Henry V, Folio

Prologue

Enter Chorus as Prologue.Click to see collations
Pro.Sp1Chorus
O for a museClick to see collations of fire,Click to see collations that would ascend
The brightest heavenClick to see collations of invention,Click to see collations
A kingdom for a stage, princesClick to see collations to act,
And monarchs to behold the swellingClick to see collations scene.
Then should the warlike Harry, like himself,Click to see collations
Assume the portClick to see collations of Mars,Click to see collations and at his heels,
Leashed inClick to see collations like hounds, should famine, sword, and fireClick to see collations
Crouch for employment. But pardon, gentlesClick to see collations all,
The flat unraisèd spiritsClick to see collations that hathClick to see collations dared,
On this unworthy scaffold,Click to see collations to bring forth
So great an object. Can this cockpitClick to see collations hold
The vastyClick to see collations fields of France? Or may we cram
Within this wooden OClick to see collations the very casquesClick to see collations
That did affrightClick to see collations the air at Agincourt?Click to see collations
O pardon,Click to see collations since a crooked figureClick to see collations may
Attest in little place a million,
And let us, ciphersClick to see collations to this great account,Click to see collations
On your imaginary forcesClick to see collations work.
Suppose within the girdleClick to see collations of these walls
Are now confined two mighty monarchies,Click to see collations
Whose high, uprearèdClick to see collations, and abuttingClick to see collations frontsClick to see collations
The perilous narrow oceanClick to see collations parts asunder.
Piece outClick to see collations our imperfections with your thoughts:
Into a thousand parts divide one man,
And make imaginary puissance.Click to see collations
Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them
Printing their proud hooves i’th’receiving earth.
For ’tis your thoughts that now must deckClick to see collations our kings,Click to see collations
Carry them here and there, jumping o’er times,Click to see collations
Turning th’accomplishment of many years
Into an hourglass:Click to see collations for the which supply,Click to see collations
Admit me Chorus to this history,
Who, prologue-like,Click to see collations your humble patience prayClick to see collations
Gently to hear, kindly to judge our play.
Exit.

1.1Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely.Click to see collations
1.1.Sp1Canterbury
My lord, I’ll tell you, that selfClick to see collations bill is urged
Which in th’eleventh year of the last king’s reignClick to see collations
Was like,Click to see collations and had indeed against usClick to see collations passed,
But that the scamblingClick to see collationsClick to see collations and unquiet time
Did push it out of further question.Click to see collations
1.1.Sp2Ely
But how, my lord, shall we resist it now?
1.1.Sp3Canterbury
It must be thought on. If it pass against us,
We lose the better half of our possession,Click to see collations
For all the temporal lands which men devout
By testament have given to the churchClick to see collations
Would theyClick to see collations strip from us, being valued thus:
As much as would maintain,Click to see collations to the king’s honour,Click to see collations
Full fifteen earls and fifteen hundred knights,
Six thousand and two hundred good esquires,Click to see collations
And to relief of lazarsClick to see collations and weak ageClick to see collationsClick to see collations
Of indigent faint souls past corporal toil,Click to see collations
A hundred almshouses,Click to see collations right well supplied;
And to the coffersClick to see collations of the king beside,Click to see collations
A thousand pounds by th’year.Click to see collationsClick to see collations Thus runs the bill.Click to see collations
1.1.Sp4Ely
This would drink deep.Click to see collations
1.1.Sp5Canterbury
’Twould drink the cup and all.
Click to see collations
1.1.Sp6Ely
But what prevention?Click to see collations
1.1.Sp7Canterbury
The king is full of graceClick to see collations and fair regard.Click to see collations
1.1.Sp8Ely
And a true lover of the holy church.
1.1.Sp9Canterbury
The coursesClick to see collations of his youth promised it not.
The breath no sooner left his father’s body,
But that his wildness, mortifiedClick to see collations in him,
Seemed to die too. Yea, at that very moment,
ConsiderationClick to see collations like an angel came,
And whipped th’offending AdamClick to see collations out of him,Click to see collations
Leaving his body as a paradise,Click to see collations
T’envelop and contain celestial spirits.Click to see collations
Never was such a sudden scholar made,
Never came reformationClick to see collations in a floodClick to see collations
With such a headyClick to see collations currenceClick to see collationsClick to see collations scouringClick to see collations faults,
Nor never hydra-headedClick to see collations willfulness
So soon did lose his seat,Click to see collations and all at once,
As in this king.
1.1.Sp10Ely
We areClick to see collationsClick to see collations blessèd in the change.
1.1.Sp11Canterbury
Hear him but reason in divinity,Click to see collations
And, all-admiring, with an inward wish
You would desire the king were made a prelate.Click to see collations
Hear him debate of commonwealth affairs,
You would say it hath been all in allClick to see collations his study.
ListClick to see collations his discourse of war, and you shall hear
A fearful battle rendered you in music.Click to see collations
Turn him to any cause of policy,Click to see collations
The gordian knotClick to see collations of it he will unloose,
Familiar as his garter;Click to see collations that when he speaks,
The air, a charteredClick to see collations libertine,Click to see collations is still,
And the mute wonder lurketh in men’s earsClick to see collations
To steal his sweet and honeyed sentences,
So that the artClick to see collations and practic part of life
Must be the mistress to this theoric.Click to see collations
Which is a wonder how his grace should glean it,Click to see collations
Since his addictionClick to see collations was to courses vain,
His companiesClick to see collations unlettered,Click to see collations rude,Click to see collations and shallow,
His hours filled up with riots,Click to see collations banquets, sports,
And never notedClick to see collations in him any study,
Any retirement, any sequestrationClick to see collations
From open hauntsClick to see collations and popularity.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
1.1.Sp12Ely
The strawberry grows underneath the nettle,
And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best
Neighboured by fruit of baserClick to see collations quality;Click to see collations
And so the prince obscuredClick to see collations his contemplationClick to see collations
Under the veilClick to see collations of wildness, whichClick to see collations no doubt
Grew like the summer grass, fastest by night,
Unseen, yet cresciveClick to see collations in his faculty.Click to see collations
1.1.Sp13Canterbury
It must be so, for miracles are ceased,Click to see collations
And therefore we must needsClick to see collations admitClick to see collations the meansClick to see collations
How things are perfected.Click to see collations
1.1.Sp14Ely
But my good lord,
How now for mitigationClick to see collations of this bill
Urged by the commons?Click to see collations Doth his majesty
Incline toClick to see collations it or no?
1.1.Sp15Canterbury
He seems indifferent,
Or rather swaying more uponClick to see collations our part,
Than cherishing th’exhibitorsClick to see collations against us;
For I have made an offer to his majesty,
UponClick to see collations our spiritual convocation,Click to see collations
And in regard of causesClick to see collations now in hand,
Which I have openedClick to see collations to his grace at large,Click to see collations
As touchingClick to see collations France, to give a greater sumClick to see collations
Than ever at one time the clergy yet
Did to his predecessors part withal.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
1.1.Sp16Ely
How did this offer seem received, my lord?
1.1.Sp17Canterbury
With good acceptance of his majesty,Click to see collations
Save that there was not time enough to hear,
As I perceived his grace would fainClick to see collations have done,
The severalsClick to see collationsClick to see collations and unhidden passagesClick to see collations
Of his true titles to some certain dukedoms,Click to see collations
And generally to the crown and seat of France
Derived from Edward, his great-grandfather.Click to see collations
1.1.Sp18Ely
What was th’impediment that broke this off?
1.1.Sp19Canterbury
The French ambassador upon that instant
Craved audience; and the hour, I think, is come
To give him hearing. Is it four o’clock?
1.1.Sp20Ely
It is.
1.1.Sp21Canterbury
Then go we in to know his embassy,Click to see collations
Which I could with a ready guess declare
Before the Frenchman speak a word of it.
1.1.Sp22Ely
I’ll wait upon you, and I long to hear it.
Exeunt.

1.2Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter the King, HumphreyClick to see collations Duke of Gloucester,Click to see collations Bedford, Clarence,Click to see collations Warwick, Westmorland, and Exeter, with attendants.Click to see collations
1.2.Sp1King Henry
Where is my graciousClick to see collations lord of Canterbury?
1.2.Sp2Exeter
Not here in presence.Click to see collations
1.2.Sp3King Henry
Send for him, good uncle.
Exit attendant.Click to see collations
1.2.Sp4Westmorland
Shall we call in th’ambassador, my liege?
1.2.Sp5King Henry
Not yet, my cousin.Click to see collations We wouldClick to see collations be resolved,Click to see collations
Before we hear him, of some things of weightClick to see collations
That taskClick to see collations our thoughts concerning us and France.
Enter the two Bishops, Canterbury and Ely.
1.2.Sp6Canterbury
God and his angels guard your sacred throne
And make you long become it.Click to see collations
1.2.Sp7King Henry
Sure we thank you.
My learnèd lord, we pray you to proceed,
And justly and religiouslyClick to see collations unfold
Why the law Salic,Click to see collations that they have in France,
Or should or should notClick to see collations bar us in our claim.Click to see collations
And God forbid, my dear and faithful lord,
That you should fashion,Click to see collations wrest,Click to see collations or bowClick to see collations your reading,
Or nicelyClick to see collations chargeClick to see collations your understandingClick to see collations soul
With openingClick to see collations titles miscreate,Click to see collations whose rightClick to see collations
Suits not in native colours withClick to see collations the truth.
For God doth know how many now in health
Shall drop their bloodClick to see collations in approbationClick to see collations
Of what your reverence shall incite us to.
Therefore take heed how you impawn our person,Click to see collations
How you awake our sleeping sword of war;
We chargeClick to see collations you in the name of God, take heed.
For never two such kingdoms did contend
Without much fall of blood, whose guiltless drops
Are every one a woe,Click to see collations a sore complaintClick to see collations
’Gainst him whose wrongsClick to see collationsClick to see collations givesClick to see collations edge unto the swords
That makesClick to see collations such waste in brief mortality.
Under this conjurationClick to see collations speak, my lord,
For we will hear, note,Click to see collations and believe in heart
That what you speak is in your conscience washed
As pure as sin with baptism.Click to see collations
1.2.Sp8Canterbury
Then hear me, gracious sovereign, and you peersClick to see collations
That owe your selves, your lives and services
To this imperialClick to see collations throne. There is no barClick to see collations
To make against your highness’ claim to France
But this, which theyClick to see collations produce from Pharamond:Click to see collations
“In terram Salicam mulieres ne succedant”Click to see collations
“No woman shall succeedClick to see collations in Salic land”Click to see collations
Which Salic land the French unjustly glossClick to see collationsClick to see collations
To be the realm of France, and Pharamond
The founder of this law and female bar.Click to see collations
Yet their own authors faithfully affirm
That the land Salic is in Germany,
Between the floodsClick to see collations of Saale and of Elbe,Click to see collations
Where Charles the Great,Click to see collations having subdued the Saxons,
There left behind and settled certain FrenchClick to see collations
Who, holding in disdain the German women
For some dishonest mannersClick to see collations of their life,
Established then this law: to wit,Click to see collations no female
Should be inheritrixClick to see collations in Salic land,
Which Salic, as I said, ’twixtClick to see collations Elbe and Saale,
Is at this day in Germany, calledClick to see collations Meissen.Click to see collations
Then doth it well appear the Salic law
Was not devisèd for the realm of France,
Nor did the French possess the Salic land
Until four hundred one-and-twenty years
After defunctionClick to see collations of King Pharamond,
Idly supposed the founder of this law,
Who died within the year of our redemptionClick to see collations
Four hundred twenty-six; and Charles the Great
Subdued the Saxons and did seatClick to see collations the French
Beyond the river Saale in the year
Eight hundred five.Click to see collations Besides,Click to see collations their writers say
King Pepin, which deposèd Childeric,Click to see collations
Did as heir general,Click to see collations being descended
Of Blithild, which was daughter to King Chlothar,Click to see collations
Make claim and title to the crown of France.
Hugh CapetClick to see collations also, who usurped the crown
Of Charles the Duke of Lorraine, sole heir male
Of the true line and stock of Charles the Great,Click to see collationsClick to see collations
To findClick to see collationsClick to see collations his title with some shows of truth—
Though in pure truth it was corrupt and naught—
ConveyedClick to see collations himself as th’heir to th’lady Lingare,Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Daughter to Charlemagne,Click to see collationsClick to see collations who was the son
To Louis the emperor,Click to see collations and Louis the son
Of Charles the Great. Also King Louis the Tenth,Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Who was sole heir to the usurper Capet,
Could not keep quietClick to see collations in his conscience
Wearing the crown of France till satisfied
That fair Queen Isabelle,Click to see collations his grandmother,
Was linealClick to see collations of the lady Ermengarde,Click to see collations
Daughter to Charles the foresaid Duke of Lorraine,
By the which marriage the line of Charles the Great
Was reunited to the crown of France.
So that, as clear as is the summer’s sun,Click to see collations
King Pepin’s title and Hugh Capet’s claim,
King Louis hisClick to see collations satisfaction,Click to see collations all appear
To holdClick to see collations in right and title of the female;
So do the kings of France unto this day,
HowbeitClick to see collations they would hold up this Salic law
To bar your highness claiming from the female,
And rather choose to hide them in a netClick to see collations
Than amplyClick to see collations to embarClick to see collationsClick to see collations their crookedClick to see collations titles
Usurped from you and your progenitors.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
1.2.Sp9King Henry
May I with right and conscience make this claim?
1.2.Sp10Canterbury
The sin upon my head,Click to see collations dread sovereign.
For in the book of Numbers is it writ:
“When the man dies, let the inheritance”
“Descend unto the daughter.Click to see collationsGracious lord,
Stand for your own.Click to see collations Unwind your bloody flag,
Look back into your mighty ancestors.
Go, my dread lord, to your great-grandsire’sClick to see collations tomb,
From whom you claim;Click to see collations invoke his warlike spirit,
And your great-uncle’s, Edward the Black Prince,Click to see collations
Who on the French ground played a tragedy,Click to see collations
Making defeat on the full power of France
Whiles his most mighty father on a hillClick to see collations
Stood smiling to behold his lion’s whelpClick to see collations
Forage inClick to see collations blood of French nobility.
Oh, noble English, that could entertainClick to see collations
With halfClick to see collations their forces the full pride of France
And let another half stand laughing by,
All out of work and cold for action!Click to see collations
1.2.Sp11ElyClick to see collations
Awake remembrance of theseClick to see collations valiant dead,Click to see collations
And with your puissantClick to see collations arm renew their feats.
You are their heir, you sit upon their throne,
The blood and courage that renownèd themClick to see collations
Runs in your veins, and my thrice-puissant liege
Is in the very May-morn of his youth,Click to see collations
Ripe for exploits and mighty enterprises.
1.2.Sp12Exeter
Your brother kings and monarchs of the earth
Do all expect that you should rouse yourself
As did the former lions of your blood.Click to see collations
1.2.Sp13Westmorland
They know your graceClick to see collations hath cause, and means, and might;Click to see collations
So hath your highness.Click to see collationsClick to see collations Never king of England
Had nobles richer and more loyal subjects,
Whose hearts have left their bodies here in England
And lie pavilioned in the fields of France.Click to see collations
1.2.Sp14Canterbury
Oh, let their bodies follow, my dear liege,
With bloodsClick to see collations and sword and fire to win your right.Click to see collations
In aid whereof, we of the spiritualtyClick to see collationsClick to see collations
Will raise your highness such a mighty sum
As never did the clergy at one time
Bring in to any of your ancestors.Click to see collations
1.2.Sp15King Henry
We must not only arm t’invade the French,
But lay down our proportionsClick to see collations to defend
Against the Scot,Click to see collations who will make roadClick to see collations upon us
With all advantages.Click to see collations
1.2.Sp16Canterbury
They of those marches,Click to see collations gracious sovereign,
Shall be a wall sufficient to defend
Our inlandClick to see collationsClick to see collations from the pilfering borderers.Click to see collations
1.2.Sp17King Henry
We do not mean the coursing snatchersClick to see collations only,
But fear the main intendmentClick to see collations of the Scot,
Who hath been stillClick to see collations a giddyClick to see collations neighbour to us.
For you shall read that my great-grandfather
Never went with his forces into France
But that the Scot on his unfurnishedClick to see collations kingdom
Came pouring like the tide into a breachClick to see collations
With ample and brimClick to see collations fullness of his force,
GallingClick to see collations the gleanèdClick to see collations land with hot assays,Click to see collations
GirdingClick to see collations with grievous siege castles and towns,
ThatClick to see collations England, being empty of defence,
Hath shook and trembled at th’ill neighbourhood.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
1.2.Sp18Canterbury
SheClick to see collations hath been then more fearedClick to see collations than harmed, my liege.
For hear her but exampled by herself:Click to see collationsClick to see collations
When all her chivalryClick to see collations hath been in France
And she a mourning widow of her nobles,
She hath herself not only well defended,
But taken and impounded as a strayClick to see collations
The king of Scots,Click to see collations whom she did send to France
To fill King Edward’s fameClick to see collations with prisoner kings
And make theirClick to see collations chronicleClick to see collationsClick to see collations as rich with praise
As is the oozeClick to see collations and bottom of the sea
With sunken wreckClick to see collations and sumlessClick to see collations treasuries.
1.2.Sp19ElyClick to see collationsClick to see collations
But there’s a saying very old and true:
“If that you will France win”,
“Then with Scotland first begin.Click to see collations
Click to see collations
For once the eagle England being in prey,Click to see collations
To her unguarded nest the weasel Scot
Comes sneaking, and so sucks her princely eggs,
Playing the mouse in absence of the cat,Click to see collations
To ’tameClick to see collationsClick to see collations and havocClick to see collations more than she can eat.
1.2.Sp20ExeterClick to see collations
It follows then the cat must stay at home,
Yet that is but a crushedClick to see collations necessity,Click to see collations
Since we have locks to safeguard necessaries
And prettyClick to see collations traps to catch the petty thieves.
While that the armèd hand doth fight abroad,
Th’advisèdClick to see collations head defends itself at home.
For government, though high and low and lower
Put into parts,Click to see collations doth keep in one consent,Click to see collations
CongreeingClick to see collations in a full and natural closeClick to see collations
Like music.
1.2.Sp21Canterbury
Therefore doth heaven divide
The stateClick to see collations of man in diversClick to see collations functions,
Setting endeavour in continual motion,
To which is fixèd, as an aimClick to see collations or butt,Click to see collations
Obedience.Click to see collations For so work the honeybees,Click to see collations
Creatures that by a rule in natureClick to see collations teach
The actClick to see collationsClick to see collations of order to a peopled kingdom.Click to see collations
They have a king,Click to see collations and officers of sorts,Click to see collations
Where some like magistratesClick to see collations correctClick to see collations at home;
Others like merchants ventureClick to see collations trade abroad;
Others, like soldiers armèd in their stings,
Make boot uponClick to see collations the summer’s velvetClick to see collations buds,
Which pillageClick to see collations they with merry march bring home
To the tent-royalClick to see collations of their emperor,
Who, busied in his majesties,Click to see collations surveysClick to see collations
The singing masonsClick to see collations building roofs of gold,
The civilClick to see collations citizensClick to see collations kneading upClick to see collations the honey,
The poor mechanicClick to see collations porters crowding in
Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate,
The sad-eyed justiceClick to see collations with his surlyClick to see collations humClick to see collations
Delivering o’er to executorsClick to see collations pale
The lazy yawning drone.Click to see collations I this infer:
That many things, having full reference
To one consent,Click to see collations may work contrariously.Click to see collations
As many arrows loosèd several waysClick to see collations
Come to one mark,Click to see collations as many waysClick to see collations meet in one town,
As many fresh streams meet in one salt sea,
As many lines closeClick to see collations in the dial’sClick to see collations centre,
So may a thousand actions once afoot
EndClick to see collations in one purpose, and be all well borneClick to see collations
Without defeat. Therefore to France, my liege.
Divide your happyClick to see collations England into four,
Whereof take you one quarter into France,
And you withalClick to see collations shall make all GalliaClick to see collations shake.
If we, with thrice such powers left at home,
Cannot defend our own doors from the dog,
Let us be worried,Click to see collations and our nation lose
The name of hardiness and policy.Click to see collations
1.2.Sp22King Henry
Call in the messengers sent from the dauphin.Click to see collations
Exit attendant.Click to see collations
Now are we well resolved,Click to see collations and by God’s help
And yours, the noble sinews of our power,
France being ours,Click to see collations we’ll bend it to our awe,Click to see collations
Or break it all to pieces. Or there we’ll sit,Click to see collations
Ruling in large and ampleClick to see collations emperyClick to see collations
O’er France and all her almost kinglyClick to see collations dukedoms,
Or lay these bonesClick to see collations in an unworthy urn,
Tombless,Click to see collations with no remembrance over them.
Either our history shall with full mouthClick to see collations
Speak freely of our acts, or else our grave,
Like Turkish mute,Click to see collations shall have a tongueless mouth,
Not worshipped with a waxenClick to see collations epitaph.Click to see collations
Enter Ambassadors of France.
Now are we well prepared to know the pleasureClick to see collations
Of our fair cousin dauphin, for we hear
Your greeting is from him, not from the king.
1.2.Sp23Ambassador
May’t please your majesty to give us leave
Freely to renderClick to see collations what we have in charge,Click to see collations
Or shall we sparinglyClick to see collations show you far offClick to see collations
The dauphin’s meaning and our embassy?Click to see collations
1.2.Sp24King Henry
We are no tyrant, but a Christian king,
Unto whose grace our passion is as subject
As isClick to see collations our wretches fetteredClick to see collations in our prisons.Click to see collations
Therefore with frank and with uncurbèd plainness
Tell us the dauphin’s mind.
1.2.Sp25Ambassador
Thus, then, in few:Click to see collations
Your highness, lately sending intoClick to see collations France,
Did claim some certain dukedomsClick to see collations in the right
Of your great predecessor, King Edward the Third.
In answer of which claim, the prince our master
Says that you savourClick to see collations too much of your youth,
And bids you be advised,Click to see collations there’s naughtClick to see collations in France
That can be with a nimble galliardClick to see collations won;
You cannot revel intoClick to see collations dukedoms there.
He therefore sends you, meeterClick to see collations for your spirit,
This tunClick to see collations of treasure, and in lieu of this,
Desires you let the dukedoms that you claim
Hear no more of you. This the dauphin speaks.
1.2.Sp26King Henry
What treasure, uncle?
1.2.Sp27Exeter
Tennis balls,Click to see collations my liege.
1.2.Sp28King Henry
We are glad the dauphin is so pleasant with us.
His present and your pains we thank you for.
When we have matched our racketsClick to see collations to these balls,
We will in France, by God’s grace, play a setClick to see collations
ShallClick to see collations strike his father’s crownClick to see collations into the hazard.Click to see collations
Tell him he hath made a match with such a wranglerClick to see collations
That all the courtsClick to see collations of France will be disturbed
With chases.Click to see collationsClick to see collations And we understand him well,
How he comes o’er usClick to see collations with our wilder days,Click to see collations
Not measuringClick to see collations what use we made of them.
We never valued this poor seatClick to see collations of England,
And therefore living hence,Click to see collations did give ourself
To barbarous license,Click to see collations as ’tis ever common
That men are merriest when they are fromClick to see collations home.
But tell the dauphin I will keep my state,Click to see collations
Be like a king, and show my sail of greatnessClick to see collations
When I do rouse meClick to see collations in my throne of France.
For thatClick to see collations I haveClick to see collations laid by my majesty
And plodded like a man for working days,Click to see collations
But I will rise there with so full a glory
That I will dazzle all the eyes of France,
Yea, strike the dauphin blind to look on us.
And tell the pleasant prince this mockClick to see collations of his
Hath turned his ballsClick to see collations to gunstones,Click to see collations and his soul
Shall stand sore chargèdClick to see collations for the wastefulClick to see collations vengeance
That shall fly with them: for many a thousand widows
Shall this, his mock, mock out of their dear husbands,
Mock mothers from their sons, mock castles down,
And some are yet ungottenClick to see collations and unborn
That shall have cause to curse the dauphin’s scorn.
But this lies all within the will of God,
To whom I do appeal, and in whose name
Tell you the dauphin I am coming on
To venge meClick to see collations as I may, and to put forth
My rightful hand in a well-hallowedClick to see collations cause.Click to see collations
So get you hence in peace, and tell the dauphin
His jest will savour but ofClick to see collations shallow wit
When thousands weep more than did laugh at it.—
Convey them with safe conduct.—Fare you well.
Exeunt Ambassadors.
1.2.Sp29Exeter
ThisClick to see collations was a merry message.
1.2.Sp30King Henry
We hope to make the sender blush at it.
Therefore, my lords, omit no happy hourClick to see collations
That may give furtheranceClick to see collationsClick to see collations to our expedition,
For we have now no thought in us but France,
Save those to God, that run before our business.Click to see collations
Therefore let our proportionsClick to see collations for these wars
Be soon collected, and all things thought upon
That may with reasonable swiftness add
More feathers to our wings, for, God before,Click to see collations
We’ll chideClick to see collations this dauphin at his father’s door.
Therefore let every man now taskClick to see collations his thought
That this fairClick to see collations action may on footClick to see collations be brought.
Exeunt.Click to see collations

2.0Click to see collations

Flourish.Click to see collations Enter Chorus.
2.0.Sp1ChorusClick to see collations
Now all the youth of England are on fireClick to see collations
And silken dallianceClick to see collations in the wardrobe lies.
Now thrive the armourers,Click to see collations and honour’s thought
Reigns solely in the breast of every man.
They sell the pasture now to buy the horse,
Following the mirrorClick to see collations of all Christian kings
With wingèd heels, as English Mercuries.Click to see collations
For now sits expectation in the air
And hides a sword from hiltsClick to see collations unto the point
With crowns imperial,Click to see collations crowns and coronetsClick to see collations
Promised to Harry and his followers.
The French, advised by good intelligenceClick to see collations
Of this most dreadful preparation,Click to see collations
Shake in their fear, and with paleClick to see collations policyClick to see collations
Seek to divert the English purposes.
O England, model toClick to see collations thy inward greatness,
Like little body with a mighty heart,Click to see collations
WhatClick to see collations mightst thou do, that honour would thee do,Click to see collations
Were all thy childrenClick to see collations kindClick to see collations and natural!
But see, thy faultClick to see collations France hath in thee found out:Click to see collationsClick to see collations
A nest of hollow bosoms,Click to see collations which heClick to see collationsClick to see collations fills
With treacherous crowns;Click to see collationsClick to see collations and three corrupted men,Click to see collationsClick to see collations
One, Richard, Earl of Cambridge, and the second
Henry, Lord Scrope of Masham, and the third
Sir Thomas Grey, knight of Northumberland,
Have for the giltClick to see collations of France—oh, guilt indeed!—
Confirmed conspiracy with fearfulClick to see collations France.
And by their hands this grace of kingsClick to see collations must die,Click to see collations
If hell and treason hold their promises,
EreClick to see collations he take ship for France, and in Southampton.Click to see collations
Linger your patience on, and we’llClick to see collations digestClick to see collations
Th’abuse of distance,Click to see collations forceClick to see collations a play.Click to see collations
The sum is paid, the traitors are agreed,
The king is set from London, and the scene
Is now transported, gentles, to Southampton.
There is the playhouse now, there must you sit,
And thence to France shall we convey you safe
And bring you back,Click to see collations charmingClick to see collations the narrow seas
To give you gentle pass;Click to see collations for if we may,
We’ll not offend one stomachClick to see collations with our play.
But whenClick to see collations the king come forth,Click to see collations and not till then,
Unto Southampton do we shift our scene.
Exit

2.1Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter Corporal Nym and Lieutenant Bardolph.
2.1.Sp1Bardolph
Well met, CorporalClick to see collations Nym.
2.1.Sp2Nym
Good morrow,Click to see collations LieutenantClick to see collations Bardolph.
2.1.Sp3Bardolph
What, are AncientClick to see collationsClick to see collations Pistol and you friends yet?
2.1.Sp4Nym
For my part,Click to see collations I care not. I say little,Click to see collations but when time shall serve,Click to see collations there shall be smiles.Click to see collationsClick to see collations But that shall be as it may.Click to see collations I dare not fight, but I will winkClick to see collations and hold out mine iron.Click to see collations It is a simple one, but what though?Click to see collations It will toast cheese, and it will endure coldClick to see collations as another man’s sword will, and there’s an end.Click to see collations
2.1.Sp5Bardolph
I will bestowClick to see collations a breakfast to make you friends, and we’ll be all three sworn brothersClick to see collations to France. Let’t be so, good Corporal Nym.
2.1.Sp6Nym
Faith, I will live so long as I may, that’s the certainClick to see collations of it. And when I cannot live any longer, I will doClick to see collations as I may.Click to see collations That is my rest;Click to see collations that is the rendezvousClick to see collations of it.
2.1.Sp7Bardolph
It is certain, corporal, that he is married to Nell Quickly, and certainly she did you wrong, for you were troth-plightClick to see collations to her.
2.1.Sp8Nym
I cannot tell;Click to see collations things must be as they may. Men may sleep, and they may have their throats about them at that time, and some say knives have edges. It must be as it may. Though patience be a tired mare,Click to see collations yet she will plod.Click to see collations There must be conclusions.Click to see collations Well, I cannot tell.
Enter Pistol and Hostess, formerly Mistress Quickly.Click to see collations
2.1.Sp9Bardolph
Here comes Ancient Pistol and his wife. Good corporal, be patient here.—How now, mine hostClick to see collations Pistol?Click to see collations
2.1.Sp10Pistol
Base tyke,Click to see collationsClick to see collations call’st thou me host? Now by this hand I swear I scorn the term! Nor shall my Nell keep lodgers.Click to see collations
2.1.Sp11Hostess
No, by my troth,Click to see collations not long,Click to see collations for we cannot lodge and board a dozen or fourteen gentlewomen that live honestly by the prick of their needles,Click to see collations but it will be thought we keep a bawdy houseClick to see collations straight.Click to see collations (Nym draws his sword.Click to see collationsClick to see collations) Oh, welladay,Click to see collations lady,Click to see collations if he be not hewnClick to see collationsClick to see collations now, we shall see wilful adulteryClick to see collations and murder committed!
2.1.Sp12Bardolph
Good lieutenant,Click to see collationsClick to see collations good corporal,Click to see collations offer nothingClick to see collations here.
2.1.Sp13Nym
Pish.Click to see collations
2.1.Sp14Pistol
Pish for thee, IcelandClick to see collations dog,Click to see collations thou prick-earedClick to see collations curClick to see collations of Iceland.
2.1.Sp15Hostess
Good Corporal Nym, show thy valourClick to see collations and put upClick to see collations your sword.
2.1.Sp16Nym
Will you shog off?Click to see collations (To PistolClick to see collations) I would have you solus.Click to see collations
2.1.Sp17Pistol
Solus,egregiousClick to see collations dog? O viper vile! The “solus” in thy most marvellousClick to see collations face. The “solus” in thy teeth, and in thy throat, and in thy hateful lungs, yea in thy maw,Click to see collations perdy.Click to see collations And which is worse, within thy nasty mouth. I do retortClick to see collations the “solus” in thy bowels,Click to see collations for I can take,Click to see collationsClick to see collations and Pistol’s cock is up,Click to see collations and flashing fireClick to see collations will follow.
Click to see collations
2.1.Sp18Nym
I am not Barbason;Click to see collations you cannot conjureClick to see collations me. I have an humourClick to see collations to knock you indifferentlyClick to see collations well. If you grow foulClick to see collations with me, Pistol, I will scourClick to see collations you with my rapier,Click to see collations as I may, in fair terms.Click to see collations If you would walk off, I would prick your guts a little in good terms, as I may, and that’s the humour of it.
2.1.Sp19Pistol
O braggartClick to see collations vile, and damnèd furiousClick to see collations wight,Click to see collations
The grave doth gape, and dotingClick to see collations death is near,
Therefore exhale.Click to see collations
Click to see collations
Pistol draws his sword.Click to see collations
2.1.Sp20Bardolph
Hear me, hear me what I say. (Draws his sword (?)Click to see collations) He that strikes the first stroke, I’ll run him up to the hilts,Click to see collations as I am a soldier.
2.1.Sp21Pistol
An oath of mickleClick to see collations might, and fury shall abate. (They sheathe their swords.Click to see collations) Give me thy fist.Click to see collations Thy forefootClick to see collations to me give. Thy spirits are most tall.Click to see collations
2.1.Sp22Nym
I will cut thy throat one time or other in fair terms. That is the humour of it.
2.1.Sp23Pistol
Couple a gorge,Click to see collationsClick to see collations that is the word. I defy thee again! O hound of Crete,Click to see collations think’st thou my spouse to get? No, to the SpitalClick to see collations go, and from the powd’ring tubClick to see collations of infamyClick to see collations fetch forth the lazarClick to see collations kiteClick to see collations of Cressid’s kind,Click to see collations Doll Tearsheet,Click to see collations she by name, and her espouse.Click to see collations I have, and I will holdClick to see collations the quondamClick to see collations Quickly for the only she,Click to see collations and pauca,Click to see collations there’s enough. Go to.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Click to see collations
Enter the Boy.
2.1.Sp24Boy
Mine host Pistol, you must come to my master,Click to see collations and your hostess.Click to see collations He is very sick and would to bed. —Good Bardolph, put thy face between his sheets and do the office of a warming-pan.Click to see collations Faith, he’s very ill.
2.1.Sp25Bardolph
Away, you rogue.
2.1.Sp26Hostess
By my troth, he’ll yield the crow a puddingClick to see collations one of these days. The king has killed his heart.Click to see collations Good husband, come home presently.Click to see collations
Exeunt Boy and Hostess.Click to see collations
2.1.Sp27Bardolph
Come, shall I make you two friends? We must to France together. Why the devil should we keep knives to cut one another’s throats?
2.1.Sp28Pistol
Let floods o’erswell, and fiends for food howl on.Click to see collations
2.1.Sp29Nym
(To Pistol) You’ll pay me the eight shillings I won of you at betting?
2.1.Sp30Pistol
BaseClick to see collations is the slave that pays.
2.1.Sp31Nym
That now I will have. That’s the humour of it.
2.1.Sp32Pistol
As manhood shall compound.Click to see collations Push home.Click to see collations
They draw their swords.
2.1.Sp33Bardolph
(Drawing his sword (?)Click to see collations) By this sword, he that makes the first thrust, I’ll kill him. By this sword, I will.
2.1.Sp34Pistol
Sword is an oath,Click to see collations and oaths must have their course.
Sheathes his sword
2.1.Sp35Bardolph
Corporal Nym, anClick to see collations thou wilt be friends, be friends. An thou wilt not, why then be enemies with me, too. Prithee, put up.Click to see collations
Nym and Bardolph sheathe their swords.Click to see collations (?)Click to see collations
2.1.Sp36Pistol
A nobleClick to see collations shalt thou have, and present pay.Click to see collations And liquor likewise will I give to thee, and friendship shall combine,Click to see collations and brotherhood. I’ll live by NymClick to see collations and Nym shall live by me. Is not this just? For I shall sutlerClick to see collations be unto the camp,Click to see collations and profits will accrue. Give me thy hand.
2.1.Sp37Nym
I shall have my noble?
2.1.Sp38Pistol
In cash most justlyClick to see collations paid.
2.1.Sp39Nym
Well, then that’sClick to see collations the humour of’t.
Pistol and Nym shake hands. (?)Click to see collations Enter Hostess.
2.1.Sp40Hostess
As ever you come ofClick to see collations women, come in quickly to Sir John. A poor heart,Click to see collations he is so shaked of a burning quotidian tertianClick to see collations that it is most lamentable to behold. Sweet men, come to him.
Exit.Click to see collations
2.1.Sp41Nym
The king hath run bad humours on the knight.Click to see collations That’s the even of it.Click to see collations
2.1.Sp42Pistol
Nym, thou hast spoke the right. His heart is fractedClick to see collations and corroborate.Click to see collations
Click to see collations
2.1.Sp43Nym
The king is a good king, but it must be as it may. He passesClick to see collations some humoursClick to see collations and careers.Click to see collations
2.1.Sp44Pistol
Let us condoleClick to see collations the knight, for lambkins, we will live.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Exeunt.Click to see collations

2.2Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter Exeter, Bedford, and Westmorland.
2.2.Sp1Bedford
’ForeClick to see collations God, his graceClick to see collations is boldClick to see collations to trust these traitors.
2.2.Sp2Exeter
They shall be apprehendedClick to see collations by and by.
2.2.Sp3Westmorland
How smoothClick to see collations and evenClick to see collations they do bearClick to see collations themselves,
As if allegiance in their bosomsClick to see collations sat
Crownèd with faith and constant loyalty.
2.2.Sp4Bedford
The king hath noteClick to see collations of all that they intend
By interception,Click to see collations which they dream not of.
2.2.Sp5Exeter
Nay, but the man that was his bedfellow,Click to see collations
Whom he hath dulledClick to see collations and cloyedClick to see collations with gracious favours,
That he should for a foreign purseClick to see collations so sell
His sovereign’s life to death and treachery!
Sound trumpets. Enter the King, Scrope, Cambridge, and Grey, and attendants.Click to see collations
2.2.Sp6King Henry
Now sits the wind fair, and we will aboard.Click to see collations
My lord of Cambridge, and my kind lord ofClick to see collations Masham,
And you, my gentleClick to see collations knight, give me your thoughts:
Think you not that the powersClick to see collations we bear with us
Will cut their passage through the forceClick to see collations of France,
Doing the executionClick to see collations and the act
For which we have in headClick to see collations assembled them?
2.2.Sp7Scrope
No doubt, my liege, if each man do his best.
2.2.Sp8King Henry
I doubt not that, since we areClick to see collations well persuaded
We carry not a heart with us from hence
That grows not in a fair consentClick to see collations with ours,
Nor leave not one behind that doth not wish
Success and conquest to attend onClick to see collations us.
2.2.Sp9Cambridge
Never was monarch better fearedClick to see collations and loved
Than is your majesty. There’s not, I think, a subject
That sits in heart-griefClick to see collations and uneasiness
Under the sweet shade of your government.
2.2.Sp10Grey
True. Those that were your father’s enemiesClick to see collations
Have steeped their gallsClick to see collations in honey and do serve you
With hearts createClick to see collations of duty and of zeal.
2.2.Sp11King Henry
We therefore have great cause of thankfulness,
And shall forget the officeClick to see collations of our hand
Sooner than quittanceClick to see collations of desert and merit,Click to see collations
According to theClick to see collations weight and worthiness.Click to see collations
2.2.Sp12Scrope
So service shall with steelèdClick to see collations sinews toil,
And labor shall refresh itself with hope
To do your grace incessant services.
2.2.Sp13King Henry
We judgeClick to see collations no less. Uncle of Exeter,
EnlargeClick to see collations the man committedClick to see collations yesterday
That railed against our person.Click to see collations We consider
It was excess of wine that set him on,Click to see collations
And on his more adviceClick to see collations we pardon him.
2.2.Sp14Scrope
That’s mercy, but too much security.Click to see collations
Let him be punished, sovereign, lest exampleClick to see collations
Breed, by his sufferance,Click to see collations more of such a kind.
2.2.Sp15King Henry
Oh, let us yetClick to see collations be merciful.
2.2.Sp16Cambridge
So may your highness, and yet punish too.
2.2.Sp17Grey
Sir, you show great mercy if you give him life
After the taste of much correction.Click to see collations
2.2.Sp18King Henry
Alas, your too much love and care of me
Are heavyClick to see collations orisonsClick to see collations ’gainst this poor wretch.
If little faults proceeding on distemperClick to see collations
Shall not be winked at,Click to see collations how shall we stretch our eyeClick to see collations
When capitalClick to see collations crimes, chewed, swallowed, and digested,Click to see collations
Appear before us? We’ll yet enlarge that man,
Though Cambridge, Scrope, and Grey, in their dearClick to see collations care
And tender preservation of our person
Would have him punished. And now to our French causes.
Who are the lateClick to see collations commissioners?Click to see collations
2.2.Sp19Cambridge
I one, my lord.
Your highness bade me ask for itClick to see collations today.
2.2.Sp20Scrope
So did you me, my liege.
2.2.Sp21Grey
And I, my royal sovereign.
2.2.Sp22King Henry
(Giving them papersClick to see collations) Then Richard Earl of Cambridge, there is yours.
There yours, Lord Scrope of Masham; and sir knight,
Grey of Northumberland, this same is yours.
Read them and know I know your worthiness.—
My lord of Westmorland, and uncle Exeter,
We will aboard to night.—Why, how now, gentlemen?
What see you in those papers that you lose
So much complexion?Click to see collations Look ye how they change:
Their cheeks are paper!Click to see collations Why, what read you there
That haveClick to see collationsClick to see collations so cowardedClick to see collations and chased your blood
Out of appearance?Click to see collations
2.2.Sp23Cambridge
I do confess my fault,
And do submit me to your highness’ mercy.
2.2.Sp24Grey, Scrope
To which we all appeal.
2.2.Sp25King Henry
The mercy that was quickClick to see collations in us but lateClick to see collations
By your own counsel is suppressed and killed.
You must not dare for shame to talk of mercy,
For your own reasonsClick to see collations turn into your bosoms
As dogs upon their masters, worryingClick to see collations you.—
See you, my princes and my noble peers,
These English monsters:Click to see collationsClick to see collations my lord of Cambridge here,
You know how apt our love was to accordClick to see collations
To furnishClick to see collations himClick to see collations with all appurtenants
Belonging to his honour.Click to see collations And this man
Hath for a few lightClick to see collations crowns lightlyClick to see collations conspired
And sworn unto the practicesClick to see collations of France
To kill us here in Hampton.Click to see collations To the which
This knight,Click to see collations no less for bountyClick to see collations bound to us
Than Cambridge is, hath likewise sworn.—But oh,
What shall I say to thee, Lord Scrope, thou cruel,
Ingrateful, savage and inhuman creature?
Thou that didst bear the key of all my counsels,Click to see collations
That knew’st the very bottomClick to see collations of my soul,
That almost mightst have coined me into gold,Click to see collations
Wouldst thou have practiced onClick to see collations me for thy use?Click to see collations
May it be possible that foreign hireClick to see collations
Could out of thee extract one spark of evil
That might annoyClick to see collations my finger? ’Tis so strange
That though the truth of it stands offClick to see collations as grossClick to see collations
As black and white,Click to see collations my eye will scarcely see it.
Treason and murder ever kept togetherClick to see collations
As two yoke-devilsClick to see collations sworn to either’s purpose,
Working so grosslyClick to see collations in unnaturalClick to see collations causeClick to see collations
That admirationClick to see collations did not whoopClick to see collations at them.
But thou, ’gainst all proportion,Click to see collations didst bring in
Wonder to wait onClick to see collations treason and on murder,
And whatsoever cunning fiend it was
That wrought uponClick to see collations thee so preposterouslyClick to see collations
Hath got the voiceClick to see collations in hell for excellence;
AndClick to see collations other devils, that suggestClick to see collations by treasons,Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Do botch and bungle upClick to see collations damnation
With patches,Click to see collations colours,Click to see collations and with formsClick to see collations being fetched
From glist’ringClick to see collations semblances of piety.Click to see collations
But he that temperedClick to see collations thee, badeClick to see collations thee stand up,Click to see collations
Gave thee no instanceClick to see collations why thou shouldst do treason
Unless to dub thee with the nameClick to see collations of traitor.
If that same demon that hath gulledClick to see collations thee thus
Should with his lion gaitClick to see collations walk the whole world,
He might return to vastyClick to see collations TartarClick to see collations back
And tell the legions,Click to see collations “I can never win”
“A soul so easyClick to see collations as that Englishman’s”.
Oh, how hast thou with jealousyClick to see collations infected
The sweetness of affiance!Click to see collationsClick to see collations ShowClick to see collations men dutiful?
Why so didst thou. Seem they grave and learnèd?
Why so didst thou. Come they of noble family?
Why so didst thou. Seem they religious?
Why so didst thou. Or are they spareClick to see collations in diet,
Free from gross passionClick to see collations or ofClick to see collations mirth or anger,
Constant in spirit,Click to see collations not swerving with the blood,Click to see collations
Garnished and deckedClick to see collations in modest complement,Click to see collations
Not working with the eye without the ear,Click to see collations
And but in purgèdClick to see collations judgement trusting neither?
Such and so finely boltedClick to see collations didst thou seem.
And thus thy fall hath left a kind of blot
To makeClick to see collations theClick to see collations full-fraughtClick to see collations man, and best,Click to see collations induedClick to see collationsClick to see collationsClick to see collations
With some suspicion. IClick to see collations will weep for thee,
For this revolt of thine, methinks, is like
Another fall of man.Click to see collations—Their faults are open.Click to see collations
Arrest them to the answerClick to see collations of the law,
And God acquit them of their practices.Click to see collations
2.2.Sp26Exeter
I arrest thee of high treason, by the name ofClick to see collations Richard Earl of Cambridge. I arrest thee of high treason, by the name of HenryClick to see collations Lord Scrope of Masham. I arrest thee of high treason, by the name of Thomas Grey, knight of Northumberland.
2.2.Sp27Scrope
Our purposes God justly hath discovered,Click to see collations
And I repent my fault more than my death,
Which I beseech your highness to forgive,
Although my body pay the price of it.
2.2.Sp28Cambridge
For me, the gold of France did not seduce,
Although I did admit it as a motive
The sooner to effect what I intended.Click to see collations
But God be thankèd for prevention,
Which I in sufferanceClick to see collations heartilyClick to see collations will rejoice,Click to see collations
Beseeching God and you to pardon me.
2.2.Sp29Grey
Never did faithful subject more rejoice
At the discovery of most dangerous treason
Than I do at this hour joy o’er myself,
Prevented from a damnèd enterprise.
My fault, but not my body, pardon, sovereign.
2.2.Sp30King Henry
God quitClick to see collations you in his mercy. Hear your sentence:Click to see collations
You have conspired against our royal person,
Joined with an enemy proclaimedClick to see collationsClick to see collations and from his coffersClick to see collations
Received the golden earnest ofClick to see collations our death,
Wherein you would have sold your king to slaughter,
His princes and his peers to servitude,
His subjects to oppression and contempt,
And his whole kingdom into desolation.Click to see collations
TouchingClick to see collations our person seek we no revenge,
But we our kingdom’s safety must so tender,Click to see collations
Whose ruin youClick to see collations sought, that to her laws
We do deliver you. Get you therefore hence,
Poor miserable wretches, to your death,
The tasteClick to see collations whereof God of his mercy give
You patience to endure, and true repentance
Of all your dearClick to see collations offences.—Bear them hence.
Exeunt traitors, guarded.Click to see collations
Now, lords, for France, the enterpriseClick to see collations whereof
Shall be to you as us likeClick to see collations glorious.
We doubt not ofClick to see collations a fairClick to see collations and luckyClick to see collations war,
Since God so graciously hath brought to light
This dangerous treason lurking in our way
To hinder our beginnings. We doubt not now
But every rubClick to see collations is smoothèd on our way.
Then forth, dear countrymen. Let us deliver
Our puissanceClick to see collations into the hand of God,
Putting it straightClick to see collations in expedition.Click to see collations
CheerlyClick to see collations to sea; the signsClick to see collations of war advance.Click to see collations
No king of England if not king of France.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Flourish. Exeunt.Click to see collationsClick to see collations

