The First Part of Henry the Fourth: ACT V , SCENE IV. Another part of the field.

The First Part of Henry the Fourth: ACT V


	Introduction

	ACT I

	ACT II

	ACT III

	ACT IV

	ACT V

		SCENE I. KING HENRY IV's camp near Shrewsbury.

		SCENE II. The rebel camp.

		SCENE III. Plain between the camps.

		SCENE IV. Another part of the field.

		SCENE V. Another part of the field.

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SCENE IV. Another part of the field.

Alarum. Excursions. Enter PRINCE HENRY, LORD JOHN OF LANCASTER, and EARL OF WESTMORELAND

KING HENRY IV

      I prithee,
      Harry, withdraw thyself; thou bleed'st too much.
      Lord John of Lancaster, go you with him.

LANCASTER

Not I, my lord, unless I did bleed too.

PRINCE HENRY

5 I beseech your majesty, make up,
Lest your retirement do amaze your friends.

KING HENRY IV

I will do so.
My Lord of Westmoreland, lead him to his tent.

WESTMORELAND

Come, my lord, I'll lead you to your tent.

PRINCE HENRY

10    Lead me, my lord? I do not need your help:
      And God forbid a shallow scratch should drive
      The Prince of Wales from such a field as this,
      Where stain'd nobility lies trodden on,
      and rebels' arms triumph in massacres!

LANCASTER

15 We breathe too long: come, cousin Westmoreland,
Our duty this way lies; for God's sake come.

Exeunt LANCASTER and WESTMORELAND

PRINCE HENRY

      By God, thou hast deceived me, Lancaster;
      I did not think thee lord of such a spirit:
      Before, I loved thee as a brother, John;
20    But now, I do respect thee as my soul.

KING HENRY IV

      I saw him hold Lord Percy at the point
      With lustier maintenance than I did look for
      Of such an ungrown warrior.

PRINCE HENRY

O, this boy
25 Lends mettle to us all!

Exit

Enter DOUGLAS

EARL OF DOUGLAS

      Another king! they grow like Hydra's heads:
      I am the Douglas, fatal to all those
      That wear those colours on them: what art thou,
      That counterfeit'st the person of a king?

KING HENRY IV

30    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,
35    I will assay thee: so, defend thyself.

EARL OF DOUGLAS

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

They fight. KING HENRY being in danger, PRINCE HENRY enters

PRINCE HENRY

40    Hold up thy head, vile Scot, or thou art like
      Never to hold it up again! the spirits
      Of valiant 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

45    Cheerly, my lord how fares your grace?
      Sir Nicholas Gawsey hath for succor sent,
      And so hath Clifton: I'll to Clifton straight.

KING HENRY IV

      Stay, and breathe awhile:
      Thou hast redeem'd thy lost opinion,
50    And show'd thou makest some tender of my life,
      In this fair rescue thou hast brought to me.

PRINCE HENRY

      O God! they did me too much injury
      That ever said I hearken'd for your death.
      If it were so, I might have let alone
55    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 saved the treacherous labour of your son.

KING HENRY IV

Make up to Clifton: I'll to Sir Nicholas Gawsey.

Exit

Enter HOTSPUR

HOTSPUR

60 If I mistake not, thou art Harry Monmouth.

PRINCE HENRY

Thou speak'st as if I would deny my name.

HOTSPUR

My name is Harry Percy.

PRINCE HENRY

      Why, then I see
      A very valiant rebel of the name.
65    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.

HOTSPUR

70    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!

PRINCE HENRY

      I'll make it greater ere I part from thee;
      And all the budding honours on thy crest
75    I'll crop, to make a garland for my head.

HOTSPUR

I can no longer brook thy vanities.

They fight

Enter FALSTAFF

FALSTAFF

Well said, Hal! to it Hal! Nay, you shall find no
boy's play here, I can tell you.

Re-enter DOUGLAS; he fights with FALSTAFF, who falls down as if he were dead, and exit DOUGLAS. HOTSPUR is wounded, and falls

HOTSPUR

      O, Harry, thou hast robb'd me of my youth!
80    I better brook the loss of brittle life
      Than those proud titles thou hast won of me;
      They wound my thoughts worse than sword my flesh:
      But thought's the slave of life, and life time's fool;
      And time, that takes survey of all the world,
85    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

PRINCE HENRY

      For worms, brave Percy: fare thee well, great heart!
90    Ill-weaved 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 dead
95    Bears not alive so stout a gentleman.
      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
100   For doing these fair rites of tenderness.
      Adieu, and take thy praise with thee to heaven!
      Thy ignominy sleep with thee in the grave,
      But not remember'd in thy epitaph!

He spieth FALSTAFF on the ground

      What, old acquaintance! could not all this flesh
105   Keep in a little life? Poor Jack, farewell!
      I could have better spared a better man:
      O, I 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,
110   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 PRINCE HENRY

FALSTAFF

      (Rising up) Embowelled! if thou embowel me to-day,
      I'll give you leave to powder me and eat me too
115   to-morrow. 'Sblood,'twas time to counterfeit, or
      that hot termagant Scot had paid me scot and lot too.
      Counterfeit? I lie, I 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:
120   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 is discretion; in the which better part I
      have saved my life.'Zounds, I am afraid of this
125   gunpowder Percy, though he be dead: how, if he
      should counterfeit too and rise? by my faith, 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?
130   Nothing confutes me but eyes, and nobody sees me.
      Therefore, sirrah,

Stabbing him

with a new wound in your thigh, come you along with me.

Takes up HOTSPUR on his back

Re-enter PRINCE HENRY and LORD JOHN OF LANCASTER

PRINCE HENRY

Come, brother John; full bravely hast thou flesh'd
Thy maiden sword.

LANCASTER

135 But, soft! whom have we here?
Did you not tell me this fat man was dead?

PRINCE HENRY

      I did; I saw him dead,
      Breathless and bleeding on the ground. Art
      thou alive?
140   Or is it fantasy that plays upon our eyesight?
      I prithee, speak; we will not trust our eyes
      Without our ears: thou art not what thou seem'st.

FALSTAFF

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

145   if your father will do me any honour, so; if not, let
      him kill the next Percy himself. I look to be either
      earl or duke, I can assure you.

PRINCE HENRY

Why, Percy I killed myself and saw thee dead.

FALSTAFF

      Didst thou? Lord, Lord, how this world is given to
150   lying! I grant you I was down and out of breath;
      and so was he: but we rose 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
155   it upon my death, I gave him this wound in the
      thigh: if the man were alive and would deny it,
      'zounds, I would make him eat a piece of my sword.

LANCASTER

This is the strangest tale that ever I heard.

PRINCE HENRY

      This is the strangest fellow, brother John.
160   Come, bring your luggage nobly on your back:
      For my part, if a lie may do thee grace,
      I'll gild it with the happiest terms I have.

A retreat is sounded

      The trumpet sounds retreat; the day is ours.
      Come, brother, let us to the highest of the field,
165   To see what friends are living, who are dead.

Exeunt PRINCE HENRY and LANCASTER

FALSTAFF

      I'll follow, as they say, for reward. He that
      rewards me, God reward him! If I do grow great,
      I'll grow less; for I'll purge, and leave sack, and
      live cleanly as a nobleman should do.

Exit

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