To thee it shall descend with better quiet,
Better opinion, better confirmation;

For all the soil of the achievement goes
With me into the earth. It seem'd in me

But as an honour snatch'd with boisterous hand,
And I had many living to upbraid

My gain of it by their assistances;

Which daily grew to quarrel and to bloodshed,
Wounding supposèd peace. All these bold fears
Thou see'st with peril I have answered;
For all my reign hath been but as a scene
Acting that argument1: and now my death
Changes the mode; for what in me was purchas'd,
Falls upon thee in a more fairer sort;

So thou the garland wear'st successively.

Yet, though thou stand'st more sure than I could do,
Thou art not firm enough, since griefs are green;
And all my friends, which thou must make thy friends,
Have but their stings and teeth newly ta'en out;
By whose fell working I was first advanc'd
And by whose power I well might lodge a fear
To be again displac'd: which to avoid,

I cut them off, and had a purpose now

To lead out many to the Holy Land,

Lest rest and lying still might make them look
Too near unto my state. Therefore, my Harry,
Be it thy course to busy giddy minds

With foreign quarrels, that action, hence borne out,
May waste the memory of the former days.

1 subject.

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. 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.)

King. Look, look, here comes my John of Lan

.caster.

Lancaster. Health, peace, and happiness to my royal father!

King. Thou bring'st me happiness and peace, son
John;

But health, alack, with youthful wings is flown
From this bare wither'd trunk: upon thy sight
My worldly business makes a period.

Where is my Lord of Warwick?

Prince.

My Lord of Warwick!

(Reënter Warwick, and others.)

King. Doth any name particular belong Unto the lodging where I first did swoon?

Warwick. 'Tis call'd Jerusalem, my noble lord. King. 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 suppos'd the Holy Land.
But bear me to that chamber: there I'll lie;
In that Jerusalem shall Harry die.

[Exeunt.

KING HENRY THE FIFTH

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

THE brave and self-confident young king undertook to recover the French provinces. He even renewed Edward III.'s claim to the French crown. The brilliant victories won by the English were due in part to their enthusiasm and excellent discipline, but even more to the utter incapacity of France. The French king, Charles VI., was an imbecile, and the land was torn by the strife of rival factions. Famine and disease had reduced the people to a state of abject despair. Henry V. regarded his mission as a crusade against the vices of a demoralized nation.

ACT III

SCENE I. FRANCE. Before Harfleur.

(Alarum. Enter King Henry, Exeter, Bedford, Gloucester, and Soldiers with scaling-ladders.)

King Henry. Once more unto the breach, 'dear friends, once more;

Or close the wall up with our English dead!
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility;

But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger:
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,

Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;

Let it pry through the portage1 of the head

Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a gallèd rock

O'erhang and jutty 2 his confounded 3 base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.

Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath, and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noble English,
Whose blood is fet 5 from fathers of war-proof,
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought,
And sheath'd their swords for lack of argument! 6
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest

That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,

And teach them how to war! And you, good yeo

men,

Whose limbs were made in England, show us here The mettle of your pasture; let us swear

That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;

For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,8
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:

Follow your spirit, and upon this charge

Cry "God for Harry, England, and Saint George! [Exeunt. Alarum, and chambers 1 1 go off.

ACT IV

SCENE I. The English Camp at Agincourt.

(Enter King Henry, Bedford, and Gloucester.) King Henry. Gloucester, 'tis true that we are in great danger;

The greater therefore should our courage be.

Good morrow, brother Bedford. — God Almighty!
There is some soul of goodness in things evil,
Would men observingly distil it out;

For our bad neighbour makes us early stirrers,
Which is both healthful and good husbandry:
Besides, they are our outward consciences,
And preachers to us all, admonishing

That we should dress us fairly for our end.
Thus may we gather honey from the weed,
And make a moral of the devil himself.

(Enter Erpingham.)

Good morrow, old Sir Thomas Erpingham:
A good soft pillow for that good white head

Were better than a churlish turf of France.

Erpingham. Not so, my liege: this lodging likes me better,

Since I may say, now lie I like a king.

4