2.3Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter Pistol, Nym, Bardolph, Boy, and Hostess.
2.3.Sp1Hostess
Prithee, honey-sweet husband,Click to see collations let me bringClick to see collations thee to Staines.Click to see collations
2.3.Sp2Pistol
No, for my manly heart doth earn.Click to see collations Bardolph, be blithe.Click to see collations Nym, rouse thy vaunting veins.Click to see collations Boy, bristle thy courage up.Click to see collations For Falstaff he is dead, and we must earnClick to see collationsClick to see collations therefore.
Click to see collations
2.3.Sp3Bardolph
Would I were with him wheresome’er he is, either in heaven or in hell.
2.3.Sp4Hostess
Nay, sure he’s not in hell. He’s in Arthur’s bosom,Click to see collations if ever man went to Arthur’s bosom. A madeClick to see collations a finerClick to see collations end,Click to see collations and went away an it had beenClick to see collations any christomClick to see collationsClick to see collations child. A parted ev’nClick to see collations just between twelve and one, ev’n at the turning o’th’tide.Click to see collations For after I saw him fumble with the sheets, and play with flowers,Click to see collationsClick to see collations and smile upon his finger’s end,Click to see collationsClick to see collations I knew there was but one way.Click to see collations For his nose was as sharp as a pen,Click to see collationsClick to see collations and a babbled of green fields.Click to see collationsClick to see collations “How now, Sir John?” quoth I. “What, man, be o’ goodClick to see collations cheer!” So a cried out, “God, God, God”, three or four times. Now I, to comfort him, bid him a should not think of God;Click to see collations I hoped there was no need to trouble himself with any such thoughts yet. So a bade me lay more clothesClick to see collations on his feet. I put my hand into the bed and felt them, and they were as cold as any stone.Click to see collations Then I felt to his knees, and so up-peered, and upward and allClick to see collationsClick to see collations was as cold as any stone.
Click to see collationsClick to see collations
2.3.Sp5Nym
They say he cried out ofClick to see collations sack.Click to see collations
2.3.Sp6Hostess
Ay, that a did.
2.3.Sp7Bardolph
And of women.
2.3.Sp8Hostess
Nay, that a did not.
2.3.Sp9Boy
Yes, that a did, and said they were devils incarnate.Click to see collations
2.3.Sp10Hostess
A could never abide carnation;Click to see collations ’twas a colour he never liked.
2.3.Sp11Boy
A said once the devil would have him aboutClick to see collations women.
2.3.Sp12Hostess
A did in some sort, indeed, handleClick to see collations women, but then he was rheumatic,Click to see collations and talked of the whore of Babylon.Click to see collations
2.3.Sp13Boy
Do you not remember a saw a flea stick uponClick to see collations Bardolph’s nose, and a said it was a blackClick to see collations soul burning in hell?Click to see collations
2.3.Sp14Bardolph
Well, the fuelClick to see collations is gone that maintained that fire. That’s all the riches I got in his service.
2.3.Sp15Nym
Shall we shog?Click to see collations The king will be gone from Southampton.
2.3.Sp16Pistol
Come, let’s away. My love, give me thy lips. (Kisses herClick to see collations) Look to my chattels and my moveables.Click to see collations Let senses rule.Click to see collations The worldClick to see collations is pitch-and-pay.Click to see collations Trust none, for oathsClick to see collations are straws,Click to see collations men’s faiths are wafer-cakes,Click to see collations and Holdfast is the only dog,Click to see collations my duck,Click to see collations therefore cavetoClick to see collations be thy counsellor. Go, clear thy crystals.Click to see collations Yoke-fellowsClick to see collations in arms, let us to France like horse-leeches, my boys: to suck, to suck, the very blood to suck!
Click to see collations
2.3.Sp17Boy
And that’s but unwholesome food,Click to see collations they say.
2.3.Sp18Pistol
Touch her soft mouth and march.
2.3.Sp19Bardolph
(Kisses herClick to see collations) Farewell, hostess.
2.3.Sp20Nym
I cannot kiss, that is the humour of it, but adieu.
2.3.Sp21Pistol
Let housewiferyClick to see collationsClick to see collations appear. Keep close,Click to see collations I thee command.
2.3.Sp22Hostess
Farewell. Adieu.
Exeunt.Click to see collations

2.4Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Flourish. Enter the French King, the Dauphin, the Dukes of Berry and Brittany,Click to see collations and the Constable of France.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
2.4.Sp1French King
Thus comes the EnglishClick to see collations with full power upon us,
And more than carefully it us concerns
To answer royally in our defences.Click to see collations
Therefore the Dukes of Berry and of Brittany,
Of Brabant and of Orléans shall make forth,
And you, Prince Dauphin, with all swift dispatchClick to see collations
To lineClick to see collations and new repair our towns of war
With men of courage and with means defendant,Click to see collations
For England his approachesClick to see collations makes as fierce
As waters to the sucking of a gulf.Click to see collations
It fits usClick to see collations then to be as providentClick to see collations
As fear may teach us, out of late examplesClick to see collations
Left by the fatalClick to see collations and neglectedClick to see collations English
Upon our fields.
2.4.Sp2Dauphin
My most redoubtedClick to see collations father,
It is most meetClick to see collations we arm us ’gainst the foe,
For peace itself should not so dull a kingdom,
ThoughClick to see collations war nor no known quarrel were in question,
But that defences, musters,Click to see collations preparations
Should be maintained, assembled, and collected
As were a war in expectation.
Therefore I say ’tis meet we all go forth
To view the sick and feeble parts of France.Click to see collations
And let us do it with no show of fear,
No, with no more than if we heard that England
Were busied with a Whitsun morris dance.Click to see collations
For, my good liege, sheClick to see collations is so idly kinged,Click to see collations
Her sceptreClick to see collations so fantasticallyClick to see collations borne
By a vain, giddy, shallow, humourousClick to see collations youth,
That fear attendsClick to see collations her not.
2.4.Sp3Constable
Oh, peace, Prince Dauphin.
You are too much mistaken in this king.
Question your grace the lateClick to see collations ambassadors—
With what great stateClick to see collations he heard their embassy,
How well supplied with noble counsellors,
How modest in exception,Click to see collations and withalClick to see collations
How terribleClick to see collations in constant resolution—
And you shall find his vanities forespentClick to see collations
Were but the outside of the Roman Brutus,
Covering discretion with a coat of folly,Click to see collations
As gardeners do with ordureClick to see collations hide those roots
That shall first spring and be most delicate.Click to see collations
2.4.Sp4Dauphin
Well, ’tis not so, my lord high constable.
But thoughClick to see collations we think it so, it is no matter.
In cases of defence, ’tis best to weighClick to see collations
The enemy more mighty than he seems.
So the proportions of defence are filled,Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Which of a weak and niggardly projectionClick to see collations
Doth like a miser spoil his coat with scantingClick to see collations
A little cloth.
2.4.Sp5French King
Think weClick to see collations King Harry strong,
And princes, look youClick to see collations strongly arm to meet him.
The kindred of himClick to see collations hath been fleshedClick to see collations upon us,
And he is bred out of that bloody strainClick to see collations
That hauntedClick to see collations us in our familiar paths:Click to see collations
Witness our too much memorable shame
When Crécy battle fatally was struck,Click to see collations
And all our princes captived by the hand
Of that black name, Edward, Black Prince of Wales,
Whiles that his mountain sireClick to see collationsClick to see collations on mountain standingClick to see collations
Up in the air, crowned with the golden sun,
Saw his heroical seedClick to see collations and smiled to see himClick to see collations
MangleClick to see collations the work of nature, and deface
The patternsClick to see collations that by God and by French fathers
Had twenty years been made.Click to see collations ThisClick to see collations is a stem
Of that victorious stock,Click to see collations and let us fear
The nativeClick to see collations mightiness and fate of him.Click to see collations
Enter a Messenger.
2.4.Sp6Messenger
Ambassadors from Harry, King of England,
Do crave admittance to your majesty.
2.4.Sp7French King
We’ll give them presentClick to see collations audience; go and bring them.
Click to see collationsExit Messenger.Click to see collations
You see this chase is hotly followed,Click to see collations friends.
2.4.Sp8Dauphin
Turn headClick to see collations and stop pursuit, for coward dogs
Most spend their mouthsClick to see collations when what they seem to threaten
Runs far before them.Click to see collations Good my sovereign,
Take up the English short,Click to see collations and let them know
Of what a monarchy you are the head.
Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin
As self-neglecting.Click to see collations
Enter Exeter.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
2.4.Sp9French King
From our brother of England?
2.4.Sp10Exeter
From him, and thus he greets your majesty:
He willsClick to see collations you in the name of God almighty
That you divestClick to see collations yourself, and lay apartClick to see collations
The borrowed gloriesClick to see collations that by gift of heaven,
By law of nature and of nationsClick to see collations ʼlongsClick to see collations
To him and to his heirs, namely the crown
And all wide-stretchèdClick to see collations honours that pertain
By custom and the ordinance of timesClick to see collations
Unto the crown of France. That you may know
’Tis no sinisterClick to see collations nor no awkwardClick to see collations claim
Picked from the wormholesClick to see collations of long-vanished days,
Nor from the dust of old oblivionClick to see collations raked,Click to see collations
He sends you this most memorable line,Click to see collations
Gives the French King a paper.Click to see collations
In every branch truly demonstrative,Click to see collations
Willing you overlook this pedigree.
And when you find him evenly derivedClick to see collations
From his most famed of famous ancestors,
Edward the Third, he bids you then resign
Your crown and kingdom, indirectlyClick to see collations held
From him, the nativeClick to see collations and true challenger.Click to see collations
2.4.Sp11French King
Or else what follows?
2.4.Sp12Exeter
Bloody constraint:Click to see collations for if you hide the crown
Even in your hearts, there will he rake for it.
ThereforeClick to see collations in fierceClick to see collations tempest is he coming,
In thunder and in earthquake,Click to see collations like a Jove,Click to see collations
That if requiringClick to see collations fail, he will compel.
AndClick to see collations bids you in the bowels of the LordClick to see collations
Deliver up the crown, and to take mercy
On the poor souls for whom this hungry war
Opens his vasty jaws, and on your head
TurningClick to see collationsClick to see collations the widows’ tears, the orphans’ cries,
The dead men’s blood, the privyClick to see collations maidens’ groansClick to see collations
For husbands, fathers, and betrothèd lovers
That shall be swallowed in this controversy.
This is his claim, his threat’ning, and my message,
Unless the dauphin be in presence here,
To whom expressly I bring greeting too.Click to see collations
2.4.Sp13French King
For us, we will consider of this further.
Tomorrow shall you bear our full intent
Back to our brother of England.
2.4.Sp14Dauphin
For the dauphin,
I stand here for him. What to him from England?
2.4.Sp15Exeter
Scorn and defiance,Click to see collations slight regard,Click to see collations contempt,Click to see collations
And anything that may not misbecomeClick to see collations
The mighty sender doth he prize you at.Click to see collations
Thus says my king: anClick to see collationsClick to see collations ifClick to see collations your father’s highness
Do not, in grant of all demands at large,Click to see collations
Sweeten the bitter mock you sent his majesty,
He’ll call you to so hotClick to see collations an answer of it
That caves and womby vaultagesClick to see collations of France
Shall chideClick to see collations your trespassClick to see collations and return your mock
In second accentClick to see collations of his ordinance.Click to see collations
2.4.Sp16Dauphin
Say if my father render fair returnClick to see collations
It is against my will, for I desire
Nothing but oddsClick to see collations with England. To that end,
As matching to his youth and vanity,Click to see collations
I did present him with the Paris balls.Click to see collations
2.4.Sp17Exeter
He’ll make your Paris LouvreClick to see collationsClick to see collations shake for it,Click to see collations
Were it the mistressClick to see collations court of mighty Europe.
And be assured, you’ll find a difference,
As we his subjects have in wonder found,
Between the promise of his greener daysClick to see collations
And these he mastersClick to see collations now. Now he weighs timeClick to see collations
Even to the utmost grain.Click to see collations ThatClick to see collations you shall readClick to see collations
In your own losses, if he stay in France.
2.4.Sp18French King
Tomorrow shall you know our mind at full.
Flourish.Click to see collations
2.4.Sp19Exeter
Dispatch us with all speed, lest that our king
Come here himself to question our delay,
For he is footedClick to see collations in this land already.
2.4.Sp20French King
You shall be soon dispatched with fair conditions.
A night is but small breathClick to see collations and little pause
To answer matters of this consequence.
Exeunt.

3.0Click to see collations

Flourish. Enter Chorus.
3.0.Sp1ChorusClick to see collations
Thus with imagined wingClick to see collations our swift scene flies
In motion of no less celerityClick to see collations
Than that of thought.Click to see collations Suppose that you have seenClick to see collations
The well-appointedClick to see collations king at DoverClick to see collationsClick to see collations pier
Embark his royalty,Click to see collations and his braveClick to see collations fleet
With silken streamersClick to see collations the young Phoebus feigning.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Play withClick to see collations your fancies,Click to see collations and in them behold
Upon the hempen tackleClick to see collations ship-boys climbing.
Hear the shrill whistle,Click to see collations which doth orderClick to see collations give
To sounds confused. Behold the threadenClick to see collations sails,
Borne with th’invisible and creeping wind,
Draw the huge bottomsClick to see collations through the furrowedClick to see collations sea,
Breasting the lofty surge.Click to see collations Oh, do but think
You stand upon the rivage,Click to see collations and behold
A city on th’inconstant billowsClick to see collations dancing,
For so appears this fleet majestical
Holding due course to Harfleur.Click to see collations Follow, follow!
GrappleClick to see collations your minds to sternageClick to see collations of this navy
And leave your England as dead midnight, still,Click to see collations
Guarded with grandsires, babies, and old women,
Either past or not arrived to pith and puissance.Click to see collations
For who is he whose chin is but enriched
With one appearing hair,Click to see collations that will not follow
These culledClick to see collations and choice-drawnClick to see collations cavaliersClick to see collations to France?
Work,Click to see collations work your thoughts, and therein see a siege.
Behold the ordnanceClick to see collationsClick to see collations on their carriages,Click to see collations
With fatal mouths gaping on girdedClick to see collations Harfleur.
SupposeClick to see collations th’ambassador from the French comes back,
Tells Harry that the king doth offer him
Catherine his daughter, and with her to dowryClick to see collations
Some petty and unprofitable dukedoms.Click to see collations
The offer likes not,Click to see collations and the nimbleClick to see collations gunner
With linstockClick to see collations now the devilishClick to see collations cannon touches,
Alarum,Click to see collations and chambersClick to see collations go off.
And down goes all before them. StillClick to see collations be kind,
And eke outClick to see collations our performance with your mind.
Exit.

3.1Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter the King, Exeter, Bedford, and Gloucester. Alarum. Enter soldiers withClick to see collations scaling-laddersClick to see collations at Harfleur.
3.1.Sp1King Henry
Once more unto the breach,Click to see collations dear friends, once more,Click to see collations
Or close the wall up with our English dead!Click to see collations
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, conjureClick to see collationsClick to see collations up the blood,Click to see collations
Disguise fair nature with hard-favouredClick to see collations rage.
Then lendClick to see collations the eye a terribleClick to see collations aspect;Click to see collations
Let it pry through the portageClick to see collations of the head
Like the brass cannon. Let the brow o’erwhelmClick to see collations it
As fearfullyClick to see collations as doth a gallèdClick to see collations rock
O’erhang and juttyClick to see collations his confoundedClick to see collations base,
SwilledClick to see collations with the wild and wastefulClick to see collations ocean.
Now set the teethClick to see collations and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height.Click to see collations On! On,Click to see collations you nobleClick to see collationsClick to see collations English,
Whose blood is fetClick to see collations from fathers of war-proof,Click to see collations
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,Click to see collations
Have in these partsClick to see collations from morn till evenClick to see collations fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument.Click to see collations
Dishonour not your mothers;Click to see collations now attestClick to see collations
That those whom you called fathers did beget you.
Be copyClick to see collations now to menClick to see collations of grosser bloodClick to see collations
And teach them how to war. And you good yeomen,Click to see collations
Whose limbs were made in England, show usClick to see collations here
The mettleClick to see collations of your pasture.Click to see collations Let us swear
That you are worth your breeding, which I doubt not,
For there is none of you so mean and baseClick to see collations
That hath not noble luster in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,Click to see collations
StrainingClick to see collations upon the start.Click to see collations The game’s afoot:Click to see collations
Follow your spirit, and upon this chargeClick to see collations
Cry “God for Harry,Click to see collations England, andClick to see collations Saint George!Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Alarum, and chambers go off. Exeunt.Click to see collationsClick to see collations

3.2Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter Nym, Bardolph, Pistol, and Boy.
3.2.Sp1Bardolph
On, on, on, on, on, to the breach, to the breach!
3.2.Sp2Nym
Pray thee, corporal,Click to see collationsClick to see collations stay. The knocksClick to see collations are too hot,Click to see collations and for mine own part, I have not a caseClick to see collations of lives. The humourClick to see collations of it is too hot, that is the very plainsongClick to see collations of it.
3.2.Sp3Pistol
The plainsong is most just,Click to see collations for humoursClick to see collations do abound, knocks go and come, God’s vassalsClick to see collations drop and die,
SingingClick to see collations
And sword and shield
In bloody field
Doth win immortal fame.
Click to see collations
3.2.Sp4Boy
Would I were in an alehouse in London. I would give all my fameClick to see collations for a pot of ale, and safety.
3.2.Sp5Pistol
And I.
Singing
If wishes would prevailClick to see collations with me,
My purpose should not fail with me,Click to see collations
But thither would I hie.Click to see collations
Click to see collations
3.2.Sp6BoySinging
As dulyClick to see collations
But not as trulyClick to see collations
As bird doth sing on bough.
Click to see collations
Enter Fluellen.
3.2.Sp7Fluellen
(Beating themClick to see collations) Up to the breach, you dogs! Avaunt,Click to see collations you cullions!Click to see collations
3.2.Sp8Pistol
Be merciful, great duke,Click to see collationsClick to see collations to men of mould!Click to see collations Abate thy rage, abate thy manly rage! Abate thy rage, great duke! Good bawcock,Click to see collations bate thy rage. Use lenity,Click to see collations sweet chuck.Click to see collations
Click to see collations
3.2.Sp9Nym
These be good humours!Click to see collations Your honour winsClick to see collations bad humours!Click to see collations
Exeunt Pistol, Bardolph, and Nym.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
3.2.Sp10Boy
(To audience.) As young as I am, I have observed these three swashers.Click to see collations I am boyClick to see collations to them all three, but all they three, though they would serve me, could not be man toClick to see collations me, for indeed three such anticsClick to see collationsClick to see collations do not amount to a man. For Bardolph, he is white-liveredClick to see collations and red-faced,Click to see collations by the means whereof a faces it out,Click to see collations but fights not. For Pistol, he hath a killing tongue and a quiet sword, by the means whereof a breaks wordsClick to see collations and keeps wholeClick to see collations weapons. For Nym, he hath heard that men of few words are the best men,Click to see collations and therefore he scorns to say his prayers, lest a should be thought a coward. But his few bad words are matched with as few good deeds, for a never broke any man’s head but his own, and that was against a post when he was drunk. They will steal anything, and call it purchase.Click to see collations Bardolph stole a lute case, bore it twelve leagues,Click to see collations and sold it for three halfpence. Nym and Bardolph are sworn brothersClick to see collations in filching,Click to see collations and in CalaisClick to see collations they stole a fire-shovel.Click to see collations I knew by that piece of serviceClick to see collations the men would carry coals.Click to see collations They would have me as familiar withClick to see collations men’s pockets as their gloves or their handkerchers,Click to see collationsClick to see collations which makes muchClick to see collations against my manhood,Click to see collations if I should take from another’s pocket to put into mine, for it is plainClick to see collations pocketing up of wrongs.Click to see collations I must leave them and seek some better service. Their villainy goes against my weak stomach,Click to see collations and therefore I must cast it up.Click to see collations
Exit Boy.Click to see collations Enter Gower.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
3.2.Sp11Gower
Captain Fluellen, you must come presentlyClick to see collations to the mines;Click to see collations the Duke of Gloucester would speak with you.
3.2.Sp12Fluellen
To the mines? Tell you the duke it is not so good to come to the mines, for look you, the mines is notClick to see collations according to the disciplinesClick to see collations of the war.Click to see collations The concavitiesClick to see collations of it is not sufficient: for look you, th’athversary,Click to see collations you may discussClick to see collations unto the duke, look you, is diggedClick to see collations himself,Click to see collations four yard under,Click to see collations theClick to see collations countermines. By Cheshu,Click to see collations I think a will plough upClick to see collations all if there is not better directions.Click to see collations
3.2.Sp13Gower
The Duke of Gloucester, to whom the orderClick to see collations of the siege is given, is altogetherClick to see collations directed by an Irishman,Click to see collations a very valiant gentleman, i’faith.
3.2.Sp14Fluellen
It is Captain Macmorris, is it not?
3.2.Sp15Gower
I think it be.
3.2.Sp16Fluellen
By Cheshu, he is an ass, as inClick to see collationsClick to see collations the world. I will verify as much in his beard. He has no more directions inClick to see collations the true disciplines of the wars, look you, of the Roman disciplines,Click to see collations than is a puppydog.
Enter Macmorris and Captain Jamy.
3.2.Sp17Gower
Here a comes, and the Scots captain, Captain Jamy, with him.
3.2.Sp18Fluellen
Captain Jamy is a marvellous falorousClick to see collations gentleman, that is certain, and of great expeditionClick to see collations and knowledge in th’aunchientClick to see collationsClick to see collations wars, upon my particular knowledge of his directions. By Cheshu, he will maintain his argument as well as any military man in the world, in the disciplines of the pristineClick to see collations wars of the Romans.
3.2.Sp19Jamy
I say guid day,Click to see collationsClick to see collations Captain Fluellen.
3.2.Sp20Fluellen
Good e’enClick to see collationsClick to see collations to your worship, good Captain James.
3.2.Sp21Gower
How now, Captain Macmorris, have you quit the mines? Have the pioneersClick to see collationsClick to see collations given o’er?Click to see collations
3.2.Sp22Macmorris
By Chrish law,Click to see collationsClick to see collations ’tishClick to see collations ill done. The work ish give over,Click to see collations the trumpet sound the retreat. By my hand I swear, and my father’s soul, the work ish ill done; it ish give over. I would have blowed up the town, so Chrish save me law,Click to see collations in an hour. Oh, ’tish ill done, ’tish ill done, by my hand ’tish ill done.
3.2.Sp23Fluellen
Captain Macmorris, I beseech you now, will you vouchsafeClick to see collations me, look you, a few disputationsClick to see collations with you, as partly touching or concerning the disciplines of the war, the Roman wars, in the way of argument, look you, and friendly communication?Click to see collations Partly to satisfy my opinion, and partly for the satisfaction, look you, of my mind,Click to see collations as touching the direction of the military discipline; that is the point.
3.2.Sp24Jamy
It sallClick to see collations be verray guid, guid faith, guid captains baith,Click to see collations and I sall quitClick to see collationsClick to see collations you with guid leve,Click to see collations as I may pick occasion.Click to see collations That sall I, marry.Click to see collations
3.2.Sp25Macmorris
It is no time to discourse, so Chrish save me. The day is hot, and the weather, and the wars, and the king, and the dukes. It is no time to discourse. The town is besieched,Click to see collations andClick to see collations the trumpet call us to the breach, and we talk, and beClick to see collations ChrishClick to see collations do nothing!Click to see collations ’Tis shame for us all; so God sa’ me,Click to see collations ’tis shame to stand still. It is shame, by my hand; and there is throats to be cut, and works to be done, and there ish nothing done, so ChristClick to see collations sa’ me law.
3.2.Sp26Jamy
By the mess,Click to see collations ereClick to see collations these eyes of mine take themselves to slumber, I’ll daeClick to see collations guid service, or I’ll ligClick to see collations i’th’ grund for it; I owe God a death,Click to see collationsClick to see collations and I’ll pay’t as valorously as I may, that sall I surelyClick to see collationsClick to see collations do. That is the brefeClick to see collations and the long.Click to see collations Marry, I wadClick to see collations full fain heardClick to see collationsClick to see collations some questionClick to see collations ’tween you twae.Click to see collations
3.2.Sp27Fluellen
Captain Macmorris, I think, look you, under your correction,Click to see collations there is not many of your nationClick to see collations
3.2.Sp28Macmorris
Of my nation? What ish my nation? Ish aClick to see collations villain, and a bastard, and a knave, and a rascal?Click to see collationsClick to see collations What ish my nation? Who talks of my nation?
3.2.Sp29Fluellen
Look you, if you take the matter otherwise than is meant, Captain Macmorris, peradventureClick to see collations I shall think you do not useClick to see collations me with that affability as in discretionClick to see collations you ought to use me, look you, being as good a man as yourself, both in the disciplines of war and in the derivation of my birth, and in other particularities.
3.2.Sp30Macmorris
I do not know you so good a man as myself. So Chrish save me, I will cut off your head.
3.2.Sp31Gower
Gentlemen both, you willClick to see collations mistake each other.Click to see collations
3.2.Sp32Jamy
Ah, that’s a foul fault.
A parleyClick to see collations is sounded.
3.2.Sp33Gower
The town sounds a parley.
3.2.Sp34Fluellen
Captain Macmorris, when there is more better opportunity to be required,Click to see collations look you, I will be so bold as to tell you I know the disciplines of war, and there is an end.
Exeunt.Click to see collationsClick to see collations

3.3Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter the King and all his train before the gates.Click to see collationsClick to see collations Click to see collations
3.3.Sp1King Henry
How yet resolvesClick to see collations the governor of the town?
This is the latest parleClick to see collations weClick to see collations will admit,Click to see collations
Therefore to our best mercy give yourselves,
Or like to men proud of destructionClick to see collations
Defy us to our worst;Click to see collations for as I am a soldier,
A name that in my thoughts becomesClick to see collations me best,
If I begin the batt’ryClick to see collations once again,
I will not leave the half-achievedClick to see collations Harfleur
Till in her ashes sheClick to see collations lie burièd.
The gates of mercy shall be all shut up,
And the fleshedClick to see collations soldier, rough and hard of heart,
In liberty of bloody hand shall rangeClick to see collations
With conscience wide as hell,Click to see collations mowing like grass
Your fresh fair virgins and your flow’ringClick to see collations infants.
What is it then to me if impiousClick to see collations war,
Arrayed in flames like to the prince of fiends,Click to see collations
Do with his smirched complexionClick to see collations all fellClick to see collations feats
EnlinkedClick to see collations to waste and desolation?
What is’t to me, when you yourselves are cause,
If your pure maidens fall into the hand
Of hotClick to see collations and forcing violation?Click to see collations
What reinClick to see collations can holdClick to see collations licentious wickedness
When down the hill he holds his fierce career?Click to see collationsClick to see collations
We may as bootlessClick to see collations spendClick to see collations our vainClick to see collations command
Upon th’enragèd soldiers in their spoilClick to see collations
As send preceptsClick to see collations to the leviathanClick to see collations
To come ashore. Therefore, you men of Harfleur,Click to see collations
Take pity ofClick to see collations your town and of your people
Whiles yet my soldiers are in my command,
Whiles yet the cool and temperateClick to see collations wind of graceClick to see collations
O’er-blowsClick to see collations the filthy and contagiousClick to see collations clouds
Of headlyClick to see collationsClick to see collations murder, spoil,Click to see collations and villainy.
If not, why in a moment lookClick to see collations to see
The blind and bloody soldier with foul hand
DefileClick to see collations the locksClick to see collations of your shrill-shrieking daughters,
Your fathers taken by the silver beards
And their most reverend heads dashed to the walls,
Your naked infants spittedClick to see collations upon pikesClick to see collations
Whiles the mad mothers with their howls confusedClick to see collations
Do break the clouds, as did the wives of JewryClick to see collations
At Herod’s bloody-hunting slaughtermen.Click to see collations
What say you? Will you yield and this avoid,
Or, guilty in defence,Click to see collations be thus destroyed?Click to see collations
Enter Governor.Click to see collations
3.3.Sp2Governor
Our expectationClick to see collations hath this day an end:
The dauphin, whom of succoursClick to see collations we entreated,Click to see collations
ReturnsClick to see collations us that his powersClick to see collations are yet not ready
To raiseClick to see collations so great a siege. Therefore, great king,
We yield our town and lives to thy softClick to see collations mercy.
Enter our gates; dispose ofClick to see collations us and ours,
For we no longer are defensible.
3.3.Sp3King Henry
Open your gates.—
Exit Governor.Click to see collations
Come, uncle Exeter,
Go you and enter Harfleur; there remain
And fortify it strongly ’gainst the French.
Use mercy to them all for us, dear uncle.Click to see collations
The winter coming on and sickness growing
Upon our soldiers, we will retire to Calais.Click to see collations
Tonight in Harfleur will we be your guest;Click to see collations
TomorrowClick to see collations for the march are we addressed.Click to see collations
Flourish, and the English enter the town.

3.4Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter Catherine and Alice,Click to see collations an old gentlewoman.
3.4.Sp1Catherine
Alice, tu as été en Angleterre, et tu bien parlesClick to see collations le langage.Click to see collations
3.4.Sp2Alice
UnClick to see collations peu, madame.Click to see collations
3.4.Sp3Catherine
Je te prie, m’enseignez;Click to see collations il faut que j’apprenneClick to see collations à parler.Click to see collations CommentClick to see collations appelez-vous la main en anglais?Click to see collations
3.4.Sp4Alice
La main? Elle est appelléeClick to see collations de hand.Click to see collations
3.4.Sp5Catherine
De hand. Et lesClick to see collations doigts?Click to see collations
3.4.Sp6AliceClick to see collations
Les doigts—ma foi, j’oublie les doigts!Click to see collations Mais je me souviendrai:Click to see collations les doigts, je pense qu’ils sontClick to see collations appellés de fingres.Click to see collations Oui, de fingres.
3.4.Sp7CatherineClick to see collations
Le main, de hand, les doigts, les fingres.Click to see collations Je pense que je suis la bonne écolière. J’aiClick to see collations gagné deux mots d’anglais vistement. Comment appelez vous les ongles?Click to see collations
3.4.Sp8Alice
Les ongles, nous lesClick to see collations appelons de nails.Click to see collations
3.4.Sp9Catherine
De nails. Écoutez; dites-moi si je parle bien: de hand, de fingres, et de nails.Click to see collations
3.4.Sp10Alice
C’est bien dit, madame. Il est fort bon anglais.Click to see collations
3.4.Sp11Catherine
Dites-moi l’anglais pourClick to see collations le bras.Click to see collations
3.4.Sp12Alice
De arm, madame.
3.4.Sp13Catherine
Et le coude?Click to see collationsClick to see collations
3.4.Sp14Alice
D’elbow.
3.4.Sp15Catherine
D’elbow. Je m’en faisClick to see collations la répétitionClick to see collations de tousClick to see collations les mots que vous m’avezClick to see collations apprisClick to see collations dès à présent.Click to see collations
3.4.Sp16Alice
Il est trop difficile, madame, comme je pense.Click to see collations
3.4.Sp17Catherine
Excusez-moi, Alice. Éscoutez:Click to see collations d’hand, de fingre, de nails, d’arma,Click to see collations de bilbow.Click to see collations
3.4.Sp18Alice
D’elbow, madame.
3.4.Sp19Catherine
O Seigneur Dieu, je m’en oublie! D’elbow. Comment appellez-vous le col?Click to see collations
3.4.Sp20Alice
De nick,Click to see collations madame.
3.4.Sp21Catherine
De nick. Et le menton?Click to see collations
3.4.Sp22Alice
De chin.
3.4.Sp23Catherine
De sin.Click to see collations Le col, de nick, le menton, de sin.
3.4.Sp24Alice
Oui. Sauf votre honneur, en vérité vous prononcez les mots aussi droit que les natifs d’Angleterre.Click to see collations
3.4.Sp25Catherine
Je ne doute point d’apprendre, par laClick to see collations grâce de Dieu, et en peu de temps.Click to see collations
3.4.Sp26Alice
N’avez-vousClick to see collations déjàClick to see collations oublié ce que je vous aiClick to see collations enseigné?Click to see collations
3.4.Sp27Catherine
Non, et jeClick to see collations réciteraiClick to see collations à vous promptement:Click to see collations d’hand, de fingre, de mailésClick to see collations
3.4.Sp28Alice
De nails, madame.
3.4.Sp29Catherine
De nails, de arm, de ilbow—
3.4.Sp30Alice
SaufClick to see collations votre honneur,Click to see collationsClick to see collations d’elbow.
3.4.Sp31Catherine
Ainsi dis-je,Click to see collations d’elbow. De nick, et de sin. Comment appellez-vous le piedClick to see collations et la robeClick to see collations?Click to see collations
3.4.Sp32Alice
Le foot,Click to see collations madame, et leClick to see collations count.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
3.4.Sp33Catherine
Le foot et le count? O Seigneur Dieu, ilsClick to see collations sont les mots de son mauvais,Click to see collations corruptible, gros, et impudique, et non pour les dames d’honneur d’user! Je ne voudrais prononcer ces mots devant les seigneurs de France pour tout le monde. Click to see collationsFoh! Le foot et le count! Néanmoins,Click to see collations je réciteraiClick to see collations une autre fois ma leçon ensemble:Click to see collations d’hand, de fingre, de nails, d’arm, d’elbow, de nick, de sin, de foot, le count.Click to see collations
3.4.Sp34Alice
Excellent, madame!
3.4.Sp35Catherine
C’est assez pour une fois. Allons-nous à dîner.Click to see collations
Exeunt.Click to see collations

3.5Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter the King of France, the Dauphin, the Constable of France, the Duke of Brittany,Click to see collationsClick to see collations and others.
3.5.Sp1French King
’Tis certain he hath passed the river Somme.Click to see collations
3.5.Sp2Constable
And ifClick to see collationsClick to see collations he be not fought withal,Click to see collations my lord,
Let us not live in France. Let us quit all
And give our vineyards to a barbarous people.
3.5.Sp3Dauphin
O Dieu vivant!Click to see collations Shall a few spraysClick to see collations of us,
The emptying ofClick to see collations our fathers’ luxury,Click to see collations
Our scions,Click to see collations put inClick to see collations wild and savage stock,Click to see collations
SpurtClick to see collations up so suddenly into the clouds
And overlookClick to see collations their grafters?Click to see collations
3.5.Sp4BrittanyClick to see collations
Normans, but bastard Normans!Click to see collations Norman bastards!
Mort de ma vie,Click to see collationsClick to see collations if they march along
Unfought withal,Click to see collations but I will sellClick to see collations my dukedom
To buy a slobb’ryClick to see collations and a dirty farm
In that nook-shottenClick to see collations isle of Albion.Click to see collations
3.5.Sp5Constable
Dieu des batailles,Click to see collations where have they this mettle?Click to see collations
Is not their climate foggy, raw, and dull,Click to see collationsClick to see collations
On whom,Click to see collations as in despite,Click to see collations the sun looks pale,Click to see collations
Killing their fruit with frowns?Click to see collations Can soddenClick to see collations water,
A drenchClick to see collations for sur-reined jades,Click to see collations their barley broth,Click to see collations
DecoctClick to see collations their cold blood to such valiant heat?
And shall our quickClick to see collations blood, spiritedClick to see collations with wine,
Seem frosty? Oh, for honour of our land,
Let us not hang like ropingClick to see collations icicles
Upon our houses’ thatchClick to see collations whiles a more frosty people
Sweat drops of gallant youthClick to see collationsClick to see collations in our rich fields!
Poor we mayClick to see collations call them in their native lords.Click to see collations
3.5.Sp6Dauphin
By faithClick to see collations and honour,
Our madamsClick to see collations mock at us, and plainly say
Our mettle is bred out,Click to see collations and they will give
Their bodies to the lust of English youth
To new-storeClick to see collations France with bastard warriors.
3.5.Sp7BrittanyClick to see collations
They bid us to the English dancing schools
AndClick to see collations teach lavoltas highClick to see collations and swift corantos,Click to see collations
Saying our grace is only in our heelsClick to see collations
And that we are most loftyClick to see collations runaways.
3.5.Sp8French King
Where is Montjoy the herald?Click to see collations Speed him hence.Click to see collations
Let him greet England with our sharp defiance.
Up, princes, and with spirit of honour edged
More sharper than your swords, hieClick to see collations to the field.
Charles d’Alberet,Click to see collationsClick to see collations High Constable of France,
You Dukes of Orléans, Bourbon, and of Berry,
Alençon, Brabant, Bar, and Burgundy,
Jaques Châtillon, Rambures, Vaudémont,
Beaumont, Grandpré, Roucy, and Fauquembergues,
Foix,Click to see collations Lestrelles,Click to see collations Boucicaut, and Charolais,Click to see collations
High dukes, great princes, barons, lords, and kings,Click to see collationsClick to see collations
For your great seats,Click to see collations now quit you ofClick to see collations great shames.
BarClick to see collations Harry England,Click to see collations that sweeps through our land
With pennonsClick to see collations painted in the blood of Harfleur.
Rush on his hostClick to see collations as doth the melted snow
Upon the valleys, whose low vassal seatClick to see collations
The Alps doth spit and voidClick to see collations his rheumClick to see collations upon.Click to see collations
Go down uponClick to see collations him—you have power enoughClick to see collations
And in a captive chariotClick to see collations into RouenClick to see collations
Bring him our prisoner.
3.5.Sp9Constable
This becomes the great.Click to see collations
Sorry am I his numbers are so few,
His soldiers sick and famished in their march;
For I am sure when he shall see our army
He’ll drop his heartClick to see collations into the sinkClick to see collations of fear
And, ’foreClick to see collations achievement,Click to see collations offer us his ransom.Click to see collations
3.5.Sp10French King
Therefore, lord constable, haste onClick to see collations Montjoy
And let him say to England that we send
To know what willing ransom he will give.
Prince Dauphin, you shall stay with us in Rouen.Click to see collations
3.5.Sp11Dauphin
Not so, I do beseech your majesty.
3.5.Sp12French King
Be patient, for you shall remain with us.
Now forth, lord constable, and princes all,
And quickly bring us word of England’s fall.
Exeunt.

3.6Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter Captains English and Welsh, Gower and Fluellen, meeting.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
3.6.Sp1Gower
How now, Captain Fluellen, come you from the bridge?
3.6.Sp2Fluellen
I assure you, there is very excellent servicesClick to see collations committedClick to see collations at the bridge.Click to see collations
3.6.Sp3Gower
Is the Duke of Exeter safe?
3.6.Sp4Fluellen
The Duke of Exeter is as magnanimousClick to see collations as Agamemnon,Click to see collations and a man that I love and honour with my soul, and my heart, and my duty, and my live,Click to see collations and my living, and my uttermost power. He is not, God be praised and blessed, any hurt in the world, but keeps the bridge most valiantly, with excellent discipline. There is an aunchient lieutenantClick to see collations there at the pridge. I think in my very conscience he is as valiant a man as Mark Antony,Click to see collations and he is a man of no estimationClick to see collations in the world, but I did see him do as gallant service.Click to see collations
3.6.Sp5Gower
What do you call him?
3.6.Sp6Fluellen
He is called Aunchient Pistol.Click to see collations
3.6.Sp7Gower
I know him not.
Enter Pistol.
3.6.Sp8Fluellen
Here is the man.
3.6.Sp9Pistol
Captain, I thee beseech to do me favours; the Duke of Exeter doth love thee well.
3.6.Sp10Fluellen
Ay, I praise God, and I have merited some love at his hands.
3.6.Sp11Pistol
Bardolph, a soldier firm and sound of heart, and of buxomClick to see collations valour, hath, by cruel fate and giddyClick to see collations Fortune’s furious fickle wheel, that goddess blindClick to see collations that stands upon the rolling restless stoneClick to see collationsClick to see collations
Click to see collations
3.6.Sp12Fluellen
By your patience,Click to see collations Aunchient Pistol, Fortune is painted blind, withClick to see collations a mufflerClick to see collations afore hisClick to see collationsClick to see collations eyes, to signify to you that fortune is blind;Click to see collations and she is painted also with a wheel, to signify to you, which is the moral of it, that she is turning and inconstant, and mutability, and variation; and her foot, look you, is fixed upon a spherical stone, which rowlsClick to see collationsClick to see collations and rowls and rowls. In good truth, the poetClick to see collations makes a most excellent description of it. Fortune is an excellent moral.Click to see collations
3.6.Sp13Pistol
Fortune is Bardolph’s foe and frowns on him,Click to see collations for he hath stolen a pax,Click to see collationsClick to see collations and hanged must a be,Click to see collations a damned death. Let gallows gape for dog; let man go free, and let not hempClick to see collations his windpipe suffocate. But Exeter hath given the doomClick to see collations of death for pax of little price. Therefore go speak—the duke will hear thy voice —and let not Bardolph’s vital threadClick to see collations be cut with edge of penny-cordClick to see collations and vile reproach.Click to see collations Speak, captain, for his life, and I will thee requite.Click to see collations
Click to see collations
3.6.Sp14Fluellen
Aunchient Pistol, I do partlyClick to see collations understand your meaning.
3.6.Sp15Pistol
Why then, rejoice therefore!Click to see collationsClick to see collations
3.6.Sp16Fluellen
Certainly, aunchient, it is not a thing to rejoice at. For if,Click to see collations look you, he were my brother, I would desire the duke to use his good pleasure and put him to execution; for discipline ought to be used.
3.6.Sp17Pistol
Die and be damned, and ficoClick to see collationsClick to see collations for thy friendship!
3.6.Sp18Fluellen
It is well.
3.6.Sp19Pistol
The fig of Spain!Click to see collations
Exit.
3.6.Sp20Fluellen
Very good.
3.6.Sp21Gower
Why, this is an arrantClick to see collations counterfeitClick to see collations rascal. I remember him now: a bawd,Click to see collations a cutpurse.Click to see collations
3.6.Sp22Fluellen
I’ll assure you, a uttered as praveClick to see collations words at the pridge as you shall see in a summer’s day.Click to see collations But it is very well; what he has spoke to me, that is well, I warrantClick to see collations you, when time is serve.Click to see collations
3.6.Sp23Gower
Why ’tis a gull,Click to see collations a fool, a rogue that now and then goes to the wars to grace himself at his return into London under the formClick to see collations of a soldier. And such fellows are perfectClick to see collations in the great commanders’ names, and they will learn youClick to see collations by rote where services were done:Click to see collations at such and such a sconce,Click to see collations at such a breach, at such a convoy;Click to see collations who came offClick to see collations bravely, who was shot, who disgraced; what terms the enemy stood on.Click to see collations And this they conClick to see collations perfectly in the phrase of war,Click to see collations which they trick upClick to see collations with new-tunedClick to see collations oaths. And what a beard of the general’s cutClick to see collations and a horridClick to see collations suitClick to see collationsClick to see collations of the camp will do among foaming bottles and ale-washedClick to see collations wits is wonderfulClick to see collations to be thought on. But you must learn to knowClick to see collations such slanders of the age,Click to see collations or else you may be marvellously mistook.Click to see collations
3.6.Sp24Fluellen
I tell you what, Captain Gower: I do perceive he is not the man that he would gladly make show to the world he is. If I find a hole in his coat,Click to see collations I will tell him my mind. (Drum withinClick to see collations) Hark you, the king is coming, and I must speak with him from the pridge.Click to see collations
Drum and Colours.Click to see collations Enter the King and his poorClick to see collations soldiers, and Gloucester. Click to see collations
3.6.Sp25Fluellen
God plessClick to see collations your majesty.
3.6.Sp26King Henry
How now, Fluellen, cam’st thou from the bridge?
3.6.Sp27Fluellen
Ay, so please your majesty. The Duke of Exeter has very gallantly maintained the pridge.Click to see collations The French is gone off, look you, and there is gallant and most prave passages.Click to see collations Marry, th’athversary was haveClick to see collations possession of the pridge, but he is enforcedClick to see collations to retire, and the Duke of Exeter is master of the pridge. I can tell your majesty, the duke is a prave man.
3.6.Sp28King Henry
What men have you lost, Fluellen?
3.6.Sp29Fluellen
The perditionClick to see collations of th’athversary hath been very great, reasonable great. Marry, for my part I think the duke hath lost never a man,Click to see collations but one that is like to be executedClick to see collations for robbing a church: one Bardolph,if your majesty know the man.Click to see collations His face is all bubuckles,Click to see collationsClick to see collations and whelks,Click to see collations and knobs,Click to see collations and flames afire,Click to see collationsClick to see collations and his lips blows at his nose,Click to see collations and it is like a coal of fire, sometimes plueClick to see collations and sometimes red.Click to see collations But his nose is executed,Click to see collations and his fire’s out.
3.6.Sp30King Henry
We would have all such offenders so cut off,Click to see collations and we give express chargeClick to see collations that in our marches through the country there be nothing compelledClick to see collations from the villages, nothing taken but paid for, none of the French upbraidedClick to see collations or abused in disdainful language. For when levityClick to see collationsClick to see collations and cruelty play forClick to see collations a kingdom, the gentlerClick to see collations gamesterClick to see collations is the soonest winner.Click to see collations
Tucket.Click to see collations Enter Montjoy.
3.6.Sp31Montjoy
You know me by my habit.Click to see collations
3.6.Sp32King Henry
Well then, I know thee. What shall I know of thee?Click to see collations
3.6.Sp33Montjoy
My master’s mind.
3.6.Sp34King Henry
UnfoldClick to see collations it.
3.6.Sp35Montjoy
Thus says my king:Click to see collations “Say thou to Harry of England, though we seemed dead, we did but sleep. AdvantageClick to see collations is a better soldier than rashness. Tell him we could have rebuked himClick to see collations at Harfleur, but that we thought not good to bruise an injuryClick to see collations till it were full ripe. Now we speak upon our cue,Click to see collationsClick to see collations and our voice is imperial:Click to see collations England shall repent his folly, see his weakness, and admire our sufferance.Click to see collations Bid him therefore consider of his ransom, which must proportionClick to see collations the losses we have borne, the subjects we have lost, the disgrace we have digested,Click to see collations which in weight to re-answerClick to see collations his pettinessClick to see collations would bowClick to see collations under. For our losses, his exchequerClick to see collations is too poor; for th’effusionClick to see collations of our blood, the muster of his kingdomClick to see collations too faintClick to see collations a number; and for our disgrace, his own person kneeling at our feet but a weak and worthless satisfaction. To this add defiance, and tell him for conclusion he hath betrayed his followers, whose condemnation is pronounced.Click to see collations So farClick to see collations my king and master; so much my office.
Click to see collations
3.6.Sp36King Henry
What is thy name?Click to see collations I know thy quality.Click to see collations
3.6.Sp37Montjoy
Montjoy.
3.6.Sp38King Henry
Thou dost thy officeClick to see collations fairly. Turn thee back
And tell thy king I do not seek him now,
But could be willing to march on to Calais
Without impeachment;Click to see collations for to say the sooth,Click to see collations
Though ’tis no wisdom to confess so much
Unto an enemy of craftClick to see collations and vantage,Click to see collations
My people are with sickness much enfeebled,
My numbers lessened, and those few I have
Almost no better than so many French,
Who when they were in health, I tell thee, herald,
I thought upon one pair of English legs
Did march three Frenchmen. Yet forgive me, God,
That I do brag thus; this your airClick to see collations of FranceClick to see collations
Hath blown that vice in me.Click to see collations I must repent.
Go therefore, tell thy master here I am.
My ransom is this frail and worthless trunk,Click to see collations
My army but a weak and sickly guard.
Yet, God before,Click to see collations tell him we will come on,
Though France himselfClick to see collations and such another neighbour
Stand in our way.
Gives money.Click to see collations
There’s for thy labour,Click to see collations Montjoy.
Go bid thy master well advise himself.Click to see collations
If we may pass, we will. If we be hindered,
We shall your tawnyClick to see collations ground with your red blood
Discolour. And so, Montjoy, fare you well.
The sum of all our answer is but this:
We would not seek a battle as we are,
Nor as we are, we say, we will not shun it.
So tell your master.Click to see collations
3.6.Sp39Montjoy
I shall deliver so. Thanks to your highness.
Exit.Click to see collations
3.6.Sp40Gloucester
I hope they will not come upon us now.
3.6.Sp41King Henry
We are in God’s hand, brother, not in theirs.—
To soldiers
March to the bridge.—It now draws toward night.
Beyond the river we’ll encamp ourselves,
And on tomorrow bidClick to see collations themClick to see collations march away.
Exeunt.

