. I will devise matter enough out of this Shallow to keep Prince Harry in continual laughter the wearing out of six fashions—which is four terms, or two actions—and a shall laugh without intervallums. O, it is much that a lie with a slight oath, and a jest with a sad brow, will do with a fellow that never had the ache in his shoulders! O, you shall see him laugh till his face be like a wet cloak ill laid up!

  SHALLOW (within) Sir John!

  SIR JOHN I come, Master Shallow; I come, Master Shallow.

  Exit

  5.2 Enter the Earl of Warwick ⌈at one door⌉, and the Lord Chief Justice ⌈at another door⌉

  WARWICK

  How now, my Lord Chief Justice, whither away ?

  LORD CHIEF JUSTICE How doth the King ?

  WARWICK

  Exceeding well: his cares are now all ended.

  LORD CHIEF JUSTICE

  I hope not dead.

  WARWICK He’s walked the way of nature,

  And to our purposes he lives no more.

  LORD CHIEF JUSTICE

  I would his majesty had called me with him.

  The service that I truly did his life

  Hath left me open to all injuries.

  WARWICK

  Indeed I think the young King loves you not.

  LORD CHIEF JUSTICE

  I know he doth not, and do arm myself

  To welcome the condition of the time,

  Which cannot look more hideously upon me

  Than I have drawn it in my fantasy.

  Enter Prince John of Lancaster, and the Dukes of Clarence and Gloucester

  WARWICK

  Here come the heavy issue of dead Harry.

  O, that the living Harry had the temper

  Of he the worst of these three gentlemen !

  How many nobles then should hold their places,

  That must strike sail to spirits of vile sort !

  LORD CHIEF JUSTICE

  O God, I fear all will be overturned.

  PRINCE JOHN

  Good morrow, cousin Warwick, good morrow.

  GLOUCESTER and CLARENCE Good morrow, cousin.

  PRINCE JOHN

  We meet like men that had forgot to speak.

  WARWICK

  We do remember, but our argument

  Is all too heavy to admit much talk.

  PRINCE JOHN

  Well, peace be with him that hath made us heavy!

  LORD CHIEF JUSTICE

  Peace be with us, lest we be heavier I

  GLOUCESTER

  O good my lord, you have lost a friend indeed;

&n
bsp; And I dare swear you borrow not that face

  Of seeming sorrow—it is sure your own.

  PRINCE JOHN (to Lord Chief Justice)

  Though no man be assured what grace to find,

  You stand in coldest expectation.

  I am the sorrier; would ’twere otherwise.

  CLARENCE (to Lord Chief Justice)

  Well, you must now speak Sir John Falstaff fair,

  Which swims against your stream of quality.

  LORD CHIEF JUSTICE

  Sweet princes, what I did I did in honour,

  Led by th’impartial conduct of my soul;

  And never shall you see that I will beg

  A ragged and forestalled remission.

  If truth and upright innocency fail me,

  I’ll to the King my master, that is dead,

  And tell him who hath sent me after him.

  Enter Prince Harry, as King

  WARWICK Here comes the Prince.

  LORD CHIEF JUSTICE

  Good morrow, and God save your majesty I

  PRINCE HARRY

  This new and gorgeous garment, majesty,

  Sits not so easy on me as you think.

  Brothers, you mix your sadness with some fear.

  This is the English not the Turkish court;

  Not Amurath an Amurath succeeds,

  But Harry Harry. Yet be sad, good brothers,

  For, by my faith, it very well becomes you.

  Sorrow so royally in you appears

  That I will deeply put the fashion on,

  And wear it in my heart. Why then, be sad;

  But entertain no more of it, good brothers,

  Than a joint burden laid upon us all.

  For me, by heaven, I bid you be assured

  I’ll be your father and your brother too.

  Let me but bear your love, I’ll bear your cares.

  Yet weep that Harry’s dead, and so will I;

  But Harry lives that shall convert those tears

  By number into hours of happiness.

  PRINCE JOHN, GLOUCESTER, and CLARENCE

  We hope no other from your majesty.

  PRINCE HARRY

  You all look strangely on me, (to Lord Chief Justice)

  and you most.

  You are, I think, assured I love you not.

  LORD CHIEF JUSTICE

  I am assured, if I be measured rightly,

  Your majesty hath no just cause to hate me.

  PRINCE HARRY

  No? How might a prince of my great hopes forget

  So great indignities you laid upon me?

  What—rate, rebuke, and roughly send to prison

  Th’immediate heir of England? Was this easy?

  May this be washed in Lethe and forgotten ?

  LORD CHIEF JUSTICE

  I then did use the person of your father.

  The image of his power lay then in me;

  And in th’administration of his law,

  Whiles I was busy for the commonwealth,

  Your highness pleased to forget my place,

  The majesty and power of law and justice,

  The image of the King whom I presented,

  And struck me in my very seat of judgement;

  Whereon, as an offender to your father,

  I gave bold way to my authority

  And did commit you. If the deed were ill,

  Be you contented, wearing now the garland,

  To have a son set your decrees at naught—

  To pluck down justice from your awe-full bench,

  To trip the course of law, and blunt the sword

  That guards the peace and safety of your person,

  Nay, more, to spurn at your most royal image,

  And mock your workings in a second body?

  Question your royal thoughts, make the case yours,

  Be now the father, and propose a son;

  Hear your own dignity so much profaned,

  See your most dreadful laws so loosely slighted,

  Behold yourself so by a son disdained;

  And then imagine me taking your part,

  And in your power soft silencing your son.

