TPTT The Second Part of Henry the Fourth: ACT IV
Introduction
INDUCTION
ACT I
ACT II
ACT III
ACT IV
SCENE I. Yorkshire. Gaultree Forest.
SCENE II. Another part of the forest.
SCENE III. Another part of the forest.
SCENE IV. Westminster. The Jerusalem Chamber.
SCENE V. Another chamber.
ACT V
About the Play
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SCENE IV. Westminster. The Jerusalem Chamber.
Enter KING HENRY IV, the Princes Thomas of CLARENCE and Humphrey of GLOUCESTER, WARWICK, and others
KING HENRY IV
      Now, lords, if God doth give successful end
      To this debate that bleedeth at our doors,
      We will our youth lead on to higher fields
      And draw no swords but what are sanctified.
5     Our navy is address'd, our power collected,
      Our substitutes in absence well invested,
      And every thing lies level to our wish:
      Only, we want a little personal strength;
      And pause us, till these rebels, now afoot,
10    Come underneath the yoke of government.
WARWICK
      Both which we doubt not but your majesty
      Shall soon enjoy.
KING HENRY IV
      Humphrey, my son of Gloucester,
      Where is the prince your brother?
GLOUCESTER
15    I think he's gone to hunt, my lord, at Windsor.
KING HENRY IV
      And how accompanied?
GLOUCESTER
      I do not know, my lord.
KING HENRY IV
      Is not his brother, Thomas of Clarence, with him?
GLOUCESTER
      No, my good lord; he is in presence here.
CLARENCE
20    What would my lord and father?
KING HENRY IV
      Nothing but well to thee, Thomas of Clarence.
      How chance thou art not with the prince thy brother?
      He loves thee, and thou dost neglect him, Thomas;
      Thou hast a better place in his affection
25    Than all thy brothers: cherish it, my boy,
      And noble offices thou mayst effect
      Of mediation, after I am dead,
      Between his greatness and thy other brethren:
      Therefore omit him not; blunt not his love,
30    Nor lose the good advantage of his grace
      By seeming cold or careless of his will;
      For he is gracious, if he be observed:
      He hath a tear for pity and a hand
      Open as day for melting charity:
35    Yet notwithstanding, being incensed, he's flint,
      As humorous as winter and as sudden
      As flaws congealed in the spring of day.
      His temper, therefore, must be well observed:
      Chide him for faults, and do it reverently,
40    When thou perceive his blood inclined to mirth;
      But, being moody, give him line and scope,
      Till that his passions, like a whale on ground,
      Confound themselves with working. Learn this, Thomas,
      And thou shalt prove a shelter to thy friends,
45    A hoop of gold to bind thy brothers in,
      That the united vessel of their blood,
      Mingled with venom of suggestion--
      As, force perforce, the age will pour it in--
      Shall never leak, though it do work as strong
50    As aconitum or rash gunpowder.
CLARENCE
      I shall observe him with all care and love.
KING HENRY IV
      Why art thou not at Windsor with him, Thomas?
CLARENCE
      He is not there to-day; he dines in London.
KING HENRY IV
      And how accompanied? canst thou tell that?
CLARENCE
55    With Poins, and other his continual followers.
KING HENRY IV
      Most subject is the fattest soil to weeds;
      And he, the noble image of my youth,
      Is overspread with them: therefore my grief
      Stretches itself beyond the hour of death:
60    The blood weeps from my heart when I do shape
      In forms imaginary the unguided days
      And rotten times that you shall look upon
      When I am sleeping with my ancestors.
      For when his headstrong riot hath no curb,
65    When rage and hot blood are his counsellors,
      When means and lavish manners meet together,
      O, with what wings shall his affections fly
      Towards fronting peril and opposed decay!
WARWICK
      My gracious lord, you look beyond him quite:
70    The prince but studies his companions
      Like a strange tongue, wherein, to gain the language,
      'Tis needful that the most immodest word
      Be look'd upon and learn'd; which once attain'd,
      Your highness knows, comes to no further use
75    But to be known and hated. So, like gross terms,
      The prince will in the perfectness of time
      Cast off his followers; and their memory
      Shall as a pattern or a measure live,
      By which his grace must mete the lives of others,
80    Turning past evils to advantages.
KING HENRY IV
      'Tis seldom when the bee doth leave her comb
      In the dead carrion.

Enter WESTMORELAND

      Who's here? Westmoreland?
WESTMORELAND
      Health to my sovereign, and new happiness
85    Added to that that I am to deliver!
      Prince John your son doth kiss your grace's hand:
      Mowbray, the Bishop Scroop, Hastings and all
      Are brought to the correction of your law;
      There is not now a rebel's sword unsheath'd
90    But peace puts forth her olive every where.
      The manner how this action hath been borne
      Here at more leisure may your highness read,
      With every course in his particular.
KING HENRY IV
      O Westmoreland, thou art a summer bird,
95    Which ever in the haunch of winter sings
      The lifting up of day.

Enter HARCOURT

      Look, here's more news.
HARCOURT
      From enemies heaven keep your majesty;
      And, when they stand against you, may they fall
100   As those that I am come to tell you of!
      The Earl Northumberland and the Lord Bardolph,
      With a great power of English and of Scots
      Are by the sheriff of Yorkshire overthrown:
      The manner and true order of the fight
105   This packet, please it you, contains at large.
KING HENRY IV
      And wherefore should these good news make me sick?
      Will fortune never come with both hands full,
      But write her fair words still in foulest letters?
      She either gives a stomach and no food;
110   Such are the poor, in health; or else a feast
      And takes away the stomach; such are the rich,
      That have abundance and enjoy it not.
      I should rejoice now at this happy news;
      And now my sight fails, and my brain is giddy:
115   O me! come near me; now I am much ill.
GLOUCESTER
      Comfort, your majesty!
CLARENCE
      O my royal father!
WESTMORELAND
      My sovereign lord, cheer up yourself, look up.
WARWICK
      Be patient, princes; you do know, these fits
120   Are with his highness very ordinary.
      Stand from him. Give him air; he'll straight be well.
CLARENCE
      No, no, he cannot long hold out these pangs:
      The incessant care and labour of his mind
      Hath wrought the mure that should confine it in
125   So thin that life looks through and will break out.
GLOUCESTER
      The people fear me; for they do observe
      Unfather'd heirs and loathly births of nature:
      The seasons change their manners, as the year
      Had found some months asleep and leap'd them over.
CLARENCE
130   The river hath thrice flow'd, no ebb between;
      And the old folk, time's doting chronicles,
      Say it did so a little time before
      That our great-grandsire, Edward, sick'd and died.
WARWICK
      Speak lower, princes, for the king recovers.
GLOUCESTER
135   This apoplexy will certain be his end.
KING HENRY IV
      I pray you, take me up, and bear me hence
      Into some other chamber: softly, pray.
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