3.7Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter the Constable of France, the Lord Rambures, Orléans, and the Dauphin,Click to see collationsClick to see collations with others.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp1Constable
Tut, I have the best armour of the world. Would it were day.
3.7.Sp2Orléans
You have an excellent armour, but let my horse have his due.
3.7.Sp3Constable
It is the best horse of Europe.
3.7.Sp4Orléans
Will it never be morning?
3.7.Sp5DauphinClick to see collations
My lord of Orléans, and my lord high constable, you talk of horse and armour?
3.7.Sp6Orléans
You are as well provided of both as any prince in the world.
3.7.Sp7Dauphin
What a long night is this!Click to see collations I will not change my horse with any that treads but on four pasterns.Click to see collationsClick to see collations Ch’ha!Click to see collationsClick to see collations He bounds from the earth as if his entrails were hairs:Click to see collationsClick to see collations le cheval volant,Click to see collations the Pegasus,Click to see collations qui aClick to see collations les narines de feu!Click to see collations When I bestride him, I soar; I am a hawk. He trots the air. The earth sings when he touches it. The basest hornClick to see collations of his hoof is more musical than the pipe of Hermes.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp8Orléans
He’s of the colour of the nutmeg.
3.7.Sp9Dauphin
And of the heatClick to see collations of the ginger. It is a beast for Perseus.Click to see collations He is pure air and fire,Click to see collations and the dull elements of earth and water never appear in him but only in patient stillness while his rider mounts him. He is indeed a horse, and all other jades you may call beasts.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp10Constable
Indeed, my lord, it is a most absoluteClick to see collations and excellent horse.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp11Dauphin
It is the prince of palfreys.Click to see collations His neigh is like the biddingClick to see collations of a monarch, and his countenanceClick to see collations enforces homage.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp12Orléans
No more, cousin.
3.7.Sp13Dauphin
Nay, the man hath no wit that cannot from the rising of the lark to the lodgingClick to see collations of the lambClick to see collations varyClick to see collations deserved praise on my palfrey; it is a themeClick to see collations as fluentClick to see collations as the sea. Turn the sandsClick to see collations into eloquent tongues and my horse is argument for them all.Click to see collations ’Tis a subject for a sovereignClick to see collations to reason on,Click to see collations and for a sovereign’s sovereign to ride on, and for the world, familiar to us and unknown,Click to see collations to lay apart their particular functionsClick to see collations and wonder at him. I once writ a sonnetClick to see collations in his praise, and began thus: “Wonder of natureClick to see collationsClick to see collations—”
3.7.Sp14Orléans
I have heard a sonnet begin so to one’s mistress.
3.7.Sp15Dauphin
Then did they imitate that which I composed to my courser,Click to see collations for my horse is my mistress.
3.7.Sp16Orléans
Your mistress bearsClick to see collations well.
3.7.Sp17Dauphin
MeClick to see collations well, which is the prescriptClick to see collationsClick to see collations praise and perfection of a good and particularClick to see collations mistress.
3.7.Sp18Constable
Nay, for methought yesterday your mistress shrewdlyClick to see collations shook your back.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp19Dauphin
So perhaps did yours.
3.7.Sp20Constable
Mine was not bridled.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp21Dauphin
Oh, then belikeClick to see collations she was old and gentle, and you rodeClick to see collations like a kern of Ireland,Click to see collations your French hoseClick to see collations off, and in your strait strossers.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp22Constable
You have good judgement in horsemanship.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp23Dauphin
Be warned by me then: they that ride so and ride not warily fall into foul bogs.Click to see collations I had rather have my horse to my mistress.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp24Constable
I had as liefClick to see collations have my mistress a jade.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp25Dauphin
I tell thee, constable, my mistress wears his own hair.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp26Constable
I could make as true a boast as that if I had a sow to my mistress.
3.7.Sp27Dauphin
Le chien est retClick to see collationsourné à son propre vomissement,Click to see collations et la truieClick to see collations lavée au bourbier.Click to see collationsThou makest use of anything.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp28Constable
Yet do I not use my horse forClick to see collations my mistress, or any such proverbClick to see collations so little kin to the purpose.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp29Rambures
My lord constable, the armour that I saw in your tent tonight: are those stars or suns upon it?
3.7.Sp30Constable
Stars, my lord.
3.7.Sp31Dauphin
Some of them will fallClick to see collations tomorrow, I hope.
3.7.Sp32Constable
And yet my sky shall not want.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp33Dauphin
That may be, for you bear a manyClick to see collations superfluously, and ’twere more honourClick to see collations some were away.
3.7.Sp34Constable
E’enClick to see collations as your horse bears your praises, who would trot as well were some of your brags dismounted.
3.7.Sp35Dauphin
Would I were able to load him with his desert.Click to see collations Will it never be day? I will trot tomorrow a mile, and my way shall be paved with English faces.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp36Constable
I will not say so for fear I should be faced out of my way,Click to see collations but I would it were morning, for I would fainClick to see collations be about the earsClick to see collations of the English.
3.7.Sp37Rambures
Who will go to hazardClick to see collations with me for twenty prisoners?
3.7.Sp38Constable
You must first go yourself to hazard ere you have them.
3.7.Sp39Dauphin
’Tis midnight; I’ll go arm myself.
Exit.
3.7.Sp40Orléans
The dauphinClick to see collations longs for morning.
3.7.Sp41Rambures
He longs to eat the English.
3.7.Sp42Constable
I think he will eat all he kills.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp43Orléans
By the white hand of my lady, he’s a gallant prince.
3.7.Sp44Constable
Swear by her foot,Click to see collations that she may tread outClick to see collations the oath.
3.7.Sp45Orléans
He is simply the most activeClick to see collations gentleman of France.
3.7.Sp46Constable
DoingClick to see collations is activity, and he will stillClick to see collations be doing.
3.7.Sp47Orléans
He never did harmClick to see collations that I heard of.
3.7.Sp48Constable
Nor will do none tomorrow; he will keep that good nameClick to see collations still.
3.7.Sp49Orléans
I know him to be valiant.
3.7.Sp50Constable
I was told that by one that knows him better than you.
3.7.Sp51Orléans
What’s he?Click to see collations
3.7.Sp52Constable
Marry, heClick to see collations told me so himself, and he said he cared not who knew it.
3.7.Sp53Orléans
He needs not; itClick to see collations is no hidden virtueClick to see collations in him.
3.7.Sp54Constable
By my faith, sir, but it is. Never anybody saw it but his lackey.Click to see collations ’Tis a hoodedClick to see collations valour, and when it appears, it will bate.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp55Orléans
Ill will never said well.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp56Constable
I will capClick to see collations that proverb with “There is flattery in friendship.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp57Orléans
And I will take upClick to see collations that with “Give the devil his due.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp58Constable
Well placed.Click to see collations There stands your friend forClick to see collations the devil. Have at the very eyeClick to see collations of that proverb with “A pox of the devil.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp59Orléans
You are the better at proverbs by how much “a fool’s boltClick to see collations is soon shot.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp60Constable
You have shot over.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp61Orléans
’Tis not the first time you were overshot.Click to see collations
Enter a Messenger.
3.7.Sp62Messenger
My lord high constable, the English lie within fifteen hundred pacesClick to see collations of your tents.
3.7.Sp63Constable
Who hath measured the ground?Click to see collations
3.7.Sp64Messenger
The lord Grandpré.
3.7.Sp65Constable
A valiant and most expert gentleman. Would it were day!Click to see collations Alas, poor Harry of England. He longs not for the dawning as we do.
3.7.Sp66Orléans
What a wretched and peevishClick to see collations fellow is this king of England, to mopeClick to see collations with his fat-brainedClick to see collations followers so far out of his knowledge!Click to see collations
3.7.Sp67Constable
If the English had any apprehension,Click to see collations they would run away.
3.7.Sp68Orléans
That they lack, for if their heads had any intellectual armour, they could never wear such heavy headpieces.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp69Rambures
That island of England breeds very valiant creatures. Their mastiffsClick to see collations are of unmatchable courage.
3.7.Sp70Orléans
Foolish curs, that run winkingClick to see collations into the mouth of a Russian bearClick to see collations and have their heads crushed like rotten apples. You may as well say that’sClick to see collations a valiant flea that dare eat his breakfast onClick to see collations the lip of a lion.Click to see collations
3.7.Sp71Constable
Just,Click to see collations just. And the men do sympathize withClick to see collations the mastiffs in robustiousClick to see collations and rough coming on,Click to see collations leaving their wits with their wives. And then giveClick to see collations them great meals of beef, and iron and steel; they will eat like wolves and fight like devils.
3.7.Sp72Orléans
Ay, but these English are shrewdlyClick to see collationsClick to see collations out of beef.
3.7.Sp73Constable
Then shall we find tomorrow they have only stomachsClick to see collations to eat, and none to fight.Click to see collations Now is it time to arm.Click to see collations Come, shall we about it?
3.7.Sp74Orléans
It is now two o’clock, but let me see: by tenClick to see collations
We shall have each a hundred Englishmen.Click to see collations
Exeunt.

4.0Click to see collations

EnterClick to see collations Chorus.
4.0.Sp1ChorusClick to see collations
Now entertain conjectureClick to see collations ofClick to see collations a time
When creeping murmurClick to see collations and the poringClick to see collations dark
Fills the wide vessel of the universe.
From camp to camp, through the foulClick to see collations womb of night,
The hum of either army stillyClick to see collations sounds,
ThatClick to see collations the fixed sentinelsClick to see collations almost receive
The secret whispers of each other’s watch.Click to see collations
Fire answers fire, and through their palyClick to see collations flames
Each battleClick to see collations sees the other’s umberedClick to see collations face.Click to see collations
Steed threatens steed, in high and boastful neighs
Piercing the night’s dull ear, and from the tents,
The armourers accomplishingClick to see collations the knights,
With busy hammers closing rivetsClick to see collations up,
Give dreadful noteClick to see collations of preparation.
The country cocks do crow, the clocks do toll,
And the third hour of drowsy morning named.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Proud of their numbers and secure in soul,Click to see collations
The confident and over-lustyClick to see collations French
Do the low-ratedClick to see collations English play at dice,Click to see collations
And chideClick to see collations the cripple tardy-gaitedClick to see collations night,
Who like a foul and ugly witchClick to see collations doth limp
So tediouslyClick to see collations away. The poor condemnèd English,
Like sacrifices,Click to see collations by their watchful fires
Sit patiently and inlyClick to see collations ruminateClick to see collations
The morning’s danger; and their gesture sad,Click to see collations
InvestingClick to see collationsClick to see collations lank-leanClick to see collationsClick to see collations cheeks and war-worn coats,
PresentedClick to see collations them unto the gazing moon
So manyClick to see collations horridClick to see collations ghosts. Oh, now, whoClick to see collations will behold
The royal captain of this ruined band
Walking from watchClick to see collations to watch, from tent to tent,Click to see collations
Let him cry “Praise and glory on his head!”
For forth he goes and visits all his host,Click to see collations
Bids them good morrow with a modest smile,
And calls them brothers, friends, and countrymen.
Upon his royal face there is no noteClick to see collations
How dreadClick to see collations an army hath enroundedClick to see collations him;
Nor doth he dedicateClick to see collations one jot of colourClick to see collations
Unto the weary and all-watchèdClick to see collations night,
But freshlyClick to see collations looks and overbearsClick to see collations attaintClick to see collations
With cheerful semblanceClick to see collations and sweet majesty,
That every wretch, piningClick to see collations and pale before,
Beholding him, plucks comfort from his looks.
A largessClick to see collations universal like the sunClick to see collations
His liberalClick to see collations eye doth give to everyone,
Thawing cold fear, thatClick to see collationsClick to see collations mean and gentle allClick to see collations
Behold, as may unworthiness define,Click to see collationsClick to see collations
A little touchClick to see collations of HarryClick to see collations in the night.Click to see collations
And so our scene must to the battle fly,
Where—oh, for pity!—we shall much disgrace
With four or five most vile and raggedClick to see collations foilsClick to see collations
Right ill-disposedClick to see collations in brawl ridiculous,
The name of Agincourt.Click to see collations Yet sit and see,
MindingClick to see collations true things by what their mock’riesClick to see collations be.
Exit.

4.1Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter the King and Gloucester, meeting Bedford.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
4.1.Sp1King Henry
Gloucester, ’tis true that we are in great danger;
The greater therefore should our courage be.—
Good morrow,Click to see collations brother Bedford. God almighty,
There is some soulClick to see collations of goodness in things evil,
Would menClick to see collations observinglyClick to see collations distillClick to see collations it out.
For our bad neighbour makes us early stirrers,Click to see collations
Which is both healthful and good husbandry.Click to see collations
Besides, they are our outwardClick to see collations consciences
And preachers to us all, admonishing
That we should dressClick to see collations usClick to see collations fairly for our end.
Thus may we gather honey from the weed,Click to see collations
And make a moral ofClick to see collations the devil himself.
Enter Erpingham.
Good morrow, old Sir Thomas Erpingham.Click to see collations
A good soft pillow for that good white head
Were better than a churlishClick to see collations turf of France.
4.1.Sp2Erpingham
Not so, my liege. This lodging likesClick to see collations me better,
Since I may say “Now lie I like a king.Click to see collations
4.1.Sp3King Henry
’Tis good for men to love their present pains.Click to see collations
Upon example so,Click to see collationsClick to see collations the spirit is eased,
And when the mind is quickened,Click to see collations out of doubtClick to see collations
The organs, though defunct and dead before,
Break up their drowsy graveClick to see collations and newly move
With casted slough,Click to see collations and fresh legerity.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Lend me thy cloak, Sir Thomas.—Brothers both,Click to see collations
Commend meClick to see collations to the princes in our camp.
Do my good morrow to them, and anonClick to see collations
Desire them all to my pavilion.Click to see collations
4.1.Sp4Gloucester
We shall, my liege.
4.1.Sp5Erpingham
Shall I attend your grace?Click to see collations
4.1.Sp6King Henry
No, my good knight,
Go with my brothers to my lords of England.
I and my bosomClick to see collations must debateClick to see collations awhile,
And thenClick to see collations I wouldClick to see collations no other company.
4.1.Sp7Erpingham
The lord in heaven bless thee, noble Harry.
Exeunt all but King Henry, who disguises himself in Erpingham’s cloak.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
4.1.Sp8King Henry
God-a-mercy,Click to see collations old heart; thou speak’st cheerfully.
Enter Pistol.
4.1.Sp9Pistol
Che vous la?Click to see collationsClick to see collations
4.1.Sp10King Henry
A friend.
4.1.Sp11Pistol
DiscussClick to see collations unto me: art thou officer, or art thou base, common, and popular?Click to see collations
Click to see collations
4.1.Sp12King Henry
I am a gentleman of a company.Click to see collations
4.1.Sp13Pistol
Trail’st thou the puissant pike?Click to see collations
4.1.Sp14King Henry
Even so.Click to see collations What are you?
4.1.Sp15Pistol
As good a gentleman as the emperor.
4.1.Sp16King Henry
Then you are a better than the king.
4.1.Sp17Pistol
The king’s a bawcockClick to see collations and a heart of gold, a lad of life,Click to see collations an impClick to see collations of fame, of parents good, of fist most valiant. I kiss his dirty shoe, and from heartstringClick to see collations I love the lovely bully.Click to see collations What is thy name?
Click to see collations
4.1.Sp18King Henry
Harry le Roy.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
4.1.Sp19Pistol
Leroy?Click to see collations A Cornish name;Click to see collations art thou of Cornish crew?Click to see collations
4.1.Sp20King Henry
No, I am a Welshman.Click to see collations
4.1.Sp21Pistol
Know’st thou Fluellen?
4.1.Sp22King Henry
Yes.
4.1.Sp23Pistol
Tell him I’ll knock his leekClick to see collations about his pateClick to see collations upon Saint Davy’s day.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
4.1.Sp24King Henry
Do not you wear your dagger in your cap that day, lest he knock that about yours.Click to see collations
4.1.Sp25Pistol
Art thou his friend?
4.1.Sp26King Henry
And his kinsmanClick to see collations too.
4.1.Sp27Pistol
The ficoClick to see collationsClick to see collations for thee then.
4.1.Sp28King Henry
I thank you. God be with you.
4.1.Sp29Pistol
My name is Pistol called.
Exit Pistol.Click to see collations
4.1.Sp30King Henry
It sortsClick to see collations well with your fierceness.
Enter Fluellen and Gower separately.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
4.1.Sp31Gower
Captain Fluellen.
4.1.Sp32Fluellen
’So!Click to see collationsClick to see collations In the name of Jesu Christ speak fewer!Click to see collationsClick to see collations It is the greatest admirationClick to see collations in the universal world when the true and aunchientClick to see collations prerogatiffsClick to see collationsClick to see collations and laws of the wars is not kept. If you would take the pains but to examine the wars of Pompey the Great,Click to see collations you shall find, I warrant you, that there is no tiddle-taddle nor pibble-babbleClick to see collationsClick to see collations in Pompey’s camp.Click to see collations I warrant you, you shall find the ceremoniesClick to see collations of the wars, and the caresClick to see collations of it, and the formsClick to see collations of it, and the sobrietyClick to see collations of it, and the modestyClick to see collations of it, to be otherwise.Click to see collations
4.1.Sp33Gower
Why, the enemy is loud; you hear him all night.Click to see collations
4.1.Sp34Fluellen
If the enemy is an ass and a fool and a prating coxcomb,Click to see collations is it meet, think you, that we should also, look you, be an ass and a fool and a prating coxcomb, in your own conscience now?
4.1.Sp35Gower
I will speak lower.
4.1.Sp36Fluellen
I pray you and beseech you that you will.
Exeunt Gower and Fluellen.Click to see collations
4.1.Sp37King Henry
Though it appear a little out of fashion,
There is much careClick to see collations and valour in this Welshman.
Enter three soldiers: John Bates, Alexander Court, and Michael Williams.
4.1.Sp38Court
Brother John Bates, is not that the morning which breaks yonder?
4.1.Sp39Bates
I think it be, but we have no great cause to desire the approach of day.
4.1.Sp40Williams
We see yonder the beginning of the day, but I think we shall never see the end of it.—Who goes there?
4.1.Sp41King Henry
A friend.
4.1.Sp42Williams
Under what captain serve you?
4.1.Sp43King Henry
UnderClick to see collations Sir ThomasClick to see collationsClick to see collations Erpingham.
4.1.Sp44Williams
A good old commander and a most kind gentleman. I pray you, what thinks he of our estate?Click to see collations
4.1.Sp45King Henry
Even as men wreckedClick to see collations upon a sand,Click to see collations that look to be washed off the next tide.
4.1.Sp46Bates
He hath not told his thought to the king?
4.1.Sp47King Henry
No, nor it is not meetClick to see collations he should. For though I speak it to you,Click to see collations I think the king is but a man, as I am. The violet smells to him as it doth to me; the element showsClick to see collations to him as it doth to me; all his senses have but human conditions.Click to see collations His ceremoniesClick to see collations laid by,Click to see collations in his nakedness he appears but a man, and though his affectionsClick to see collations are higher mountedClick to see collations than ours, yet when they stoop,Click to see collations they stoop with the like wing.Click to see collations Therefore when he sees reason ofClick to see collations fears, as we do, his fears out of doubtClick to see collations be of the same relishClick to see collations as ours are. Yet in reason, no man should possess him withClick to see collations any appearance of fear, lest he by showing it should dishearten his army.
4.1.Sp48Bates
He may show what outward courage he will, but I believe, as cold a night as ’tis, he could wish himself in ThamesClick to see collations up to the neck. And so I would he were, and I by him, at all adventures,Click to see collations so we were quit here.Click to see collations
4.1.Sp49King Henry
By my troth, I will speak my conscienceClick to see collations of the king: I think he would not wish himself anywhere but where he is.
4.1.Sp50Bates
Then I would he were here alone. So should he be sure to be ransomed, and a many poor men’s lives saved.
4.1.Sp51King Henry
I dare say you love him not so ill to wish him here alone, howsoeverClick to see collations you speak this to feelClick to see collations other men’s minds.Click to see collations Methinks I could not die anywhere so contented as in the king’s company, his cause being just and his quarrel honourable.
4.1.Sp52Williams
That’s more than we know.
4.1.Sp53Bates
Ay, or more than we should seek after.Click to see collations For we know enough if we know we are the king’s subjects. If his cause be wrong, our obedience to the king wipes the crime of it out of us.Click to see collations
4.1.Sp54Williams
But if the cause be not good, the king himself hath a heavy reckoningClick to see collations to make, when all those legs and arms and heads chopped off in a battleClick to see collations shall join togetherClick to see collations at the latter day,Click to see collations and cry all, “We died at such a place”, some swearing, some crying for a surgeon, some uponClick to see collations their wives left poor behind them, some upon the debts they owe, some upon their children rawlyClick to see collations left. I am afearedClick to see collations there are few die wellClick to see collations that die in a battle, for how can they charitablyClick to see collations dispose ofClick to see collations anything when blood is their argument?Click to see collations Now if these men do not die well, it will be a black matter for the king that led them to it, whoClick to see collations to disobey were against all proportion of subjection.Click to see collations
4.1.Sp55King Henry
SoClick to see collations if a son that is by his father sent about merchandiseClick to see collations do sinfully miscarryClick to see collations upon the sea, the imputation ofClick to see collations his wickedness, by your rule, should be imposed upon his father that sent him. Or if a servant, under his master’s command transporting a sum of money, be assailed by robbers and die in many irreconciled iniquities,Click to see collations you may call the business of the master the author ofClick to see collations the servant’s damnation. But this is not so. The king is not bound to answer the particular endings of his soldiers, the father of his son, nor the master of his servant, for they purposeClick to see collations not their death when they purpose theirClick to see collations services. Besides, there is no king, be his cause never so spotless, if it come to the arbitrament of swords,Click to see collations can try it outClick to see collations with all unspottedClick to see collations soldiers. Some, peradventure,Click to see collations have on them the guilt of premeditated and contrivedClick to see collations murder; some of beguilingClick to see collations virgins with the broken sealsClick to see collations of perjury;Click to see collations some, making the wars their bulwark,Click to see collations that have before goredClick to see collations the gentle bosom of peace with pillage and robbery. Now if these men have defeatedClick to see collations the law and outrun native punishment,Click to see collations though they can outstripClick to see collations men, they have no wings to fly from God.Click to see collations War is his beadle;Click to see collations war is his vengeance.Click to see collations So that here men are punished for before-breachClick to see collationsClick to see collations of the king’s laws in now the king’s quarrel.Click to see collations Where they feared the death,Click to see collations they have borne life away;Click to see collations and where they would be safe, they perish.Click to see collations Then if they die unprovided,Click to see collations no more is the king guilty of their damnation than he was before guilty of those impieties for the which they are now visited.Click to see collations Every subject’s duty is the king’s, but every subject’s soul is his own. Therefore should every soldier in the wars do as every sick man in his bed, wash every moteClick to see collationsClick to see collations out of his conscience. And dying so, death is to him advantage,Click to see collations or not dying, the time was blessedly lostClick to see collations wherein such preparation was gained. And in him that escapes, it were not sin to think that, making God so free an offer,Click to see collations heClick to see collations let him outlive that day to see his greatness and to teach others how they should prepare.Click to see collations
4.1.Sp56WilliamsClick to see collationsClick to see collations
’Tis certain, every man that dies ill,Click to see collations the ill upon his own head; the king is not to answer it.Click to see collations
4.1.Sp57BatesClick to see collations
I do not desire he should answer for me,Click to see collations and yet I determine to fight lustilyClick to see collations for him.
4.1.Sp58King Henry
I myself heard the king say he would not be ransomed.
4.1.Sp59Williams
Ay, he said so to make us fight cheerfully, but when our throats are cut he may be ransomed and we ne’er the wiser.
4.1.Sp60King Henry
If I live to see it,Click to see collations I will never trust his word after.
4.1.Sp61Williams
You payClick to see collations him, then! That’s a perilousClick to see collations shot out of an elder-gunClick to see collations that a poor and a private displeasureClick to see collations can do against a monarch. You may as well go aboutClick to see collations to turn the sun to ice with fanning in his face with a peacock’s feather. You’ll never trust his word after! Come, ’tis a foolish saying.
4.1.Sp62King Henry
Your reproofClick to see collations is something too round.Click to see collations I should be angry with you if the time were convenient.
4.1.Sp63Williams
Let it be a quarrel between us if you live.
4.1.Sp64King Henry
I embraceClick to see collations it.
4.1.Sp65Williams
How shall I know thee again?
4.1.Sp66King Henry
Give me any gageClick to see collations of thine and I will wear it in my bonnet.Click to see collations Then if ever thou darest acknowledge it, I will make it my quarrel.
4.1.Sp67Williams
Here’s my glove. Give me another of thine.
4.1.Sp68King Henry
There.
They exchange gloves.Click to see collations
4.1.Sp69Williams
This will I also wear in my cap. If ever thou come to me and say, after tomorrow, “This is my glove”, by this hand I will takeClick to see collations thee a box on the ear.
4.1.Sp70King Henry
If ever I live to see it, I will challenge it.
4.1.Sp71Williams
Thou darest as well be hanged.
4.1.Sp72King Henry
Well, I will do it, thoughClick to see collations I takeClick to see collations thee in the king’s company.
4.1.Sp73Williams
Keep thy word. Fare thee well.
4.1.Sp74Bates
Be friends, you English fools, be friends! We have French quarrels enough, if you could tell how to reckon.Click to see collations
ExeuntClick to see collations Soldiers.Click to see collations
4.1.Sp75King Henry
Indeed, the French may lay twenty French crownsClick to see collations to one they will beat us, for they bear them on their shoulders. But it is no English treason to cut French crowns,Click to see collations and tomorrow the king himself will be a clipper.Click to see collations
Upon the king! “Let us our lives, our souls”,
Our debts, our carefulClick to see collations wives, our children, and
“Our sins lay on the king”. WeClick to see collations must bear all.Click to see collations
Click to see collations
O hard condition,Click to see collations twin-born withClick to see collations greatness,
Subject to the breathClick to see collations of every fool whose sense
No more can feel but his own wringing.Click to see collations
What infinite heart’s-easeClick to see collations must kings neglect,
That private men enjoy?
Click to see collations
And what have kings that privatesClick to see collations have not too,
SaveClick to see collations ceremony,Click to see collations save generalClick to see collations ceremony?
And what art thou, thou idolClick to see collations ceremony?
What kind of god art thou, that suffer’st more
Of mortalClick to see collations griefs than do thy worshippers?
What are thy rents?Click to see collations What are thy comings in?Click to see collations
O ceremony, show me but thy worth.
What? Is thy soul of adoration?Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Art thou aughtClick to see collations else but place, degree, and form,Click to see collations
Creating awe and fear in other men,Click to see collations
Wherein thou art less happy being feared
Than they in fearing?Click to see collations
What drink’st thou oft, instead of homageClick to see collations sweet,
But poisoned flattery? O, be sick, great greatness,
And bid thy ceremony give thee cure.Click to see collations
Think’stClick to see collations thou the fiery fever will go out
With titlesClick to see collations blown from adulation?Click to see collations
Will it give place to flexureClick to see collations and low bending?Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Canst thou, when thou command’st the beggar’s knee,Click to see collations
Command the health of it?Click to see collations No, thou proud dream
That play’st so subtlyClick to see collations with a king’s repose.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
I am a king that find thee,Click to see collations and I know
’Tis not the balm,Click to see collations the scepter, and the ball,Click to see collations
The sword, the mace,Click to see collations the crown imperial,
The intertissuedClick to see collationsClick to see collations robe of gold and pearl,
The farcèdClick to see collations title running ’fore the king,
The throne he sits on, nor the tide of pompClick to see collations
That beats upon the high shore of this world—
No, not all these, thrice-gorgeous ceremony,
Not all these, laid in bed majestical,
Can sleep so soundly as the wretched slave
Who, with a body filled and vacant mind,
Gets him to rest, crammed with distressfulClick to see collations bread;
Never sees horrid night, the child of hell,
But like a lackey,Click to see collations from the rise to set,Click to see collations
Sweats in the eye of Phoebus,Click to see collations and all night
Sleeps in Elysium;Click to see collations next day after dawn
Click to see collations
Doth rise and help HyperionClick to see collations to his horse,Click to see collations
And follows so the ever-running year
With profitableClick to see collations labour to his grave.
And but for ceremony, such a wretch,
Winding up days with toil and nights with sleep,
Had the forehand and vantage ofClick to see collations a king.Click to see collations
The slave, a member ofClick to see collations the country’s peace,
Enjoys it,Click to see collations but in grossClick to see collations brain little wotsClick to see collations
What watchClick to see collations the king keeps to maintain the peace,
Whose hours the peasant best advantages.Click to see collations
Enter Erpingham.
4.1.Sp76Erpingham
My lord, your nobles, jealous ofClick to see collations your absence,
Seek through your camp to find you.
4.1.Sp77King Henry
Good old knight,
Collect them all together at my tent:
I’ll be before thee.Click to see collations
4.1.Sp78Erpingham
I shall do’t, my lord.
Exit.
4.1.Sp79King Henry
(KneelingClick to see collations) O God of battles,Click to see collations steelClick to see collations my soldiers’ hearts.
Possess them not with fear. Take from them now
The sense of reck’ning,Click to see collations ereClick to see collationsClick to see collations th’opposèd numbersClick to see collationsClick to see collations
Pluck their hearts from them. Not today, O Lord,
Oh, not today—think not upon the fault
My father made in compassingClick to see collations the crown.Click to see collations
I Richard’s body have interrèd new,Click to see collations
And on it have bestowed more contriteClick to see collations tears
Than from it issued forcèdClick to see collations drops of blood.
Five hundred poor I have in yearly pay
Who twice a day their withered hands hold up
Toward heaven to pardon blood,Click to see collations and I have built
Two chantriesClick to see collations where the sadClick to see collations and solemn priests
Sing stillClick to see collations for Richard’s soul.Click to see collations More will I do,Click to see collations
Though all that I can do is nothing worth,Click to see collations
Since that my penitence comes after all,Click to see collations
Imploring pardon.Click to see collations
Enter Gloucester.
4.1.Sp80Gloucester
My liege.
4.1.Sp81King Henry
My brother Gloucester’s voice? Ay,
I know thy errand. I will go with thee.
The day, my friend,Click to see collations and all things stayClick to see collations for me.
Exeunt.

4.2Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter the Dauphin, Orléans, Rambures, and Beaumont.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
4.2.Sp1Orléans
The sun doth gildClick to see collations our armour. Up,Click to see collations my lords!
4.2.Sp2DauphinClick to see collations
Montez à cheval:Click to see collationsClick to see collations my horse, varletClick to see collations lackey,Click to see collationsClick to see collations ha!
4.2.Sp3Orléans
Oh, brave spirit!
4.2.Sp4Dauphin
Via les eaux et terres.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
4.2.Sp5Orléans
Rien plus? L’airClick to see collations et feu?Click to see collationsClick to see collations
4.2.Sp6Dauphin
Cieux,Click to see collationsClick to see collations Cousin Orléans.
Enter Constable.
Now my lord constable?
4.2.Sp7Constable
Hark how our steeds for present serviceClick to see collations neigh.
4.2.Sp8Dauphin
Mount them, and make incision in their hides,Click to see collations
That their hot blood may spinClick to see collations in English eyes
And doutClick to see collationsClick to see collations them with superfluous courage.Click to see collations Ha!
4.2.Sp9Rambures
What, will you have them weep our horses’ blood?
How shall we then behold their natural tears?
Enter Messenger.
4.2.Sp10Messenger
The English are embattled,Click to see collations you French peers.Click to see collations
4.2.Sp11Constable
To horse, you gallant princes, straight to horse!
Do but behold yon poor and starvèd bandClick to see collations
And your fair showClick to see collations shall suck away their souls,
Leaving them but the shalesClick to see collationsClick to see collations and husks of men.
There is not work enough for all our hands,
Scarce blood enough in all their sickly veins
To give each naked curtle-axClick to see collations a stain
That our French gallantsClick to see collations shall today draw out
And sheathe for lack of sport.Click to see collations Let us but blow on them,
The vapour of our valour will o’erturn them.Click to see collations
’Tis positive againstClick to see collations all exceptions,Click to see collations lords,
That our superfluous lackeys and our peasants,
Who in unnecessary action swarm
About our squares of battle,Click to see collations were enough
To purge this field of such a hildingClick to see collations foe
Though we upon this mountain’s basis by
Took stand for idle speculation,Click to see collationsClick to see collations
But that our honoursClick to see collations must not. What’sClick to see collations to say?
A very little little let us do
And all is done. Then let the trumpets sound
The tucket sonanceClick to see collationsClick to see collations and the note to mount,
For our approach shall so much dareClick to see collations the field
That England shall couch downClick to see collations in fear and yield.Click to see collations
Enter Grandpré.Click to see collations
4.2.Sp12Grandpré
Why do you stay so long, my lords of France?
YonClick to see collations islandClick to see collations carrions,Click to see collations desperate of their bones,Click to see collations
Ill-favoredly becomeClick to see collations the morning field.
Their ragged curtainsClick to see collations poorly are let loose
And our air shakes them passingClick to see collations scornfully.
Big MarsClick to see collations seems bankruptClick to see collations in their beggared hostClick to see collations
And faintlyClick to see collations through a rusty beaverClick to see collations peeps.
The horsemen sit like fixèd candlesticks
With torch-staves in their hand,Click to see collationsClick to see collations and their poor jades
LobClick to see collations down their heads, dropping the hides and hips,
The gumClick to see collations down-ropingClick to see collations from their pale deadClick to see collations eyes,
And in their pale dullClick to see collations mouths the gemelledClick to see collationsClick to see collations bit
Lies foulClick to see collations with chawed grass,Click to see collations still and motionless;
And their executors,Click to see collations the knavish crows,
Fly o’er them all,Click to see collations impatient for their hour.Click to see collations
Description cannot suitClick to see collations itself in words
To demonstrate the life of such a battleClick to see collations
In life so lifelessClick to see collationsClick to see collations as it shows itself.
4.2.Sp13Constable
They have said their prayers, and they stayClick to see collations for death.
Click to see collations
4.2.Sp14Dauphin
Shall we go send them dinners and fresh suits
And give their fastingClick to see collations horses provender,Click to see collations
And after fight with them?Click to see collations
4.2.Sp15Constable
I stay but for my guard.Click to see collations OnClick to see collations to the field;
I will the banner from a trumpetClick to see collations takeClick to see collations
And use it for my haste. Come, come away.
The sun is high and we outwearClick to see collations the day.
Exeunt.

4.3Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter Gloucester, Bedford, Exeter, Erpingham with all his host,Click to see collationsClick to see collations Salisbury, and Westmorland.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
4.3.Sp1Gloucester
Where is the king?
4.3.Sp2BedfordClick to see collations
The king himself is rodeClick to see collations to view their battle.Click to see collations
4.3.Sp3WestmorlandClick to see collations
Of fighting men they have full threescore thousand.Click to see collations
4.3.Sp4Exeter
There’s five to one,Click to see collations besidesClick to see collationsClick to see collations they all are fresh.Click to see collations
4.3.Sp5Salisbury
God’s arm strike with us! ’Tis a fearful odds.
God b’wi’you,Click to see collations princes all. I’ll to my charge.Click to see collations
If we no more meet till we meet in heaven,
Then joyfully, my noble lord of Bedford,
My dear lord Gloucester, and my good lord Exeter,
And my kind kinsman,Click to see collations warriors all, adieu.
4.3.Sp6Bedford
Farewell, good Salisbury, and good luck go with thee.
4.3.Sp7Exeter
(To SalisburyClick to see collations) Farewell, kind lord. Fight valiantly today.
And yet I do thee wrong to mindClick to see collations thee of it,
For thou art framedClick to see collations of the firm truthClick to see collations of valor.Click to see collations
Click to see collations
Exit Salisbury.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
4.3.Sp8Bedford
He is as full of valor as of kindness,
Princely in both.
Enter the King.Click to see collations
4.3.Sp9Westmorland
Oh, that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in EnglandClick to see collations
That do no work today.Click to see collations
4.3.Sp10King Henry
What’s he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmorland?Click to see collations No, my fair cousin,
If we are marked to die, we are enough
To do our country loss;Click to see collations and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.Click to see collations
God’s will,Click to see collations I pray thee wishClick to see collations not one man more.Click to see collations
By Jove,Click to see collations I am not covetous for gold,Click to see collations
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost.Click to see collations
It earnsClick to see collationsClick to see collations me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz,Click to see collations wish not a man from England.
God’s peace,Click to see collations I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would shareClick to see collations from me
For the best hope I have.Click to see collations Oh, do not wish one more.
Rather proclaimClick to see collations it, Westmorland, through my host
That he which hath no stomach toClick to see collations this fight,
Let him depart. His passportClick to see collations shall be made
And crowns for convoyClick to see collations put into his purse.Click to see collations
We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowshipClick to see collations to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian.Click to see collations
He that outlives this day and comes safe home
Will stand a tiptoeClick to see collations when this day is named
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall see this day and liveClick to see collations old ageClick to see collations
Will yearly on the vigilClick to see collations feast his neighbors
And say, “Tomorrow is Saint Crispian”.
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
OldClick to see collations men forget; yet allClick to see collations shall be forgot,Click to see collations
ButClick to see collations he’ll remember, with advantages,Click to see collations
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouthClick to see collations as household words—
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot,Click to see collations Salisbury and Gloucester—
Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.Click to see collations
This story shall the good man teach his son,
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be rememberèd,Click to see collations
We few, we happyClick to see collations few, we band of brothers.
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,Click to see collations
This day shall gentle his condition.Click to see collations
And gentlemen in England now abed,
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoodsClick to see collations cheap whiles anyClick to see collations speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
Enter Salisbury.
4.3.Sp11Salisbury
My sovereign lord, bestow yourselfClick to see collations with speed.
The French are bravelyClick to see collations in their battles setClick to see collations
And will with all expedienceClick to see collations charge on us.
4.3.Sp12King Henry
All things are ready if our minds be so.
4.3.Sp13Westmorland
Perish the man whose mind is backwardClick to see collations now.
4.3.Sp14King Henry
Thou dost not wish more help from England, coz?
4.3.Sp15Westmorland
God’s will, my liege, would you and I alone
Without more help could fight this royal battle!
4.3.Sp16King Henry
Why, now thou hast unwished five thousandClick to see collations men,Click to see collations
Which likesClick to see collations me better than to wish us one.—
You know your places. God be with you all.
Tucket. Enter Montjoy.
4.3.Sp17Montjoy
Once more I come to know of thee, King Harry,
If for thy ransom thou wilt now compoundClick to see collations
Before thy most assurèd overthrow,Click to see collations
For certainly thou art so near the gulfClick to see collations
Thou needs must be englutted.Click to see collations Besides, in mercy
The constable desires thee thou wilt mind
Thy followers of repentance,Click to see collations that their souls
May make a peaceful and a sweet retireClick to see collations
From off these fields where, wretches, their poor bodies
Must lie and fester.
4.3.Sp18King Henry
Who hath sent thee now?
4.3.Sp19Montjoy
The Constable of France.
4.3.Sp20King Henry
I pray thee bear my former answer back:
Bid them achieveClick to see collations me and then sell my bones.
Good God, why should they mock poor fellows thus?
The man that once did sell the lion’s skin
While the beast lived, was killed with hunting him.Click to see collations
A manyClick to see collations of our bodies shall no doubt
Find native graves,Click to see collations upon the which I trust
Shall witness live in brassClick to see collations of this day’s work.
And those that leave their valiant bones in France,
Dying like men, though buried in your dunghills,Click to see collations
They shall be famed, for there the sun shall greet them
And draw their honours reekingClick to see collations up to heaven,
Leaving their earthly parts to choke your clime,Click to see collations
The smell whereof shall breed a plagueClick to see collations in France.
MarkClick to see collations then aboundingClick to see collationsClick to see collations valor in our English,
That being dead, like to the bullets crazing,Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Break out into a second course of mischief,Click to see collations
Killing in relapse of mortality.Click to see collations
Let me speak proudly:Click to see collations tell the constable
We are but warriors for the working day.Click to see collations
Our gaynessClick to see collations and our giltClick to see collations are all besmirchedClick to see collations
With rainy marching in the painful field.Click to see collations
There’s not a piece of featherClick to see collations in our host—
Good argument, I hope, we will not flyClick to see collations
And time hath worn us into slovenry.Click to see collations
But by the mass, our hearts are in the trim,Click to see collations
And my poor soldiers tell me yet ere night
They’ll be in fresher robes,Click to see collations orClick to see collations they will pluck
The gay new coats o’er the French soldiers’ heads
And turn themClick to see collations out of service.Click to see collations If they do this,
As, if God please, they shall, my ransom then
Will soon be levied.Click to see collations Herald, save thou thy labor.
Click to see collations
Come thou no more for ransom, gentleClick to see collations herald.
They shall have none, I swear, but these my joints,Click to see collations
Which if they have as I will leave ’emClick to see collations them,Click to see collations
Shall yield them little. TellClick to see collations the constable.
4.3.Sp21Montjoy
I shall, King Harry. And so fare thee well.
Thou never shalt hear herald any more.
Exit.
4.3.Sp22King Henry
I fear thou wiltClick to see collations once more come for a ransom.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Enter York.
4.3.Sp23York
(Kneeling) My lord, most humbly on my knee I beg
The leading of the vanguard.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
4.3.Sp24King Henry
Take it, brave York.—Now soldiers, march away,
Click to see collations
And how thou pleasest, God, disposeClick to see collations the day.
Exeunt.

4.4Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Alarum. Excursions.Click to see collations Enter Pistol, French Soldier, and Boy.
4.4.Sp1Pistol
Yield, cur!
4.4.Sp2French Soldier
Je pense que vous êtes le gentilhomme de bon qualité.Click to see collations
4.4.Sp3Pistol
Qualtity?Click to see collationsClick to see collationsCalinny custure me!Click to see collationsClick to see collations” Art thou a gentleman? What is thy name? Discuss.Click to see collations
4.4.Sp4French Soldier
O Seigneur Dieu!Click to see collations
4.4.Sp5Pistol
O Signieur DewClick to see collations should be a gentleman.Click to see collations PerpendClick to see collations my words, O Signieur Dew, and mark:Click to see collations O Signieur Dew, thou diest on point of fox,Click to see collations except,Click to see collations O Signieur, thou do give to me egregiousClick to see collations ransom.
4.4.Sp6French Soldier
Oh, prenez miséricorde! Ayez pitié de moi!Click to see collations
4.4.Sp7Pistol
MoyClick to see collations shall not serve. I will have forClick to see collationsty moys, for I will fetch thy rimClick to see collationsClick to see collations out at thy throat in drops of crimson blood.
4.4.Sp8French Soldier
Est-il impossible d’échapper la force de ton bras?Click to see collationsClick to see collations
4.4.Sp9Pistol
Brass,Click to see collations cur? Thou damned and luxuriousClick to see collations mountain goat,Click to see collations offer’st me brass?
Click to see collations
4.4.Sp10French Soldier
Oh, pardonnez-moi!Click to see collations
4.4.Sp11Pistol
Say’st thou me so? Is that a tonClick to see collations of moys?Click to see collations —Come hither, boy. Ask me this slave in French what is his name.
Click to see collations
4.4.Sp12Boy
Écoutez: comment êtes-vous appellé?Click to see collations
4.4.Sp13French Soldier
Monsieur le Fer.Click to see collations
4.4.Sp14Boy
He says his name is MasterClick to see collations Fer.
4.4.Sp15Pistol
MasterClick to see collations Fer. I’ll ferClick to see collations him, and firkClick to see collations him, and ferretClick to see collations him. Discuss the same in French unto him.
4.4.Sp16Boy
I do not know the French for fer and ferret and firk.
4.4.Sp17Pistol
Bid him prepare, for I will cut his throat.
4.4.Sp18French Soldier
(To BoyClick to see collations) Que dit-il, monsieur?Click to see collations
4.4.Sp19Boy
Il me commande à vous dire que vous faites vous prêt, car ce soldat ici est disposé tout à cette heureClick to see collations de couper votre gorge.Click to see collations
4.4.Sp20Pistol
Owi, cuppe-la gorge, permafoy,Click to see collationsClick to see collations peasant, unless thou give me crowns. BraveClick to see collations crowns,Click to see collations or mangledClick to see collations shalt thou be by this my sword.
4.4.Sp21French Soldier
Oh, je vous supplie, pour l’amour de Dieu, me pardonner! Je suis le gentilhommeClick to see collations de bonne maison.Click to see collations Gardez ma vie, et je vous donnerai deux cent écus.Click to see collations
4.4.Sp22Pistol
What are his words?
4.4.Sp23Boy
He prays you to save his life. He is a gentleman of a good house, and for his ransom he will give you two hundred crowns.
4.4.Sp24Pistol
Tell him my fury shall abate, and I the crowns will take.
Click to see collations
4.4.Sp25French Soldier
(To BoyClick to see collations) Petit monsieur, que dit-il?Click to see collations
4.4.Sp26Boy
Encore qu’il est contre son jurement de pardonner aucun prisonnier, néanmoins, pour les écus que vous l’avez promis,Click to see collations il est content à vous donner la liberté, le franchisement.Click to see collations
4.4.Sp27French Soldier
(Kneeling to PistolClick to see collationsClick to see collations) Sur mes genoux je vous donneClick to see collations mille remerciements,Click to see collations et je m’estime heureux que je suis tombéClick to see collations entre les mains d’un chevalier, je pense,Click to see collations le plus brave, vaillant et très distinguéClick to see collations seigneur d’Angleterre.Click to see collations
4.4.Sp28Pistol
ExpoundClick to see collations unto me, boy.
4.4.Sp29Boy
He gives you upon his knees a thousand thanks, and he esteems himself happy that he hath fallen into the hands of one, as he thinks, the most brave, valorous and thrice-worthyClick to see collations seigneur of England.
4.4.Sp30Pistol
As I suck blood,Click to see collations I will some mercy show. Follow me.
4.4.Sp31Boy
Suivez-vousClick to see collations le grand capitaine.Click to see collationsClick to see collations (Exeunt Pistol and French SoldierClick to see collations) I did never know so fullClick to see collations a voice issue from so empty a heart, but the saying is true, “The empty vessel makes the greatest sound.Click to see collations” Bardolph and Nym had ten times more valor than this roaring devil i’th’old play,Click to see collations that everyoneClick to see collations may pare his nailsClick to see collations with a wooden dagger,Click to see collations and they are both hanged;Click to see collations and so would thisClick to see collations be if he durst steal anything adventurously.Click to see collations I must stay with the lackeysClick to see collations with the luggage of our camp. The French might have a good preyClick to see collations of us if he knew of it, for there is none to guard it but boys.Click to see collations
Exit.