  After this cold considerance, sentence me;

  And, as you are a king, speak in your state

  What I have done that misbecame my place,

  My person, or my liege’s sovereignty.

  PRINCE HARRY

  You are right Justice, and you weigh this well.

  Therefore still bear the balance and the sword;

  And I do wish your honours may increase

  Till you do live to see a son of mine

  Offend you and obey you as I did.

  So shall I live to speak my father’s words:

  ‘Happy am I that have a man so bold

  That dares do justice on my proper son,

  And not less happy having such a son

  That would deliver up his greatness so

  Into the hands of justice.’ You did commit me,

  For which I do commit into your hand

  Th‘unstainèd sword that you have used to bear,

  With this remembrance: that you use the same

  With the like bold, just, and impartial spirit

  As you have done ’gainst me. There is my hand.

  You shall be as a father to my youth;

  My voice shall sound as you do prompt mine ear,

  And I will stoop and humble my intents

  To your well-practised wise directions.—

  And princes all, believe me, I beseech you,

  My father is gone wild into his grave,

  For in his tomb lie my affections;

  And with his spirits sadly I survive

  To mock the expectation of the world,

  To frustrate prophecies, and to raze out

  Rotten opinion, who hath writ me down

  After my seeming. The tide of blood in me

  Hath proudly flowed in vanity till now.

  Now doth it turn, and ebb back to the sea,

  Where it shall mingle with the state of floods,

  And flow henceforth in formal majesty.

  Now call we our high court of Parliament,

  And let us choose such limbs of noble counsel

  That the great body of our state may go

  In equal rank with the best-governed nation;

  That war, or peace, or both at once, may be

  As things acquainted and familiar to us;

  (To Lord Chief Justice)

  In which you, father, shall have foremost hand.

  (To all) Our coronation done, we will accite,

  As I before remembered, all our state;

  And, God consigning to my good intents,

  No prince nor peer shall have just cause to say,

  ‘God shorten Harry’s happy life one day.’ Exeunt

  5.3 ⌈A table and chairs set forth.⌉ Enter Sir John Falstaff, Shallow, Silence, Davy ⌈With vessels for the table⌉, Bardolph, and the Page

  SHALLOW (to Sir John) Nay, you shall see my orchard, where, in an arbour, we will eat a last year’s pippin of mine own grafting, with a dish of caraways, and so forth—come, cousin Silence—and then to bed.

  SIR JOHN Fore God, you have here a goodly dwelling and a rich.

  SHALLOW Barren, barren, barren; beggars all, beggars all,

  Sir John. Marry, good air.—Spread, Davy; spread, Davy.

  ⌈Davy begins to spread the table⌉

  Well said, Davy.

  SIR JOHN This Davy serves you for good uses; he is your serving-man and your husband.

  SHALLOW A good varlet, a good varlet, a very good varlet, Sir John.—By the mass, I have drunk too much sack at supper.—A good varlet. Now sit down, now sit down. (To Silence) Come, cousin.

  SILENCE Ah, sirrah, quoth-a, we shall

  (sings)

  Do nothing but eat, and make good cheer,

  And praise God for the merry year,

  When flesh is cheap and
females dear,

  And lusty lads roam here and there

  So merrily,

  And ever among so merrily.

  SIR JOHN There’s a merry heart, good Master Silence! I’ll give you a health for that anon.

  SHALLOW Good Master Bardotph!—Some wine, Davy.

  DAVY ⌈to Sir john⌉ Sweet sir, sit. ⌈To Bardolph⌉ I’ll be with you anon. ⌈To Sir John⌉ Most sweet sir, sit. Master page, good master page, sit.

  ⌈All but Davy sit. Davy pours wine⌉

  Proface! What you want in meat, we’ll have in drink; but you must bear; the heart’s all.

  SHALLOW Be merry, Master Bardolph and my little soldier there, be merry.

  SILENCE (sings)

  Be merry, be merry, my wife has all,

  For women are shrews, both short and tall,

  ’Tis merry in hall when beards wags all,

  And welcome merry shrovetide.

  Be merry, be merry.

  JOHN I did not think Master Silence had been a man of this mettle.

  SILENCE Who, I? I have been merry twice and once ere now.

  Enter Davy ⌈With a dish of apples⌉

  DAVY There’s a dish of leather-coats for you.

  SHALLOW Davy!

  DAVY Your worship! I’ll be with you straight. ⌈To Sir John⌉ A cup of wine, sir?

  SILENCE ⌈sings⌉

  A cup of wine

  That’s brisk and fine,

  And drink unto thee, leman mine,

  And a merry heart lives long-a.

  SIR JOHN Well said, Master Silence.

  SILENCE And we shall be merry; now comes in the sweet o’th’ night.

  SIR JOHN Health and long life to you, Master Silence! He drinks

  SILENCE Fill the cup and let it come. I’ll pledge you a mile to th’ bottom.

  SHALLOW Honest Bardolph, welcome! If thou want’st anything and wilt not call, beshrew thy heart! (To the Page) Welcome, my little tiny thief, and welcome indeed, too!-I’ll drink to Master Bardolph, and to all the cavalieros about London.

  He drinks

  DAVY I hope to see London once ere I die.

  BARDOLPH An I might see you there, Davy!

  SHALLOW By the mass, you’ll crack a quart together, ha, will you not, Master Bardolph?