4.5Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter Constable, Orléans, Bourbon, Dauphin, and Rambures.
4.5.Sp1Constable
O diable!Click to see collations
4.5.Sp2Orléans
O Seigneur! Le jour est perdu, tout est perdu!Click to see collationsClick to see collations
4.5.Sp3DauphinClick to see collationsClick to see collations
Mort Dieu! Ma vie!Click to see collationsClick to see collations All is confounded,Click to see collations all. ReproachClick to see collations and everlasting shame sitsClick to see collations mocking in our plumes.Click to see collations (A short alarum.Click to see collations) O méchante Fortune!Click to see collationsClick to see collations Do not run away.
4.5.Sp4Constable
Why, all our ranks are broke.Click to see collations
4.5.Sp5Dauphin
Oh, perdurableClick to see collations shame. Let’s stab ourselves.
Be these the wretches that we played at dice for?
4.5.Sp6Orléans
Is this the king we sent to for his ransom?
4.5.Sp7Bourbon
Shame and eternal shame, nothing but shame.
Let us die. In onceClick to see collations more,Click to see collations back again,
And he that will not follow Bourbon now
Let him go hence, and with his cap in handClick to see collations
Like a base pander,Click to see collations hold the chamber door
Whilst by a slaveClick to see collations no gentlerClick to see collations than my dog
His fairest daughter is contaminated.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
4.5.Sp8Constable
Disorder that hath spoiledClick to see collations us, friendClick to see collations us now.
Let us on heapsClick to see collations go offer up our lives.
4.5.Sp9Orléans
We are enough yet living in the field
To smother up the English in our throngs,
If any order might be thought upon.Click to see collations
4.5.Sp10Bourbon
The devil take order now. I’ll to the throng;
Let life be short, else shame will be too long.Click to see collations
Exeunt.Click to see collations

4.6Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Alarum. Enter the King and his train,Click to see collations with prisoners.Click to see collations
4.6.Sp1King Henry
Well have we done, thrice-valiantClick to see collations countrymen,
But all’s not done. Yet keepClick to see collations the French the field.
Enter Exeter.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
4.6.Sp2Exeter
The DukeClick to see collations of York commends him toClick to see collations your majesty.
4.6.Sp3King Henry
Lives he, good uncle? Thrice within this hour
I saw him down,Click to see collations thrice up again and fighting.
From helmet to the spur all blood he was.
4.6.Sp4Exeter
In which array,Click to see collations brave soldier, doth he lie,
LardingClick to see collations the plain. And by his bloody side,
Yoke-fellowClick to see collations to his honour-owingClick to see collations wounds,Click to see collations
The noble Earl of Suffolk also lies.
Suffolk first died, and York, all haggled over,Click to see collations
Comes to him where in gore he lay insteeped,Click to see collations
And takes him by the beard, kisses the gashes
That bloodily did yawnClick to see collations upon his face.
He cries aloud, “Tarry,Click to see collations my cousin Suffolk”.
“My soul shall thine keep company to heaven”.
“Tarry, sweet soul, for mine, then fly abreast,Click to see collations
“As in this glorious and well-foughten fieldClick to see collations
“We kept together in our chivalry.Click to see collations
Upon these words I came and cheered him up.Click to see collations
He smiled me in the face, raught meClick to see collations his hand,
And with a feeble grip says, “Dear my lord”,
CommendClick to see collations my service to my sovereign”.
So did he turn, and over Suffolk’s neck
He threw his wounded arm, and kissed his lips,
And so espousedClick to see collations to death, with blood he sealed
A testamentClick to see collations of noble-ending love.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
The pretty and sweet manner of it forced
Those watersClick to see collations from me which I would have stopped,
But I had not so much of man in me,
And all my motherClick to see collations came into mine eyes
And gave me up to tears.
4.6.Sp5King Henry
I blame you not,
For hearing this I must perforceClick to see collations compound
WithClick to see collations mixtfulClick to see collationsClick to see collations eyes, or they will issueClick to see collations too.
Alarum.
But hark, what new alarum is this same?
The French have reinforced their scattered men.Click to see collations
Then every soldier kill his prisoners.Click to see collations
Give the word through.Click to see collations
Exeunt.Click to see collations

4.7Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter Fluellen and Gower.
4.7.Sp1Fluellen
Kill the poysClick to see collations and the luggage!Click to see collations ’Tis expressly against the law of arms. ’Tis as arrant a piece of knavery, mark you now, as can be offer’t.Click to see collations In your conscience now, is it not?
4.7.Sp2Gower
’Tis certain there’sClick to see collations not a boy left alive, and the cowardly rascals that ran from the battle ha’ done this slaughter. Besides, they have burned and carried away all that was in the king’s tent, whereforeClick to see collations the king most worthilyClick to see collations hath caused every soldier to cut his prisoner’s throat. Oh, ’tis a gallant king.
4.7.Sp3Fluellen
Ay, he was pornClick to see collations at Monmouth,Click to see collations Captain Gower. What call you the town’s name where Alexander the PigClick to see collations was born?
4.7.Sp4Gower
Alexander the Great.
4.7.Sp5Fluellen
Why, I pray you, is not “pig” great? The pig, or the great, or the mighty, or the huge, or the magnanimous, are all one reckonings,Click to see collations save the phrase is a little variations.Click to see collations
4.7.Sp6Gower
I think Alexander the Great was born in Macedon.Click to see collations His father was called Philip of Macedon, as I takeClick to see collations it.
4.7.Sp7Fluellen
I think it is in MacedonClick to see collationsClick to see collations where Alexander is porn. I tell you, captain, if you look in the maps of the ’orld,Click to see collations I warrant you sall find, in the comparisons between Macedon and Monmouth, that the situations,Click to see collations look you, is both alike. There is a river in Macedon, and there is also moreover a river at Monmouth. It is called WyeClick to see collations at Monmouth, but it is out of my prains what is the name of the other river. But ’tis all one, ’tis alike as my fingers is to my fingers, and there is salmons in both.Click to see collations If you mark Alexander’s life well, Harry of Monmouth’s life is come after itClick to see collations indifferent well,Click to see collations for there is figuresClick to see collations in all things. Alexander, God knows, and you know, in his rages, and his furies, and his wraths, and his cholers,Click to see collations and his moods, and his displeasures, and his indignations, and also being a little intoxicatesClick to see collations in his prains,Click to see collations did in his alesClick to see collations and his angers, look you, kill his best friend Cleitus.Click to see collations
4.7.Sp8Gower
Our king is not like him in that. He never killed any of his friends.
4.7.Sp9Fluellen
It is not well done, mark you now, to take the tales out of my mouthClick to see collations ere it is made and finished. I speak but in the figures and comparisons of it. As Alexander killed his friend Cleitus, being in his ales and his cups,Click to see collations so also Harry Monmouth,Click to see collations being in his right wits, and his good judgements, turned away the fat knight with the great belly-doublet.Click to see collations He was full of jests, and gipes,Click to see collations and knaveries,Click to see collations and mocks.Click to see collations I have forgot his name.Click to see collations
4.7.Sp10Gower
Sir John Falstaff.
4.7.Sp11Fluellen
That is he. I’ll tell you, there is good men porn at Monmouth.
4.7.Sp12Gower
Here comes his majesty.
Alarum. Enter King Harry, Exeter, Warwick, Gloucester, an English herald, and others, with Bourbon and other prisoners.Click to see collationsClick to see collations Flourish.
4.7.Sp13King Henry
I was not angry since I came to France
Until this instant.Click to see collations Take a trumpet,Click to see collations herald.
Ride thou unto the horsemen on yon hill.
If they will fight with us, bid them come down,
Or voidClick to see collations the field. They do offend our sight.
If they’ll do neither, we will come to them
And make them skirrClick to see collations away as swift as stones
EnforcèdClick to see collations from the old Assyrian slings.Click to see collations
Besides,Click to see collations we’ll cut the throats of thoseClick to see collations we have,
And not a man of them that we shall takeClick to see collations
Shall taste our mercy. Go and tell them so.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Enter Montjoy.
4.7.Sp14Exeter
Here comes the herald of the French, my liege.
4.7.Sp15Gloucester
His eyes are humbler than they used to be.
4.7.Sp16King Henry
How now, what means this, herald?Click to see collations Know’st thou not
That I have fined these bones of mineClick to see collations for ransom?
Com’st thou again for ransom?
4.7.Sp17Montjoy
No, great king.
I come to thee for charitable license,Click to see collations
That we may wander o’er this bloody field
To bookClick to see collations our dead and then to bury them,
To sort our nobles from our common men.
For many of our princesClick to see collationswoe the whileClick to see collations
Lie drowned and soaked in mercenary blood;Click to see collations
So do our vulgarClick to see collations drench their peasant limbs
In blood of princes, and theClick to see collations wounded steeds
FretClick to see collations fetlock deepClick to see collations in gore, and with wild rage
JerkClick to see collationsClick to see collations out their armèd heelsClick to see collations at their dead masters,
Killing them twice.Click to see collations O, give us leave, great king,
To view the field in safety and dispose
Of their dead bodies.Click to see collations
4.7.Sp18King Henry
I tell thee truly, herald,
I know not if the dayClick to see collations be ours or no,
For yet a many of your horsemen peerClick to see collations
And gallop o’er the field.
4.7.Sp19Montjoy
The day is yours.
4.7.Sp20King Henry
Praisèd be God and not our strength for it.
What is this castle called that stands hard by?Click to see collations
4.7.Sp21Montjoy
They call it Agincourt.
4.7.Sp22King Henry
Then call we this the field of Agincourt,
Fought on the day of Crispin Crispianus.Click to see collations
4.7.Sp23Fluellen
Your grandfather of famous memory,Click to see collations an’tClick to see collations please your majesty, and your great uncle Edward the PlackClick to see collations Prince of Wales, as I have read in the chronicles,Click to see collations fought a most prave pattleClick to see collations here in France.
4.7.Sp24King Henry
They did, Fluellen.
4.7.Sp25Fluellen
Your majesty says very true. If your majesties is remembered of it, the Welshmen did good service in a garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their Monmouth caps,Click to see collations which your majesty know to this hour is an honourable badgeClick to see collations of the service.Click to see collations And I do believe your majesty takes no scorn to wear the leek upon Saint Tavy’sClick to see collations day.
4.7.Sp26King Henry
I wear it for a memorable honour,Click to see collations
For I am Welsh,Click to see collations you know, good countryman.
4.7.Sp27Fluellen
All the water in WyeClick to see collations cannot wash your majesty’s Welsh ploodClick to see collations out of your pody,Click to see collations I can tell you that. God plessClick to see collations it, and preserve it, as long as it pleases his grace,Click to see collations and his majesty too.
4.7.Sp28King Henry
Thanks, good my countryman.Click to see collations
4.7.Sp29Fluellen
By Jeshu,Click to see collations I am your majesty’s countryman. I care not who know it; I will confess it to all the ’orld. I need not to be ashamed of your majesty, praised be God, so long as your majesty is an honest man.
4.7.Sp30King Henry
GodClick to see collations keep me so.—
Enter Williams.
Our heralds go with him.Click to see collations
Bring me just noticeClick to see collations of the numbers dead
On both our parts.—
Exeunt Montjoy, English heralds, and Gower.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Call yonder fellow hither.
4.7.Sp31Exeter
(To Williams) Soldier, you must come to the king.
4.7.Sp32King Henry
Soldier, why wear’st thou that glove in thy cap?
4.7.Sp33Williams
An’t please your majesty, ’tis the gageClick to see collations of one that I shouldClick to see collations fight withal, if he be alive.
4.7.Sp34King Henry
An Englishman?Click to see collations
4.7.Sp35Williams
An’t please your majesty, a rascal that swaggeredClick to see collations with me last night, who, if aliveClick to see collationsClick to see collations and ever dareClick to see collations to challengeClick to see collations this glove, I have sworn to takeClick to see collations him a box o’th’ear;Click to see collations or if I can see my glove in his cap, which he swore as he was a soldier he would wear, if alive,Click to see collations I will strike it out soundly.
4.7.Sp36King Henry
What think you, Captain Fluellen? Is it fitClick to see collations this soldier keep his oath?
4.7.Sp37Fluellen
He is a cravenClick to see collations and a villain else,Click to see collations an’t please your majesty, in my conscience.
4.7.Sp38King Henry
It may be his enemy is a gentleman of great sort,Click to see collations quite from the answer of his degree.Click to see collations
4.7.Sp39Fluellen
Though he be as good a gentleman as the devil is,Click to see collations as Lucifer and BelzebubClick to see collations himself, it is necessary, look your grace, that he keep his vow and his oath. If he be perjured,Click to see collations see you now, his reputation is as arrant a villain and a jack-sauceClick to see collationsClick to see collations as everClick to see collations his blackClick to see collations shoe trod upon God’s ground and his earth, in my conscience, law.Click to see collations
4.7.Sp40King Henry
Then keep thy vow, sirrah,Click to see collations when thou meet’st the fellow.
4.7.Sp41Williams
So I will, my liege, as I live.
4.7.Sp42King Henry
Who serv’st thou under?
4.7.Sp43Williams
Under Captain Gower, my liege.
4.7.Sp44Fluellen
Gower isClick to see collations a good captain, and is good knowledge and literaturedClick to see collationsClick to see collations in the wars.
4.7.Sp45King Henry
Call him hither to me, soldier.
4.7.Sp46Williams
I will, my liege.
Exit.
4.7.Sp47King Henry
Here, Fluellen, wear thou this favorClick to see collations for me and stick it in thy cap. (Gives him Williams’s gloveClick to see collations) When AlençonClick to see collations and myself were down togetherClick to see collations I plucked this glove from his helm.Click to see collations If any man challenge this, he is a friend to Alençon and an enemy to our person.Click to see collations If thou encounter any such, apprehendClick to see collations him, and thou dost me love.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
4.7.Sp48Fluellen
Your grace does me as great honours as can be desired in the hearts of his subjects. I would fainClick to see collations see the man that has but two legsClick to see collations that shall find himself aggrief’dClick to see collationsClick to see collations at this glove. ThatClick to see collations is all, butClick to see collations I would fain see itClick to see collations once an’tClick to see collations please God of his grace that I might see.Click to see collations
4.7.Sp49King Henry
Know’st thou Gower?Click to see collations
4.7.Sp50Fluellen
He is my dear friend, an’t please you.
4.7.Sp51King Henry
Pray thee, go seek him and bring him to my tent.
4.7.Sp52Fluellen
I will fetch him.
Exit.
4.7.Sp53King Henry
My lord of Warwick and my brother Gloucester,
Follow Fluellen closely at the heels.
The glove which I have given him for a favor
May haplyClick to see collations purchase him a box o’th’ear.Click to see collations
It is the soldier’s. I by bargainClick to see collations should
Wear it myself. Follow, good cousin Warwick.
If that the soldier strike him—asClick to see collations I judge
By his bluntClick to see collations bearing he will keep his wordClick to see collations
Some sudden mischiefClick to see collations may arise of it.
For I do know Fluellen valiant
And touchedClick to see collationsClick to see collations with choler,Click to see collations hot as gunpowder,
And quickly willClick to see collations return an injury.
Follow, and see there be no harm between them.—
Go you with me, uncle of Exeter.
Exeunt.Click to see collations

4.8Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter Gower and Williams.
4.8.Sp1Williams
I warrant it is to knight you, captain.Click to see collations
Enter Fluellen.
4.8.Sp2Fluellen
God’s will, and his pleasure, captain, I beseech you now come apaceClick to see collations to the king. There is more good towardClick to see collations you, peradventure,Click to see collations than is in your knowledge to dream of.
4.8.Sp3Williams
(To Fluellen) Sir, know youClick to see collations this glove?Click to see collations
4.8.Sp4Fluellen
Know the glove? I know the glove is a glove.
4.8.Sp5Williams
I know this,Click to see collations and thus I challenge it.
Strikes him.Click to see collations
4.8.Sp6Fluellen
’Sblood,Click to see collationsClick to see collations an arrant traitor as any’sClick to see collations in the universal world, or in France, or in England!
4.8.Sp7Gower
How now, sir? (To WilliamsClick to see collations) You villain!
4.8.Sp8Williams
Do you think I’ll be forsworn?Click to see collations
4.8.Sp9Fluellen
Stand away, Captain Gower. I will give treason hisClick to see collations payment into ploughs,Click to see collationsClick to see collations I warrant you.
4.8.Sp10Williams
I am no traitor.
4.8.Sp11Fluellen
That’s a lie in thy throat.Click to see collations (To Gower) I charge you in his majesty’s name, apprehend him. He’s a friend of the Duke Alençon’s.
Enter Warwick and Gloucester.
4.8.Sp12Warwick
How now, how now, what’s the matter?
4.8.Sp13Fluellen
My lord of Warwick, here is, praised be God for it, a most contagiousClick to see collations treason come to light, look you, as you shall desire in a summer’s day.Click to see collations Here is his majesty.
Enter King and Exeter.
4.8.Sp14King Henry
How now, what’s the matter?
4.8.Sp15Fluellen
My liege, here is a villain and a traitor that, look your grace, has struck the glove which your majesty is take outClick to see collations of the helmet of Alençon.
4.8.Sp16Williams
My liege, this was my glove—here is the fellowClick to see collations of it—and he that I gave it to in changeClick to see collations promised to wear it in his cap. I promised to strike him if he did. I met this man with my glove in his cap and I have been as good as my word.Click to see collations
4.8.Sp17Fluellen
Your majesty hear now, saving your majesty’s manhood,Click to see collations what an arrant, rascally, beggarly, lousy knave it is. I hope your majesty is pearClick to see collations me testimony and witness, and will avouchment,Click to see collationsClick to see collations that this is the glove of Alençon that your majesty is give me,Click to see collations in your conscience now.
4.8.Sp18King Henry
Give me thy glove,Click to see collations soldier. Look, here is the fellow of it.
’Twas I indeed thou promisèd’st to strike,
And thou hast given me most bitter terms.Click to see collations
4.8.Sp19Fluellen
An’tClick to see collations please your majesty, let his neck answer for it, if there is any martial law in the world.
4.8.Sp20King Henry
How canst thou make me satisfaction?Click to see collations
4.8.Sp21Williams
All offences,Click to see collations my lord, come from the heart. Never came any from mine that might offend your majesty.
4.8.Sp22King Henry
It was ourself thou didst abuse.Click to see collations
4.8.Sp23Williams
Your majesty came not like yourself. You appeared to me but as a common man—witness the night, your garments, your lowlinessClick to see collations—and what your highness suffered under that shape,Click to see collations I beseech you take it for your own fault and not mine, for had you been as I took you for, I made no offense. Therefore I beseech your highness pardon me.Click to see collations
4.8.Sp24King Henry
Here, uncle Exeter, fill this glove with crowns
And give it to this fellow. (To Williams) Keep it, fellow,
And wear it for an honour in thy cap
Till I do challenge it. Give him the crowns.
(To Fluellen) And captain, you must needs be friends with him.
4.8.Sp25Fluellen
By this day and this light, the fellow has mettleClick to see collations enough in his belly.—Hold, there is twelvepence for you, and I pray you to serve God and keep you out of prawls, and prabbles,Click to see collations and quarrels, and dissensions,Click to see collations and I warrant you it is the better for you.
4.8.Sp26Williams
I willClick to see collations none of your money.
4.8.Sp27Fluellen
It is with a good will. I can tell you it will serve you to mend your shoes. Come, wherefore should you be so pashful?Click to see collations Your shoes is not so good. ’Tis a good silling,Click to see collations I warrant you, or I will change it.
Enter Herald.Click to see collations
4.8.Sp28King Henry
Now, herald, are the dead numbered?
4.8.Sp29Herald
(Presenting a paperClick to see collationsClick to see collations) Here is the number of the slaughtered
French.
4.8.Sp30King Henry
(To Exeter) What prisoners of good sortClick to see collations are taken, uncle?
4.8.Sp31Exeter
Charles, Duke of Orléans, nephew to the king;
John, Duke of Bourbon, and Lord Boucicaut.
Of other lords and barons, knights and squires,
Full fifteen hundred, besides common men.Click to see collations
4.8.Sp32King Henry
This note doth tell me of ten thousand French
That in the field lie slain. Of princesClick to see collations in this number
And nobles bearing banners,Click to see collations there lie dead
One hundred twenty-six. Added to these,
Of knights, esquires, and gallantClick to see collations gentlemen,
Eight thousand and four hundred, of the which
Five hundred were but yesterday dubbed knights.
So that in these ten thousand they have lost
There are but sixteen hundred mercenaries.Click to see collations
The rest are princes, barons, lords, knights, squires,
And gentlemen of bloodClick to see collations and quality.
The names of those their nobles that lie dead:
Charles d’Alberet,Click to see collations High Constable of France,
Jacques of Châtillon, AdmiralClick to see collations of France,
The Master of the Crossbows,Click to see collations Lord Rambures,
Great MasterClick to see collationsClick to see collations of France, the brave Sir Guichard Dauphin;
Jean Duke of Alençon, Antony Duke of Brabant,
The brother to the Duke of Burgundy,Click to see collations
And Édouard Duke of Bar. Of lustyClick to see collations earls,Click to see collations
Grandpré and Roucy, Fauquembergues and Foix,
Beaumont and Marle, Vaudémont and Lestrelles.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Here was a royal fellowship of death.—
Where is the number of our English dead?
Takes a paperClick to see collations
Edward the Duke of York, the Earl of Suffolk,Click to see collations
Sir Richard Kyghley,Click to see collations Davey Gam,Click to see collations Esquire.
None else of name,Click to see collations and of all other men
But five-and-twenty.Click to see collations OClick to see collations Click to see collations God, thy armClick to see collations was here,
And not to us but to thy arm alone
Ascribe we all.Click to see collations When, without stratagem,Click to see collations
But in plain shockClick to see collations and even playClick to see collations of battle,
Was ever known so great and little lossClick to see collations
On one part and on th’other?Click to see collations Take it,Click to see collations God,
For it is none but thine.
4.8.Sp33Exeter
’Tis wonderful.Click to see collations
4.8.Sp34King Henry
Come, go we in procession to the village,Click to see collations
And be it death proclaimèd through our host
To boast of this, or take that praise from God
Which is his only.
4.8.Sp35Fluellen
Is it not lawful, an’t please your majesty, to tell how many is killed?
4.8.Sp36King Henry
Yes, captain, but with this acknowledgement:
That God fought for us.
4.8.Sp37Fluellen
Yes, my conscience,Click to see collations he did us great good.
4.8.Sp38King Henry
Do we all holy rites.
Let there be sung Non nobisClick to see collations and Te Deum,Click to see collations
The dead with charity enclosed in clay,Click to see collations
And then to Calais, and to England then,
Where ne’er from France arrived more happyClick to see collations men.Click to see collations
Exeunt.

5.0Click to see collations

Enter Chorus.
5.0.Sp1ChorusClick to see collations
VouchsafeClick to see collations to those that have not read the story
That I may prompt them;Click to see collations and of such as have,
I humbly pray them to admit th’excuse
Of time,Click to see collations of numbers,Click to see collations and due course of thingsClick to see collations
Which cannot in their huge and proper lifeClick to see collations
Be here presented. Now we bear the king
Toward Calais; grantClick to see collations him there. There seen,Click to see collations
Heave him away upon your wingèd thoughts
AthwartClick to see collations the sea. Behold, the English beach
Pales inClick to see collationsClick to see collations the floodClick to see collationsClick to see collations with men, wives,Click to see collations and boys,Click to see collations
Whose shouts and clapsClick to see collations outvoice the deep-mouthedClick to see collations sea,
Which, like a mighty whifflerClick to see collations ’fore the king,
Seems to prepare his way.Click to see collations So let him land,
And solemnlyClick to see collations see him set on to London.
So swift a pace hath thought that even now
You may imagine him upon Blackheath,Click to see collations
Where thatClick to see collations his lords desire himClick to see collations to have borneClick to see collations
His bruisèdClick to see collations helmet and his bendedClick to see collations sword
Before him through the city. He forbids it,
Being free from vainnessClick to see collations and self-gloriousClick to see collations pride,
Giving full trophy,Click to see collations signal,Click to see collations and ostentClick to see collations
Quite from himselfClick to see collations to God.Click to see collations But now behold
In the quickClick to see collations forge and working-house of thoughtClick to see collations
How London doth pour out her citizens.Click to see collations
The mayor and all his brethrenClick to see collations in best sort,Click to see collations
Like to the senators of th’antique RomeClick to see collations
With the plebeiansClick to see collations swarming at their heels,
Go forth and fetch their conqu’ring Caesar in—
As, by a lower but by lovingClick to see collations likelihood,Click to see collations
Were now the general of our gracious empress
(As in good time he may) from Ireland coming,Click to see collations
Bringing rebellion broachèdClick to see collations on his sword,
How many would the peaceful city quit
To welcome him? Much more,Click to see collations and much moreClick to see collations cause,
Did they this Harry. Now in London place him,Click to see collations
As yetClick to see collations the lamentationClick to see collations of the French
InvitesClick to see collations the king of England’s stay at home.
The emperor’sClick to see collations comingClick to see collations in behalf of France
To order peace between them, we omit:Click to see collationsClick to see collations
All the occurrences, whatever chanced,
Till Harry’s back return again to France.Click to see collations
There must we bring him, and myself have played
The interimClick to see collations by remembering you ’tis past.
Then brookClick to see collations abridgement, and your eyes advance,
After your thoughts, straight back again to France.
Exit.

5.1Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter Fluellen and Gower.
5.1.Sp1Gower
Nay, that’s right. But why wear you your leek today? Saint Davy’s day is past.
5.1.Sp2Fluellen
There is occasions and causes why and whereforeClick to see collations in all things. I will tell you assClick to see collations my friend, Captain Gower. The rascally, scald,Click to see collations beggarly, lousy, praggingClick to see collations knave Pistol, which you and yourself and all the world know to be no petterClick to see collations than a fellow, look you now, of no merits, he is come to me and pringsClick to see collations me preadClick to see collations and salt yesterday,Click to see collations look you, and bid me eat my leek. It was in a place where I could not breed no contentionClick to see collations with him, but I will be so bold as to wear it in my cap till I see him once again, and then I will tell him a little piece of my desires.
Enter Pistol.
5.1.Sp3Gower
Why, here he comes, swelling like a turkey-cock.Click to see collations
5.1.Sp4Fluellen
’Tis no matter for his swellings nor his turkey-cocks.—God plessClick to see collations you, Aunchient Pistol, you scurvyClick to see collations lousy knave, God pless you.
5.1.Sp5Pistol
Ha, art thou bedlam?Click to see collations Dost thou thirst, base Trojan,Click to see collations to have me fold up Parca’s fatal web?Click to see collations Hence! I am qualmish atClick to see collations the smell of leek.
5.1.Sp6Fluellen
I peseechClick to see collations you heartily, scurvy lousy knave, at my desires, and my requests, and my petitions, to eat, look you, this leek. Because, look you, you do not love it, nor your affections and your appetites and your disgestionsClick to see collations does not agree with it, I would desire you to eat it.
5.1.Sp7Pistol
Not for CadwalladerClick to see collations and all his goats.Click to see collations
5.1.Sp8Fluellen
There is one goatClick to see collations for you. (Strikes him with a cudgelClick to see collations) Will you be so good, scald knave, as eat it?
5.1.Sp9Pistol
Base Trojan, thou shalt die.
5.1.Sp10Fluellen
You say very true, scald knave, when God’s will is.Click to see collations I will desire you to live in the meantime, and eat your victuals.Click to see collations Come, there is sauceClick to see collations for it. (Strikes him) You called me yesterday mountain squire,Click to see collations but I will make you today a squire of low degree.Click to see collations I pray you, fall to.Click to see collations If you can mock a leek, you can eat a leek.
5.1.Sp11Gower
Enough, captain. You have astonishedClick to see collations him.
5.1.Sp12Fluellen
I say I will make him eat some part of my leek, or I will peat his pateClick to see collations four days.—Bite, I pray you. It is good for your greenClick to see collations wound and your ploody coxcomb.Click to see collations
5.1.Sp13Pistol
Must I bite?
5.1.Sp14Fluellen
Yes, certainly, and out of doubt and out of question, too, and ambiguities.
5.1.Sp15Pistol
By this leek, I will most horribly revenge—(Fluellen threatens him.Click to see collationsClick to see collations) I eat and eat, I swear.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
5.1.Sp16Fluellen
Eat, I pray you. Will you have some more sauce to your leek? There is not enough leek to swear by.
5.1.Sp17Pistol
Quiet thy cudgel! Thou dost see I eat.
5.1.Sp18Fluellen
Much good do you,Click to see collations scald knave, heartily. Nay, pray you throw none away; the skin is good for your broken coxcomb. When you take occasionsClick to see collations to see leeks hereafter, I pray you mock at ’em, that is all.
5.1.Sp19Pistol
Good.Click to see collations
5.1.Sp20Fluellen
Ay, leeks is good. Hold you, there is a groatClick to see collations to heal your pate.
Offers money
5.1.Sp21Pistol
Me a groat?
5.1.Sp22Fluellen
Yes, verily, and in truth you shall take it, or I have another leekClick to see collations in my pocket which you shall eat.
5.1.Sp23Pistol
I take thy groat in earnest of revenge.Click to see collations
5.1.Sp24Fluellen
If I owe you anything, I will pay you in cudgels.Click to see collations You shall be a woodmonger,Click to see collations and buy nothing of me but cudgels. God b’wi’you,Click to see collations and keep you, and heal your pate.
Exit.
5.1.Sp25Pistol
All hell shall stirClick to see collations for this.
5.1.Sp26Gower
Go, go, you are a counterfeitClick to see collations cowardly knave. Will you mock at an ancient tradition, begunClick to see collations upon an honourable respect,Click to see collations and worn as a memorable trophy of predeceased valor,Click to see collations and dare not avouch inClick to see collations your deeds any of your words? I have seen you gleekingClick to see collations and gallingClick to see collations at this gentleman twice or thrice. You thought because he could not speak English in the native garbClick to see collations he could not therefore handle an English cudgel. You find it otherwise, and henceforth let a Welsh correctionClick to see collations teach you a good English condition.Click to see collations Fare ye well.
Exit.
5.1.Sp27Pistol
Doth fortune play the hussyClick to see collationsClick to see collations with me now? News have I that my DollClick to see collationsClick to see collations is dead i’th’SpitalClick to see collations of a malady of France,Click to see collations and there my rendezvousClick to see collations is quite cut off. Old I do wax,Click to see collations and from my weary limbs honour is cudgeled.Click to see collations Well, bawdClick to see collations I’ll turn, and something lean to cutpurse of quick hand.Click to see collations To England will I steal,Click to see collations and there I’ll steal.
And patchesClick to see collations will I get unto these cudgeled scars,
And swearClick to see collations I got them in the Gallia wars.Click to see collations
Click to see collations
Exit.

5.2Click to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter at one door King Henry, Exeter, Bedford, Warwick, Westmorland,Click to see collations and other lords (Clarence,Click to see collations Gloucester,Click to see collations and Huntingdon).Click to see collationsClick to see collations At another, Queen Isabeau, the French King, Catherine,Click to see collations Alice,Click to see collationsClick to see collations the Duke of Burgundy,Click to see collations and other French.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp1King Henry
Peace to this meeting, whereforeClick to see collations we are met.Click to see collations
Unto our brotherClick to see collations France and to our sister,Click to see collations
Health and fair time of day.Click to see collations Joy and good wishes
To our most fair and princelyClick to see collations cousin Catherine.
And as a branch and member of this royalty,Click to see collations
By whom this great assembly is contrived,Click to see collations
We do salute you, Duke of Burgundy.Click to see collations
And princes French, and peers, health to you all.
5.2.Sp2French King
Right joyous are we to behold your face,Click to see collations
Most worthy brother England;Click to see collations fairly met.Click to see collations
So are you, princes English,Click to see collations every one.
5.2.Sp3Queen Isabeau
So happy be the issue,Click to see collations brother England,Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Of this good day and of this graciousClick to see collations meeting
As we are now glad to behold your eyes—
Your eyes which hitherto have borne in them
Against the French that met them in their bentClick to see collationsClick to see collations
The fatal ballsClick to see collations of murdering basilisks.Click to see collations
The venom of such looks, we fairly hope,
Have lost their quality,Click to see collations and that this day
Shall change all griefs and quarrels into love.
5.2.Sp4King Henry
To cry amen to that, thus we appear.
5.2.Sp5Queen Isabeau
You English princes all, I do salute you.
5.2.Sp6BurgundyClick to see collations
My duty to you both, on equal love.
Great kings of France and England, that I have labored
With all my wits, my pains,Click to see collations and strong endeavors,
To bring your most imperial majesties
Unto this barClick to see collations and royal interview,Click to see collations
Your mightiness on both parts best can witness.
Since, then,Click to see collationsClick to see collations my office hath so far prevailed
That face to face and royal eye to eye
You have congreeted,Click to see collations letClick to see collations it not disgrace meClick to see collations
If I demand before this royal viewClick to see collations
What rubClick to see collations or what impediment there is
Why that the naked, poor, and mangled peace,
Dear nurseClick to see collations of arts,Click to see collations plenties, and joyful births,
Should not in this best garden of the world,
Our fertile France, put upClick to see collations her lovely visage?Click to see collations
Alas, she hath from France too long been chased,
And all her husbandryClick to see collations doth lie on heaps,Click to see collations
Corrupting in itClick to see collations own fertility.Click to see collations
Her vine, the merry cheerer of the heart,Click to see collations
Unprunèd, dies. Her hedges even-pleached,Click to see collationsClick to see collations
Like prisoners wildly overgrown with hair,
Put forth disordered twigs. Her fallow leasClick to see collations
The darnel, hemlock, and rankClick to see collations fumitoryClick to see collationsClick to see collations
Doth root upon,Click to see collations while that the colterClick to see collations rusts
That should deracinateClick to see collations such savagery.Click to see collations
The even meadClick to see collations that erstClick to see collations brought sweetly forth
The freckledClick to see collations cowslip, burnet, and green clover,Click to see collations
WantingClick to see collations the scythe, withalClick to see collations uncorrected,Click to see collations rank,
Conceives byClick to see collations idleness, and nothing teemsClick to see collations
But hateful docks,Click to see collations rough thistles, kexes,Click to see collations burrs,Click to see collations
Losing both beauty and utility,
And allClick to see collationsClick to see collations our vineyards, fallows,Click to see collations meads, and hedges,
Defective in their natures,Click to see collationsClick to see collations grow to wildness.
Even so our houses,Click to see collations and ourselves,Click to see collations and children
Have lost, or do not learn for want of time
The sciencesClick to see collations that should become our country,
But grow like savages—as soldiers will
That nothing do but meditate on blood—
To swearing and stern looks, diffusedClick to see collations attire,
And everything that seems unnatural.
Which to reduceClick to see collations into our former favor,Click to see collations
You are assembled, and my speech entreatsClick to see collations
That I may know the letClick to see collations why gentle peace
Should not expel these inconveniences
And bless us with her former qualities.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp7King Henry
If, Duke of Burgundy,Click to see collations you wouldClick to see collations the peace
Whose wantClick to see collations gives growth to th’imperfections
Which you have cited, you must buy that peace
With full accordClick to see collations to all our justClick to see collations demands,
Whose tenorsClick to see collations and particular effectsClick to see collations
You have enscheduledClick to see collations briefly in your hands.
5.2.Sp8Burgundy
The king hath heard them, to the which as yet
There is no answer made.
5.2.Sp9King Henry
Well then, the peace
Which you before so urged lies in his answer.
Click to see collations
5.2.Sp10French King
I haveClick to see collations but with a curselaryClick to see collationsClick to see collations eye
O’erglancedClick to see collations the articles. PleasethClick to see collations your grace
To appoint some of your council presently
To sit with us once more, with better heedClick to see collations
To re-survey them, we will suddenlyClick to see collations
PassClick to see collations our acceptClick to see collationsClick to see collations and peremptoryClick to see collations answer.
5.2.Sp11King Henry
Brother, we shall.—Go, uncle Exeter,
And brother Clarence,Click to see collations and you, brother Gloucester,
Warwick,Click to see collations and Huntingdon, go with the king,
And take with you free power to ratify,Click to see collations
Augment,Click to see collations or alter as your wisdoms best
Shall see advantageable forClick to see collations our dignity,
Anything in or out of our demands,
And we’ll consign thereto.Click to see collations (To Queen Isabeau.) Will you, fair sister,
Go with the princes, or stay here with us?
5.2.Sp12Queen Isabeau
Our gracious brother, I will go with them.
HaplyClick to see collationsClick to see collations a woman’s voice may do some good
When articles too nicelyClick to see collations urgedClick to see collations be stood on.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp13King Henry
Yet leave our cousin Catherine here with us.Click to see collations
She is our capitalClick to see collations demand, comprisedClick to see collations
Within the forerankClick to see collations of our articles.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp14Queen Isabeau
She hath good leave.
Exeunt all but King Henry, Catherine and Alice.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp15King Henry
Fair Catherine, and most fair,
Will you vouchsafeClick to see collations to teach a soldier termsClick to see collations
Such as will enter at a lady’s ear
And plead his love-suitClick to see collations to her gentle heart?
5.2.Sp16Catherine
Your majesty shall mock at me. I cannot speak your England.
5.2.Sp17King Henry
Oh,Click to see collations fairClick to see collations Catherine, if you will love me soundlyClick to see collations with your French heart, I will be glad to hear you confess it brokenlyClick to see collations with your English tongue. Do you like me, Kate?
5.2.Sp18Catherine
Pardonnez-moi,Click to see collations I cannot tell watClick to see collations is “like me”.
5.2.Sp19King Henry
An angel is like you, Kate, and you are like an angel.
5.2.Sp20Catherine
(To Alice) Que dit-il? Que je suis semblable à les anges?Click to see collations
5.2.Sp21AliceClick to see collations
Oui, vraiment, sauf votre grâce, ainsi dit-il.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp22King Henry
I said so, dear Catherine, and I must not blush to affirm it.
5.2.Sp23Catherine
O bon Dieu, les langues des hommes sont pleines de tromperies!Click to see collations
5.2.Sp24King Henry
(To Alice) What says she, fair one?Click to see collations That the tongues of men are full of deceits?
5.2.Sp25Alice
Oui, dat de tonguesClick to see collations of de mans is be full of deceits. Dat is de princess.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
5.2.Sp26King Henry
The princess is the better Englishwoman.Click to see collations I’faith, Kate, my wooing is fitClick to see collations for thy understanding. I am glad thou canst speak no better English, for if thou couldst, thou wouldst find me such a plainClick to see collations king that thou wouldst think I had sold my farm to buy my crown. I know no ways to mince itClick to see collations in love, but directly to say “I love you”. Then if you urge me farther than to say, “Do you in faith?”, I wear out my suit.Click to see collations Give me your answer, i’faith do, and so clap hands and a bargain.Click to see collations How say you, lady?
5.2.Sp27Catherine
Sauf votre honneur,Click to see collations me understand well.Click to see collationsClick to see collations
5.2.Sp28King Henry
Marry, if you would put me to versesClick to see collations or to dance for your sake, Kate, why you undidClick to see collations me. For the one I have neither words nor measure,Click to see collations and for the other I have no strength in measure,Click to see collations yet a reasonable measure in strength.Click to see collations If I could win a lady at leapfrog,Click to see collations or by vaulting into my saddle with my armour on my backClick to see collationsunder the correction of bragging be it spokenClick to see collationsClick to see collations—I should quickly leap intoClick to see collations a wife.Click to see collations Or if I might buffetClick to see collations for my love or bound my horseClick to see collations for her favors, I could lay onClick to see collations like a butcher and sitClick to see collations like a jackanapes,Click to see collations never off. But before God, Kate, I cannot look greenly,Click to see collations nor gasp out my eloquence, nor I have no cunning in protestation,Click to see collations only downrightClick to see collations oaths, which I never use till urged,Click to see collations nor never break for urging.Click to see collations If thou canst love a fellow of this temper,Click to see collations Kate, whose face is not worth sunburning,Click to see collations that never looks in his glassClick to see collations for love of anything he sees there,Click to see collations let thine eye be thy cook.Click to see collations I speak to thee plain soldier.Click to see collations If thou canst love me for this, take me.Click to see collations If not,Click to see collations to say to thee that I shall die is true, but for thy love, by the Lord, no. Yet I love thee too. And while thou liv’st, dear Kate, take a fellow of plain and uncoinedClick to see collations constancy, for he perforceClick to see collations must do thee right, because he hath not the gift to woo in other places.Click to see collations For these fellows of infinite tongue,Click to see collations that can rhyme themselves into ladies’ favors,Click to see collations they do always reason themselves out again. What!Click to see collations A speaker is but a prater,Click to see collations a rhyme is but a ballad,Click to see collations a good leg will fall,Click to see collations a straight back will stoop, a black beard will turn white, a curled pate will grow bald, a fair face will wither, a fullClick to see collations eye will wax hollow;Click to see collations but a good heart, Kate, is the sun and the moon,Click to see collations or rather the sun and not the moon, for it shines bright and never changes, but keeps hisClick to see collations course truly. If thou would have such a one, take me. An take me,Click to see collations take a soldier.Click to see collations Take a soldier, take a king. And what say’st thou then to my love? Speak, my fair, and fairly,Click to see collations I pray thee.
5.2.Sp29Catherine
Is it possible dat I sould love de enemyClick to see collations of France?Click to see collations
5.2.Sp30King Henry
No, it is not possible you should love the enemy of France, Kate, but in loving me you should love the friend of France, for I love France so well that I will not part with a village of it; I will have it all mine. And Kate, when France is mine and I am yours, then yours is France, and you are mine.
5.2.Sp31Catherine
I cannot tell wat is dat.
5.2.Sp32King Henry
No, Kate? I will tell thee in French, which I am sure will hang upon my tongue like a new-married wife about her husband’s neck, hardly to be shook off. Je quand sur le possession de France,Click to see collations et quand vous avez le possession de moiClick to see collations—let me see, what then? Saint DenisClick to see collationsClick to see collations be my speed!Click to see collationsdonc vôtre est France, et vous êtes mienne.Click to see collations It is as easy for me, Kate, to conquer the kingdom as to speak so much more French. I shall never moveClick to see collations thee in French unless it be to laugh at me.
5.2.Sp33Catherine
Sauf votre honneur, le françaisClick to see collations que vous parlez, il est meilleurClick to see collations que l’anglaisClick to see collations lequel je parle.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp34King Henry
No, faith, is’t not, Kate; but thy speaking of my tongue and I thine, most truly falsely,Click to see collations must needs be granted to be much at one.Click to see collations But Kate, dost thou understand thus much English? Canst thou love me?
5.2.Sp35Catherine
I cannot tell.
5.2.Sp36King Henry
Can any of your neighborsClick to see collations tell, Kate? I’ll ask them. Come, I know thou lovest me, and at night when you come into your closetClick to see collations you’ll question this gentlewoman about me; and I know, Kate, you will to her dispraiseClick to see collations those parts in me that you love with your heart. But good Kate, mock me mercifully, the rather, gentle princess, because I love thee cruelly.Click to see collations If ever thou beest mine, Kate, as I have a saving faithClick to see collations within me tells me thou shalt, I get thee with scambling,Click to see collationsClick to see collations and thou must therefore needs prove a good soldier-breeder. Shall not thou and I, between Saint Denis and Saint George,Click to see collations compoundClick to see collations a boy,Click to see collations half French, half English, that shall go to Constantinople and take the Turk by the beard?Click to see collationsClick to see collations Shall we not? What say’st thou, my fair flower-de-luce?Click to see collations
5.2.Sp37Catherine
I do not know dat.
5.2.Sp38King Henry
No, ’tis hereafterClick to see collations to know,Click to see collations but now to promise. Do but now promise, Kate, you will endeavor for your French part of such a boy, and for my English moiety,Click to see collations take the word of a king and a bachelor.Click to see collations How answer you, la plus belle Catherine du monde, mon très cherClick to see collations et divin déesseClick to see collations?
5.2.Sp39Catherine
Your majestyClick to see collations ’aveClick to see collations fausseClick to see collationsClick to see collations French enough to deceive de most sage demoiselleClick to see collations dat is en France.
5.2.Sp40King Henry
Now fie upon my false French! By mine honour, in true English, I love thee, Kate; by which honour I dare not swear thou lovest me, yet my bloodClick to see collations begins to flatter me that thou dost, notwithstandingClick to see collations the poor and untemperingClick to see collations effect of my visage. Now beshrewClick to see collations my father’s ambition! He was thinking of civil wars when he got me,Click to see collations therefore was I created with a stubborn outside, with an aspectClick to see collations of iron, that when I come to woo ladies I fright them. But in faith, Kate, the elder I wax, the better I shall appear. My comfort is that old age, that ill layer-upClick to see collations of beauty, can do no more spoilClick to see collations upon my face. Thou hast me, if thou hast me, at the worst; and thou shalt wearClick to see collations me, if thou wear me, better and better. And therefore tell me, most fair Catherine, will you have me? Put off your maiden blushes. AvouchClick to see collations the thoughts of your heart with the looks of an empress. Take me by the hand and say, “Harry of England, I am thine”. Which word thou shalt no sooner bless mine ear withal but I will tell thee aloud “England is thine, Ireland is thine, France is thine, and Henry PlantagenetClick to see collations is thine”, who, though I speak it before his face, if he be not fellow withClick to see collations the best king, thou shalt find the best king of good fellows.Click to see collationsClick to see collations Come, your answer in brokenClick to see collations music, for thy voice is music and thy English broken. Therefore, queen of all, Catherine, breakClick to see collations thy mind to me in broken English: wilt thou have me?
5.2.Sp41Catherine
Dat is as it shall please de roiClick to see collations mon père.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp42King Henry
Nay, it will please him well, Kate; it shallClick to see collations please him, Kate.
5.2.Sp43Catherine
Den it sall also content me.
5.2.Sp44King Henry
Upon that I kiss your hand, and I call you my queen.
5.2.Sp45Catherine
Laissez, mon seigneur, laissez, laissez! Ma foi,Click to see collations je ne veux point que vous abaissezClick to see collations votre grandeur en baisant le main d’une de votre seigneurie indigneClick to see collations serviteure. Excusez-moi, jeClick to see collations vous supplie, mon très puissantClick to see collations seigneur.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp46King Henry
Then I will kiss your lips, Kate.
5.2.Sp47Catherine
Les dames et demoiselles, pour être baisées devant leurs noces,Click to see collations il n’est pas la coutume de France.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp48King Henry
Madam my interpreter, what says she?
5.2.Sp49Alice
Dat it is not be de fashion pour les ladiesClick to see collations of France—I cannot tell wat is baiserClick to see collations en Anglish.
5.2.Sp50King Henry
To kiss.
5.2.Sp51Alice
Your majesty entendClick to see collations bettre que moi.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp52King Henry
It is not a fashion for the maids in France to kiss before they are married, would she say?
5.2.Sp53Alice
Oui, vraiment.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp54King Henry
Oh, Kate,Click to see collationsClick to see collations niceClick to see collations customs curtsy to great kings. Dear Kate, you and I cannot be confined within the weak listClick to see collations of a country’s fashion. We are the makers of manners, Kate, and the liberty that follows our placesClick to see collations stops the mouth of all find-faults,Click to see collations as I will do yours for upholding the nice fashion of your country in denying me a kiss, therefore patiently, and yieldingClick to see collations(Kisses herClick to see collations) You have witchcraft in your lips, Kate. There is more eloquence in a sugar touch of them than in the tongues of the French council, and they should sooner persuade Harry of England than a general petition of monarchs.Click to see collations Here comes your father.
Enter the French power (French King, Queen Isabeau, Burgundy), and the English lords, including Exeter and Westmorland.
5.2.Sp55Burgundy
God save your majesty. MyClick to see collations royal cousin, teach you our princess English?
Click to see collations
5.2.Sp56King Henry
I would have her learn, my fair cousin, how perfectly I love her, and that is good English.
5.2.Sp57Burgundy
Is she not apt?Click to see collations
5.2.Sp58King Henry
Our tongueClick to see collations is rough, coz, and my conditionClick to see collations is not smooth, so that having neither the voice nor the heart of flattery about me, I cannot so conjure up the spirit of love in her that he will appear in his true likeness.
5.2.Sp59Burgundy
Pardon the franknessClick to see collations of my mirth if I answer you for that. If you would conjureClick to see collations in her, you must make a circle.Click to see collations If conjure up love in her in his true likeness, he must appear naked and blind.Click to see collations Can you blame her then, being a maidClick to see collations yet rosed overClick to see collations with the virgin crimson of modesty, if she denyClick to see collations the appearance of a naked blind boy in her naked seeingClick to see collations self?Click to see collations It were, my lord, a hard conditionClick to see collations for a maid to consignClick to see collations to.
5.2.Sp60King Henry
Yet they do wink and yield,Click to see collations as love is blind and enforces.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp61Burgundy
They are then excused, my lord, when they see not what they do.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp62King Henry
Then good my lord, teach your cousin to consent winking.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp63Burgundy
I will wink on her to consent,Click to see collations my lord, if you will teach her to know my meaning.Click to see collations For maids well summeredClick to see collations and warmClick to see collations kept are like flies at Bartholomew-tide,Click to see collations blind, though they have their eyes,Click to see collations and then they will endure handling,Click to see collations which before would not abide looking on.
5.2.Sp64King Henry
This moralClick to see collations ties me overClick to see collations to time and a hot summer, and so I shall catch the fly, your cousin, in the latter end,Click to see collations and she must be blind too.
5.2.Sp65Burgundy
As love is, my lord, before itClick to see collations loves.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp66King Henry
It is so. And you may, some of you, thank love for my blindness, who cannot see many a fair French city for one fair French maid that stands in my way.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp67French King
Yes, my lord, you see them perspectively,Click to see collations the cities turned into a maid, for they are all girdled with maidenClick to see collations walls that no war hathClick to see collations entered.
5.2.Sp68King Henry
Shall Kate be my wife?
5.2.Sp69French King
So please you.
5.2.Sp70King Henry
I am content, soClick to see collations the maiden cities you talk of may wait on her.Click to see collations So the maid that stood in the way for my wish shall show me the way to my will.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp71French King
We have consented to all terms of reason.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp72King Henry
Is’t so, my lords of England?
5.2.Sp73Westmorland
The king hath granted every article:Click to see collations
His daughter first, and in sequel,Click to see collations all,Click to see collations
According to theirClick to see collations firm proposèd natures.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp74Exeter
Only he hath not yet subscribèdClick to see collations this: where your majesty demandsClick to see collations that the king of France, having any occasion to write for matter of grant,Click to see collations shall name your highness in this form and with this addition,Click to see collations in French: Notre très cherClick to see collations fils Henri, Roi d’Angleterre, héritier de France; and thus in Latin: PraecarissimusClick to see collations filius noster Henricus, Rex Angliae et Haeres Franciae.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp75French King
Nor this I have not, brother, so denied
But your requestClick to see collations shall make me let it pass.
5.2.Sp76King Henry
I pray you then in love and dear alliance,
Let that one article rank with the rest,
And thereupon give me your daughter.
5.2.Sp77French King
Take her, fair son, and from her blood raise up
IssueClick to see collations to me, that the contending kingdoms
Of France and England, whose very shores look paleClick to see collations
With envy of each other’s happiness,
May cease their hatred, and this dearClick to see collations conjunction
Plant neighborhoodClick to see collations and Christian-like accord
In their sweet bosoms,Click to see collations that never war advanceClick to see collations
His bleedingClick to see collations sword ’twixt England and fair France.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp78Lords
Amen.
5.2.Sp79King Henry
Now welcome, Kate, and bear me witness all
That here I kiss her as my sovereign queen.
Flourish.
5.2.Sp80Queen Isabeau
God, the best maker of all marriages,Click to see collations
Combine your hearts in one, your realms in one.
As man and wife, being two, are one in love,
So be there ’twixt your kingdoms such a spousalClick to see collations
That never may ill officeClick to see collations or fellClick to see collations jealousy,
Which troubles oft the bed of blessèd marriage,
Thrust in between the pactionClick to see collationsClick to see collations of these kingdoms
To make divorce of their incorporateClick to see collations league,
That English may as French, French Englishmen,
ReceiveClick to see collations each other. God speak this amen.Click to see collations
5.2.Sp81All
Amen.
5.2.Sp82King Henry
Prepare we for our marriage; on which day,
My lord of Burgundy, we’ll take your oath,Click to see collations
And all the peers’,Click to see collationsClick to see collations for surety of our leagues.Click to see collations
Then shall I swear to Kate, and you to me,
And may our oaths well kept and prosp’rous be.
Sennet.Click to see collations Exeunt omnes.

EpilogueClick to see collationsClick to see collations

Enter Chorus.
Epi.Sp1ChorusClick to see collations
Thus far, with roughClick to see collations and all-unableClick to see collations pen,
Our bendingClick to see collations author hath pursued the story,
In little room confining mighty men,
Mangling by startsClick to see collations the full courseClick to see collations of their glory.
Small time,Click to see collations but in that small most greatly lived
This star of England.Click to see collations Fortune made his sword,
By which the world’s best gardenClick to see collations he achieved,
And of it left his son imperial lord.
Henry the Sixth, in infant bandsClick to see collations crowned King
Of France and England, did this king succeed,
WhoseClick to see collations state so many had the managing
That they lost France and made his England bleed,Click to see collations
Which oft our stage hath shown;Click to see collations and for their sake,Click to see collations
In your fair minds let this acceptance take.Click to see collations
Exit.Click to see collations

Notes

Annotations

muse
Goddess of inspiration.
Go to this point in the text
fire
The lightest of the four elements (air, earth, fire, and water), and thus the most likely to ascend.
Go to this point in the text
The brightest heaven
In ancient cosmology, the empyrean, or highest heaven, was a sphere of fire at the outmost edge of the universe.
Go to this point in the text
invention
Imagination; the spirit of creativity.
Pronounced with four syllables.
Go to this point in the text
princes
The Chorus here wishes for the power to re-create the very persons of history, imagining that the rulers of England and France wage war while the other crowned heads of Europe […] look on (Craik, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
swelling
Magnificent, majestic.
Cf. Macbeth: the swelling Act / Of the Imperiall Theame (Mac 1.3.124–125).
Go to this point in the text
like himself
In a manner suiting his status.
Part of the Chorus’s rhetorical apology for the inadequacy of theater, this tautological simile is a reminder of the difference between the historical figure and the actor who plays him.
Go to this point in the text
port
Bearing, demeanor.
With a pun on an actor’s part, which was probably pronounced identically; see Love’s Labour’s Lost, where part is rhymed with short (LLL 5.2.56–57).
Go to this point in the text
Mars
Roman god of war.
Go to this point in the text
Leashed in
Kept on a leash.
Also, linked together in a group of three: see OED, 2nd ed. leash, v.1.b, n.2.
Go to this point in the text
famine … fire
Traditional tools of war, perhaps suggested here by Holinshed’s blood, fire, and famine (Chronicles, 1587 567). See also 1 Henry VI, where Talbot threatens Bordeaux with my three attendants— / Lean famine, quartering steel, and climbing fire (1H6 4.2.10–11).
Go to this point in the text
gentles
Ladies and gentlemen.
Go to this point in the text
flat unraisèd spirits
Dull, uninspired actors and playwright (Walter, Henry V).
Taylor notes a play on the idea of raising spirits by incantation.
Go to this point in the text
hath
A singular verb with a plural subject is common in early modern English. See E.A. Abbott, A Shakespearean Grammar, section 247.
Go to this point in the text
scaffold
Stage.
As this word was used often of stages, for plays, proclamations, and public exhibitions, neither the implications of ephemerality in modern ‘scaffoldingʼ nor the sense ‘place of executionʼ is relevant (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
cockpit
Circular arena (for cockfighting).
Literal cockpits were similar in structure, but much smaller than an Elizabethan theater.
Go to this point in the text
vasty
Vast.
A Shakespearean coinage, probably merely for metrical purposes.
Go to this point in the text
wooden O
The circle of the playhouse.
Critics and editors (John Dover Wilson excepted) long presumed that the playhouse here mentioned was the newly-built Globe, as represented memorably in Olivier’s film adaptation. But Tiffany Stern argues convincingly from both internal and external evidence that Henry V was one of the last plays the Lord Chamberlain’s Men put on at the Curtain (Stern, The Curtain is Yours).
Go to this point in the text
casques
Helmets.
Malone read The very casques as even the casques or helmets, much less the men by whom they were worn (Malone, Plays; see OED, 2nd ed. very, A.a.II.9.b). Gurr finds a connection to the cask (barrel) suggested by Wooden O (King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
affright
Frighten.
Go to this point in the text
Agincourt
Battlefield in northern France, site of the English victory over the French on 25 October 1415.
Go to this point in the text
figure
Numerical symbol; here, the digit 1.
The metaphor compares the small company of actors to the six zeros (ciphers) that make the numeral one (a crooked figure) into one million. Most modern editors gloss the crooked figure as the round zero, but the implication is that the actor, or even Henry himself, is the figure, with crooked suggesting possible overtones of craftiness and deception; compare Canterbury’s disdain for the French crooked titles (A1 Sc2 Sp8), and cf. WT 1.2.6–7.
Go to this point in the text
ciphers
Zeros; symbolic representations; worthless characters.
Go to this point in the text
account
Sum total.
Craik points out that the possible secondary sense of narrative is unknown elsewhere in Shakespeare (King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
your imaginary forces
Powers of your imagination.
Forces may also suggest that the audience’s imagination is being recruited into an army. See OED, 2nd ed. force, n.1.I.4.
Go to this point in the text
girdle
Encircling boundary.
With the implication of restraint […] picked up in confined (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
two mighty monarchies
England and France.
Go to this point in the text
abutting
Projecting toward each other; butting, striking each other.
Go to this point in the text
fronts
1) The cliffs of Dover and Calais imagined as foreheads, butting or projecting toward each other; 2) frontiers; 3) lines of battle.
Go to this point in the text
perilous narrow ocean
The English Channel.
Go to this point in the text
Piece out
Supplement, extend.
Go to this point in the text
puissance
Military power.
Trisyllabic.
Go to this point in the text
deck
Clothe, adorn.
Go to this point in the text
jumping o’er times
The play covers the historical period from the 1414 parliament at Leicester to the 1420 treaty of Troyes.
Go to this point in the text
hourglass
The space of an hour.
Go to this point in the text
for the which supply
To aid in which.
Supply is used here in the military sense of reinforcement (OED, 2nd ed. supply, n.II.5). See 1 Henry VI (The Earle of Salisbury craueth supply [1H6 1.1.159]) and 1 Henry IV (looks he not for supply? [1H4 4.3.3]).
Go to this point in the text
prologue-like
Speaking like a prologue; in the traditional costume of a prologue.
Heywood’s Four Prentices of London (ca. 1592; printed 1615) suggests the conventional staging of a dramatic prologue:
Doe you not know that I am the Prologue? Do you not see this long blacke veluet cloke vpon my backe? Haue you not sounded thrice? Do I not looke pale, as fearing to bee out in my speech? Nay, haue I not all the signes of a Prologue about me? (Heywood A4)
Go to this point in the text
your humble patience pray
Humbly ask for your patience.
Go to this point in the text
1.1
Location: the royal court.
According to Shakespeare’s historical sources, the setting of the first act should be the last daie of Aprill in the towne of Leicester (Holinshed, Chronicles, 1587 545). The Chorus suggests, however, that the play begins in London (A2 Sc0 Sp1).
Go to this point in the text
self
Same.
Go to this point in the text
th’eleventh … reign
In Henry IV’s reign, the year 1410, four years before the present action.
Go to this point in the text
like
Likely (to have passed; OED, 3rd ed. like a.III.10).
Go to this point in the text
against us
Against the interests of the clergy.
Go to this point in the text
scambling
Turbulent, contentious (here referring to civil war).
To scamble is literally to struggle for food or money scattered on the ground. Steevens notes a reference in the household book of the fifth Earl of Northumberland to the scambling days, a period in Lent when no regular meals were provided to the household and individuals had to fend for themselves (Plays).
Go to this point in the text
question
Debate, discussion.
Go to this point in the text
possession
Wealth, property.
Until Henry VIII’s seizure of it in the 1530s, and even beyond, church property was a subject of perennial conflict between the church and English secular powers. Gurr, following John Cox, sees an allusion here to the struggles of Richard Cox, the Elizabethan Bishop of Ely, to keep his own property out of royal control.
Go to this point in the text
temporal lands … church
Lands held by laymen and bequeathed to the church in the owners’ wills (by testament).
Go to this point in the text
they
The House of Commons.
Go to this point in the text
As much … year.
This passage is almost verbatim—though altered to verse—from Holinshed:
a bill exhibited in the parlement holden at Westminster in the eleuenth yeare of king Henrie the fourth (which by reason the king was then troubled by ciuill discord, came to none effect) might now with good deliberation be pondered, and brought to good conclusion. The effect of which supplication was, that the temporall lands deuoutlie giuen, and disordinatlie spent by religious, and other spirituall persons, should be seized into the kings hands, sith the same might suffice to mainteine, to the honor of the king, and defense of the realme, fifteene earles, fifteene hundred knights, six thousand and two hundred esquires, and a hundred almesse-houses, for reliefe onelie of the poore, impotent, and needie persons, and the king to haue cleerelie to his coffers twentie thousand pounds, with manie other prouisions and values of religious houses, which I passe ouer. (Chronicles, 1587 545)
The bill in question was proposed by a group of Lollards in the parliament of 1410, a fact that might implicitly raise historical comparisons—especially in the minds of Shakespeare’s original audience—to anticlerical movements during the Protestant Reformation, and especially to Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries. See General Introduction. Maurice Hunt points out the historical correspondences of behaviour between Henry V and Henry VIII, and discusses Shakespeare’s dramatic association of the two kings (Hybrid Reformations, 176–206, 189–192).
Go to this point in the text
maintain
Bear the expenses of.
Go to this point in the text
to the king’s honor
To demonstrate the king’s generosity.
Go to this point in the text
esquires
Gentry ranking immediately below knights.
Go to this point in the text
lazars
Lepers.
From the proper name Lazarus; see Luke 16:20.
Go to this point in the text
weak age
The elderly.
Go to this point in the text
indigent … toil
Poor people too weak for physical work.
Go to this point in the text
almshouses
Houses for dispensing charity.
Go to this point in the text
coffers
Treasury (literally, money boxes).
Go to this point in the text
beside
Additionally.
Go to this point in the text
A thousand … year.
The sum that Holinshed’s 20,000 pounds would bring in at 5 per cent interest (Craik, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
bill
Parliamentary act.
With a pun on the sense of “statement of amount owed”.
Go to this point in the text
drink deep
Swallow up our wealth.
Go to this point in the text
what prevention?
How may the bill be prevented?
This incomplete line after the previous shared line, a repetition of Ely’s earlier question, perhaps suggests a thoughtful pause before Canterbury’s next speech.
The bishops’ political subterfuge is more explicitly stated in Shakespeare’s source:
This bill was much noted, and more feared among the religious sort, whom suerlie it touched verie neere, and therefore to find remedie against it, they determined to assaie all ways to put by and ouerthrow this bill: wherein they thought best to trie if they might mooue the kings mood with some sharpe inuention, that he should not regard the importunate petitions of the commons. (Holinshed, Chronicles, 1587 545)
Go to this point in the text
grace
Virtue, honor.
In the theological, chiefly Protestant sense of the term, divine favor or providential election.
Go to this point in the text
and fair regard
1) And is also full of respect, consideration; 2) and is highly esteemed.
Go to this point in the text
courses
Habits, behaviour.
Go to this point in the text
The breath … him
The phrasing evokes Saint Paul, but for this passage, Shakespeare seems to have been influenced less by any biblical passage than by a prayer of confession to the Holy Ghost in Thomas Becon’s Flour of godly praiers (London, 1551):
thou making me a new creature by mortifying old Adam in me, and by geuing me a good spirite, mayeste delyght in me as a father in hys sonne, and continually dwell in me as in thy holy temple. (Becon fol. xiiv-xiii)
See also D. J. Palmer, Casting off the Old Man: History and St. Paul in Henry V.
Go to this point in the text
mortified
1) Killed; 2) suppressed by self-discipline.
The mortification of unlawful desire is a common theological conceit. See Alexander Nowell’s Catechisme (1570): By the force of Christ’s death our old man is, after a certain manner, crucified and mortified, and the corruptness of our nature is, as it were, buried (Nowell T3v). Cf. 2 Henry IV: My Father is gone wild into his grave, / For in his tomb lie my affectïons (2H4 5.2.122–123).
Go to this point in the text
Consideration
Reflection, contemplation.
Go to this point in the text
th’offending Adam
The sinful nature.
As Adam was ejected by an Angel from the garden of Eden after the fall (Geneva, Genesis 3:23–24), Henry’s Adam has been whipped out of him.
Go to this point in the text
paradise
A place of sinless innocence, like Eden before the fall of man.
The state of sinlessness that Canterbury’s metaphor implies in Henry is, strictly speaking, heretical, since according to Christian doctrine only Christ is without sin: for all haue sinned, and are depriued of the glorie of God (Geneva, Romans 3:23). Unless otherwise noted, biblical citations refer to the Geneva Bible of 1576.
Go to this point in the text
celestial spirits
1) Heavenly inclinations; 2) supernatural spirits, angels.
Go to this point in the text
reformation
Moral improvement.
The word echoes Hal’s soliloquy in 1 Henry IV: My reformation, glitt’ring o’er my fault, / Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes / Than that which hath no foil to set it off (1H4 1.2.168–170). Spoken by a fifteenth-century cleric, it is an anachronistic word; OED gives 1425 as the first instance of the word in its moral sense, and 1531 for the first use in the religio-political context familiar today (OED, 3rd ed. reformation, n.1.4.a, 3.b). The only Shakespearean character to use reform in the specifically religious context with which history is familiar is the Lord Chancellor in Henry VIII, who ironically uses it in defense of Catholic orthodoxy, advising Cranmer that his new Protestant opinions are heresies, / And, not reformed, may prove pernicious (H8 5.2.52–53).
Go to this point in the text
flood
Canterbury’s metaphor for Henry’s reformation recalls two biblical floods at once, both common to the rhetoric of sixteenth-century religious polemic. On the one hand it recalls the image of the Genesis deluge—the first godly reform—that cleansed the false religion that held sway in Noah’s sinful world. Calvin, in Arthur Golding’s 1583 translation of his sermons on Deuteronomy, had evoked that flood in language that Shakespeare may imitate here: the seruice of GOD was imbaced euen in the life of Adam, and that it was fayne to bee reformed againe as it were by miracle. When the floude came, God cleansed the earth newe againe (Calvin, Sermons Ccccc1r). But the phrase also has a potentially negative religious connotation for Shakespeare’s audience, and it is telling that the current that scours away Prince Hal’s faults is heady — “threatening, disorderly, uncontrollable”—a word the play applies only once (in the F2 reading) elsewhere: to the murder, spoil, and villainy with which Henry threatens the defeated Harfleur (A3 Sc3 Sp1). This second connotation of “flood”, along with Canterbury’s mention of hydra-headed willfulness immediately following, suggests instead an allusion to the flood that proceeds from the mouth of the many-headed dragon of Revelation: And ye serpent cast out of his mouth water after ye woman like a flood, yt he might cause her to be caryed away of the flood (Geneva, Revelation 12:15). Traditionally read as an allegory of the Arian heresy that threatened the early church, the dragon-flood metaphor was activated by both early-modern reformers and Catholics to describe the Satanically-inspired waves of heresy that each confession saw flowing from the other.
Go to this point in the text
heady
Headlong, violent.
Go to this point in the text
currence
Current.
There is no reason to characterize this, as Walter does, as a nonce-word. It is a variant of currency, in its obsolete sense of stream, current (OED, 2nd ed. currency, 1.a, first example 1657). F2’s spelling, currant (i.e., “current”), may also be correct, possibly reflecting a t/c compositorial error (Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, 1632 Histories I3).
Go to this point in the text
scouring
Flushing away.
Go to this point in the text
hydra-headed
Having several heads like the Hydra of Greek myth, thus a difficult monster to kill.
Johnson notes that the image of flushing away filth in the previous line may have brought to the author’s mind Hercules’s labor of cleaning the Augean stables, which then led to his allusion to the Hydra, another of the twelve labors (Plays).
Go to this point in the text
seat
Throne, place of authority.
Go to this point in the text
We are
Could be pronounced “we’re” to regularize the meter, though Johnson’s emendation is unnecessary (Plays).
Go to this point in the text
reason in divinity
Argue matters of theology.
As Craik points out, Henry V was known to have disputed theology with the Lollard Sir John Oldcastle, the historical model for Shakespeare’s Falstaff (King Henry V). See Holinshed, Chronicles, 1587 544, and my General Introduction.
Go to this point in the text
prelate
High-ranking clergyman.
Go to this point in the text
all in all
Entirely.
Go to this point in the text
List
Listen to.
Go to this point in the text
rendered … music
Eloquently described.
Henry, that is, finds the harmony within the chaos of battle.
Go to this point in the text
cause of policy
Political issue.
Go to this point in the text
Gordian knot
A knot proverbially impossible to untie.
The original Gordian knot was intricately tied—by King Midas, according to myth—to an oxcart standing in the palaces of the kings of Phrygia in Gordium. According to the biographers of Alexander the great, it could only be untied by the destined ruler of Asia; in 333 BCE Alexander cut the knot with his sword, an act that became a metaphor for an intractable problem solved by bold thinking (see Tilley G375). This is first of several comparisons between Alexander’s conquests and Henry’s campaign (A3 Sc1 Sp1, A4 Sc7 Sp3).
Go to this point in the text
Familiar … garter
As easily as he would his garter, a band tied around the leg to support the stockings.
Go to this point in the text
chartered
Licensed.
Go to this point in the text
libertine
One free from restraint, who follows his own inclination.
For the proverbial metaphor of the air as a chartered libertine cf. Jaques’s I must have liberty / Withal, as large a charter as the wind (AYL 2.7.49-50; see also Dent A88). Here, uncharacteristically for Shakespeare, libertine seems to carry no negative connotations, though Craik argues that we might understand Henry to be converting the breeze from waywardness (King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
the mute … ears
Wonder (at Henry’s sentences) makes men mute.
Go to this point in the text
practic part … theoric
Henry must have learned how to theorize from practical experience (the practic part of life).
Go to this point in the text
glean it
Acquire this wisdom.
Literally, pick it up like scattered grain after a harvest.
Go to this point in the text
Since … popularity.
According to fifteenth-century historical tradition, passed down to Shakespeare’s historical sources and dramatized in both parts of Henry IV, before acceding to the crown, Henry had surrounded himself with dissolute and lawless friends— represented by Shakespeare in the characters of Sir John Falstaff, Pistol, Bardolph, and Nym—whose companionship he had dutifully discarded at his accession:
this king even at first appointing with himselfe, to shew that in his person princelie honors should change publike manners, he determined to put on him the shape of a new man. For whereas aforetime he had made himselfe a companion unto misrulie mates of dissolute order and life, he now banished them all from his presence (but not unrewarded, or else unpreferred) inhibiting them upon a great paine, not once to approach, lodge, or sojourne within ten miles of his court or presence: and in their places he chose men of gravitie, wit, and high policie. (Holinshed, Chronicles, 1587 543)
Go to this point in the text
addiction
Inclination.
Not necessarily with negative connotations (OED 3rd ed. addiction, n.2).
Go to this point in the text
companies
Companions; different groups of followers.
Go to this point in the text
unlettered
Uneducated, illiterate.
Go to this point in the text
rude
Uncivilized, coarse.
Go to this point in the text
riots
Revelry, debauchery.
Shakespeare refers to Prince Hal’s behaviour as riot or riots four times in the Henry IV plays (1H4 1.1.84; 2H4 4.3.62, 4.3.265, 5.4.57).
Go to this point in the text
never noted
There was never seen.
Go to this point in the text
sequestration
Retirement, seclusion.
Go to this point in the text
open haunts
Public places, especially those frequented by lowlifes.
Go to this point in the text
popularity
Ordinary, vulgar people.
Go to this point in the text
strawberry … quality
Elizabethan horticulturalists believed that
a plant derived from its neighbours the good or evil qualities they possessed: but the strawberry was an exception. Although it crept along the ground exposed to every sort of contamination, yet no evil companionship could taint its purity. (R. E. Prothero, Shakespeare’s England 1: 373)
The strawberry thus came to be a symbol of incorruptible righteousness. The Bishop of Ely is similarly associated with strawberries— for which Ely Place, Holborn, was noted—in R3 (R3 3.4.31–33).
Go to this point in the text
baser
Inferior.
Go to this point in the text
obscured
Hid, covered.
Go to this point in the text
contemplation
1) Thinking; 2) devout meditation.
Go to this point in the text
veil
Disguise, mask.
Go to this point in the text
which
His contemplation (A1 Sc1 Sp12), not his wildness (A1 Sc1 Sp12).
Go to this point in the text
crescive
Growing.
This very rare word is borrowed from the Latin crescere and used by Shakespeare only in this line. As Steevens notes (Plays), the line parallels a passage in a Horatian ode: crescit occulto velut arbor aevo / fama Marcelli — “The glory of Marcellus, like a tree, grows by the silent lapse of time” — (Horace, trans. C. E. Bennet, 38–39). Renaissance versions of the sentiment became so commonplace as to be used in English grammar schools, like Shakespeare’s, to illustrate the colon rule. See T. W. Baldwin, William Shakspere’s Small Latine & Lesse Greeke, 501–503.
Go to this point in the text
in his faculty
By its nature.
Go to this point in the text
It must … ceased
The king’s transformation must be a natural phenomenon, since the supernatural events recorded in the Bible no longer occur.
The Protestant doctrine of cessationism, the belief that miracles ceased to be performed early in Christian history, while familiar to Shakespeare’s audience, is an anachronism in the mouth of a medieval archbishop.
Go to this point in the text
needs
Necessarily.
Go to this point in the text
admit
Acknowledge, allow.
Go to this point in the text
means
Natural cause.
Go to this point in the text
perfected
1) Accomplished; 2) made perfect.
Accented on the first syllable.
Go to this point in the text
mitigation
Reducing the severity.
Go to this point in the text
commons
House of Commons, the lower house of parliament.
Go to this point in the text
Incline to
Support, favor.
Go to this point in the text
swaying more upon
Leaning toward.
Go to this point in the text
exhibitors
Those proposing the bill.
Go to this point in the text
For I … withal
These lines, the gist of which is repeated later (A1 Sc2 Sp14), closely follow the ending of the Archbishop’s speech in Holinshed: the archbishop declared that in their spiritual conuocation, they had granted to his highnesse such a summe of monie, as neuer by no spirituall persons was to any prince before those daies giuen or aduanced (Holinshed, Chronicles, 1587 546). Shakespeare’s innovation is to place the offer to his majesty in the private scene prior to the public speech, thus implying a back-room agreement between the king and the clergy.
Go to this point in the text
Upon
During, on the occasion of, as a result of.
Another possible sense is “concerning, touching upon” (OED, 2nd ed. upon, prep.II.22.a). Modern editors often gloss the word as “on behalf of”, but this sense is not to be found in OED and requires convocation to serve as an overly specific metonym for the clergy and their interests.
Go to this point in the text
convocation
Assembly, meeting.
Canterbury means either an assembly of the clergy, or a private meeting between the king and the archbishop.
Go to this point in the text
causes
Legal matters.
Go to this point in the text
opened
Disclosed.
Go to this point in the text
at large
Either 1) fully, or 2) in general terms.
Go to this point in the text
touching
Concerning.
Go to this point in the text
to give … sum
Canterbury plans to let the church take a smaller loss by financing the war than it would should the commons’ bill pass. During Elizabeth’s reign, Dollimore and Sinfield point out, the Church resented the fact that it was expected to help finance foreign wars, but in 1588 Archbishop Whitgift encouraged his colleagues to contribute generously towards resistance to the Armada on the grounds—just as in Henry V—that it would head off criticism of the Church’s wealth (History and Ideology 216).
Go to this point in the text
withal
With.
Go to this point in the text
of his majesty
By the king.
Go to this point in the text
fain
Eagerly, willingly.
Go to this point in the text
severals
Particulars.
Also a legal term meaning lands, over which one has a private right of possession (OED, 2nd ed. several, C.n.2).
Go to this point in the text
passages
Lines of inheritence.
With a play on the sense of passages of legal text.
Go to this point in the text
true titles … dukedoms
Wherevpon, on a daie in the parlement, Henrie Chichelie archbishop of Canturburie made a pithie oration, wherein he declared, how not onelie the duchies of Normandie and Aquitaine, with the counties of Aniou and Maine, and the countrie of Gascoigne, were by vndoubted title apperteining to the king, as to the lawfull and onelie heire of the same; but also the whole realme of France, as heire to his great grandfather king Edward the third. (Holinshed, Chronicles, 1587 545)
Go to this point in the text
Edward … great-grandfather
King Edward III (1312–1377).
Edward III’s mother, Isabella (ca. 1295–1358), was the daughter of the French King Philip IV, making Henry Philip’s direct descendant. The fact that this claim is derived through the female line becomes the legal crux of the following scene and of the play at large (see note to A1 Sc2 Sp7). Although all three of her elder brothers died without issue, the French barred Isabella from succession in order to exclude Edward III. Shakespeare and his collaborators recall this legal history in the opening scene of Edward III (Q1 E3 sig. A3r).
Go to this point in the text
embassy
Message.
Go to this point in the text
1.2
Location: the royal presence chamber.
Go to this point in the text
Humphrey
Henry’s youngest brother Humphrey (1390–1447) is referred to throughout this play as Gloucester, and only here by his name, though he appears as Duke Humphrey in the Henry VI plays.
Go to this point in the text
Bedford, Clarence
The king’s brother Bedford, referred to as John of Lancaster in 2 Henry IV, speaks no lines in this scene, and does not appear in the scene’s analog in Q. His brother Clarence speaks no line in the entire play, and is only mentioned twice, appearing in this stage direction and addressed once (A5 Sc2 Sp11). Taylor, who follows Q in deleting Bedford’s appearance and giving his lines to Clarence, argues that Q indicates an authoritative intention to streamlines these characters (Three Studies 101). The appearance of all four royal brothers, however, is symbolically fitting; as Gurr argues, retaining them all in this scene underscores the play’s emphasis on brotherhood (King Henry V). Historically, Thomas, Duke of Clarence (ca. 1388–1421), was part of the 1415 French campaign until he was invalided home after the battle of Harfleur, in which he took a leading role.
Go to this point in the text
gracious
Righteous, endowed with divine grace (OED, 3rd ed. gracious, a.4).
Go to this point in the text
presence
The presence chamber (the room where monarchs receive visitors).
The king’s presence took on its own aura of authority, as indicated in Thomas Smith’s De Republica Anglorum (1583): in the chamber of presence where the cloath of estate is set, no man dare walke, yea though the prince be not there, no man dare tarrie there but bareheaded (Smith 2.47).
Go to this point in the text
cousin
A term of polite address among the nobility, though Ralph Neville, first earl of Westmorland (1354–1425), was Henry’s cousin by marriage.
Go to this point in the text
We would
The royal pronoun, i.e., “I would”.
Go to this point in the text
resolved
Freed from uncertainty (OED, 3rd ed. resolved, a.I.1.a).
Go to this point in the text
weight
Importance.
Go to this point in the text
task
Employ, occupy.
Go to this point in the text
become it
Grace it with your presence.
Go to this point in the text
justly and religiously
1) With precise logic; 2) righteously
Go to this point in the text
law Salic
A law prohibiting the inheritance of titles from a female ancestor.
The Pactus Legis Salicae was a legal code that adapted Roman law for the governance of the barbarian tribes under Frankish rule. Issued by the Frankish King Clovis I between 508 and 511, the Pactus governed crime as well as inheritance, but when later French jurists used it to combat English claims of inheritance, it came to be synonymous with the tenet of agnatic succession, i.e., the exclusion of females from the inheritance of titles in Salic land, a phrase that, as Canterbury points out, has no certain interpretation. (See Patrick Geary, Before France and Germany 90–91 and 105–106.) An Elizabethan audience would be well aware of the obsolescence of any such laws in Tudor England, but they would also be familiar with the Salic Law from its prominence in public discourse about the queen’s proposed marriage to the Duke of Alençon in the 1570s. In 1579, the puritan John Stubbes wrote The Discoverie of a Gaping Gulf, an immediately censored, but much-read pamphlet against the marriage that suggested that Salic Law would strip Elizabeth of her power should she marry a Frenchman.
Go to this point in the text
Or should … not
Either should or should not.
Go to this point in the text
claim
Claim to the throne of France.
Go to this point in the text
fashion
Go to this point in the text
wrest
Pervert, turn from the true meaning (OED, 2nd ed. wrest, v.I.5).
Go to this point in the text
bow
Bend
Go to this point in the text
nicely
1) Foolishly, wickedly; 2) by reading too subtly.
Go to this point in the text
charge
Load, burden.
Go to this point in the text
understanding
1) Intelligent; 2) knowing the truth to be otherwise (Wilson, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
opening
Go to this point in the text
titles miscreate
False (misshapen) grounds for claims.
Go to this point in the text
right
1) Legal entitlement; 2) justice, moral propriety.
In this scene, Henry precisely and strategically calculates his rhetoric to collapse two not quite identical senses of right. Here, he seems to use the word in its legal sense (OED, 2nd ed. right, n.1.II): he will have the legal right to claim the titles, presuming they are not miscreate. In this sense, right is merely a synonym of title or claim, and one might conceivably claim a legal right that was derived falsely, i.e., “suiting not with the truth”. This is the sense Canterbury employs consistently in the scene: right and title of the female (A1 Sc2 Sp8); with blood and sword and fire to win your right (A1 Sc2 Sp14). Henry, however, subtly alters the meaning of the word when he next uses it: May I with right and conscience make this claim? (A1 Sc2 Sp9). The pairing of right with conscience suggests their equivalency, that the moral sense of right (OED, 2nd ed. right, n.1.I) is now in play. This retroactively renders Henry’s injunction at A1 Sc2 Sp7 absurd: if the titles are right in the moral sense, then they are also, already, true. The dual senses form a pivot around which the archbishop, and Henry himself, can turn the legal argument. His clever equivocation, moving the right from the contingency of claim to the certainty of truth decides the matter even as the question is being posed, and prevents an unfavorable answer. I am indebted to Catherine Lisak, editor of the ISE Richard II, for the conversation that led to this observation.
Go to this point in the text
Suits … with
Does not match in its inherent, natural appearance.
Go to this point in the text
drop their blood
Die or be wounded.
Go to this point in the text
approbation
Proving true, putting to trial.
Go to this point in the text
impawn our person
Commit me.
Both the senses of pledge as security (OED, 2nd ed. impawn, v.1) and put in hazard (v.2) are relevant, with the further implication of the archbishop moving Henry like a pawn in chess. Impawn, as Taylor points out, is a Shakespearean coinage (Taylor, Henry V); see 1H4 4.3.107.
Go to this point in the text
charge
Command.
Go to this point in the text
woe
Cry of grief.
Go to this point in the text
complaint
Lamentation.
Go to this point in the text
whose wrongs
1) The awareness of whose grievances; 2) whose wrongdoing.
Go to this point in the text
conjuration
Entreaty, imposition of an oath.
The more sinister sense of compelling a demon to do one’s bidding is also implicit.
Go to this point in the text
note
Pay close attention.
Go to this point in the text
believe … baptism
Henry’s beforehand declaration that he will believe what Canterbury says is truth subtly undercuts the speech’s ostensible attempt to police and evaluate the truth. It may be meant to imply, as does the certainty of your reverence shall incite us (A1 Sc2 Sp7), that the decision to go to war is a fait accompli.
Go to this point in the text
Then … progenitors.
Other than Shakespeare’s versification of Canterbury’s speech, it is nearly verbatim from Holinshed:
Herein did he much inueie against the surmised and false fained law Salike, which the Frenchmen alledge euer against the kings of England in barre of their iust title to the crowne of France. The verie words of that supposed law are these, In terram Salicam mulieres ne succedant, that is to saie, Into the Salike land let not women succeed. Which the French glossers expound to be the realme of France, and that this law was made by king Pharamond; whereas yet their owne authors affirme, that the land Salike is in Germanie, betweene the riuers of Elbe and Sala; and that when Charles the great had ouercome the Saxons, he placed there certeine Frenchmen, which hauing in disdeine the dishonest manners of the Germane women, made a law, that the females should not succeed to any inheritance within that land, which at this daie is called Meisen, so that if this be true, this law was not made for the realme of France, nor the Frenchmen possessed the land Salike, till foure hundred and one and twentie yeares after the death of Pharamond, the supposed maker of this Salike law, for this Pharamond deceased in the yeare 426, and Charles the great subdued the Saxons; and placed the Frenchmen in those parts beyond the riuer of Sala, in the yeare 805. Moreouer, it appeareth by their owne writers, that king Pepine, which deposed Childerike, claimed the crowne of France, as heire generall, for that he was descended of Blithild daughter to king Clothair the first: Hugh Capet also, who vsurped the crowne upon Charles duke of Loraine, the sole heire male of the line and stocke of Charles the great, to make his title seem true, and appeare good, though in deed it was starke naught, conueied himselfe as heire to the ladie Lingard, daughter to king Charlemaine, sonne to Lewes the emperour, that was son to Charles the great. King Lewes also the tenth otherwise called saint Lewes, being verie heire to the said vsurper Hugh Capet, could neuer be satisfied in his conscience how he might iustlie keepe and possesse the crowne of France, till he was persuaded and fullie instructed, that queene Isabell his grandmother was lineallie descended of the ladie Ermengard daughter and heire to the aboue named duke of Loraine, by the which marriage, the bloud and line of Charles the great was againe vnited and restored to the crowne and scepter of France, so that more cleere than the sunne it openlie appeareth, that the title of king Pepin, the claime of Hugh Capet, the possession of Lewes, yea and the French kings to this daie, are deriued and conueied from the heire female, though they would vnder the colour of such a fained law, barre the kings and princes of this realme of England of their right and lawfull inheritance. (Chronicles, 1587 545–546)
Go to this point in the text
peers
Nobles.
Go to this point in the text
imperial
This word, used six times in the play to describe attributes of the English crown, is relevant to the contexts of this play, beyond the archbishop’s flattering rhetoric, but somewhat anachronistic within the play’s historical setting. Henry VIII declared England an Impire in 1532 as a legal assertion of his break with Rome after the Reformation. Historically, as A4 Sc1 Sp15 and A5 Sc0 Sp1 make clear, Henry, like all crowned heads of Europe, was legally considered subject to the Holy Roman Emperor.
Go to this point in the text
bar
Legal objection.
Go to this point in the text
they
The French.
Go to this point in the text
Pharamond
A legendary king of the early Franks, supposedly reigning in the fifth century.
Go to this point in the text
In terram … succedant
Translated in the next line.
Go to this point in the text
succeed
Inherit a title or estate.
Go to this point in the text
Salic land
Salic land originally referred not to a specific geographical region, but to any land falling under the Salic law of succession. Canterbury, like the French, is glossing somewhat unjustly.
Go to this point in the text
gloss
Define, interpret.
Go to this point in the text
female bar
Prohibition against women’s succession.
Go to this point in the text
floods
Rivers.
Go to this point in the text
Saale … Elbe
Rivers in Germany.
The Folio’s spelling of the latter river (Elue) comes perhaps from the mistaken reading of v for b, easily confused in the blackletter type in which Holinshed’s Chronicles are printed.
Go to this point in the text
Charles the Great
Charlemagne (ca. 747–814), king of the Franks and first Holy Roman Emperor.
Charlemagne campaigned to settle and impose Christianity on the German region of Saxony starting in 773; the last rebellions there were put down in 804.
Go to this point in the text
French
These French were properly Franks, the Germanic tribes that Charlemagne ruled. The anachronistic distinction between French and Germans is, however, crucial to Canterbury’s case.
Go to this point in the text
dishonest manners
Lewd behaviour.
Go to this point in the text
to wit
Namely.
Go to this point in the text
inheritrix
Heiress.
Go to this point in the text
’twixt
Between.
Go to this point in the text
Meissen
A town in Saxony on the banks of the Elbe.
The punctuation of F3, adopted by many editors (in Germany called Meissen), weakens Canterbury’s point that Salic land is German, not French.
Go to this point in the text
four … five
The arithmetical mistake here is maintained from Holinshed’s Chronicles (Holinshed, 1587 545–546); the correct number would be 379.
Go to this point in the text
defunction
Death.
Go to this point in the text
within … our redemption
A.D.
Go to this point in the text
seat
Settle.
Go to this point in the text
Besides
Additionally.
Go to this point in the text
Pepin … Childeric
Childeric III, the last Frankish king of the Merovingian dynasty, held no real power and was deposed in 751 by his Mayor of the Palace, Pepin the Short, who became the first Carolingian king and the father of Charlemagne.
Go to this point in the text
heir general
Heir claiming legitimacy through either male or female lines of succession.
Go to this point in the text
Chlothar
Chlothar I (497–561) may have had a daughter called Blithild.
Go to this point in the text
Hugh Capet
The first Frankish king of the Capetian dynasty, Capet’s accession to the throne in 987 was by election rather than succession.
Go to this point in the text
Charles … the Great
A sixth-generation descendant of Charlemagne who was briefly crowned, Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine (953–993) was excluded from the throne by the Frankish nobles in favor of Hugh Capet.
Go to this point in the text
Charles the Great
Charlemagne.
Go to this point in the text
find
Supply, furnish.
OED, 2nd ed. find, v.III.18.a. Editors have frequently preferred Q’s fine in the sense of “refine, purify”, or attempted to justify the Folio reading with various legal senses of find.
Go to this point in the text
Conveyed
Lineally derived (OED, 2nd ed. convey, v.11).
Go to this point in the text
Lingare
There seems to have been no such historical person. Lingard may be Holinshed’s spelling of the Frankish Luitgard, the name of Charlemagne’s last wife, but not that of a daughter of either Charlemagne or Charles the Bald.
Go to this point in the text
Charlemagne
Historically, this is Charles II, or Charles the Bald (823–877), rather than the Charles the Great mentioned earlier (A1 Sc2 Sp8, A1 Sc2 Sp8, A1 Sc2 Sp8).
Again, Shakespeare preserves this error from Holinshed (Chronicles, 1587) (if indeed it is an error; as Boswell points out, Charles the Bald, like his grandfather, assumed the title of Magnus [Plays]). Editorial desire for historical accuracy throughout this passage led Joseph Rann to emend to Charlechauve (Charles the Bald) (Works).
Go to this point in the text
Louis the emperor
King Louis the Pious (778–840), who ruled as Holy Roman Emperor after his father Charlemagne.
Go to this point in the text
Louis the Tenth
An error for King Louis IX (1214–1270).
The error appears in Holinshed (Chronicles, 1587), but not in Hall (The vnion), a fact which Edmund Malone used to show that Holinshed was Shakespeare’s primary historical source (Plays).
Go to this point in the text
quiet
Peace of mind, tranquility.
Go to this point in the text
Isabelle
Isabelle of Hainaut (1170–1190), a female descendant of Charlemagne.
The Capetian King Philip II (1165–1223) married Isabelle in 1180 in order to shore up his dynasty’s legitimacy through connection with the Carolingian.
Go to this point in the text
lineal
Descended.
Go to this point in the text
as clear … sun
Though often played for laughs in performance, this is not necessarily irony either on Canterbury’s or Shakespeare’s part.
Go to this point in the text
Louis his
Louis’s (an archaic form of the possessive).
Go to this point in the text
satisfaction
Contentment in the legitimacy of his title.
Go to this point in the text
Howbeit
Although.
Go to this point in the text
net
1) A complicated web of lines of descent; 2) a tangle of contradictions.
Perhaps with reference to the proverb You dance in a net and think nobody sees you (Tilley N130).
Go to this point in the text
amply
Broadly, openly.
Go to this point in the text
embar
Forbid, bar; i.e., the French would rather rely on the intricacies of the Salic Law than legally bar their own false claims.
Gurr’s spelling is also that of the OED, which cites this line for the definition of embar (King Henry V; OED, 2nd ed. embar, v.2.b). The Folio’s spelling, imbarre, suggests a second possible sense, imbare, which many editors following Theobald have adopted. The word does not appear in OED, but following the model of impaint, impawn, etc., it would be a perfectly logical Shakespearean coinage, meaning “to make bare”. But laying bare their crooked titles would reveal their illegitimacy, implicitly embarring them, so if a double meaning is implied, both have the same effect. Other suggested emendations are less satisfactory and harder to justify.
Go to this point in the text
crooked
Indirectly derived.
Go to this point in the text
progenitors
Ancestors.
Go to this point in the text
The sin upon my head
If the claim is false, I will accept moral responsibility.
Go to this point in the text
When … daughter.
It was customary to seek authority for modern law and practice in special Hebrew legislation in the Old Testament (Kittredge). Both Hall and Holinshed cite the verse, If a man die and haue no sonne, then ye shall turne his inheritaunce vnto his daughter (Holinshed, Chronicles, 1587; Hall, The vnion). Shakespeare shortens the verse for the sake of meter, sacrificing some of the explicit sense in both the Folio and the Quarto, which reads When the sonne dies, let the inheritance / Descend vnto the daughter (Q1 H5 sig. A3r).
Go to this point in the text
Stand … own.
Defend your right to France.
Go to this point in the text
great-grandsire’s
King Edward III’s.
Go to this point in the text
From … claim;
As whose descendant you make this claim.
Edward III’s maternal grandfather was King Philip IV of France.
Go to this point in the text
Edward the Black Prince
The eldest of Edward III’s seven sons, Edward (1330–1376) was popularly known as the Black Prince of Wales because of a gift of black armour given to him after his famous victory at Crécy.
In this play, Shakespeare strategically and selectively avoids reference to the dynastic conflicts that underlay the Wars of the Roses, the subject of his first tetralogy of English history plays (1 Henry VI, 2 Henry VI, 3 Henry VI, and Richard III). The Black Prince’s son, Richard II, was deposed by Henry Bolingbroke, later Henry IV, an act that would lead to the civil wars. In the current play, Henry V is aware of the divine disapproval of his father’s usurpation of Richard’s throne (see A4 Sc1 Sp79), but Canterbury’s public linkage of Henry V to his great-uncle’s glory downplays the conflict.
Go to this point in the text
a tragedy
The battle of Crécy, 1346, at which the Black Prince led the English forces.
The first of several implicit metaphors comparing warfare to drama. As Taylor points out, this comparison might also glance at ground in the sense of The bare floor which constituted the pit of a theatre (Taylor, Henry V; OED, 2nd ed. ground, n.III.8.e).
Go to this point in the text
his most … hill
According to Holinshed, Edward III stood aloft on a windmill hill at Crécy and refused to join the battle, commanding that his officers
send no more to me for any aduenture that falleth, so long as my son is aliue, for I will that this iournie be his, with the honor thereof. (Chronicles, 1587 372)
Go to this point in the text
whelp
Cub.
Go to this point in the text
Forage in
1) Plunder; 2) eat ravenously, like a wild beast.
Go to this point in the text
entertain
Go to this point in the text
half
Actually two-thirds (Wilson, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
cold for action
1) Cold through lack of action; 2) indifferent or unmoved to action.
Go to this point in the text
valiant dead
Henry’s ancestors.
Go to this point in the text
puissant
Mighty.
Go to this point in the text
renownèd them
Made them famous.
Go to this point in the text
May-morn of his youth
In 1415, Henry was twenty-seven years old.
Go to this point in the text
the former … blood
Your kingly ancestors.
As a symbol of English royalty, the lion appears on the English royal coat of arms.
Go to this point in the text
So hath your highness
You do indeed have what they know you have.
Go to this point in the text
Whose hearts … France
Who are already imagining themselves in military tents on a French battlefield.
Go to this point in the text
Oh … ancestors.
Again, Shakespeare follows his source in Holinshed closely:
The archbishop […] exhorted him to aduance foorth his banner to fight for his right, to conquer his inheritance, to spare neither bloud, sword, nor fire, sith his warre was iust, his cause good, and his claime true. And to the intent his louing chaplains and obedient subiects of the spiritualitie might shew themselues willing and desirous to aid his maiestie, for the recouerie of his ancient right and true inheritance, the archbishop declared that in their spirituall conuocation, they had granted to his highnesse such a summe of monie, as neuer by no spirituall persons was to any prince before those daies giuen or aduanced. (Chronicles, 1587 546)
Go to this point in the text
right
Rightful claim to France.
Go to this point in the text
spiritualty
Clergy.
Go to this point in the text
lay … proportions
Determine the appropriate military force.
OED does not list the sense of proportion as “military force”, but here and elsewhere Shakespeare uses the plural in this sense (FM H5 A1 Sc2 Sp30, A2 Sc4 Sp4; Ham 1.2.32).
Go to this point in the text
the Scot
Scotland.
Go to this point in the text
make road
Invade, make inroads.
Go to this point in the text
With all advantages
At any opportunity; i.e., with our military power engaged in France.
Go to this point in the text
those marches
The Scottish border lands.
OED, 2nd ed. march, n.3.1.a. The Wardens of the Marches, bordering Scotland and Wales, kept a military retinue and a quasi-regal authority there until the seventeenth century (Gurr, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
Our inland
The interior part of England, as opposed to the marches.
Some editors accept Q’s England on the theory that F’s in-land is a compositorial misreading of Ingland in the manuscript copy.
Go to this point in the text
pilfering borderers
Raiding Scots.
Go to this point in the text
coursing snatchers
Swift thieves.
Coursing refers to hunting hares with greyhounds (OED, 2nd ed. course, v.1).
Go to this point in the text
intendment
Disposition, general character.
This sense (OED, 2nd ed. intendment, n.6) seems primary in the context of the passage, though OED cites this line under intention or design (n.5).
Go to this point in the text
still
Always.
Go to this point in the text
giddy
Unstable, inconstant.
Go to this point in the text
For you … neighborhood.
From 1295 to 1560, France and Scotland made a series of treaties, the Auld Alliance, providing mutual military aid in conflicts with England. In 1346, during Edward III’s campaign in France, the Scottish King David II invaded England, though as Canterbury notes below, he did so unsuccessfully. Hall, though not Holinshed (Chronicles, 1587), has Westmorland, as warden of the Scottish marches, make a similar argument:
None of your progenitors euer passed the sea in iust quarell against the Frenche nacion, but the Scottishe people in their absence entered your realme, spoyled your houses, slewe your people and toke great praies innumerable, only to prouoke your auncestors for to returne from the inuayding of Fraunce. (The vnion fol.39)
The English fears were well grounded in this instance; the Scottish Earl of Douglas had made arrangements in 1413 with the nominally pro-English Duke of Burgundy to provide each other military aid. See Anne Curry, Agincourt: A New History 37.
Go to this point in the text
unfurnished
Unprotected.
Go to this point in the text
breach
Gap in a sea wall.
Go to this point in the text
brim
Overflowing.
See OED, 2nd ed. brimful, a. Brim is also an adjective used for raging, severe seas, still in use in northern English dialects (OED, 2nd ed. breme, a.II.6).
Go to this point in the text
Galling
Harassing, wounding.
Go to this point in the text
gleanèd
Picked clean.
Go to this point in the text
hot assays
Violent attacks.
Go to this point in the text
Girding
Surrounding.
Go to this point in the text
That
So that.
Go to this point in the text
th’ill neighborhood
The bad neighborliness, i.e., the open hostility.
Go to this point in the text
She
England.
Go to this point in the text
feared
Frightened.
Go to this point in the text
hear her … herself
Just listen to how her history represents her.
Go to this point in the text
chivalry
Knights.
Go to this point in the text
stray
Stray dog.
Go to this point in the text
The king of Scots
The Scottish King David II, captured at the battle of Neville’s Cross, 1346, while Edward III was in France. Historically, and in Holinshed (Chronicles, 1587), David II is not sent to France, though he is so in Edward III.
Go to this point in the text
fame
Reputation.
Go to this point in the text
their
The English.
Editors have emended unnecessarily to his (i.e., Edward’s) or her (i.e., England’s), but the Folio reading emphasizes the communal ownership of English history.
Go to this point in the text
chronicle
Recorded history.
Go to this point in the text
ooze
Muddy bed.
Go to this point in the text
wreck
The cargo of wrecked or sunken ships (OED, 2nd ed. wreck, n.1).
Legally, wreck (or wrack) became royal property.
Go to this point in the text
sumless
Immeasurable, uncountable.
Go to this point in the text
Ely
Many editors since Warburton have assigned this speech to Westmorland, arguing that Holinshed’s account of this council has Westmorland making this argument (see third-level note). Assigning this reasonable caveat about Scotland to the bishop, however, makes the character more than Canterbury’s yes-man, and it adds nuance to the clergy’s case for the war. Holinshed suggests that Westmorland had a personal agenda for making this argument:
When the archbishop had ended his prepared tale, Rafe Neuill earle of Westmerland, and as then lord Warden of the marches against Scotland, understanding that the king vpon a courageous desire to recouer his right in France, would suerlie take the wars in hand, thought good to mooue the king to begin first with Scotland, and thereupon declared how easie a matter it should be to make a conquest there, and how greatlie the same should further his wished purpose for the subduing of the Frenchmen, concluding the summe of his tale with this old saieng: that Who so will France win, must with Scotland first begin. Manie matters he touched, as well to shew how necessarie the conquest of Scotland should be, as also to prooue how iust a cause the king had to attempt it, trusting to persuade the king and all other to be of his opinion. (Chronicles, 1587 546)
Go to this point in the text
If … first begin.
See Tilley (F663), which lists Hall’s chronicle as the earliest instance of the proverb. In Holinshed, both versions of the proverb are cited, first by Westmorland and then inverted by Exeter, who
replied against the erle of Westmerlands oration, affirming rather that he which would Scotland win, he with France must first begin. For if the king might once compasse the conquest of France, Scotland could not long resist; so that conquere France, and Scotland would soone obeie. For where should the Scots lerne policie and skill to defend themselves, if they had not their bringing vp and training in France? If the French pensions mainteined not the Scotish nobilitie, in what case should they be? Then take awaie France, and the Scots will soone be tamed; France being to Scotland the same that the sap is to the tree, which being taken awaie, the tree must needs die and wither. (Chronicles, 1587 546)
Go to this point in the text
in prey
A predator.
Go to this point in the text
Playing … cat
Proverbial: While the cat’s away, the mice will play (Tilley C175).
Go to this point in the text
’tame
Attame: to meddle with, or to penetrate into food stores.
Editors puzzled by F’s tame have emended to more common verbs, the most common being tear and taint.
Go to this point in the text
havoc
Lay waste.
Go to this point in the text
but … necessity
Not really a necessity.
I.e., only a forced logic could make staying at home seem necessary; Exeter questions the conclusion of Ely’s reasoning.
Various editors have suggested unnecessary emendations of F’s crush’d, all of which lead to a weakened sense. Compare Malvolio’s to crush this a little, it would bow to me (TN 2.5.116–117).
Go to this point in the text
pretty
Clever, cunning (OED, 2nd ed. pretty, A.a.I.1).
Go to this point in the text
advisèd
Judicious, wise.
Go to this point in the text
though high … parts
Though it be put into parts according to social hierarchy.
The phrase also establishes the musical metaphor of a chorus of parts singing in harmony. As Theobald notes, Shakespeare closely follows Cicero’s De re publica in his comparison of the state to musical harmony:
For just as in the music of harps and flutes or in the voices of singers a certain harmony of the different tones must be preserved […] so also is a State made harmonious by agreement among dissimilar elements, brought about by a fair and reasonable blending together of the upper, middle, and lower classes, just as if they were musical tones. What musicians call harmony in song is concord in a State, the strongest and best bond of permanent union in any commonwealth. (Theobald, Works of Shakespeare; Cicero 2.42)
Go to this point in the text
consent
Agreement, consensus.
OED, 2nd ed. consent, n.3. As Hudson argues, the spelling concent, meaning “harmony”, is a more specific musical term of art—deriving from the Latin con cantus, a singing together—and would better elaborate the musical metaphor, but the difference in the spoken words is inaudible, and would limit the range of meaning intended (Hudson, Complete Works).
Go to this point in the text
Congreeing
Agreeing together.
A word recorded by the OED only in this line (OED, 2nd ed. congree, v).
Go to this point in the text
close
The conclusion of a musical phrase (OED, 2nd ed. close, n.2.2).
Go to this point in the text
state
Governance.
Go to this point in the text
divers
Several, various.
Go to this point in the text
To which … Obedience
Obedience is the target, as in archery, toward which the continual motion of all human endeavor is directed.
Go to this point in the text
aim
Thing aimed at (OED, 2nd ed. aim, n.6).
Go to this point in the text
honeybees
The trope of bees as a model for human society and government is ancient, appearing in the fourth of Virgil’s Georgics and Pliny’s Natural History (Book XI, Chapters 4-5), but Shakespeare may have patterned this speech after the theme’s treatment in Elyot’s The Governour (Elyot 7v) or an extended passage in Lyly’s Euphues and his England (Lyly sigs. F4r–G1v).
Go to this point in the text
by … nature
By instinct.
Wilson glosses rule in nature as “instinctive polity” (Henry V), but no paradox or oxymoron is necessarily intended.
Go to this point in the text
act
Activity.
The sense of “law” or statute may be intended, as suggested by the equivalent line in Q, but it makes less sense here; laws are not taught. F5’s reading, (art) may be correct.
Go to this point in the text
peopled kingdom
Kingdom of humans.
Go to this point in the text
king
The Aristotelian belief that the leader of a beehive was male was traditional until the late sixteenth century. As Taylor notes, the fact of the queen bee’s sex was not published in England until Charles Butler’s The Feminine Monarchy in 1609 (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
of sorts
Of various kinds or ranks.
Go to this point in the text
magistrates
Civil justices.
Go to this point in the text
correct
Punish (wrongdoers).
Go to this point in the text
venture
1) Send; 2) financially speculate in.
Go to this point in the text
Make boot upon
Plunder.
Go to this point in the text
velvet
1) Soft; 2) prosperously dressed.
Go to this point in the text
pillage
Spoils, booty.
Go to this point in the text
tent-royal
Royal pavilion.
The image anticipates the battlefield pavilion that Henry will occupy in his French campaign.
Go to this point in the text
majesties
Royal duties.
Most editors since Rowe emend to majesty (Works, 1714), but C.J. Sisson defends F’s reading:
Majesties in the plural gives good sense, indeed better sense. To say that the King is ‘busy in his majestyʼ suggests merely that he is absorbed in his lofty rank, whereas ‘busy in his majestiesʼ means occupied by all the diverse attributes and functions of a king. (New Readings in Shakespeare 2.57)
Go to this point in the text
masons
Builders.
Go to this point in the text
civil
Orderly.
Go to this point in the text
citizens
The term has a more specific sense than city-dwellers; citizen, in Shakespeare’s London, signified a member of a recognized trade guild, especially the twelve great livery companies from which the city’s governors were elected. In the absence of banks in early modern England, wealthy citizen merchants and their guilds were storehouses of liquid wealth, providing loans of ready money to individuals, to civic institutions, and to the crown. Canterbury’s characterization of those bees who store the hive’s own liquid wealth as citizens would thus have seemed particularly apt to the play’s original audience.
Go to this point in the text
kneading up
Mixing.
Go to this point in the text
mechanic
Go to this point in the text
sad-eyed justice
Somber judge.
Go to this point in the text
surly
Haughty, imperious (OED, 2nd ed. surly, a.2.a).
Go to this point in the text
hum
A noise of deliberation, (i.e., “hmmm”); also the buzz of a bee.
Go to this point in the text
executors
Executioners.
The weaker legal sense of OED, 2nd ed. executor, n.1, those that carry out a warrant, is possible, but the grimmer sense better fits the context, and foreshadows the execution of Bardolph in the third act.
Go to this point in the text
drone
Non-working male bee whose function is to impregnate the queen.
After their sexual function is fulfilled, drones are ejected from the hive to die. The drone is a common Renaissance figure for laziness.
Go to this point in the text
having full … consent
All striving for a common purpose.
Go to this point in the text
contrariously
In (apparent) opposition.
Go to this point in the text
loosèd several ways
Shot in different directions.
Go to this point in the text
mark
Target.
Go to this point in the text
ways
Roads.
Go to this point in the text
close
Converge, unite.
Go to this point in the text
dial’s
Sundial’s.
Go to this point in the text
borne
Carried out.
Go to this point in the text
happy
Prosperous, fortunate (OED, 2nd ed. happy, a.3).
Go to this point in the text
withal
With it (the one quarter).
The division into quarters appears as a first indication of the size of the English army in France and the small numbers present at Agincourt (Gurr, King Henry).
Go to this point in the text
Gallia
The ancient Roman name for France (Gaul).
Craik notes that all Gallia recalls the familiar opening to Caesar’s Gallic Wars: Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres (“All Gaul is divided into three parts”) (Craik, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
worried
Shaken to death, as by the dog.
Go to this point in the text
policy
Political shrewdness.
Go to this point in the text
dauphin
The title of the heir to the French throne, taken from the dolphin depicted on the arms of the French King’s eldest son.
In productions, the original spelling of the title (Dolphin) has suggested a fertile joke to directors. In Adrian Noble’s 1984 production, for example, Exeter (Brian Blessed) insisted on the English pronunciation in order to irk the French, and the dauphin’s reaction, an indignantly precise French pronunciation (For the—Doe-fan — , I stand here for him) raised a laugh (Henry V). Similarly, in 2000, Edward Hall’s English characters used the Folio spellings of Dauphin, Calais (Callice), etc., as a running joke about the parochialism of the English tourist’s refusal to acknowledge local custom (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
Now … resolved
Now I am determined.
In giving Henry a decisive and vocal role in the move to war, Shakespeare departs from Holinshed’s portrayal of the events, in which the bishops’ and lords’ arguments whip the English into a frenzy, and Henry’s voice is absent:
To be briefe, the duke of Excester used such earnest and pithie persuasions, to induce the king and the whole assemblie of the parlement to credit his words, that immediatelie after he had made an end, all the companie began to crie; Warre, warre; France, France. Hereby the bill for dissoluing of religious houses was cleerlie set aside, and nothing thought on but onelie the recouering of France, according as the archbishop had mooued. (Chronicles, 1587 546)
Go to this point in the text
France being ours
Since France is rightfully ours.
Go to this point in the text
bend … awe
Make it submit to us in fear.
Go to this point in the text
Or … sit
Either I will reign there (in France).
Go to this point in the text
large and ample
1) Generous, liberal; 2) extensive, wide-ranging.
Go to this point in the text
empery
Dominion, authority.
Go to this point in the text
kingly
Grand enough to be kingdoms themselves.
Go to this point in the text
these bones
My bones.
Go to this point in the text
in … Tombless
In a grave without a monument.
Go to this point in the text
with full mouth
Loudly.
Go to this point in the text
Turkish mute
A Turkish slave with his tongue removed to ensure secrecy.
Go to this point in the text
Not worshipped … epitaph.
Not even memorialized in easily-obliterated wax (let alone in stone or brass).
An actor might clarify the line’s meaning, as Iain Glen did in the 1994 RSC production, by placing emphasis on waxen (Warchus, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
pleasure
Intention.
Go to this point in the text
render
Deliver, recite.
Go to this point in the text
what … charge
What we have been ordered to say.
Go to this point in the text
sparingly
Reservedly, delicately.
Go to this point in the text
far off
Indirectly, as if from a distance.
Go to this point in the text
Unto … our prisons.
Whose anger is subdued by his virtue.
Go to this point in the text
fettered
Chained.
Go to this point in the text
in few
Briefly.
Go to this point in the text
sending into
Sending an ambassador to.
Go to this point in the text
some certain dukedoms
Shakespeare alters the chronology of the political wrangling that led up to Henry’s invasion. In Holinshed, the tennis ball embassy precedes and more clearly instigates the build-up to war (Chronicles, 1587; see A1 Sc2 Sp27 n.). Only after that insult does Canterbury’s speech incite the English lords to support the campaign, and after another French embassy Exeter is sent to France to demand that the French king deliuer vnto the king of England the realme and crowne of France, with the entier duchies of Aquiteine, Normandie and Aniou, with the countries of Poictiou and Maine and to suggest that Henry take in mariage the ladie Katharine, daughter to the French king, and to indow hir with all the duchies and countries before rehearsed (Chronicles, 1587 546). Shakespeare’s alterations to the source—making the English more clearly into instigators, changing the idea of the royal marriage into a desperate French attempt to avoid war that likes Henry not (A3 Sc0 Sp1), and removing Exeter’s embassy until the English invasion has already begun—might be seen cumulatively to portray the English cause less as a righteous response to injury, as in Holinshed, and more as a premeditated campaign looking for a pretext.
Go to this point in the text
savor
Have a taste about you.
Go to this point in the text
be advised
Take heed.
Go to this point in the text
naught
Nothing.
Go to this point in the text
galliard
Lively dance.
Go to this point in the text
revel into
Party your way into.
Go to this point in the text
meeter
More appropriate.
Go to this point in the text
tun
Chest.
Go to this point in the text
Tennis balls
The colorful but probably apocryphal anecdote of the dauphin’s gift of tennis balls was among the most memorable popular traditions surrounding Henry V. Holinshed places the disdainfull ambassage in the spring preceding the Leicester parliament dramatized here:
Whilest in the Lent season the king laie at Killingworth, there came to him from Charles Dolphin of France certaine ambassadors, that brought with them a barrel of Paris balles, which from their maister they presented to him for a token that was taken in verie ill part, as sent in scorne, to signifie, that it was more meet for the king to passe the time with such childish exercise, than to attempt any worthie exploit. (Chronicles, 1587 545)
Following the example of the anonymous 1598 play The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth, Shakespeare conflates the tennis ball embassy with the French reply to Henry’s demands (FV sigs. D2v-D3v).
Go to this point in the text
When … chases.
Henry engages in extended wordplay, quibbling on several terms from tennis (as it was played by the aristocracy of late medieval European courts): rackets, set, hazard, match, courts, chases. The game of real tennis (as opposed to the modern lawn tennis) originated in France, was popular among the English aristocracy from the reign of Henry V to the seventeenth century, and has maintained its enthusiasts to the present day.
A sketch of a tennis game. Text at the bottom reads: A. Paris. Chez
                           Charles Hulpeau. 1622.
Real tennis: a seventeenth-century French illustration.
It is played indoors on a walled, oblong court, and scoring is achieved when the ball is struck into a hazard (a hole or concavity in the wall) or when it bounces twice without being returned (a chase). See Shakespeare’s England 2: 459–462.
Go to this point in the text
rackets
1) Tennis rackets (OED, 2nd ed. racket, n.1.1.a); 2) warlike uproar (OED, 3rd ed. n.3.1.a).
Prince Hal puns on these two senses (2H4 2.2.16–19).
Go to this point in the text
set
In tennis, a group of six games (OED, 2nd ed. set, n.1.II.26).
Go to this point in the text
Shall
That shall.
Go to this point in the text
crown
With a possible quibble on money wagered on the metaphorical tennis match.
Go to this point in the text
the hazard
1) Jeopardy; 2) in tennis, a recess in the wall opposite the server, who wins by striking the ball into it.
Go to this point in the text
wrangler
Vigorous quarreler.
Go to this point in the text
courts
Quibbling on two senses: royal courts and tennis courts.
Go to this point in the text
chases
1) Pursuit of quarry; 2) in tennis, double-bounced balls, the most common means of scoring.
Go to this point in the text
comes o’er us
Pretends superiority, taunts (OED, 2nd ed. come, v.B.VIII.46.c).
Go to this point in the text
wilder days
Go to this point in the text
measuring
Go to this point in the text
seat
Throne, court.
The context makes clear that seat refers metonymically to the royal place and duties, and not, as some early editors surmised, to England itself. But as Craik argues, ‘this poor seatʼ may introduce the ironical idea that England is only the lesser part of his rightful inheritance, his ‘throne of Franceʼ being the greater part (Craik, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
living hence
Absent from the court.
Go to this point in the text
license
Excessive freedom.
Go to this point in the text
from
Away from.
Go to this point in the text
keep my state
Behave with kingly dignity (OED, 2nd ed. state, n.II.19).
Go to this point in the text
sail of greatness
Unfurled glory.
The metaphor carries a reminder of the naval expedition about to ensue.
Go to this point in the text
rouse me
Rise up.
Go to this point in the text
For that
With that goal in mind.
Go to this point in the text
like … days
Like a common working man.
Moore Smith reads for working days as during working days and draws a comparison between Henry’s ultimate glory and the Sabbath as a day of rest (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
mock
Act of mockery.
The repetition of the word in the ensuing lines appropriately evokes the sound of a tennis ball struck back and forth.
Go to this point in the text
balls
Tennis balls.
Some editors have found a bawdy play on the sense of “testicles”.
Go to this point in the text
gunstones
Cannon-balls.
Stones, rather than iron balls, were used as ammunition in early cannons, and gunstones remained the more usual word until the seventeenth century. Henry’s quip about tennis balls returned as ammunition has a long pedigree. Caxton’s Cronycles of Englond (1482), for example, records that Henry
was wonder sore agreued & right euyll payed toward the frensshmen, and toward the kyng & the Dolphyn / & thought to auenge hym vpon hem / as sone as god wolde sende hym grace & myght / and anone lete make tenys balles for the dolphyn in al the hast that they mygt be made and they were grete gonne stones for the Dolphyn to playe with all. (Caxton T5)
In Famous Victories, Henry rejoins that in steed of balles of leather, / We will tosse him balles of brasse and yron (Sp335 FV).
Go to this point in the text
sore chargèd
Heavily burdened.
Plays on the sense of loaded with ammunition (OED, 2nd ed. charge, v.I.5).
Go to this point in the text
wasteful
Destructive.
Go to this point in the text
yet ungotten
Not yet conceived.
Go to this point in the text
But this … cause.
Again Henry’s speech to the ambassador follows Holinshed closely:
tell this to the vsurper your master, that within three moneths, I will enter into France, as into mine owne true and lawfull patrimonie, appointing to acquire the same, not with brag of words, but with deeds of men, and dint of sword, by the aid of God, in whome is my whole trust and confidence. Further matter at this present I impart not vnto you, sauing that with warrant you maie depart suerlie and safelie into your countrie, where I trust sooner to visit you, than you shall haue cause to bid me welcome. (Chronicles, 1587 548)
Go to this point in the text
venge me
Avenge myself.
Go to this point in the text
well-hallowed
Made holy, thoroughly blessed.
Go to this point in the text
savor but of
Seem merely to proceed from (OED, 2nd ed. savour, v.I.4.a).
Go to this point in the text
This
The dauphin’s embassy.
Go to this point in the text
omit … hour
Neglect no fortunate opportunity.
Go to this point in the text
furtherance
Advancement, assistance.
Go to this point in the text
those … business
Prayers that precede the undertaking of the war.
Go to this point in the text
proportions
Allotted portion of resources (OED, 3rd ed. proportion, n.6.b).
Go to this point in the text
God before
Led by God, or possibly an oath, i.e., “I swear before God”.
Go to this point in the text
chide
Scold, rebuke.
Go to this point in the text
task
Employ.
Go to this point in the text
fair
1) Legitimate; 2) likely to succeed (OED, 3rd ed. fair, a.III.14.a, II.10).
Go to this point in the text
on foot
Go to this point in the text
Flourish
Trumpet fanfare accompanying a person of distinction.
The Chorus’s entrance here and at 3.0 is accompanied by a flourish in the Folio stage directions (A3 Sc0 SD1), but the trumpets in both cases seem intended to mark the exit of royalty and the transition from the previous scene, not to announce the Chorus’s arrival.
Go to this point in the text
on fire
Burning with eagerness for war.
Go to this point in the text
silken dalliance
Fine clothes appropriate to idleness.
Go to this point in the text
armourers
Makers of armour.
Go to this point in the text
mirror
Exemplar, model.
Holinshed and Hall both use the term mirror in the sense of “exemplar” to describe Henry’s virtues (Holinshed, Chronicles; Hall, The vnion). This precise phrase may echo Hall’s comment on Agincourt: THIS battail maie be a mirror and glasse to al Christian princes to beholde and folowe (The vnion fol. 52).
Go to this point in the text
With … Mercuries
Swiftly, like the Roman messenger god Mercury, who wore winged sandals.
Go to this point in the text
hides … imperial
A sketch of Edward III, a bearded white man wearing
                           a crown. He holds a sword with two crowns encircling the blade in one
                           hand and a royal orb topped with a cross in the other.
Woodcut of Edward III from Holinshedʼs Chronicles (1577), 2:885. Image via Internet Archive.
The image of the sword encircled by crowns was a heraldic device of Edward III, Henry V’s great-grandfather, who was frequently depicted wielding it. One such representation that Shakespeare may have seen appears in a woodcut in the first edition of Holinshed’s Chronicles (Holinshed, 1577 885).
Go to this point in the text
hilts
The arms of the crosspiece guarding the hand.
Go to this point in the text
coronets
Small crowns, inferior to kingly crowns imperial worn ceremonially by some noble ranks.
Go to this point in the text
intelligence
Information acquired by espionage.
Go to this point in the text
preparation
Go to this point in the text
pale
Fearful, feeble, ineffectual.
Go to this point in the text
policy
Stratagems, trickery (OED, 3rd ed. policy, n.1.I.3).
Go to this point in the text
model to
Representation of.
Model may also be intended in the more evocative sense of a mold for shaping molten material (OED, 2nd ed. model, n.I.5); the inward greatness is thus the glorious potential to be physically embodied in England.
Go to this point in the text
Like little … heart
This marks the first recorded instance of this proverb (see Tilley B501).
Go to this point in the text
What
What great things.
Go to this point in the text
that honor … do
Either “that would do honor to you (England)” or “that your honor would have you do”.
Go to this point in the text
thy children
Englishmen.
Go to this point in the text
kind
Innately loyal.
Go to this point in the text
But see … out
The Folio’s pointing emphasizes more strongly the pessimism of the previous lines than does Capell’s emendation, suggesting that England’s fault is not merely the three hollow bosoms that France has found out in this instance, but rather perennial problem that any enemy might exploit. It has been common since the nineteenth century, though strictly unnecessary, to provide the traitors in dumb show at this point (as for example in the Branagh film of 1989).
Go to this point in the text
hollow bosoms
1) Insincere hearts; 2) empty breast pockets (for holding money; OED, 2nd ed. bosom, n.I.5).
Go to this point in the text
he
While it is more usual to personify countries as feminine, Capell’s emendation is unnecessary, even without Malone’s explanation that he refers to the king of France and not France itself (Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies; Malone, Plays).
Go to this point in the text
crowns
Gold coins.
Not the silver five shilling crown current in sixteenth-century England, but the gold écu à la couronne of Charles VI, bearing the imprint of the French crown on the obverse. The word also serves as a debased echo of the crowns imperial (A2 Sc0 Sp1), and later, in its sense of “head”, provides grim wordplay for Henry (A4 Sc1 Sp75).
Go to this point in the text
three corrupted men
Cf. Holinshed:
When king Henrie had fullie furnished his nauie with men, munition, & other prouisions, perceiuing that his capteines misliked nothing so much as delaie, determined his souldiors to go a ship-boord and awaie. But see the hap, the night before the daie appointed for their departure, he was crediblie informed, that Richard earle of Cambridge brother to Edward duke of Yorke, and Henrie lord Scroope of Masham lord treasuror, with Thomas Graie a knight of Northumberland, being confederat togither, had conspired his death: wherefore he caused them to be apprehended. […] These prisoners vpon their examination, confessed, that for a great summe of monie which they had receiued of the French king, they intended verelie either to haue deliuered the king aliue into the hands of his enimies, or else to haue murthered him before he should arriue in the duchie of Normandie. (Chronicles, 1587 548)
See also Curry 53–54.
Go to this point in the text
gilt
Golden money.
With the obvious quibble on “guilt”.
Go to this point in the text
fearful
Frightened.
Go to this point in the text
this grace of kings
This king who does most grace to the title, i.e., Henry V.
Go to this point in the text
Ere
Before.
Go to this point in the text
Southampton
Port city on England’s southern coast.
Historically, after discovering the conspiracy the English did depart from Southampton, despite the claim at A3 Sc0 Sp1 that Henry embarked at Dover, the more usual port of departure for Calais.
Go to this point in the text
digest
Condense and order in your minds.
Pope’s emendation to well digest is difficult to justify, but it does appeal by virtue of its imperative to the audience, a parallel to Linger your patience (Works). It allows for a much more common gloss on digest, the sense of brook, endure, stomach (OED, 2nd ed. digest, v.6), and it sets up the play on offended stomachs and seasickness at A2 Sc0 Sp1.
Go to this point in the text
Th’abuse of distance
The strain on credulity produced by shifting the scene from London to Southampton.
Go to this point in the text
force
Bring about by strenuous effort.
The irregular meter of this line has sparked conjecture that Shakespeare meant to delete A2 Sc0 Sp1, but most recent editors find a way to add two syllables. Neither Taylor’s nor Craik’s emendation is convincing (Taylor, Henry V; Craik, King Henry V), and the line as it appears in F causes little difficulty in performance.
Go to this point in the text
And bring you back
Often a joke in the theatre: an afterthought, or anxious reassurance (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
charming
Casting a spell on.
Go to this point in the text
pass
Passage.
Go to this point in the text
offend one stomach
Cause dissatisfaction with the drama, or seasickness.
Go to this point in the text
But when … forth
Only when Henry appears on the stage; i.e., the scene will remain in London in the following scene and shift to Southampton in 2.2.
The geographical and logical confusion here are lessened somewhat by adopting Hanmer’s emendation, and Peter Blayney’s conjecture, that till the is a compositor error anticipating till then at the line’s end, is convincing (Hanmer; Hinman). Having promised to shift the setting to Southampton (A2 Sc0 Sp1), the Chorus seems to have a second thought, accounting for the interposed London scene with Bardolph, Nym, and company. Pope solved the difficulty by moving the Chorus after 2.1 (Works), and Johnson by rearranging lines (Plays), but others, following John Dover Wilson, have suggested that the awkwardness is the result of the comic scenes 2.1 and 2.3 having been interpolated in a late revision process, thus requiring the addition of this apparently contradictory closing couplet. See Wilson, The “Stolne and surreptitious” Shakespearean texts.
Go to this point in the text
2.1
Location: London
This scene and 2.3 are frequently called the Eastcheap scenes, since Eastcheap — a street near the north end of London Bridge — is the location of the tavern where Hal and his dissolute comrades spend their time in 1 Henry IV. Given the entrances of the Hostess and Falstaff’s Boy, both associated with that tavern in the earlier plays, the location could be a part of that tavern or a nearby street, but the location is not be specified in the text.
Go to this point in the text
Corporal
A low-ranking non-commissioned officer.
The rank of corporal is anachronistic; the earliest OED citation dates to the sixteenth century (OED, 2nd ed. corporal, n.2.1).
Go to this point in the text
morrow
Morning.
Go to this point in the text
Lieutenant
Although Bardolph appears in 1 Henry IV, 2 Henry IV, and Merry Wives, this is the first time he is addressed as Lieutenant, and the addition of a military rank to the character seems intended to emphasize the mobilization process. Nym is addressed as Corporal consistently in Merry Wives (the other play in which he appears), though Pistol is given the title Ancient only on the Quarto title pages of that play. Pistol is introduced in 2 Henry IV more as the comic type of the braggart soldier than as a literal military man, and in that play he is variously called Ancient (F1 2H4 sig. G4v, G5r), Captain (sig. G5r), and Lieutenant (sig. GG7v).
In Henry V, the three characters’ frequent misrememberings of each other’s military ranks and positions, even in the same scene, serves as a running joke about their military incompetence. Malone comments on the discrepancies with regard to these character’s ranks:
The author of REMARKS on the last edition of Shakespeare wishes to know, where Bardolph acquired this commission, (as he is no more than Falstaff’s corporal in K. Henry IV.) and calls on Mr. Steevens for information on this subject. If Shakespeare were now alive, he would perhaps find it as difficult to give the desired information as Mr. Steevens. The intelligent reader must have long since observed that our author not only neglected to compare his plays with each other, but that, even in the same play, ‘the latter end of his commonwealth sometimes forgets the beginning.ʼ (Plays)
Go to this point in the text
Ancient
Ensign, i.e., military flag-bearer.
Although some editors emend to the modern form, ensign, which appears in that form once in Sp165Q1 H5), I have retained ancient, as it is not merely an archaism, but a part of a well-known character’s name that reflects a clear authorial choice.
Go to this point in the text
part
The RSC editors find a quibble on the sense of penis (Bate and Rasmussen).
Go to this point in the text
I say little
Compare the Boy’s comment on Nym’s terseness (A3 Sc2 Sp10).
Go to this point in the text
time shall serve
The opportunity arises.
Go to this point in the text
there … smiles
We shall be friendly; probably ironic.
This phrase puzzled some eighteenth-century editors; Johnson, following Warburton’s conjecture, made smiles a stage direction, despite the fact that directions for facial expressions are unknown in early modern drama (Johnson, Plays; Warburton, Works). Dyce emended to smites, eliminating the potential for Nym’s sinister irony (Works).
Go to this point in the text
that shall … may
Proverbial (Tilley T202).
Go to this point in the text
wink
Shut my eyes.
Go to this point in the text
iron
Sword.
Many editors find bawdy phallic associations throughout this scene’s several references to swords.
Go to this point in the text
what though
What of that?
Go to this point in the text
it … cold
I.e., it does not mind being unsheathed.
Go to this point in the text
there’s an end
That’s all there is to say.
Go to this point in the text
bestow
Give.
Go to this point in the text
sworn brothers
Bound by oaths as brothers.
The phrase is a translation of fraters jurati, a reference to the practice of knights binding themselves by oath to share each other’s fortunes and profits.
Go to this point in the text
certain
Go to this point in the text
do as I may
Proverbial: Men must do as they may, not as they would (Tilley M554). A modern stage tradition, that Nim stutters, has the merit of bringing out the absurdity of this line, the stutter on do giving an audience time to anticipate the obvious and logical conclusion die, which Nim then avoids (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
rest
1) Final consolation, i.e., death; 2) last-ditch bet (a reference to the card game primero).
For the second sense, see OED, 2nd ed. rest, n.2.6.a, which cites this line.
Go to this point in the text
rendezvous
Last resort (OED, 3rd ed. rendezvous, n.5.b., citing only this line.).
Go to this point in the text
troth-plight
Betrothed.
A more binding arrangement than a modern engagement.
Go to this point in the text
cannot tell
Cannot be certain.
Go to this point in the text
Though patience … plod.
Nym implies that he can wait indefinitely for his revenge.
The Folio reading, a tired name, is likely a result of minim error. Horses were proverbially tired, and Taylor cites Gabriel Harvey’s Pierces supererogation (1593) for a source of Nym’s metaphor: Patience is the common Pack-horse of the world (Taylor, Henry V; Harvey 142).
Go to this point in the text
conclusions
A resolution (to all things).
Go to this point in the text
Here comes … Pistol?
Many editors emend these lines into a conflation of the Folio and Quarto versions, preferring, like me, to give the insulting address—mine host rather than Ancient—to Nym rather than to the peacekeeping Bardolph. Q’s version of the lines is as follows: Bar: Godmorrow ancient Pistoll. / Here comes ancient Pistoll, I prithee Nim be quiet. / Nim: How do you my Hoste? (Q1 H5 sig. B1v).
Go to this point in the text
host
Innkeeper, with the suggestion of “pimp”.
Go to this point in the text
tyke
Low-bred dog, mongrel.
As his spelling suggests, Malone read this word as a variant spelling of tick, the blood-sucking arachnid, an appropriate term of abuse for Bardolph (or Nym), despite Pistol’s other canine insults in this scene (Malone, Plays). See OED, 2nd ed. tick, n.1
Go to this point in the text
keep lodgers
Rent out rooms.
With the suggestion of keeping a brothel, as the Hostess implies.
Go to this point in the text
troth
Faith.
Go to this point in the text
not long
Not for much longer.
This undercuts Pistol’s moralistic indignation by implying that she is currently keeping a brothel.
Go to this point in the text
live honestly … needles
Make an honest living by sewing.
With additional bawdy senses, as both prick and needle have the sense of “penis” (and, the RSC editors assert, needles can mean vaginas as well [Bate and Rasmussen]).
Go to this point in the text
bawdy house
Brothel.
Go to this point in the text
straight
Immediately.
Go to this point in the text
Nym draws his sword
The Folio text for this scene gives editors, directors, and actors considerable latitude when determining who draws or sheathes a sword and when. The only original stage direction is Draw (F1 H5 sig. H3r), but the dialogue makes it clear that the threat of comic violence repeatedly arises. I have made editorial incursions only where the dialogue makes the stage business indisputable.
Go to this point in the text
welladay
An exclamation of lament, like “alas”.
Go to this point in the text
lady
By our lady (the Virgin Mary).
Go to this point in the text
if … hewn
Should Nym not be cut down.
Go to this point in the text
adultery
Perhaps a mistake for assault.
Go to this point in the text
lieutenant
I.e., Pistol
Capell was the first editor to notice that Bardolph is ostensibly the only lieutenant in the scene (Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies), and editors have struggled to emend what they perceive as an obvious error. Malone reassigned the entire line to the Hostess, which makes her warn both Nym and Bardolph away from her husband (Plays). Hudson gave only Good lieutenant to her, making the address a plea to Bardolph to help her part the fray (Complete Works). I retain the Folio readings, on the grounds that the characters misremember each other’s ranks frequently enough to make intentional error a possibility. Addressing Pistol as a lieutenant may not be an error at all. Ancient (i.e., “standard-bearer”) is an occupation, not necessarily a rank; Pistol’s rank may well be lieutenant, as Fluellen later implies by referring to him as an aunchient lieutenant (F1 H5 sig. H6v).
Go to this point in the text
offer nothing
Attempt no violence.
Go to this point in the text
Pish
Expression of contempt.
Go to this point in the text
Iceland dog
A popular breed of lap dog with long, course hair.
See OED, 2nd ed. Iceland, n.2. John Caius’s treatise Of Englishe Dogges discusses the breed:
Vse and custome hath intertained other dogges of an outlandishe kinde, but a fewe and the same beyng of a pretty bygnesse, I meane Iseland, dogges curled & rough al ouer, which by reason of the lenght of their heare make showe nei ther of face nor of body. And yet these corres, forsoothe; because they are so straunge are greatly set by, esteemed, taken vp, and made of many times in the roome of the Spaniell gentle or comforter. (Caius 37)
Pistol’s insult may depend on the course shagginess of the breed or its meekness.
Go to this point in the text
prick-eared
Pointy eared.
The phrase may also suggest the horns traditionally thought to grow on a cuckold’s head, since Pistol has triumphantly stolen Nym’s intended bride.
Go to this point in the text
cur
Dog.
Go to this point in the text
valor
1) Worth; 2) courage.
Go to this point in the text
put up
Sheathe.
Go to this point in the text
shog off
This is evidently directed at the Hostess, as the next sentence explains that she is keeping Nym from his private duel with Pistol. Another sense of shog, to shake off (OED, 2nd ed. shog, v.1.a) may indicate that she is attempting to restrain Nym physically. Craik’s placement of the To Pistol direction at the beginning of the line suggests another possibility, that Will you shog off? invites Pistol to withdraw to duel elsewhere (Craik, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
solus
Alone (Latin).
Usually a theatrical term indicating a character’s solo entry, Pistol seems to misunderstand the word as an insult.
Go to this point in the text
egregious
Outrageous.
Go to this point in the text
maw
Belly.
Go to this point in the text
perdy
By God.
A corruption of the French par Dieu.
Go to this point in the text
retort
Cast back.
Go to this point in the text
bowels
Guts.
Go to this point in the text
take
Take fire.
I.e., like gunpowder (OED, 2nd ed. take, v.B.VI.44.d), playing on Pistol’s name.
Go to this point in the text
cock is up
1) Firing mechanism is ready; 2) penis is erect.
Pistol’s name (both a firearm and a homophone of pizzle, a slang term for penis) provides much potential for wordplay in scenes where he appears. The Quarto version of this phrase (Pistolls flashing firy cock is vp [Q1 H5 sig. B1v]) is more suggestive of genitals and venereal disease than F’s reading, which plays more heavily on the handgun image.
Go to this point in the text
fire
Gunshot.
The RSC editors find further bawdy, glossing as a secondary sense the effects of venereal disease (Bate and Rasmussen).
Go to this point in the text
Barbason
The name of a demon.
Pistol’s inflated speech reminds Nym of a conjuror’s spell. Barbason is also mentioned in Merry Wives (Wiv 2.2.227).
Go to this point in the text
conjure
Invoke or control by magic.
Go to this point in the text
humour
Inclination.
Nym implies that his violent urges are influenced by one of the four humours believed by medieval medicine to control moods and behaviours: excess blood made one impulsive, boisterous, and amorous; extra phlegm made one lethargic; black bile (melancholy) made one pensive or despondent; and yellow bile (choler) made one irritable. Nym, both in this play and in Merry Wives, uses the word rather imprecisely, typically in some variation of his catchphrase, that’s the humour of it. His overuse of the word pokes fun at the comedy of humours, a type of play made fashionable at the time of Henry V by Chapman’s A humourous Day’s Mirth (1597) and Jonson’s Every Man in His humour (1598).
Go to this point in the text
indifferently
Fairly.
Go to this point in the text
foul
1) Insulting; 2) dirty from being fired.
Go to this point in the text
scour
1) Stab; 2) clean the pistol’s dirty barrel.
Go to this point in the text
rapier
Long, light sword used for fencing.
As Nym is a contemporary of Henry V, his rapier is anachronistic, as it evolved from the older longsword only in the sixteenth century.
Go to this point in the text
in fair terms
Legitimately.
In contrast to the foul Pistol.
Go to this point in the text
braggart
Boaster.
Go to this point in the text
furious
1) Raging; 2) absurd.
Go to this point in the text
wight
Person.
Go to this point in the text
doting
Amorous, eager.
Go to this point in the text
exhale
Draw (literally “haul out”) your sword.
Steevens’s suggestion, breathe your last, is another possibility (Plays).
Go to this point in the text
run him … hilts
Impale him with the full length of my sword.
Go to this point in the text
mickle
Much, great.
Go to this point in the text
fist
Hand.
Go to this point in the text
forefoot
Forepaw, i.e., hand.
Go to this point in the text
tall
Go to this point in the text
Couple a gorge
Pistol’s version of Couper la gorge, French for “cut the throat”.
Go to this point in the text
hound of Crete
Rather obscure as a term of abuse, this phrase was found in a passage from Arthur Golding’s translation of Ovid that describes Actaeon’s dogs (Metamorphosis 3.247). Wilson finds it a likely reference to Nym’s shaggy hair (Wilson, Henry V). Malone conjectures that such hounds were bloodhounds and so Pistol calls Nym bloodthirsty (Plays), but that hardly seems an insult coming from a man who compares himself to a horse-leech (A2 Sc3 Sp16) and whose oaths include as I suck blood (A4 Sc4 Sp30).
Go to this point in the text
Spital
Hospital.
Specifically, a hospital for low-class persons, or those afflicted with pox or leprosy. To a Londoner like Pistol (or Shakespeare), the Spital would be taken to mean Saint Mary Spital, a charity hospital outside Bishopsgate (in what is now London’s East End).
Go to this point in the text
powd’ring tub
Sweating tub used to treat venereal disease.
Here a figurative phrase, a powdering tub was literally a barrel used in salting beef. In the treatment of venereal disease, patients were enclosed in a wooden chamber up to the neck and fumigated with powdered cinnabar (mercury sulfide).
Go to this point in the text
infamy
Shame, bad reputation.
Go to this point in the text
lazar
Diseased.
Usually leprous, though in this context Pistol probably means poxy, i.e., syphilitic.
Go to this point in the text
kite
Bird of prey, predatory person.
Go to this point in the text
Cressid’s kind
Impoverished whores.
Cressida, in classical legend, was the unfaithful lover of Troilus, son of the Trojan king Priam. Robert Henryson’s fifteenth century poem The Testament of Cresseid, a sequel to Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, has her ending her life as a leprous beggar.
Go to this point in the text
Doll Tearsheet
The name of a prostitute.
Doll was a common name for a prostitute (cf. Jonson’s Dol Common in The Alchemist), and Tearsheet suggests violently vigorous sexual activity. A character by this name is mentioned as a consort of Falstaff’s (2H4 2.1.133, 2.2.123, 2.2.134). This Doll may or may not be the person to whom Pistol refers in 5.1 (A5 Sc1 Sp27).
Go to this point in the text
espouse
Marry.
Go to this point in the text
I have … hold
The phrase recalls the marriage service.
Go to this point in the text
quondam
Former (Latin).
By marriage, the Hostess’s name has become Mistress Pistol.
Go to this point in the text
only she
Unparalleled woman.
Go to this point in the text
pauca
Few (Latin), i.e., “I am a man of few words”.
The full phrase is pauca verba (“few words”); Pistol’s elliptical usage reinforces his meaning. Cf. Wiv 1.1.103.
Go to this point in the text
Go to.
A contemptuous exhortation, equivalent to “come on!”
Go to this point in the text
my master
Sir John Falstaff.
Falstaff is the companion of King Henry’s dissolute youth, as depicted in 1 Henry IV and 2 Henry IV, and alluded to in the previous act (e.g. A1 Sc1 Sp11).
Go to this point in the text
Bardolph … warming-pan
Warm Falstaff’s sheets with your fiery red nose.
Bardolph’s alcoholically red face, often compared to fire or to red gems, is a running joke in the plays in which he appears. See the Boy’s joke at A2 Sc3 Sp13 and Fluellen’s description of Bardolph at A3 Sc6 Sp29. See also especially 1H4 3.3.10–36. A warming-pan is a long-handled brass pan of live coals, used for warming beds.
Go to this point in the text
yield … pudding
Provide his flesh to carrion birds; i.e., die.
Proverbial; see Tilley C860.
Go to this point in the text
The king … heart.
At the end of 2 Henry IV, the newly-crowned King Henry rejects Falstaff and all of his former companions (See 2H4 5.5.42–66). Fluellen similarly implies that Falstaff’s death is attributable to this rejection (A4 Sc7 Sp9).
Go to this point in the text
presently
Soon.
Go to this point in the text
Let floods … on.
Editors have variously read this line as a statement either of concession or of defiance. Wilson, glossing for as for want of, heard Pistol saying Let evil (or riot) have its way and the Devil wait for his prey a little longer (i.e., “I won’t kill you right now”) (Henry V). Taylor suggests that Pistol might be thinking of the coming war in France (Henry V). The point of both phrases, however, seems to be that apocalyptic destruction, like Pistol’s own rage, is insatiable, and the line looks like a retort to Bardolph’s gesture toward peace.
Go to this point in the text
Base
Unworthy, low.
As Craik argues, Base is the slave that pays seems to have become proverbial from its use here (Craik, King Henry V; Tilley S523).
Go to this point in the text
manhood shall compound
Valor shall determine.
Go to this point in the text
Push home.
Thrust a sword to a mortal wound.
Go to this point in the text
Sword … oath
Punning on ’sword (i.e., “God’s word”), a common oath.
Craik argues that the line means merely that soldiers must keep their oaths (Craik, King Henry), taking issue with Kaplan’s identification of the pun on the grounds that Pistol is a ranter, not a quibbler (Pistol’s “Oath”).
Go to this point in the text
an
If.
Go to this point in the text
put up
Sheathe your sword.
Go to this point in the text
Nym … swords.
Nym could logically sheathe here as well, or at A2 Sc1 Sp39, when he has had his conditions met.
Go to this point in the text
noble
A gold coin.
Nobles were worth six shillings eight pence, i.e., sixteen pence less than Nym claims Pistol owes him.
Go to this point in the text
present pay
Immediate payment.
Go to this point in the text
combine
Join us together.
Go to this point in the text
live by Nym
1) Live with Nym’s help; 2) make a living by thievery (playing on the sense of nym as steal [OED, 2nd ed. nim, v.3.a]).
Go to this point in the text
sutler
Seller of provisions to an army.
Go to this point in the text
camp
Army, military camp.
Go to this point in the text
justly
Go to this point in the text
come of
Were born of.
The RSC editors find a potential bawdy quibble on come off (i.e., “dismount after sex”) (Bate and Rasmussen).
Go to this point in the text
A poor heart
Some editors read F’s article as an interjection: “Ah, poor heart”.
Go to this point in the text
quotidian tertian
Types of fever or ague.
Despite her tendency toward malapropisms, the Hostess may be giving a correct diagnosis rather than presenting a contradiction in terms. A quotidian fever causes daily paroxysms, and a tertian every third day. Sir John is apparently dangerously afflicted with multiple fevers at once. This particular death for Falstaff is predicted repeatedly in the Henry IV plays, sweating uncontrollably being a final stage of an ague. In 1H4 for example, Hal jokes that Falstaff will sweat to death (1H4 2.3.14), and the actor of Falstaff predicts a similar fate in the epilogue of 2 Henry IV: our humble author will continue the story with Sir John in it, and make you merry with fair Catherine of France; where, for anything I know, Falstaff shall die of a sweat (2H4 Epilogue 21–23).
Go to this point in the text
run … knight
1) Caused Falstaff’s illness; 2) expressed his bad temper to Falstaff.
Go to this point in the text
even of it
Truth of the matter.
Go to this point in the text
fracted
Broken.
Go to this point in the text
corroborate
Strengthened, made whole; probably Pistol’s error for “corrupted”.
Go to this point in the text
passes
1) Allows, lets pass; 2) gives vent to.
Go to this point in the text
humours
Whims, inclinations
Go to this point in the text
careers
Short, full-speed gallops; i.e., impulsive decisions.
Compare Bardolph’s phrase from Merry Wives: and so conclusions passed the careers (Wiv 1.1.137–138).
Go to this point in the text
condole
Comfort, grieve over.
Go to this point in the text
live
Outlive Falstaff.
Malone’s punctuation (lambkins we will live [Plays]) alters the traditional reading: we will live as quietly and peaceably together as lambkins.
Go to this point in the text
2.2
Location: the English muster camp at Southampton, a port city on the southern coast of England.
In performance, this scene is often set on a quayside or a makeshift council chamber to indicate the English preparations to embark, but no such specificity is indicated in the text.
Go to this point in the text
his grace
King Henry.
Go to this point in the text
bold
Overconfident.
Go to this point in the text
apprehended
Arrested.
Go to this point in the text
smooth
Seemingly sincerely and amiably (OED, 2nd ed. smooth, adj.7.a).
Go to this point in the text
even
Steadily.
Go to this point in the text
bear
Present, carry.
Go to this point in the text
allegiance in their bosoms
An ironic echo of the hollow bosoms (A2 Sc0 Sp1).
Go to this point in the text
hath note
Is aware.
Go to this point in the text
interception
Spies intercepting their messages.
Go to this point in the text
bedfellow
Close companion.
It was not unusual for men to share beds until the middle of the seventeenth century, often only for convenience, though here the practice indicates the special relationship that Scrope enjoyed with Henry, detailed in Holinshed:
The said lord Scroope was in such fauour with the king, that he admitted him sometime to be his bedfellow, in whose fidelitie the king reposed such trust, that when anie priuat or publike councell was in hand, this lord had much in the determination of it. For he represented so great grauitie in his countenance, such modestie in behauiour, and so vertuous zeale to all godlinesse in his talke, that whatsoeuer he said was thought for the most part necessarie to be doone and followed. (Chronicles, 1587 548)
In Munday’s Sir John Oldcastle (1600), which dwells much more fully on the conspiracy than does Henry V, Scrope proposes using this trust to assassinate the king:
What thinke ye then of this? I am his bedfellow,
And vnsuspected nightly sleepe with him.
What if I venture in those silent houres,
When sleepe hath sealed vp all mortall eies,
To murder him in bed? how like ye that?
(Munday sig. H4r)
Historically, Lord Scrope’s crime was not involvement in the plot, but failure to reveal it to the king, and as Anne Curry argues, Henry’s action against Scrope was verging on arbitrary rule (Curry 37).
Go to this point in the text
dulled
Deadened the appetite of.
Go to this point in the text
cloyed
Sickened by overfeeding.
Go to this point in the text
a foreign purse
French bribes.
Go to this point in the text
aboard
Embark the navy.
Go to this point in the text
gentle
Noble.
Go to this point in the text
powers
Troops.
Go to this point in the text
force
Military might.
Go to this point in the text
execution
1) Accomplishment; 2) destruction.
Go to this point in the text
in head
As an army; in force.
Go to this point in the text
we are
I am.
Henry begins the scene using the royal pronoun we almost exclusively, to indicate that he is speaking from the symbolic authority of the kingdom. The exception is care of me (A2 Sc2 Sp18), with which he seems to specify his personal safety. At A2 Sc2 Sp25 he shifts to the singular I in addressing Scrope, marking the shift from general to personal injury. The careful use of the two pronouns highlights the double nature of the king, and of the crime of treason, made explicit in the rhetorical distinction between our person and our kingdom (A2 Sc2 Sp30).
Go to this point in the text
grows not in a fair consent
Is not in complete harmony.
Go to this point in the text
attend on
Wait upon, serve.
Go to this point in the text
feared
Revered.
Taylor notes that this line may allude to the famous question—posed by Machiavelli in The Prince—of whether it is better for a ruler to be feared or loved (Taylor, Henry V); if so, then feared may have the sinister connotation more usual today. Holinshed (citing Hall, The vnion) may provide a source for the balanced view of Henry that Cambridge voices here:
Thys king was a Prince whome all men loued, and of none disdayned. This Prince was a captain against whome fortune neuer frowned, nor mischance once spurned. This captain was a shepheard, whom his flocke both loued and obeyed. This shephearde was suche a Iusticiarie, that lefte no offence vnpunished, nor frendship vnrewarded. Thys Iusticiarie was so feared, that all rebellion was banished, and sedition suppressed. (Holinshed, Chronicles, 1577 1217)
Go to this point in the text
heart-grief
Unhappiness.
Go to this point in the text
your father’s enemies
The reign of Henry IV, the scambling and unquiet time (A1 Sc1 Sp1), was characterized by frequent rebellion.
Go to this point in the text
steeped their galls
Drowned their bitterness.
Galls are gall-bladders, traditionally regarded as the source of bitter feelings, especially those of resentment (Craik, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
create
Entirely composed.
Go to this point in the text
And … merit
I am more likely to forget how to use my own hand than to neglect to pay people what they deserve.
Possibly an echo of Psalm 137:5: If I forget thee, O Ierusalem, let my right hand forget to play (Geneva).
Go to this point in the text
office
Function.
Go to this point in the text
quittance
Requital, recompense.
Go to this point in the text
weight and worthiness
Appropriate measure of the deserving deeds.
Go to this point in the text
steelèd
Hardened.
Go to this point in the text
judge
Think.
Go to this point in the text
Enlarge
Release.
Go to this point in the text
committed
Imprisoned.
Go to this point in the text
railed … person
Ranted, spoke abusively about me.
See OED, 2nd ed. rail, v.5.1. Neither this incident, the release of the complaining drunkard, nor the game with the commission papers that ensues, is historical, and all seem to be Shakespeare’s inventions.
Go to this point in the text
set him on
Provoked him.
Go to this point in the text
on … advice
Now that he has sobered up and come to his senses.
Go to this point in the text
too much security
Overconfidence, carelessness (OED, 2nd ed. security, n.3).
Go to this point in the text
example
His precedent.
Go to this point in the text
by his sufferance
Because of your pardoning him.
Go to this point in the text
yet
In spite of your arguments.
Go to this point in the text
correction
Punishment.
Go to this point in the text
heavy
Difficult to bear.
Go to this point in the text
orisons
Prayers.
Go to this point in the text
proceeding on distemper
Due to drunken rashness.
See OED, 2nd ed. distemper, n.1.4.d, which cites this line as the earliest example of the sense of “intoxication”.
Steevens quotes an unrelated passage of Holinshed: his neighbours came to him, and gaue him wine and strong drinke in such excessiue sort, that he was therewith distempered, and reeled as he went (Chronicles, 1587 626 qtd. in Steevens, Plays).
Go to this point in the text
winked at
Overlooked.
See (OED, 2nd ed. wink, v.1.6) Proverbially, small faults are winked at (Tilley F123).
Go to this point in the text
how … eye
How wide must I open my eye.
Go to this point in the text
capital
Punishable by death.
Go to this point in the text
chewed … digested
Deliberately planned.
Go to this point in the text
dear
Tender.
The secondary sense of “costly, dearly bought” is also ironically intended. The RSC editors find a pun on dire as well (Bate and Rasmussen).
Go to this point in the text
late
Lately appointed.
Go to this point in the text
commissioners
Officers to serve as regents during the absence of the king.
Go to this point in the text
it
My commission.
Go to this point in the text
lose … complexion
Turn so pale.
Go to this point in the text
paper
1) White; 2) easily read.
Go to this point in the text
have
F2’s emendation to hath is unnecessary; Henry implicitly asks what things they have read.
Go to this point in the text
cowarded
Daunted, made cowardly.
Go to this point in the text
Out of appearance?
Out of your faces.
Go to this point in the text
quick
1) Alive; 2) ready.
Go to this point in the text
but late
Just now.
Go to this point in the text
reasons
Arguments against mercy (OED, 2nd ed. reason, n.I.1.1.a).
Go to this point in the text
worrying
Biting and shaking.
Go to this point in the text
English monsters
The conspirators’ treachery is the more ‘monstrousʼ in that they are English; ‘monstersʼ (monstrosities) were commonly shown as exotic marvels (Humphreys, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
accord
Agree.
Go to this point in the text
furnish
Provide.
Go to this point in the text
appurtenants … honor
Things befitting his position.
Go to this point in the text
light
Cheap; below standard legal weight.
Go to this point in the text
lightly
1) Readily; 2) whorishly.
Go to this point in the text
practices
Plots, conspiracies (OED, 3rd ed. practice, n.5.b).
Go to this point in the text
Hampton
Southampton.
Go to this point in the text
This knight
Grey.
Go to this point in the text
bounty
Generosity.
Go to this point in the text
counsels
Go to this point in the text
bottom
Go to this point in the text
coined … gold
Made me your personal mint, to make as much gold as you wanted.
Go to this point in the text
practiced on
Plotted against, deceived (OED, 2nd ed. practise, v.9).
Go to this point in the text
use
Profit.
The sense of “interest, usury” may be a reminder, along with the coining metaphor in the previous line, that Scrope had been Henry IV’s Lord Treasurer.
Go to this point in the text
hire
Payment.
Go to this point in the text
annoy
Harm, irritate.
Go to this point in the text
stands off
Stands out.
Go to this point in the text
gross
Plainly.
Go to this point in the text
black and white
Q reads black from white, which implicitly assigns moral value to black and white and aligns truth with blackness.
Go to this point in the text
ever kept together
Have always dwelt together (OED, 2nd ed. keep, v.III.37).
Go to this point in the text
yoke-devils
Devils yoked together like oxen.
Go to this point in the text
grossly
Obviously, blatantly (OED, 2nd ed. grossly, adv.2).
Go to this point in the text
unnatural
Editors usually emend F’s curious an naturall to a natural, which still requires the explanation natural to devils. It seems as likely that the Folio reading is a compositorial mishearing.
Go to this point in the text
admiration
Wonder.
Go to this point in the text
whoop
Exclaim.
The sense of these lines is that ordinary treason, unlike Scrope’s, is so commonly associated with murder that the linking of the two sins is nothing to excite wonder.
Go to this point in the text
proportion
Natural order.
Go to this point in the text
wait on
Serve.
Go to this point in the text
wrought upon
Influenced, persuaded.
Go to this point in the text
preposterously
Unnaturally, contrarily to expectation.
Go to this point in the text
voice
Go to this point in the text
suggest
Prompt to evil (OED, 2nd ed. suggest, v.7, citing this line.).
Go to this point in the text
by treasons
Either 1) by using treachery; or 2) by suggesting treasonous acts.
Rowe attempted to give suggest the more usual transitive sense by emending to by-treasons (i.e., insidious, non-straightforward treasons) (Works, 1714).
Go to this point in the text
botch … up
Clumsily stitch together.
The metaphor is of a devil as a botcher, i.e., a tailor who makes repairs (OED, 2nd ed. botcher, n.1.2.b), hastily fashioning a garment (damnation) out of the tatters of piety.
Go to this point in the text
patches
Pieces of cloth.
The sense of fool (OED, 3rd ed. patch, n.2.1) is perhaps also suggested.
Go to this point in the text
colors
1) Outward appearances; 2) excuses, pretexts.
For the second sense, see OED, 2nd ed. colour, n.1.III.12. May also play on the sense of military regiments or their banners (n.1 7.).
Go to this point in the text
forms
Outward behaviours (OED, 2nd ed. form, n.I.15.a).
Go to this point in the text
glist’ring
Glittering, shining.
Go to this point in the text
semblances of piety
Appearances and behaviours mimicking virtue.
Go to this point in the text
tempered
Shaped, prepared (for treason).
Johnson’s suggested emendation to tempted is plausible, but weakens the artisanal image (Plays). Shakespeare uses the verb in the sense of “soften” (like wax) in 2 Henry IV: I have him already tempering between my finger and my thumb, and shortly will I seal with him (2H4 4.2.105–106).
Go to this point in the text
stand up
Rebel, confront authority (OED, 3rd ed. stand, v.8). See King Lear: Give me thy sword. A peasant stand up thus? (Lr 3.7.77).
Go to this point in the text
instance
Go to this point in the text
to dub … name
Merely to acquire the title.
Go to this point in the text
gulled
Tricked.
Go to this point in the text
lion gait
Lion-like walk.
Alludes to 1 Peter 1:8: for your aduersarie the deuil as a roaring lyon walketh about, seeking whom he may deuoure (Geneva).
Go to this point in the text
vasty
Vast, immense.
Go to this point in the text
Tartar
Hell.
A shortening of Tartarus, a name for hell in classical mythology and early Christianity (alluded to at 2 Peter 2:4 [Geneva]). Shakespeare prefers this spelling; see also Err 4.2.32 and TN 2.5.167.
Go to this point in the text
legions
Armies of devils.
A common collective noun for devils, alluding to Mark 5:9, where Jesus casts devils out of a possessed man: And he asked him, What is thy name? and hee answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many (Geneva).
Go to this point in the text
easy
Easily.
Go to this point in the text
jealousy
Suspicion, mistrust (OED, 2nd ed. jealousy, n.5).
Go to this point in the text
affiance
Trust.
Go to this point in the text
Show
Seem.
Go to this point in the text
spare
Moderate, temperate (OED, 2nd ed. spare, a.II.5.a).
Go to this point in the text
gross passion
Emotional extremes.
Go to this point in the text
or of
Either of.
Go to this point in the text
Constant in spirit
Of steady disposition.
Go to this point in the text
swerving … blood
Wandering where passion leads.
Go to this point in the text
Garnished and decked
Dressed.
Go to this point in the text
complement
Accomplishments; fullness of virtue.
With the suggestion of the more pejorative sense of mere outward shows of courtesy (OED, 2nd ed. complement, n.II.9).
Go to this point in the text
Not working … ear
Not judging merely by appearances, but also by listening.
Go to this point in the text
purgèd
Purified.
Go to this point in the text
finely bolted
Refined.
Literally, like flour with all faults sifted out (OED, 2nd ed. bolt, v.1).
A book page with a sketch of a flour bolt sifting
                           grains out of flour surrounded by a decorative border. Text below reads
                           in modernized spelling: In fruitful field amid the goodly crop, The
                           hurtful tears, and darnel oft do grow, And many times, do mount above the
                           top Of highest corn: But skilfull man doth know, When grain is ripe, with
                           sieve to purge the seeds, From chaff, and dust, and all the other weeds.
                           By which is meant, sith wicked men abound, That hard it is, the good from
                           bad to try: The prudent sort, should have such judgement sound, That
                           still the good they should from bad descry: And sift the good, and to
                           discern their deeds, And weigh the bad, no better than the weeds.
Geoffrey Whitney’s Choice of Emblemes (1586) illustrates the moral symbolism of the flour-bolt (Whitney 68). Image via Internet Archive.
Go to this point in the text
To make … indued
The Folio reading (To make thee full fraught man) causes confusion only because of the confusion of thee for the, which Pope’s easy emendation clarifies (Works). F’s punctuation seems to support Pope’s reading. Theobald, whose emendation of make to mark has been almost universally accepted, argues that to endue with suspicion seems less credible than to mark with it (Works of Shakespeare).
Go to this point in the text
full-fraught
Fully laden, like a ship (i.e., with virtues).
Go to this point in the text
indued
Invested, overlaid.
The word derives from the latin induere, “to put on (a garment)”. For the complicated and subtle etymological distinctions among indue, endue, and endow, each of which has its proponents among editors, see OED, 2nd ed. endue.
Go to this point in the text
Another fall of man.
A repetition of Adam and Eve’s first sin in the Garden of Eden.
See Genesis 3 (Geneva).
Go to this point in the text
open
Evident, clear.
Go to this point in the text
to the answer
To receive the verdict.
Go to this point in the text
practices
Treacheries.
Go to this point in the text
by the name of
You who go by the name of.
Go to this point in the text
discovered
Revealed.
Go to this point in the text
For me … intended.
According to Shakespeare’s chronicle sources, Cambridge’s motivation for treason was to supplant Henry in favor of his brother-in-law Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, and of his own progeny. As a grandson of Edward III, Richard of Cambridge had his own claim to the throne, a claim that his son, Richard, Duke of York (1411–1460), would eventually make openly, starting the Wars of the Roses. While Shakespeare had chronicled these matters extensively in his first tetralogy of history plays, this later conflict is only hinted at in Henry V. Cf. Holinshed:
Diuerse write that Richard earle of Cambridge did not conspire with the lord Scroope & Thomas Graie for the murthering of king Henrie to please the French king withall, but onelie to the intent to exalt to the crowne his brother in law Edmund earle of March as heire to Lionell duke of Clarence: after the death of which earle of March, for diuerse secret impediments, not able to haue issue, the earle of Cambridge was sure that the crowne should come to him by his wife, and to his children, of hir begotten. And therefore (as was thought) he rather confessed himselfe for need of monie to be corrupted by the French king, than he would declare his inward mind, and open his verie intent and secret purpose, which if it were espied, he saw plainlie that the earle of March should haue tasted of the same cuppe that he had drunken, and what should haue come to his owne children he much doubted. (Chronicles, 1587 548–549)
Karl P. Wentersdorf argues that Shakespeare went to such conspicuous lengths to omit the political motives linking Cambridge to Mortimer and the Wars of the Roses so that the silence itself would serve, to an attentive listener in the original audience, to undermine Henry’s dynastic claims to both England and France (Conspiracy of Silence).
Because it was presented in repertory as part of a larger production called The Wars of the Roses, Peter Hall’s 1964 RSC Henry V made several staging choices to highlight the continuity of Shakespeare’s history plays and place this play into the context of the civil wars dramatized in the first tetralogy. The English soldiers in Henry’s army, for example, were clothed anachronistically in surcoats with the badge of the red Lancastrian rose. So it is unsurprising that Hall augmented the role of the traitor Cambridge to indicate his importance in planting the seeds of rival claims to the throne. Cambridge was included in the council scene (1.2) of Hall’s production, given lines in support of the French war, but also set apart from the other peers by costume: where they wore mainly rich colors and coronets, Cambridge wore plain black velvet to mark him as sinister. Hall cut Scrope and Grey entirely, and changed Cambridge’s final speech, omitting his repentance and grimly prophesying the coming conflict.
Go to this point in the text
sufferance
My punishment.
Go to this point in the text
quit
Pardon.
Go to this point in the text
sentence
The sentencing closely follows Holinshed:
When king Henrie had heard all things opened, which he desired to know, he caused all his nobilitie to come before his presence, before whome he caused to be brought the offendors also, and to them said. Hauing thus conspired the death and destruction of me, which am the head of the realme and gouernour of the people, it maie be (no doubt) but that you likewise haue sworne the confusion of all that are here with me, and also the desolation of your owne countrie. To what horror (O lord) for any true English hart to consider, that such an execrable iniquitie should euer so bewrap you, as for pleasing of a forren enimie to imbrue your hands in your bloud, and to ruine your owne natiue soile. Reuenge herein touching my person, though I seeke not; yet for the safegard of you my deere freends, & for due preseruation of all sorts, I am by office to cause example to be shewed. Get ye hence therefore ye poore miserable wretches to the receiuing of your iust reward, wherein Gods maiestie giue you grace of his mercie and repentance of your heinous offenses. And so immediatlie they were had to execution. (Chronicles, 1587 548)
Though in both Holinshed and Shakespeare the traitors are summarily executed, in fact they were arrested on 20 July 1415 and tried nearly two weeks later (2 August) by jury in Southampton. Grey was executed, but Scrope and Cambridge claimed their right as lords to be tried by a court of peers, after which trial (on 5 August) they were also executed.
Go to this point in the text
enemy proclaimed
Officially recognized enemy of England (i.e., France).
Go to this point in the text
coffers
Treasury.
Go to this point in the text
golden earnest of
Advance payment for (OED, 2nd ed. earnest, n.2).
Go to this point in the text
desolation
Ruin, barrenness.
Go to this point in the text
Touching
Concerning.
Go to this point in the text
tender
Value, care for (OED, 2nd ed. tender, v.2).
Go to this point in the text
dear
1) Costly; 2) dire, grievous.
Shakespeare commonly plays on the two meanings of dear; cf. AYL 1.3.21–22.
Go to this point in the text
Now, lords, for France … France.
Another passage that follows Holinshed closely:
This doone, the king calling his lords againe afore him, said in words few and with good grace. Of his enterprises he recounted the honor and glorie, whereof they with him were to be partakers, the great confidence he had in their noble minds, which could not but remember them of the famous feats that their ancestors aforetime in France had atchiued, whereof the due report for euer recorded remained yet in register. The great mercie of God that had so gratiouslie reuealed vnto him the treason at hand, whereby the true harts of those afore him made so eminent & apparant in his eie, as they might be right sure he would neuer forget it. The doubt of danger to be nothing in respect of the certeintie of honor that they should acquire, wherein himselfe (as they saw) in person would be lord and leader through Gods grace. To whose maiestie as cheeflie was knowne the equitie of his demand: euen so to his mercie did he onelie recommend the successe of his trauels. When the king had said, all the noble men kneeled downe, & promised faithfullie to serue him, dulie to obeie him, and rather to die than to suffer him to fall into the hands of his enimies. This doone, the king thought that suerlie all treason and conspiracie had beene vtterlie extinct: not suspecting the fire which was newlie kindled, and ceassed not to increase, till at length it burst out into such a flame, that catching the beames of his house and familie, his line and stocke was cleane consumed to ashes. (Chronicles, 1587 548)
Go to this point in the text
enterprise
Undertaking, attempt to conquer.
Go to this point in the text
like
Equally.
Go to this point in the text
doubt not of
Do not doubt that we shall have.
Go to this point in the text
fair
Just, honorable.
Go to this point in the text
lucky
Successful.
Go to this point in the text
rub
Obstacle, bump in the ground.
A term from bowling, but compare Isaiah on God preparing the road for the return to Israel from Babylonian exile: Euery valley shall be exalted, and euery mountaine and hill shall be made lowe: and the crooked shalbe streight, & the rough places plaine (Geneva, Isaiah 40:4).
Go to this point in the text
puissance
Military power.
Go to this point in the text
straight
Immediately.
Go to this point in the text
in expedition
In motion.
Go to this point in the text
Cheerly
In a lively manner.
A sailor’s cry of encouragement; see Tmp 1.1.5.
Go to this point in the text
signs
Ensigns, banners.
Go to this point in the text
advance
Raise, move forward.
Go to this point in the text
No … France.
Steevens notes the echo of Famous Victories: What not King of France, then nothing (Sp549 FV, qtd. in Steevens, Plays).
Go to this point in the text
Flourish. Exeunt.
Neither F nor F2 has space on the line for both Flourish and Exeunt. Both are appropriate for a royal exit, and one may be seen to imply the other. F prints only the Flourish and F2 only Exeunt.
Go to this point in the text
2.3
Location: London.
Go to this point in the text
bring
Accompany.
Go to this point in the text
Staines
A town west of London, on the road to Southampton.
Seventeen miles away from London, Staines is where the soldiers would cross the Thames on their way to Southampton, eighty miles to the southwest.
Go to this point in the text
earn
A variant of yearn.
Go to this point in the text
blithe
Cheerful.
Go to this point in the text
rouse … veins
Awaken your talent for boasting.
Go to this point in the text
bristle … up
Make stand on end, arouse.
Go to this point in the text
earn
A quibble on the modern sense, i.e., “find a new way to make money (now that Falstaff is not paying us)” is possible, though as Craik points out, earn is always transitive elsewhere in Shakespeare (Craik, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
Nay … stone.
As Dover Wilson notes, Shakespeare seems to have modeled the Hostess’s description of Falstaff’s death on the death of Socrates as described in the Phaedo (Wilson, The Fortunes of Falstaff 128). Samuel Johnson’s note to this passage is one of his most famous pieces of Shakespearean criticism, and as such it is worth quoting in full:
Such is the end of Falstaff, from whom Shakespeare had promised us in his epilogue to Henry IV. that we should receive more entertainment. It happened to Shakespeare as to other writers, to have his imagination crowded with a tumultuary confusion of images, which, while they were yet unsorted and unexamined, seemed sufficient to furnish a long train of incidents, and a new variety of merriment, but which, when he was to produce them to view, shrunk suddenly from him, or could not be accommodated to his general design. That he once designed to have brought Falstaff on the scene again, we know from himself; but whether he could contrive no train of adventures suitable to his character, or could match him with no companions likely to quicken his humour, or could open no new vein of pleasantry, and was afraid to continue the same strain lest it should not find the same reception, he has here for ever discarded him, and made haste to dispatch him, perhaps for the same reason for which Addison killed Sir Roger, that no other hand might attempt to exhibit him. Let meaner authours learn from this example, that it is dangerous to sell the bear which is yet not hunted, to promise to the publick what they have not written. (Plays)
Go to this point in the text
Arthur’s bosom
The Hostess’s mistake for Abraham’s bosom, i.e., heaven.
For the origin of the correct phrase, see the parable of Dives and Lazarus, (Geneva, Luke 16:19–31). Arthur’s bosom, as a secular, literary alternative to Abraham’s, is arguably a more appropriate afterlife for Falstaff. Sir John himself is familiar with the gospel passage that the Hostess misremembers: see 1H4 3.3.22–25. Philip Schwyzer suggests that her error reflects dual impulses by English reformers (Literature, Nationalism, and Memory 131–133). On the one hand, Abraham’s bosom was deleted from the Edwardian Book of Common Prayer in an attempt to eradicate, along with purgatory, all middle spaces between hell and heaven. At the same time, early in the English Reformation, a link had been forged between Arthur and the True Church, both arch-enemies of Rome (Schwyzer 132). The newly-Protestant English crown could have a middle place between heaven and hell or […] Aruthur’s Empire but not both.
Imperial Britain and Purgatory were effectively in economic and conceptual competition to fill a single space. It is no accident that the English crown’s seizure in 1547–1548 of the assets set aside for the relief of souls in Purgatory coincided with its aggressive attempt to force the Scots to participate in a renewed British Empire. England’s rulers had chosen Arthur over Abraham—the same choice made in Henry V by Hostess Quickly. (133)
Go to this point in the text
A made
He made.
Go to this point in the text
a finer end
As fine an end as possible.
No implied comparison need be inferred, though editors have attempted to do so. The most common reading is finer than going to hell, though Taylor proposes finer than going to Abraham’s bosom (Henry V). Gurr suggests the unlikely implication that his death was finer than his life (King Henry V), and Craik explains that the Hostess trails off and presumes the rest of the sentence to be understood (Craik, King Henry V). Proposed emendations have included fine and Johnson’s final (Plays), which Malone rightly describes as absurd, since everyone makes a final end (Plays).
Go to this point in the text
an … been
As if it had been.
Go to this point in the text
christom
Newly-baptized.
The Hostess blends Christian and chrisom, the latter referring either to the white robe worn by babies at baptism (OED, 2nd ed. chrisom, n.2), or to the baby itself in its first month (n.4).
Go to this point in the text
ev’n
Just, exactly.
Go to this point in the text
at … o’th’tide
A folk belief held that souls departed at ebb tide.
Go to this point in the text
fumble … pen
The Hostess lists traditional signs of approaching death. Cf. Thomas Lupton’s A thousand notable things (1579): If the foreheade of the sycke, waxe redde […] and his nose waxe sharpe and colde […] if he pull strawes, or the cloathes of his bedde […] These are most certayne tokens of death (Lupton 221–222).
Go to this point in the text
flowers
Flowers were laid in sickbeds to improve the smell.
Go to this point in the text
his finger’s end
His own fingertip.
Go to this point in the text
but one way
No alternative but death.
Go to this point in the text
pen
Quill pen, i.e., a feather sharpened to a point.
Go to this point in the text
a … fields
Perhaps the Hostess’s misunderstanding of Falstaff’s reciting the twenty-third Psalm, He maketh me to rest in greene pasture (Geneva, Psalm 23:2).
The Folio’s reading, a Table of greene fields, has occasioned more controversy than any other textual crux in Shakespeare. This text adopts, as do almost all editors, Theobald’s ingenious emendation, justified by the resemblance of b to t and d to e in early modern secretary hand, so that (Theobald argued) the manuscript reading babld was misread by the compositor as table (Works of Shakespeare). Justifications of the original reading are more entertaining than convincing. Pope, for example, conjectured that a stage direction—to bring on a table owned by a prop-master called Greenfield—had crept into the text (Works). Moore Smith (cited by Steevens and Malone), reads a table of green fells, i.e., a pocket book with a cover of green-dyed animal hide (Moore Smith; Steevens, Plays; Malone, Plays). Most recently, the RSC editors have found an allusion to the fields on a green gaming (backgammon) table (Bate and Rasmussen).
Go to this point in the text
a … God
This joke does not originate with Shakespeare; Malone cites a similar anecdote in Anthony Copley’s humourous miscellany Wits fittes and fancies (1595): A Gentlewoman fearing to be drown’d, said: Now, Iesu receiue our soules: Soft maistresse (answered the water-man) I trow we are not yet come to that passe (Copley 128 qtd. in Malone, Plays).
Go to this point in the text
clothes
Bedclothes.
Go to this point in the text
as … stone
Proverbial (Tilley S876).
Go to this point in the text
so … all
Looked up, and everything above (his knees).
Editors have nearly always emended F’s up-peer’d to up’ard or upward, but it makes perfect sense as a nonce-word, and I find it unbelievable that a compositor would distinguish the two words if they were meant to indicate a repetition.
Go to this point in the text
stone
Taylor suggests that the word unintentionally suggests testicle, citing Shakespeare’s frequent punning use of the slang term (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
cried out of
Decried, spoke against.
Go to this point in the text
sack
Dry Spanish white wine.
Derived from the French vin sec, “dry wine”, sack seems to have referred in the sixteenth century to fortified wines generally. In Shakespeare it is Falstaff’s favorite drink, associated with him in all four plays in which he appears, rather anachronistically, as its import to England began in the sixteenth century (e.g.: 1H4 3.3.33; 2H4 2.4.151; and Wiv 2.1.6).
Go to this point in the text
incarnate
In the flesh. The hostess understands him to mean “wearing carnation”.
Go to this point in the text
carnation
Pink, flesh-colored.
Cf. Lancelot Gobbo in Merchant of Venice: the verie diuell incarnation (F1 MV sig. O6r).
Go to this point in the text
would … about
1) Would take his soul because of; 2) wanted him to be around.
Go to this point in the text
handle
Discuss, with a bawdy play on the sense of “grope”.
Go to this point in the text
rheumatic
Feverish; the Hostess probably intends “lunatic”.
Some editors suggest that the word’s similarity to Rome-atic suggests the ensuing connection to the whore of Babylon, associated by Protestants with Rome and the Catholic Church.
Go to this point in the text
whore of Babylon
A figure from Revelation representing the sin and wickedness of the world.
I sawe a woman sit vpon a skarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemie, which had seuen heads, and tenne hornes. And the woman was arayed in purple & skarlet, and gilded with golde, and precious stones, and pearles, and had a cup of gold in her hand, full of abominations, and filthines of her fornication. And in her forehead was a name written, A mysterie, that great Babylon, that mother of whoredomes, and abominations of the earth. (Geneva, Revelation 17:3–5)
Since the figure of the whore of Babylon was most familiar to Shakespeare’s audiences from religious polemic associating her with the Catholic Church, Maurice Hunt suggests that Falstaff seeks to die a proto-Protestant condemning a personification of the Church of Rome (Hybrid Reformations 181).
Go to this point in the text
stick upon
Cling to, bite.
Go to this point in the text
black
Damned souls and devils were traditionally thought to be black in colour. Craik points out that in some Last Judgment plays in the mystery cycles the costume of white souls and black souls indicated their condition (Craik, King Henry V). The idea seems to have extended beyond theatrical practice, however: Reginald Scot, in his Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), describes damned souls as cole blacke compared to the shining white souls of saints, and explains more descriptively that a damned soule may and dooth take the shape of a blacke moore (Scot 535).
Go to this point in the text
burning in hell
See A2 Sc1 Sp24 n. A memory of Falstaff’s description of Bardolph’s face in 1 Henry IV: I never see thy face but I think upon hell-fire and Dives that lived in purple—for there he is in his robes, burning, burning. (1H4 3.3.22–24).
Go to this point in the text
the fuel
The liquor provided by Falstaff.
Bardolph hearkens back to Falstaff’s complaint in 1 Henry IV: I have maintained that salamander of yours with fire any time this two-and-thirty years, God reward me for it (1H4 3.3.35–36).
Go to this point in the text
shog
Be gone.
Go to this point in the text
my … moveables
My personal, as opposed to real, property; a legal phrase.
A redundancy, since chattels and movables are legal synonyms.
Go to this point in the text
Let senses rule.
Let common sense govern you; be sensible.
Go to this point in the text
The … pitch-and-pay.
In this world you must insist on ready money, not credit.
A proverbial phrase (Tilley P360). See OED, 2nd ed. pitch, v.2.P1.
Go to this point in the text
oaths
Promises to pay.
Go to this point in the text
straws
As worthless as straw.
Go to this point in the text
wafer-cakes
As breakable as wafers.
Go to this point in the text
Holdfast … dog
Holding firm (to your money) is the best policy.
OED cites this line as a source of Holdfast as the literal name of a dog that holds tenaciously (OED, 2nd ed. holdfast, B.n.3.b), but Pistol probably refers to sense 4.a, a clamp that holds part of a building or structure together. Rann cites the proverb Brag is a good dog, but holdfast is better, which plays on the sense of dog as iron clamp (OED, 2nd ed. dog, n.I.1.7.a) and brag as nail (OED, 2nd ed. brag, n.2).
Go to this point in the text
caveto
Beware (Latin).
Go to this point in the text
clear thy crystals
Dry your eyes.
Go to this point in the text
Yoke-fellows
Partners.
Go to this point in the text
unwholesome food
As Wilson notes, the Physician Andrew Boorde, in A compendyous regyment or a dyetary of healthe (1547), advised against eating the blode of all beastes & foules […] for it is harde of digestion (Wilson, Henry V; Boorde sig. F4v).
Go to this point in the text
housewifery
Thrifty housekeeping.
Go to this point in the text
Keep close
1) Stay indoors; 2) keep quiet; 3) be sexually faithful.
Go to this point in the text
Exeunt
Obviously, the men must exit one way and the Hostess another; the actors of Bardolph, Nym, and the Boy may come as they bid the Hostess farewell, leaving Pistol alone with her for lines A2 Sc3 Sp21.
Go to this point in the text
2.4
Location: The French royal court at Rouen, in northern France.
Go to this point in the text
the Constable of France
The constable must enter here, since he speaks in the scene. I have made only this change to F’s stage direction, choosing not to replace or delete Berry and Brittany (Britaine F) as some editors have done. Both Q and F specify the presence of mute French lords, and Gary Taylor suggests replacing them with characters who take a much larger role later in the play, like Orléans or Bourbon (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
English
English army; English king.
Go to this point in the text
more … defenses
It is crucial that we establish strong defenses, as befits royalty.
Go to this point in the text
swift dispatch
Speed.
Go to this point in the text
line
Fortify, reinforce (OED, 2nd ed. line, v.1.2).
Go to this point in the text
defendant
Defensive.
Go to this point in the text
approaches
Offensive movements, attacks (OED, 2nd ed. approach, n.2).
Go to this point in the text
gulf
Go to this point in the text
fits us
Is fitting.
Go to this point in the text
provident
Full of foresight.
Go to this point in the text
late examples
Former defeats (in the Hundred Years’ War).
Go to this point in the text
fatal
1) Deadly (OED, 2nd ed. fatal, a.6); 2) favored by fate (a.1).
Go to this point in the text
neglected
Underestimated.
Go to this point in the text
redoubted
Feared, revered.
Go to this point in the text
meet
Fitting.
Go to this point in the text
Though
Even if.
Go to this point in the text
musters
Lists or assemblies of military recruits.
Go to this point in the text
Therefore … France.
Holinshed attributes the French defensive preparations to the dauphin, who had the gouernance of the realme, bicause his father was fallen into his old disease of frensie. On hearing of the English preparations, the dauphin
sent for the dukes of Berrie and Alanson, and all the other lords of the councell of France: by whose aduise it was determined, that they should not onelie prepare a sufficient armie to resist the king of England, when so euer he arriued to inuade France, but also to stuffe and furnish the townes on the frontiers and sea coasts with conuenient garrisons of men. (Chronicles, 1587 547)
Go to this point in the text
Whitsun morris dance
Traditional English folk-dance performed at the summer holiday of Pentecost, or Whitsun.
The morris was an elaborately choreographed dance involved several (traditionally nine) men in various costumes, among which often appeared a fool (in a coat of folly [A2 Sc4 Sp3]), Robin Hood and Maid Marian, and a hobby-horse indicating a mimetic carnival version of a mounted knight. The latter character might suggest to the dauphin a hyperbolically ineffectual English attack. Alan Brissenden suggests that the scepter so fantastically borne (A2 Sc4 Sp2) refers to the fool’s bauble stick (Shakespeare and the Dance 28–33).
Go to this point in the text
she
England.
Go to this point in the text
so idly kinged
Ruled by such a frivolous king.
Go to this point in the text
scepter
Ornamental rod, symbol of royal power.
Go to this point in the text
fantastically
Whimsically, strangely.
Go to this point in the text
humourous
Moody, capricious.
Go to this point in the text
attends
Accompanies, serves.
Go to this point in the text
Oh, peace … delicate.
Famous Victories supplied the basis for this exchange:
Dolphin
Tut my Lord, although the King of England
Be young and wilde headed, yet neuer thinke hee will be so
Unwise to make battell against the mightie King ofFrance.
King
Oh my sonne, although the king of England be
Young and wilde headed, yet neuer thinke but he is rulde
By his wise Councellors.
(FV sig. E1v)
Go to this point in the text
late
Recently returned.
Go to this point in the text
state
Magnificence, dignity, stately demeanor.
Go to this point in the text
modest in exception
Mild in making objections.
Go to this point in the text
withal
In addition.
Go to this point in the text
terrible
Awe-inducing.
Go to this point in the text
forespent
Previously indulged in.
Go to this point in the text
the Roman … folly
After duping his enemies by pretending to be lazy, vain, and stupid (brutus in Latin), Lucius Junius Brutus expelled the tyrannical king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus in 509 BCE. Shakespeare alludes to this Brutus, founder of the Roman republic and one of its first consuls, in Julius Caesar (JC 1.2.160), and the end of The Rape of Lucrece discusses his Henry-like policy of encouraging his enemies to underestimate him:
Brutus with the Romans was esteemèd so
As silly jeering idiots are with kings,
For sportive words and utt’ring foolish things.
But now he throws that shallow habit by,
Wherein deep policy did him disguise.
(Luc 1811–1815)
Go to this point in the text
ordure
Manure.
Go to this point in the text
though
Even if.
Go to this point in the text
weigh
Estimate, consider.
Go to this point in the text
So … filled
So that defenses are prepared to an appropriate degree.
Go to this point in the text
of … projection
If planned too stingily.
Go to this point in the text
scanting
Withholding, failing to provide (OED, 2nd ed. scant, v.II.5).
Go to this point in the text
Think we
Let us think.
Go to this point in the text
look you
Make sure that you.
Go to this point in the text
The … him
Edward III and Edward the Black Prince.
See A1 Sc2 Sp10 and notes.
Go to this point in the text
fleshed
Initiated into bloodshed (a hunting term).
Hunting dogs were trained to kill by rewarding their first kills with a portion of flesh.
Go to this point in the text
bloody strain
Murderous bloodline.
Go to this point in the text
haunted
Pursued.
Go to this point in the text
familiar paths
Habitually frequented or familial territory.
Go to this point in the text
struck
Joined, fought.
Go to this point in the text
mountain sire
Giant-like, immovable father (Edward III).
While the Folio reading certainly makes sense, Theobald’s emendation to mounting (i.e., ascendant) is logical, and justified by the strong possibility of influence from on mountain standing (Works of Shakespeare). Some editors, following Capell (Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies), suggest that a reference to mountainous Wales is intended; cf. Pistol’s insulting Fluellen with mountain squire (A5 Sc1 Sp10). As Malone points out, however, Edward III had virtually no associations with Wales (Plays).
Go to this point in the text
on mountain standing
Go to this point in the text
Up … him
Taylor sees the possibility of a blasphemous allusion to God the Father smiling down on the baptism of Jesus, the beloued Sonne, in whome I am well pleased (Henry V; Geneva, Mark 1:11).
Go to this point in the text
seed
Edward the Black Prince.
Go to this point in the text
Mangle
Cut, hack.
Go to this point in the text
patterns
Exemplars of excellence (i.e., the young French nobility).
Go to this point in the text
Had … made
Had taken twenty years to make.
Go to this point in the text
This
Henry.
Go to this point in the text
stock
Tree-trunk.
Go to this point in the text
native
Innate.
Go to this point in the text
fate of him
1) His destiny, that which he is fated to do; 2) destruction he carries with him.
Go to this point in the text
present
Immediate.
Go to this point in the text
chase … followed
Hunt is eagerly pursued.
Foreshadowing the eventual French defeat, both the king and the dauphin characterize the French as game hunted by the English. This continues the metaphor begun with ‘fleshedʼ (Wilson, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
coward … them
Proverbial: Fearful dogs bark most vehemently (Tilley D528).
Go to this point in the text
Turn head
Turn and face down the hunters.
Go to this point in the text
spend their mouths
Bark upon seeing the game (hunting term; OED, 2nd ed. spend, v.1.I.9.b).
Go to this point in the text
Take … short
1) Rebuke the English; 2) turn upon the English quickly to check their advance.
Go to this point in the text
self-neglecting
Lack of self-respect.
Go to this point in the text
Enter Exeter.
Craik argues that Exeter must enter accompanied by attendants, since he refers to us, our king, and our delay (A2 Sc4 Sp19), but such a decision can be left to directors (Craik, King Henry V); there is no absolute need to have Exeter’s retinue in the French king’s presence chamber.
Go to this point in the text
wills
Orders, demands.
Go to this point in the text
divest
Undress.
Go to this point in the text
lay apart
Set aside.
Go to this point in the text
borrowed glories
Usurped glories of kingship.
Go to this point in the text
law … nations
Both divine and human law.
The law of nature is divine law (perhaps implied by gift of heaven) implanted by nature in the mind (OED, 2nd ed. law, n.1.I.9.c), and subordinate to that was international human law, the law of nations (OED, 2nd ed. law, n.1.4.c). The alliterative pairing of the two laws is common; cf. Troilus and Cressida: these moral laws / Of nature, and of nation, speak aloud / To have her back returned (Tro 2.2.183–185). Holinshed may suggest the pairing as well, when he writes that Henry demanded restitution of that which he wrongfully withheld, contrarie to the lawes of God and man (Chronicles, 1587 548).
Go to this point in the text
wide-stretchèd
Extensive, far-reaching.
Go to this point in the text
ordinance of times
Law established by historical tradition.
With a particular glance, perhaps, at Salic law.
Go to this point in the text
sinister
Malicious, deceitful.
Literally, “left-handed”. The word in its figurative senses was originally stressed on the second syllable.
Go to this point in the text
awkward
Backhanded, indirect.
Go to this point in the text
wormholes
Decay, rotting remains.
With the connotation of worm-eaten, obsolete historical manuscripts.
Go to this point in the text
oblivion
Long-forgotten obscurity.
Go to this point in the text
raked
Though the sense of raking a claim from the dust is clear, F’s spelling (rakt) may also suggest racked, i.e., “a claim drawn from a twisted or forced interpretation of old, forgotten documents”.
Go to this point in the text
line
A document establishing Henry’s family tree and bloodline.
Go to this point in the text
Gives … paper
A stage direction is suggested by the text, and editors since Capell have placed it here (Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies), though some, like Craik, place it at the conclusion of his speech (Craik, King Henry V). It is probable that the document changes hands, or at least leaves Exeter’s, by A2 Sc4 Sp13, but of course the French King (or his surrogate) need not take it at the moment that Exeter offers it. In the 2000 production at the RSC, director Edward Hall solved the problem by having the pedigree unfurled by an English soldier from a balcony behind Exeter (Henry V). The sheer length of the scroll, some fifteen feet or so, produced awe in the French and a laugh from the audience.
Go to this point in the text
demonstrative
Serving as conclusive evidence.
Go to this point in the text
evenly derived
Directly descended.
Go to this point in the text
indirectly
Dishonestly, wrongfully (OED, 2nd ed. indirectly, adv.1.b, citing this line.).
Go to this point in the text
native
Natural, by birthright.
Go to this point in the text
challenger
Claimant.
Go to this point in the text
Bloody constraint
Violent compulsion by arms.
The following passage is suggested by Holinshed:
the king further declaring how sorie he was that he should be thus compelled for repeating of his right and iust title of inheritance, to make warre to the destruction of christian people, but sithens he had offered peace which could not be receiued, now for fault of iustice, he was forced to take armes. Neuerthelesse exhorted the French king in the bowels of Iesu Christ, to render him that which was his owne, whereby effusion of Christian blood might be auoided. (Chronicles, 1587 548)
Go to this point in the text
tempest … earthquake
Cf. Isaiah 29:6: Thou shalt be visited of the Lorde of hoastes with thunder, earthquake, and with a great noyse, with storme and tempest, and with the flambe of a consuming fire (Bishop’s Bible).
Go to this point in the text
Jove
Another name for Jupiter, king of the Roman gods, who threw thunderbolts.
Go to this point in the text
requiring
Demanding.
Go to this point in the text
bids … Lord
Charges you by the innermost part of God.
Cf. Philippians 1:8 : For God is my recorde howe greatly I long after you all, in the bowels of Iesus Christe (Bishop’s Bible, 1568). The bowels of the Lord were traditionally associated with the sort of divine mercy that Henry charges the French King to take upon his people, as seen, for example, in a 1571 sermon by John Bridges, quoting Saint Bernard: That that I haue not of my selfe, I will boldly vsurpe of the bowels of the Lord, for bycause they flow in mercie (Bridges, A sermon, preached at Paules Crosse, 170 [sig. Z1v]).
Go to this point in the text
on … Turning
Places with you the blame for.
Because of the apparent verbal irregularity, some editors emend to the Q reading, on your heads turnes he (Sp116 H5Q1).
Go to this point in the text
privy maidens’ groans
1) Privately expressed lamentations of maids; 2) groans of maids in mourning seclusion.
Many editors, finding the modification of maidens by privy to be awkward, accept Q’s reading (pining maydens grones). Others, following Warburton (Works), emend to privèd (i.e., “deprived of their lovers”).
Go to this point in the text
slight regard
Little estimation.
Go to this point in the text
misbecome
Be inappropriate to.
Unlike the dauphin himself, that is, Henry will not demean himself with childish insults.
Go to this point in the text
prize you at
Estimate your worth to be.
Go to this point in the text
Thus … king: an
Rowe’s reading, followed substantively by many editors, makes Thus says refer backward to the previous three lines. My reading, following Dyce, more sensibly and with more fidelity to the Folio, makes the phrase introduce the following lines.
Go to this point in the text
an if
If.
Go to this point in the text
at large
In full.
Go to this point in the text
hot
Violent.
Go to this point in the text
womby vaultages
Womb-like caverns.
Go to this point in the text
chide
Answer reprovingly, rebuke.
Go to this point in the text
trespass
Wrong.
The specific sense of “trespass to land”, i.e., the wrongful entry or inhabitation by the French of Henry’s rightful lands, is implied.
Go to this point in the text
second accent
Echo.
Go to this point in the text
ordinance
Artillery, gunfire.
Although, as Malone points out, ordnance is the modern spelling of the term in its military sense of artillery, a double meaning is most appropriate here, since Exeter is also threatening the French with their divinely-ordained destiny (Plays; OED, 3rd ed. ordinance, n.3.a). Cf. Cymbeline: Let ord’nance / Come as the gods foresay it (Cym 4.2.147–148)
Go to this point in the text
fair return
A polite reply.
Go to this point in the text
odds
Conflict.
Go to this point in the text
Paris balls
Tennis balls.
Go to this point in the text
Louvre
Palace in Paris; pun on lover.
The first Paris fortress of this name was built in the twelfth century. The earliest printed spellings—Louer in Q and F, Loover in F2—indicate early-modern English pronunciation, which is frequently used in modern performance to underscore national difference.
Brian Blessed’s Exeter in 1984, for example, gleefully mispronounced the word to disgruntle the French (Noble, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
shake for it
Cf. Holinshed’s version of Henry’s response to the scornful gift of tennis balls: the K. wrote to him, that yer ought long, he would tosse him some London balles that perchance should shake the walles of the best court in France (Chronicles, 1587 545).
Go to this point in the text
mistress
1) Principal; 2) paramour (playing on Louvre/lover).
Go to this point in the text
greener days
Youth.
Go to this point in the text
masters
1) Possesses; 2) controls.
Go to this point in the text
weighs time
Values each moment of his time.
Go to this point in the text
utmost grain
Last grain of sand in the hourglass.
Go to this point in the text
read
Discover, learn.
Go to this point in the text
Flourish.
A Flourish usually indicates the entrance or exit of royalty from a scene. Here, as Capell was the first to observe, it may suggest that the King rises as if to leave, but that Exeter refuses to be easily dismissed (Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies).
Go to this point in the text
footed
Landed, disembarked.
The fact that the English forces have landed is new information for the French court as well as for the audience. Exeter thus prepares us for the upcoming scene shift to the siege of Harfleur. Historically, Henry did not land until 14 August 1415, six months after Exeter’s embassy, but Shakespeare adjusts history for dramatic effect, and characteristically, his adjustments allow for an ambiguous interpretation of events. On the one hand, we see Exeter in 2.2 before the English embark, and again at the siege of Harfleur in 3.3, so Exeter’s he is footed in this land already implies that the English have invaded under cover of negotiations. On the other hand, the Chorus’s injunction in 3.0 to imagine the embarkation of the navy and its crossing of the channel gives the impression of winding back the clock and allows us to see the invasion as a result of the negotiations having already failed.
Go to this point in the text
breath
Breathing time.
Shakespeare has taken this line from a passage in Holinshed describing an earlier English embassy: The Frenchmen being not a little abashed at these demands, thought not to make anie absolute answer in so weightie a cause, till they had further breathed (Chronicles, 1587 547).
Go to this point in the text
imagined wing
The wings of imagination.
Go to this point in the text
no … thought
Proverbial: as swift as thought (Tilley T240).
Go to this point in the text
celerity
Speed.
Go to this point in the text
well-appointed
Properly equipped.
Go to this point in the text
Dover
Port city on the south coast of England.
A mistake for Southampton, previously specified as the embarkation point. Some editors follow Theobald, who posited compositor error, in emending to Hampton pier (Works of Shakespeare). Wilson more reasonably attributed the mistake to Shakespeare’s inadvertence (Wilson, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
his royalty
Himself, his royal person.
Go to this point in the text
brave
1) Courageous; 2) splendid, magnificent.
Go to this point in the text
streamers
Banners.
Go to this point in the text
the … feigning
Imitating the glory of the sun (the Roman god Phoebus).
See OED, 2nd ed. feign, v.II.10. Rowe’s emendation of feigning to fanning (i.e., fanning the sun’s hot face) continues to have currency among some editors (Works, 1714). It is based on Macbeth the Norwegian banners flout the sky, / And fan our people cold (Mac 1.2.49–50). Cf. Williams’s remark about fanning in the sun’s face with a peacock’s feather (A4 Sc1 Sp61).
Go to this point in the text
Play with
Divert yourself with, exercise.
Go to this point in the text
fancies
Imaginations.
Go to this point in the text
hempen tackle
Ships’ rigging woven from hemp.
Go to this point in the text
whistle
The boatswain’s whistle, used to summon sailors to their duties.
In Pericles, the Boatswain’s whistle contributes to shipboard confusion, rather than ordering it as here (F1 Per sig. F3r).
Go to this point in the text
order
Commands.
The sense of harmony (see OED, 3rd ed. order, n.III.14.a) is appropriate as well; the music of the whistle transforms noise (sounds confused) into music.
Go to this point in the text
threaden
Made of linen thread.
Go to this point in the text
bottoms
Ships’ hulls.
Go to this point in the text
furrowed
Wavy, folded.
Like earth that has been furrowed, or plowed.
Go to this point in the text
lofty surge
High waves.
Go to this point in the text
rivage
Shore.
This word, unique in Shakespeare, may have been suggested by Holinshed’s description of a later attack on Harfleur and the riuage and shore adioining to the towne (Chronicles, 1587 557).
Go to this point in the text
th’inconstant billows
The shifting waves.
Go to this point in the text
Harfleur
Fortified French port at the mouth of the Seine, near where Henry’s navy made landfall.
The town’s name is spelled Harflew throughout F and Q, indicating the pronunciation. Usually accented on the first syllable, but see A3 Sc3 Sp1 for a possible exception.
Go to this point in the text
Grapple
Fasten with grappling hooks.
Go to this point in the text
sternage
The sterns of the ships; i.e the rear.
Go to this point in the text
as … still
Proverbial: as still as midnight (Dent M919.1).
Go to this point in the text
pith and puissance
Vigor and might.
Go to this point in the text
whose … hair
Who has barely grown the stubble that marks adolescence.
Go to this point in the text
culled
Selected.
Go to this point in the text
choice-drawn
Specially picked.
Taylor suggests a play on the sense of ‘drawn (hither) by (personal) choice,ʼ i.e., willing volunteers (Henry V), but Craik argues that culled and choice-drawn is a common alliterative pairing and that the terms are synonymous (King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
cavaliers
Knights.
Go to this point in the text
Work
1) Exercise; 2) fashion, shape.
Go to this point in the text
ordnance
Cannons.
Go to this point in the text
carriages
Go to this point in the text
girded
Surrounded, besieged.
Encircled like a belt or girdle; see OED, 2nd ed. gird, v.1.5.b.
Go to this point in the text
Suppose
Imagine.
Go to this point in the text
th’ambassador … dukedoms
Historically, this insufficient offer was made the previous autumn to an English embassy negotiating in France (see Curry 44–45). Holinshed instead has the offer made by the Archbishop of Bourges in England in 1415, when the English are known to be preparing the invasion:
These ambassadors accompanied with 350 horsses, passed the sea at Calis, and landed at Douer, before whose arriuall the king was departed from Windsore to Winchester, intending to haue gone to Hampton, there to haue surueied his nauie: but hearing of the ambassadors approching, he tarried still at Winchester, where the said French lords shewed themselues verie honorablie before the king and his nobilitie. At time prefixed, before the kings presence, sitting in his throne imperiall,the archbishop of Burges made an eloquent and a long oration, dissuading warre, and praising peace; offering to the king of England a great summe of monie, with diuerse countries, being in verie deed but base and poore, as a dowrie with the ladie Catharine in mariage, so that he would dissolue his armie, and dismisse his soldiers, which he had gathered and put in a readinesse. (Chronicles, 1587 547)
Shakespeare further collapses the time frame of the negotiation and invasion by suggesting here that the French make a desperate offer after the navy has launched.
Go to this point in the text
to dowry
As a dowry.
Go to this point in the text
likes not
Does not please.
Go to this point in the text
nimble
Skilled, agile.
Go to this point in the text
linstock
A long stick with a forked head to hold flammable linen, used as a match to light cannon fuses.
Go to this point in the text
devilish
Artillery and gunpowder were frequently described as devilish or hellish, and fireworks were used as special effects to suggest demonic magic on the stage.
Go to this point in the text
Alarum
A military trumpet call to arms.
Derived from the Italian all’arme (“to arms”).
Go to this point in the text
chambers
Small cannons.
Chambers were not typically used on the battlefield, but could be loaded with wadding and fired in the playhouse for a sound effect. In 1613 the first Globe playhouse burned down when a chamber fired during a performance of Henry VIII set alight the playhouse’s roofing thatch.
Go to this point in the text
Still
Continue to.
Go to this point in the text
eke out
Supplement, fill in the deficiencies of.
Go to this point in the text
3.1
Location: outside the walls of Harfleur, northern France.
Go to this point in the text
scaling-ladders
Ladders used in assaulting fortifications.
As Taylor notes, F’s requirement of scaling ladders indicates that we are to think of the breach (A3 Sc1 Sp1) as an area of Harfleur’s wall where the top portion has been knocked away, not as a hole completely through it (Henry V). Much editorial speculation has been aimed at the staging of this scene: some have suggested that the tiring house represents Harfleur’s wall and that the scaling ladders are used to climb it as an exit, while others argue that Harfleur is to be imagined just offstage, and that the ladders are to be carried off. Whatever of the ladders’ use, the sense of the scene requires the army to be in retreat that Henry must reverse, rallying them for one last assault.
Go to this point in the text
Once … dead.
Johnson conjectured an omitted line to make up for what he saw as a lack of sense, e.g. And either enter in and take the town / Or close the wall up (Plays). Such a first term may simply be implied, however, by Once more unto the breach, taken to mean “let us at last break through the wall”. The shocking disjunction between the two options Henry offers in these lines serves to heighten the desperation of the assault.
Go to this point in the text
breach
Gap in Harfleur’s defensive wall.
Go to this point in the text
conjure
Summon by magic, as a spirit.
Walter’s emendation of F’s commune rests on the likely compositorial misreading of the minims in conjure (Henry V). Rowe’s emendation to summon—followed by almost all editors before Walter—is possible as an error of the ear, but less likely as an error of the eye. Although summon carries roughly the same sense, it makes the connotation of sorcery less explicit. Blood, according to classical and medieval medicine, was thought to contain the body’s vital spirits, and hence could be conjured by magic. Compare Burgundy’s bawdy play on the idea (A5 Sc2 Sp59). Philip Schwyzer defends F’s reading on the grounds that Henry is attempting to conjure the idea of England itself: To ‘commune up the bloodʼ is to recognize one’s membership in and debt of service to a community (Schwyzer 139).
Go to this point in the text
blood
Courageous mettle, anger (OED, 2nd ed. blood, n.5).
Go to this point in the text
hard-favored
Ugly.
Go to this point in the text
lend
Give.
Go to this point in the text
terrible
Frightening.
Go to this point in the text
aspect
Appearance.
Go to this point in the text
portage
Porthole.
Possibly a unique usage; OED cites only this line (OED, 2nd ed. portage, n.2).
Go to this point in the text
o’erwhelm
Hang over.
OED cites only Shakespeare for this sense (OED, 3rd ed. overwhelm, v.3.b).
Go to this point in the text
fearfully
Frighteningly.
Go to this point in the text
gallèd
Sea-battered, worn bare of soil.
Go to this point in the text
jutty
Project over.
Go to this point in the text
confounded
Go to this point in the text
Swilled
The association of the verb with gobbling hogs (v. 3.) might also suggest the sense of “greedily consumed”.
Go to this point in the text
wasteful
Devastating.
Go to this point in the text
set the teeth
Clench and bare your teeth.
Go to this point in the text
bend … height
Strain your faculties to the utmost, like an archer bending a bow to increase tension in the string.
Cf. Macbeth’s I am settled and bend up / Each corporal agent to this terrible feat (Mac 2.1.79–80). This image is almost the only reference to the longbow, the weapon which largely won the battle at Agincourt for the English (Gurr, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
noble
High born, lordly.
Henry first addresses the noblemen leading his army, then the yeomen, or common foot soldiers (A3 Sc1 Sp1). Perhaps because this rhetorical distinction seems inconsistent with Henry’s later class-leveling rhetoric, both in this speech (A3 Sc1 Sp1) and in the Crispin’s day speech before Agincourt, Taylor accepts F2’s emendation of F’s Noblish to noblest—the implication being that all the English are noble (Taylor, Henry V). But this presumes that Henry is incapable of self-contradiction, and as Craik points out, it involves the King in a pedantic distinction: all are noble, but some are more noble than others, and in another sense of the word (King Henry V). I have adopted Steevens’s emendation with its explanation of eyeskip corruption by the following word (Plays).
Go to this point in the text
fet
Fetched, derived.
Go to this point in the text
of war-proof
Proven by war.
Go to this point in the text
like … Alexanders
Like the great conqueror Alexander the great, who famously wept when he had no more worlds to conquer.
Go to this point in the text
these parts
France.
Alluding to the earlier invasions of France in the Hundred Years’ War.
Go to this point in the text
even
Evening.
Go to this point in the text
sheathed … argument
Only stopped fighting when there were no more opponents.
Go to this point in the text
Dishonor … mothers
Do not suggest that your mothers were unfaithful, i.e., by fighting like bastards instead of legitimately-begotten Englishmen.
Go to this point in the text
attest
Prove.
Go to this point in the text
copy
A pattern.
Go to this point in the text
of grosser blood
Less noble.
As this speech is addressed to the noble English, this phrase could refer either to the French or to the English yeomen and commoners.
Go to this point in the text
yeomen
Non-aristocratic landholders.
Go to this point in the text
show us
As with let us in the following line, the plural pronoun is either the royal plural or refers to the king and the aristocracy. The latter choice, perhaps supported by the switch to I (A3 Sc1 Sp1, A3 Sc1 Sp1), would reinforce the rhetorical distinction between classes of men running through the speech. See A3 Sc1 Sp1 n. and A3 Sc1 Sp1 n.
Go to this point in the text
mettle
Quality, substance.
Go to this point in the text
your pasture
The land you were raised on; i.e., your breeding.
Go to this point in the text
so … base
Of such low birth.
Go to this point in the text
slips
Quick-release leashes for hunting dogs (OED, 2nd ed. slip, n.3.II.3.a).
Go to this point in the text
upon the start
In readiness for the hunt to start.
Go to this point in the text
afoot
On the move.
Go to this point in the text
upon this charge
1) During this attack (OED, 2nd ed. charge, n.III.18.a); 2) at my order (n.II.15.a).
Go to this point in the text
Cry God … George!
I follow the punctuation of F. Some editors, following Warburton, emend to God for Harry! England and Saint George! in order to separate the battle cry into two invocations (Works). Taylor lists several parallel examples of such punctuation, but adopts Warburton’s emendation mainly on the grounds that it is absurd to call for God to aid a saint (Taylor, Henry V). The three parts of the cry, however, all signify the same thing: Harry, England, and Saint George all mean England (and its cause).
Go to this point in the text
Harry
Henry.
Go to this point in the text
Saint George
The patron saint of England.
Saint George was an especially important patriotic symbol to Henry V, who ordained Saint George’s day as a double feast—the most important class of holiday in the Catholic calendar—early in his reign. See Holinshed, Chronicles, 1587 543. George was pronounced to form a rhyming couplet with charge.
Go to this point in the text
Exeunt.
Editorial scene numbering and stage directions for entrances and exits from 3.1 to 3.3 (the Harfleur scenes) are bound to lend a false sense of certainty to scene divisions that are unmarked in F and seem to be purposefully fluid. No exit is marked after Henry’s speech in 3.1, and it is as likely that Pistol, Bardolph, Nym, and the Boy remain onstage (refusing to charge into the breach) as that they enter after the stage clears. Likewise, after Fluellen beats them in as Q’s SD has it, he can either stay upstage while the Boy delivers his monologue, or he can follow them offstage (A3 Sc2 SD7).
Go to this point in the text
3.2
Location: outside the walls of Harfleur.
Go to this point in the text
corporal
Nym, the only corporal in the scene, appears to be addressing Lieutenant Bardolph incorrectly. This may be intentional on the author’s part, or accidental. Bardolph is addressed as a corporal in 2 Henry IV (2H4 2.4.123), and there is little consistency in the play as to these characters’ ranks. See A2 Sc1 Sp2 n.
Go to this point in the text
knocks
Blows.
Go to this point in the text
hot
Fierce, violent.
Go to this point in the text
case
Box; pair.
Nym means either many superfluous lives or just one extra; a case may refer to two, as in a case of pistols (See OED, 2nd ed. case, n.2.8.a: brace, couple).
Go to this point in the text
humour
Condition.
As blood and choler are the two hot humours, Nym may use his catchword to mean that the battlefield has an imbalance of those fluids, that it is literally too bloody and choleric.
Go to this point in the text
plainsong
Simple melody, i.e., truth.
Go to this point in the text
most just
Quite correct.
Go to this point in the text
humours
1) Emotions; 2) bodily fluids; 3) mist, vapor.
Since chambers have been fired in each of the previous scenes, the most likely humour to abound on the stage is gunpowder smoke.
Go to this point in the text
God’s vassals
God’s servants, i.e., men.
Go to this point in the text
Singing
Although Dyce contends that Pistol is too dignified to sing, modern editors follow Johnson in presenting the following lines (A3 Sc2 Sp3 and A3 Sc2 Sp5), printed as prose in F, as snatches of song lyrics (Plays). Craik contends that they are simply extempore verse lines, and the Boy’s response to Pistol’s verses do seem intended as mocking nonce-verse, regardless of whether they are sung or not (King Henry V). In the 1997 RSC production directed by Ron Daniels, these snatches were echoes of larger songs—a military march for God’s vassals and a four-part music hall ballad for If wishes would prevail—that were woven throughout the production.
Go to this point in the text
fame
Reputation.
Go to this point in the text
prevail
Succeed.
Go to this point in the text
My purpose … me
My desire would be fulfilled.
Go to this point in the text
hie
Go hastily.
Go to this point in the text
duly
Properly (i.e., to Pistol’s cowardice) (Craik, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
truly
Honestly.
If, as some editors conjecture, Pistol and the Boy are adapting a folk song to their uses, the Boy’s jab at Pistol (not as truly) may also suggest “out of tune”. For a similar interpolation of words into a song lyric, cf. Ophelia’s to the ground did not go (Ham 4.2.37).
Go to this point in the text
Avaunt
Onward; begone.
Go to this point in the text
cullions
Rascals; literally, testicles.
Go to this point in the text
great duke
Pistol’s melodramatic bombast gives Fluellen a promotion.
Go to this point in the text
men of mould
Men made of earth, i.e., mere mortals (OED, 3rd ed. mould, n.1.2.a, 2.b).
The sense of rottenness (n. 2.c.) may also be implied.
Go to this point in the text
bawcock
Fine fellow.
From French beau coq (“fine cock”).
Go to this point in the text
lenity
Mercy.
Go to this point in the text
chuck
Chick, a term of endearment.
Go to this point in the text
These … humours!
This is fine behaviour! (sarcastic).
Nym may instead refer to Pistol’s lines, meaning that mercy and lenity are good humours.
Go to this point in the text
Your … humours!
1) You are causing yourself distemper; 2) you are making everyone unhappy.
Some editors, following Capell (Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies), emend wins to runs, which resolves the ambiguity in favor of the latter sense. Cf. A2 Sc1 Sp41, where Nym, as he does twice in Merry Wives, uses humours as the object of run (Wiv 1.1.129, 1.3.57). Taylor argues—and adds stage directions accordingly—that Nym’s switch from good to bad humours reflects his glee at Fluellen’s beating of Pistol turning to complaint as the blows begin to fall on him as well, but this is unnecessarily proscriptive (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
Exeunt … Nym.
With the exception of Riverside and Craig-Bevington (Evans, Riverside; Craig, Works), all editors have had Fluellen exit at this point, taking their cue from Q’s stage direction that Fluellen beats them in (i.e., offstage, or into the breach). The Folio stage direction reads only Exit and there is no real reason to insist that Fluellen clears the stage. Admittedly, Fluellen’s silent, uninvolved presence onstage during the Boy’s speech might prove distracting, but there is no reason to object, as Taylor does, to the idea that Fluellen would appear to be avoiding the very danger he has forced them to face (Henry V). The ESC production in the late 1980s, in fact, got a good deal of humour from this hypocrisy as Fluellen and the other captains occupied the exact spot Pistol and his cohort had taken to avoid the battle, sharing a drink and a smoke as the siege was underway. At any rate, Fluellen’s presence onstage might not be simple dumb show; David Galloway proposes that he remain as the addressee of the Boy’s so-called soliloquy (Fluellen 116.
Go to this point in the text
swashers
Braggarts, swaggerers.
Go to this point in the text
boy
1) Serving boy; 2) a youth in comparison.
Go to this point in the text
man to
1) Servant to; 2) manly compared to.
Go to this point in the text
antics
Grotesques, clowns.
Go to this point in the text
white-livered
Cowardly.
Literally, without blood in the liver, thought to be the seat of courage.
Go to this point in the text
red-faced
On Bardolph’s red face, see A2 Sc1 Sp24 n.
Go to this point in the text
faces it out
Blusters his way through difficult situations.
Go to this point in the text
breaks words
Exchanges words, rather than “breaking swords”.
Also carries the senses of “misspeaks” and “breaks vows”.
Go to this point in the text
whole
Undamaged, i.e., unused.
Modifies keeps, not weapons.
Go to this point in the text
men … best men
Proverbial: see Tilley W798.
Go to this point in the text
purchase
Plunder, spoils of war.
Euphemisms for theft are a repeated joke in the plays where the Eastcheapers appear (cf. Wiv 1.3.18–19).
Go to this point in the text
twelve leagues
About thirty-six miles.
Go to this point in the text
sworn brothers
Bound by oath as brothers.
See A2 Sc1 Sp5 n. Taylor suggests that a pause before delivering in filching heightens the ironic humour (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
filching
Stealing.
Go to this point in the text
Calais
A port in the northern coast of France.
Calais, the closest French town to England, was English-occupied territory—and a potential beachhead for English wars in France—from its capture by Edward III 1347 to its recapture by the French in 1558. F’s spelling, Callice, indicates traditional English pronunciation. Rowe, the first to modernize the spelling to Calais elsewhere in the play, retains the original in this instance (Works 1714). Historically, the English army did not land at Calais, but established a landing at Harfleur, so unless Bardolph and Nym have arrived separately, they could not have been in Calais yet. As with the geographical confusion of Southampton and Dover (A3 Sc0 Sp1), the mistake passes in the theater.
Go to this point in the text
fire-shovel
A shovel for carrying coals to a fire or hot ash from it.
Go to this point in the text
piece of service
Military action.
Go to this point in the text
carry coals
Figuratively, submit to humiliation.
Proverbial (Tilley C464); see also OED, 2nd ed. coal, n.12. Compare Romeo and Juliet: on my word, we’ll not carry coals (Rom 1.1.1).
Go to this point in the text
familiar with
Adept at picking.
Go to this point in the text
handkerchers
Handkerchiefs.
A dialect form; see OED, 2nd ed. handkerchief, n.
Go to this point in the text
makes much
Argues strongly.
Go to this point in the text
manhood
Manliness.
Go to this point in the text
plain
Merely.
Go to this point in the text
pocketing … wrongs
1) Bearing patiently with insults; 2) pocketing stolen goods.
The first sense is proverbial: see Tilley I70.
Go to this point in the text
goes … stomach
1) Makes me sick; 2) affronts even my moderate courage.
Go to this point in the text
cast it up
1) Regurgitate it; 2) quit it.
Go to this point in the text
Exit Boy.
Since most editors clear the stage at the Boy’s exit, Taylor added a scene break here, arguing that time may pass and the location may change (Henry V). The Folio, which has no scene divisions at all, does not specify whether Fluellen has left the stage, and I choose to preserve F’s ambiguity with regard to his position.
Go to this point in the text
Enter Gower.
Both Q and F indicate the entrance of Gower alone, not of Gower and Fluellen. They must not enter together, since Gower is looking for Fluellen, so the situation allows for three basic stagings: 1) Fluellen remains onstage during the Boy’s speech and Gower enters as the Boy leaves; 2) Fluellen exits with Pistol, Bardolph, and Nym, the Boy’s exit ends the scene (as in Taylor, Henry V, and Gurr, King Henry V), and Fluellen and Gower start the next scene by entering at separate doors; or 3) the Boy’s exit and Gower’s entrance overlap, with Gower’s first line calling Fluellen back to the stage.
Go to this point in the text
presently
Immediately.
Go to this point in the text
mines
Tunnels dug under a fortification’s walls and planted with explosives.
Holinshed describes the role of mining in producing a stalemate at the siege of Harfleur:
And dailie was the towne assaulted: for the duke of Glocecester, to whome the order of the siege was committed, made three mines vnder the ground, and approching to the wals with his engins and ordinance, would not suffer them within to take anie rest. For although they with their countermining somwhat disappointed the Englishmen, & came to fight with them hand to hand within the mines, so that they went no further forward with that worke; yet they were so inclosed on ech side, as well by water as land, that succour they saw could none come to them. (Chronicles, 1587 549–550)
See also Curry 94–95.
Go to this point in the text
the mines … wars
In the practices of ancient warfare (which Fluellen prefers), mines were excavations of the foundations of walls to cause them to fall (Mowat and Werstine).
Go to this point in the text
not
Not excavated.
Go to this point in the text
disciplines
Proper procedure.
Go to this point in the text
concavities
Hollowness, i.e., space for explosives.
Go to this point in the text
th’athversary
The adversary (Shakespeare renders Fluellen’s Welsh accent phonetically).
The spelling conventions that indicate a Welsh dialect include p for b, th for d, and f for v, and occasional indications of vowel pronunciation, all of which this edition retains. Since Shakespeare does not make these substitutions consistently in Fluellen’s speeches, some editors have sought to regularize the patterns, but I have preferred the Folio spellings.
Go to this point in the text
discuss
Declare, pronounce (OED, 2nd ed. discuss, v.5).
Henry V is the only Shakespeare play in which this word appears, in this speech and in three of Pistol’s, below.
Go to this point in the text
is digged himself
Has dug and planted.
Go to this point in the text
under
Under our mines.
The reading of this line in F, with no punctuation, seems to indicate that Fluellen mistakes the English mines for the countermines that would be excavated by the French defenders. I have adopted Taylor’s solution, which, following Moore Smith’s, clarifies that the French have planted countermines four yards beneath the English explosives (Taylor, Henry V; Moore Smith).
Go to this point in the text
Cheshu
Jesus.
Go to this point in the text
plow up
Blow up.
Go to this point in the text
directions
Strategy, instructions.
Go to this point in the text
order
Command, duty to organize.
Go to this point in the text
altogether
Entirely.
Go to this point in the text
an Irishman
Macmorris is no more historical than Fluellen, Gower, and Jamy, but the participation of his nation (A3 Sc2 Sp27) at the siege of Rouen in 1418 is noted by Holinshed:
During this siege also, there arriued at Harflue the lord of Kilmaine in Ireland, with a band of sixteene hundred Irishmen, in maile, with darts and skains after the maner of their countrie, all of them being tall, quicke, and nimble persons. (Chronicles, 1587 565)
Go to this point in the text
as in
As much as any in.
Go to this point in the text
directions in
Capacity for.
Go to this point in the text
Roman disciplines
Ancient military tactics.
Fluellen’s respect for the Roman disciplines may indicate that his military knowledge derives from study rather than experience. At any rate, the practices of ancient warfare would be unlikely to help in a fifteenth-century, gunpowder-reliant siege. Leslie Hotson demonstrates echoes of the arithmeticall militare treatise, named Stratioticos, by Leonard and Thomas Digges, whose title page promised to teach the discipline, offices, lawes and orders in euery well gouerned campe and armie inuiolably to be obserued (Digges qtd. in Hotson, I, William Shakespeare 118–121). A second edition of the treatise was published in 1590 by Richard Field, Shakespeare’s fellow Stratfordian who had printed Venus and Adonis.
Go to this point in the text
falorous
Valorous.
Go to this point in the text
expedition
Assistance, quickness.
Possibly a mangling of “experience” and “erudition”, two adjectives that convey Fluellen’s meaning.
Go to this point in the text
aunchient
Ancient.
Many editors, following Johnson, standardize the spelling of this word in Fluellen’s speeches, where it appears seven times. Since, however, it is consistently spelled aunchiant or aunchient in his speeches and the usual way in those of Bardolph and Gower, it must indicate an intentional non-standard pronunciation.
Go to this point in the text
pristine
Ancient.
Go to this point in the text
guid day
Good day. Jamy’s Scots dialect is rendered phonetically as well.
Jamy’s idiosyncratic pronunciations are here emended to modern-spelling representations of the Scots dialect based on The Concise Scots Dictionary, ed. Mairi Robinson, rather than attempting to collate Shakespeare’s Scots dialect spellings with contemporary texts (Conflict of Conscience [c. 1579] and James IV [1590]), as Taylor does (Robinson; Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
Good e’en
Good evening.
As Taylor points out, F’s Godden appears elsewhere in Shakespeare and is unlikely to represent a Welsh dialect (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
pioneers
Soldiers specializing in digging mines.
Go to this point in the text
given o’er
Finished.
Go to this point in the text
Chrish law
Christ lord. Macmorris’s Irish dialect renders terminal s as sh.
Although as Gary Taylor argues, law is a variant of lord, it is often used on its own, frequently spelled la, as a simple exclamation of affirmation or intensity (Henry V). See A3 Sc2 Sp25, A4 Sc7 Sp39.
Go to this point in the text
’tish
’tis, i.e., it is.
Go to this point in the text
give over
Abandoned.
Go to this point in the text
vouchsafe
Permit.
Go to this point in the text
disputations
Conversations.
Go to this point in the text
communication
Taylor suggests that Fluellen means the rhetorical device of appearing to consult with an opponent (Henry V; OED, 3rd ed. communication, n.II.8), but while Fluellen is indeed employing such a device here, he is not explicitly highlighting his own rhetoric.
Go to this point in the text
opinion … mind
Although these words could be nearly synonymous, Fluellen’s distinction between opinion and mind is not necessarily an absurd tautology: mind may refer to his current mood (OED, 3rd ed. mind, n.1.II.iii.15), as opposed to his opinion, or specific view about the issue at hand.
Go to this point in the text
sall
Shall.
Go to this point in the text
baith
Both.
Go to this point in the text
quit
Answer, requite.
Go to this point in the text
with guid leve
With good leave, i.e., with your permission.
Go to this point in the text
pick occasion
Find an opportunity.
Go to this point in the text
marry
By the Virgin Mary.
Go to this point in the text
besieched
Besieged.
Most editors have retained F’s spelling, beseeched (beseech’d), but since Macmorris is unlikely to mistake a siege for a polite query, Taylor’s spelling of his Irish pronunciation is preferable to avoid confusion (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
be Chrish
By Christ.
Go to this point in the text
sa’ me
Save me.
Go to this point in the text
mess
Mass, i.e., the Eucharist (a common oath).
Go to this point in the text
ere
Before.
Go to this point in the text
dae
Do.
Go to this point in the text
lig
Lie.
Go to this point in the text
I owe … death
F’s original reading (ay, or goe to death), as T.W. Craik argues (TLS [29 February 1980]), leaves unclear what Jamy intends to pay valorously. Craik proposed the emendation accepted here, justifying it with a convincing discussion of compositorial misreading. Punning on death/debt, the phrase is proverbial (Tilley G237), but it appears in Shakespeare only in the Henriad (1H4 5.1.126; 2H4 3.2.194).
Go to this point in the text
surely
F’s spelling (suerly) is common enough—it is the preferred spelling in Holinshed (Chronicles, 1587), for example—and likely does not represent dialect.
Go to this point in the text
the brefe … long
The brief and the long, i.e., the long and the short of it.
Proverbial: see Tilley L419.
Go to this point in the text
wad
Would.
Go to this point in the text
full fain heard
Very eagerly have heard.
The omission of have is not uncommon in such expressions, as Taylor argues (Henry V), but it is also quite possible that Wilson is right in seeing heard as an error for heare—in which case Jamy proposes a future continuation of the debate, rather than resigning himself never to hear it (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
question
Debate.
Go to this point in the text
twae
Two.
Go to this point in the text
under your correction
Unless I am mistaken.
Go to this point in the text
Ish … rascal?
Macmorris expects Fluellen to insult his nation, and asks if that is what he means by bringing it up.
Rowe was the first editor to make this sentence a belligerent question (Works, 1714); F’s punctuation may suggest instead that Macmorris declares that anyone abusing the Irish is a villain, etc. Knight suggested a transposition of the last five words in the speech, producing the statement Who i.e., whoever talks of my nation ish a villain […] and a rascal (Comedies, Histories, Tragedies, & Poems). For a discussion of different interpretations of this speech, see Gurr, Why Captain Jamy.
Go to this point in the text
peradventure
Perhaps.
Go to this point in the text
use
Treat.
Go to this point in the text
discretion
Wisdom, good judgment.
Go to this point in the text
will … other
1) Will do each other wrong if you continue; 2) willfully misunderstand.
Go to this point in the text
parley
Trumpet call signaling a truce to allow negotiation between the armies.
Go to this point in the text
required
Asked for, i.e., available.
Go to this point in the text
Exeunt.
This exit, and the subsequent entrance of Henry and the English army, are probably meant to be staged fluidly. Scene division in all the Harfleur scenes is unmarked in the Folio, and here more than ever the scene break seems an artificial submission to the conventions of printed drama. Some, but not all editors mark a new scene at this point, but F indicates only a single exit for Fluellen here, which makes as much sense as the departure of all four captains. See A3 Sc1 SD3 n.
Go to this point in the text
3.3
Location: outside Harfleur.
Go to this point in the text
Enter … gates.
Some editors specify that Henry and his army are below and that the French appear in an upper space representing the walls of Harfleur. This is the most likely staging, but the simplicity of the Folio stage directions allows for flexibility. The train must include Exeter, who is addressed at A3 Sc3 Sp3.
Go to this point in the text
gates
Town gates.
Go to this point in the text
How … destroyed?
This rather sadistic-sounding speech is Shakespeare’s invention, and has caused consternation to readers with the tendency to valorize Henry. The modern reader, writes Humphreys, is not likely to applaud what looks like Henry’s unholy relish in so ruthlessly depicting war’s horrors and then blaming the proposed victims for provoking them (Henry V). Walter defends the king’s behaviour, arguing from Albericus Gentilis’s 1612 De Jure Belli that Henry’s threats are in accordance with military law regarding siege warfare, a law possibly derived ultimately from Deuteronomy 20:10–14 (Walter, Henry V; Geneva). Deuteronomy, however, specifically forbids the killing of women and children, which Henry vividly threatens here. In 1944, John McCloskey bitterly compared the king’s speech, which shows neither Christianity nor civilization to the atrocities of twentieth-century total war and denied its reconcilability to the religious ideal elsewhere ascribed to Henry (The Mirror of All Christian Kings 36–40, 36–37). See also Curry 89–90.
Go to this point in the text
resolves
Answers, decides.
Go to this point in the text
latest parle
Last negotiation.
Go to this point in the text
we
Since Henry uses the singular pronoun elsewhere in the speech, the plurals in this and the following two lines may be a gesture at the army backing up his words rather than the royal plural.
Go to this point in the text
admit
Allow.
Go to this point in the text
destruction
Their own destruction.
Go to this point in the text
to our worst
To do our worst.
Proverbial; see Tilley W914.
Go to this point in the text
becomes
Suits.
Go to this point in the text
batt’ry
Artillery assault.
Go to this point in the text
half-achieved
Half-conquered.
Go to this point in the text
her ashes she
The traditional personification of cities as feminine allows for play between the military and erotic senses of conquest. This speech, as Taylor points out, reiterates the more brutal literal fusion of conquest and sexual violation which can be expected if the town is sacked (Henry V). Henry’s later comparison of Catherine to the French cities he plans to conquer (A5 Sc2 Sp66) makes again makes use of the conceit in the context of diplomacy.
Go to this point in the text
fleshed
Hardened to bloodshed; bent on destruction.
With this hunting term, Henry continues the comparison of his men to greyhounds in the slips (A3 Sc1 Sp1); a fleshed dog has been given a taste of blood and rendered eager for prey. See also R3 4.3.6 and 2H4 4.3.261–262.
Go to this point in the text
In … range
Shall roam Harfleur with full license to murder.
Go to this point in the text
conscience … hell
1) Minds as capacious of evil as hell; 2) morals as unrestrained as those of devils. See OED, 2nd ed. wide, a.III.11.a.
The strict conscience, like heaven’s narrow gate […] lets little pass; the lax or evil conscience correspondingly forbids almost nothing (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
flow’ring
Flourishing, in the prime of youth.
Go to this point in the text
impious
Wicked.
Some editors, following Walter (Henry V), suggest that Shakespeare refers to the use by Virgil and other Latin writers of bellum impium to denote civil war, the implication being that since Harfleur is rightfully English, its citizens are resisting the authority of their sovereign. Craik demurs, arguing that the King is describing war’s invariable nature, not discussing the political nature of this particular campaign (Craik, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
the prince of fiends
The devil.
Go to this point in the text
smirched complexion
Filthy, discolored face.
Go to this point in the text
fell
Dreadful, cruel.
Go to this point in the text
Enlinked
Linked, joined.
Taylor notes a possible play on link in the sense of a torch made of tow and pitch (OED, 2nd ed. link, n.3.1), reinforcing the passage’s fire imagery (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
hot
Violent; lustful.
Go to this point in the text
violation
Violence, especially rape.
Go to this point in the text
rein
The pun on reign underscores Henry’s personal claim of helplessness.
Go to this point in the text
hold
Restrain.
Go to this point in the text
career
Gallop.
Go to this point in the text
bootless
Uselessly.
Go to this point in the text
spend
Waste.
Go to this point in the text
vain
Useless.
Go to this point in the text
spoil
Act of plundering.
Go to this point in the text
precepts
Legal summons.
Go to this point in the text
leviathan
Gigantic sea monster.
Leviathan is a Hebrew word of uncertain origin found repeatedly in the Old Testament. Henry here exceeds the ironic absurdity of Job’s famous question: Canst thou drawe out Liuiathan with an hooke, and with a line which thou shalt cast downe vnto his tongue? (Geneva, Job 41:1).
Go to this point in the text
of
On.
Go to this point in the text
temperate
Moderate, gentle, restrained.
Go to this point in the text
wind of grace
The wind of grace may refer to Henry’s own royal power to soothe his troops’ violent instincts, or to the divine power associated with the Holy Spirit. See the description of Pentecost in Acts 2:2: there came a sounde from heauen, as of a russhing and mightie winde (Geneva).
Go to this point in the text
O’er-blows
1) Blows away; 2) cools, as one does with a boiling pot or a spoonful of soup.
Go to this point in the text
contagious
Infectious, pestilential.
Plague was thought to be carried in clouds of noxious vapors.
Go to this point in the text
headly
Deadly; chief among the sins.
Nearly all editors accept F2’s reading, the equally appropriate and more common heady (violently impulsive), which as Andrew Gurr points out, was a press correction during the printing of the Second Folio, which read headly in an earlier state (King Henry V). F1’s reading preserves an evocative and archaic word used only for the seven deadly (or headly) sins, and may represent a blending of heady and deadly.
Go to this point in the text
spoil
Pillage.
Go to this point in the text
look
Expect.
Go to this point in the text
locks
1) Hair; 2) genitals (i.e., chastity).
Go to this point in the text
spitted
Impaled.
Specifically, the image is that of babies on cooking spits like joints of meat, where a whole animal would normally be transfixed from mouth to rectum (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
pikes
Heavy spear-like weapons with long handles and metal tips.
Designed to be used against cavalry, the pike was an iconic weapon of the English infantry in the Hundred Years’ War.
Go to this point in the text
confused
Intermingled; disorderly.
Go to this point in the text
Jewry
1) Judea, the ancient Jewish kingdom of Palestine, now part of Israel; 2) the Jewish people.
Go to this point in the text
Herod’s … slaughtermen.
King Herod ordered the slaughter of newborn babies in the vicinity of Bethlehem in a vain attempt to kill the infant Jesus.
See Matthew 2:16–18 (Geneva). Shakespeare likely has the stage representation of the Slaughter of the Innocents in early English cycles of mystery plays, which commonly featured both the lamenting mothers and the rants of King Herod, to which he refers in Hamlet (Ham 3.2.10–11).
Go to this point in the text
guilty in defense
Responsible for your own destruction by continuing to defend the town.
Taylor comments that this is surely intended to sound paradoxical (Henry V), but the phrase is specific to the medieval laws of warfare: a governor could be found guilty in defense if he stubbornly continued to hold a town even without adequate resources. See Rauchut, “Guilty in Defense”.
Go to this point in the text
Enter Governor.
Editors since Capell have located this entrance above, i.e., in the upper stage space representing the walls of Harfleur (Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies). Some editors relocate the Governor’s entrance to the beginning of the scene, but as Taylor argues, neither Q nor F brings on any French to man the walls during Henry’s speech; this minimizes the usual awkwardness of scale in siege scenes, leaves us (and Henry) uncertain whether anyone is listening, prevents us from being distracted during the ultimatum, and gives the Governor’s entrance […] maximum dramatic impact (Henry V)
Go to this point in the text
expectation
Hope.
Go to this point in the text
succors
Aid, reinforcemnts.
Go to this point in the text
entreated
Pleaded.
Holinshed describes the negotiation of Harfleur’s surrender:
The king […] was after content to grant a respit vpon certeine conditions, that the capteins within might haue time to send to the French king for succour (as before ye haue heard) least he intending greater exploits, might lose time in such small matters. When this composition was agreed vpon, the lord Bacqueuill was sent vnto the French king, to declare in what point the towne stood. To whome the Dolphin answered, that the kings power was not yet assembled, in such number as was conuenient to raise so great a siege. This answer being brought vnto the capteins within the towne, they rendered it vp to the king of England. […] The souldiors were ransomed, and the towne sacked, to the great gaine of the Englishmen. (Chronicles, 1587 550)
The siege of Harfleur had lasted five weeks (17 August–22 September, 1415).
Go to this point in the text
Returns
Replies to.
Go to this point in the text
powers
Troops.
Go to this point in the text
raise
End by defeating the besieging army.
Go to this point in the text
soft
Tender-hearted.
Go to this point in the text
dispose of
Take control of; make arrangements for.
Go to this point in the text
Come, uncle … Calais.
Holinshed reports the taking of Harfleur:
All this doone, the king ordeined capteine to the towne his vncle the duke of Excester, who established his lieutenant there, one sir Iohn Fastolfe, with fifteene hundred men, or (as some haue) two thousand and thirtie six knights […] King Henrie, after the winning of Harflue, determined to haue proceeded further in the winning of other townes and fortresses: but bicause the dead time of the winter approched, it was determined by aduise of his councell, that he should in all conuenient speed set forward, and march through the countrie towards Calis by land, least his returne as then homewards should of slanderous toongs be named a running awaie: and yet that iournie was adiudged perillous, by reason that the number of his people was much minished by the flux and other feuers, which sore vexed and brought to death aboue fifteene hundred persons of the armie: and this was the cause that his returne was the sooner appointed and concluded. […] When the king had repared the walles, bulwarks and rampiers about the towne, and furnished it with vittels and artillerie, he remooued from Harflue toward Ponthoise, intending to passe the riuer of Some with his armie, before the bridges were either withdrawen or broken. (Chronicles, 1587 550–551)
Because Sir John Fastolfe appears in 1 Henry VI as a disgraced coward, and because Shakespeare adapted his name into Falstaff in his revision of the Henry IV plays, his role as Exeter’s deputy in Harfleur is eliminated from the play.
Go to this point in the text
your guest
This must be addressed to Exeter, who has taken over the governorship of Harfleur, and not to the Governor, as Taylor suggests (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
Tomorrow
Historically, Henry remained at Harfleur for more than two weeks, but Shakespeare’s compression of time, as Craik points out, creates a sense of danger and urgency to get back to English territory (as Calais was at this time) (King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
addressed
Prepared, intended.
Go to this point in the text
3.4
Location: a French court.
This may be Rouen, the location of the next scene, though the text does not specify.
Go to this point in the text
Alice … langage.
“Alice, you have been to England, and you speak the language well”.
The degree to which the French in this scene and elsewhere accurately reflects either sixteenth- or fourteenth-century French is a subject of some debate, and presents the editor of a modern edition with a conundrum: does one merely render the scene in correct modern French, correcting what would be errors in that idiom? Or rather, does one attempt to preserve the different flavor of sixteenth-century French, thus perhaps staying more faithful to the copy text, but departing from the modernizing rationale? This edition attempts to modernize, referring the reader to commentary when modernization is uncertain, or would kill an intended bilingual pun. Whatever choice an editor makes, the scene is likely to sound as absurd to a modern francophone as it would have to a French ear in 1599. For the most complete historical-linguistic study of the play’s French, see Déprats, A French history of Henry V, especially 81–85.
Go to this point in the text
bien parles
The word order reflects contemporary usage.
Go to this point in the text
Un peu, madame.
“A little, Madame”.
Go to this point in the text
Je te … anglais?
“I pray you, teach me; I must learn to speak it. What do you call the hand in English?”
Catherine’s need to learn English anticipates the courtship dialogue in Act 5; in the Branagh film, Emma Thompson delivered the line with a thoughtful resignation that indicated her awareness of the futility of French resistance. The fact that the English lesson focuses on her body parts and quickly turns into unintentional bawdy may also highlight the princess’s role as diplomatic bargaining chip and sexual object.
Go to this point in the text
La main … hand.
“The hand? It is called de hand ”.
Go to this point in the text
De hand … doigts?
De hand. And the fingers?”
Go to this point in the text
Les doigts … fingres.
“The fingers—my faith, I forget the fingers! But I will remember: the fingers, I think they are called de fingres. Yes, de fingres ”.
F’s unusual spelling of the English word may reflect Alice’s Francophone pronunciation.
Go to this point in the text
Le main … ongles?
“The hand, de hand, the fingers, the fingres. I think that I am a good student. I have quickly gotten two English words. What do you call the nails?”
Many editors emend les fingres to de fingres, but Catherine’s use of the French article with the English word is likely intentional.
Go to this point in the text
Les ongles … nails.
“The nails, we call them de nails ”.
Although it is unwarranted by the text, actors sometimes give nails a disyllabic French pronunciation (as in naïve).
Go to this point in the text
De nails … nails.
De nails. Listen; tell me if I speak well: de hand, de fingres, and de nails.
Go to this point in the text
C’est bien … anglais.
“That’s well said, Madame. It is very good English”.
Go to this point in the text
Dites-moi … bras.
“Tell me the English for the arm”.
Go to this point in the text
Et le coude?
“And the elbow?”
Go to this point in the text
D’elbow … present.
D’elbow. I shall repeat all the words you have taught me so far”.
Go to this point in the text
Il est … pense.
“It is too difficult, Madame, I think”.
Go to this point in the text
Excusez … Éscoutez
“Pardon me, Alice. Listen”.
Go to this point in the text
bilbow
This mispronunciation produces an English word (bilbo), meaning either a sword produced in Bilbao, Spain (OED, 2nd ed. bilbo, n.1) or a set of ankle fetters (n.2). Neither sense suggests a pun, though the bilingual meaning may prepare the audience for the bawdy wordplay to come.
Go to this point in the text
O Seigneur … col?
“O Lord God, I forgot! D’elbow. What do you call the neck?”
Go to this point in the text
Et le menton?
“And the chin?”
Go to this point in the text
sin
May pun on the sense of “sexual transgression”.
Go to this point in the text
Oui. Sauf … d’Angleterre.
“Yes. Saving your honor, in truth you pronounce the words as correctly as the natives of England”.
Go to this point in the text
Je ne … temps.
“I do not doubt but to learn, by the grace of God, and in short time”.
Go to this point in the text
N’avez-vous … enseigné?
“Have you not already forgotten what I have taught you?”
Go to this point in the text
Non … promptement
“No, and I will promptly recite it to you”.
Go to this point in the text
Sauf votre honneur
“Saving your honor”.
Go to this point in the text
Ainsi dis-je … robe?
“So I said, d’elbow. De nick, and de sin. What do you call the foot and the gown?”
Go to this point in the text
foot
Catherine’s reaction suggests that she hears foutre, French for “to fuck”.
Go to this point in the text
le count
Alice attempts to say gown, but Catherine hears the French obscenity con (“cunt”).
Modern editors disagree on how to represent this Franglish hybrid word. The Quarto reading (con) makes Catherine’s French mishearing clear, but risks making the joke imperceptible to an Anglophone audience. Taylor’s cown (Henry V), on the other hand, emphasizes the English word Alice is going for, but obscures the obcenity in both languages. Craik argues that F’s compositor unnecessarily tried to make the joke land with English audiences more familiar with English cunt than French con (King Henry V), but the decision could just as easily have been authorial, and as Gurr points out, F’s spelling best reflects the pronunciation that made count/cunt a common contemporary pun in English (King Henry V). Capell’s emendation of French le to the pidgin English de is unnecessary, since the language of the article is not the issue (Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies). The articles are not consistently rendered in any of the earliest printed texts, and Alice’s slip into French le instead of English de (“the”) is perfectly understandable.
Go to this point in the text
Le foot … monde.
“The foot and the count? O Lord God, they are words of a wicked sound, corrupting, gross, and immodest, and not for honorable ladies to use. I would not pronounce these words before the lords of France for all the world.”
Go to this point in the text
Foh … ensemble
“Foh! The foot and the count! Nevertheless, I will once more recite my lesson all together”.
Go to this point in the text
C’est assez … diner.
“That’s enough for one time. Let us go to dinner”.
Go to this point in the text
3.5
Location: The French royal court at Rouen.
Go to this point in the text
the Duke of Brittany
Brittany does not appear in this stage direction in F, though Holinshed (see below) lists him as present at this council (Chronicles, 1587). He does have two speeches, but he is not mentioned in the list of dukes (A3 Sc5 Sp8). The Quarto gives these speeches to Bourbon, introducing his character before he appears at Agincourt (replacing the Dauphin in Q); some editors, starting with Theobald, have followed.
Go to this point in the text
river Somme
River in northern France, about halfway between Harfleur and Calais.
Although as Henry makes clear at A3 Sc3 Sp3, the English army is in a tactical retreat to Calais, the French lords’ discussion in this scene depicts the English march as an extended attack, perhaps to emphasize French cowardice. This tone is Shakespeare’s addition; Holinshed, whom the playwright otherwise follows closely here, gives the French king and his council no suggestion of frustration:
The French king being at Rone, and hearing that king Henrie was passed the riuer of Some, was much displeased therewith, and assembling his councell to the number of fiue and thirtie, asked their aduise what was to be doone. There was amongst these fiue and thirtie, his sonne the Dolphin, calling himselfe king of Sicill; the dukes of Berrie and Britaine, the earle of Pontieu the kings yoongest sonne, and other high estates. At length thirtie of them agreed, that the Englishmen should not depart vnfought withall, and fiue were of a contrarie opinion, but the greater number ruled the matter: and so Montioy king at armes was sent to the king of England to defie him as the enimie of France, and to tell him that he should shortlie haue battell. (Chronicles, 1587 552)
Go to this point in the text
And if
“An if” is also a possible reading, but the difference in sense is very subtle.
Go to this point in the text
withal
With.
Go to this point in the text
O Dieu vivant!
“O living God!”
Go to this point in the text
sprays
1) Branches, offshoots (i.e., descendants); 2) spurts of semen.
After the Norman invasion of England in 1066, many of the English and nearly all of the English aristocracy had French blood.
Go to this point in the text
emptying of
Ejaculate emptied from.
Go to this point in the text
fathers’ luxury
Ancestors’ lust.
Go to this point in the text
scions
1) Descendants (OED, 2nd ed. scion, n.2); 2) twigs cut for grafting (n.1.b).
Go to this point in the text
put in
Grafted onto.
Go to this point in the text
stock
Tree trunk or stem receiving the graft (i.e., the English).
See OED, 2nd ed. stock, n.1.A.I.4. The dauphin combines this sense of stock with the common metaphor for a genealogical line of descent (n.1.A.I.3.c).
Go to this point in the text
Spurt
Sprout, shoot (OED, 2nd ed. spirt, v.2).
Go to this point in the text
overlook
Rise above; look down on.
The sense of bewitch may also be relevant (OED, 2nd ed. overlook, v.7).
Go to this point in the text
grafters
1) The trees from which the grafted scion was taken; 2) those doing the grafting (i.e., in either case, the French).
Go to this point in the text
bastard Normans
Illegitimate descendants of the Normans who conquered England.
Go to this point in the text
Mort … vie
Death of my life, a common French oath.
Go to this point in the text
Unfought withal
A phrase taken directly from Holinshed (Chronicles, 1587; see A3 Sc5 Sp1 n.)
Go to this point in the text
but … sell
If I do not sell.
The phrase depends on Mort de ma vie (i.e., “Let me die if I do not sell”).
Go to this point in the text
slobb’ry
Wet, slimy.
Many editors emend to slobbery, but the meter requires a disyllable.
Go to this point in the text
nook-shotten
Irregularly shaped, with many corners and projections.
Go to this point in the text
Albion
Poetic name for the island of Great Britain.
From Latin albus (“white”), alluding to the white cliffs.
Go to this point in the text
Dieu des batailles
“God of battles”.
Go to this point in the text
mettle?
Vigor, courage.
Go to this point in the text
raw, and dull
Bleak and gloomy.
Go to this point in the text
On whom
Refers to they (A3 Sc5 Sp5), i.e., the English.
Go to this point in the text
despite
Contempt, malice.
Go to this point in the text
looks pale
Shines feebly.
Go to this point in the text
sodden
Boiled.
Go to this point in the text
drench
1) Drink; 2) dose of medicine for an animal.
Go to this point in the text
sur-reined jades
Over-ridden horses, on whom the rein has remained too long.
Go to this point in the text
barley broth
Strong ale.
Beer, the characteristic national drink of the English, is made by fermenting boiled malt, not unlike the mash that Samuel Johnson points out was commonly given to horses over-ridden or feverish: ground malt and hot water mixed (Plays).
Go to this point in the text
Decoct
Heat by boiling.
Go to this point in the text
quick
Lively.
Go to this point in the text
spirited
1) Impregnated with alcohol; 2) possessed by energetic spirits.
Go to this point in the text
roping
Dangling like ropes.
An echo of Golding’s translation of Ovid: Then Isycles hung roping downe (Metamorphosis 1.137).
Go to this point in the text
thatch
Straw used as roofing material.
Go to this point in the text
drops … youth
The bravely-shed blood of young English knights.
Go to this point in the text
Poor … lords.
Correcting himself, the constable says “We may call our fields poor, not “rich” ”, considering their French masters are so spiritless.
Go to this point in the text
madams
Wives, ladies.
Go to this point in the text
bred out
Weakened by overbreeding.
Go to this point in the text
new-store
Restock, newly populate.
Go to this point in the text
And
To.
Go to this point in the text
lavoltas high
Leaping dances.
Sir John Davies describes the lavolta in Orchestra, his 1596 poeme of dauncing:
Yet is there one the most delightfull kind,
A lofty iumping, or a leaping round,
Where arme in arme, two Dauncers are entwind,
And whirle themselues with strickt embracements bound,
And still their feet an Anapest do sound:
An Anapest is all theyr musicks song,
Whose first two feet are short, & third is long.
(Davies stanza 70)
Go to this point in the text
swift corantos
Dances characterized by running (implying battlefield cowardice).
Davies’s Orchestra describes the coranto thus:
What shall I name those currant trauases
That on a triple Dactyle foote doe run
Close by the ground with slyding passages,
Wherein that Dauncer greatest prayse hath won
Which with best order can all orders shun:
For euery where he wantonly must range,
And turne, and wind, with vnexpected change.
(Davies stanza 69)
Go to this point in the text
our grace … heels
Our best talents are dancing and running away.
Go to this point in the text
lofty
1) Haughty; 2) high-leaping.
Go to this point in the text
herald
An officer employed in carrying messages between royalty.
Go to this point in the text
Speed him hence.
Send him off with speed.
Go to this point in the text
hie
Hasten.
Go to this point in the text
Charles … Charolais
This list is taken, retaining almost the same order, from Holinshed’s list of the French lords slain at Agincourt (Chronicles, 1587 555; cf. A4 Sc8 Sp32). As Craik points out, Shakespeare’s addition to Holinshed’s list (Berry, Burgundy, and Charolais) may have been required for metrical reasons (King Henry V). Notes on the speaking characters appear at the List of Characters. For Burgundy, see A4 Sc8 Sp32 n. John, Duke of Berry (1340–1416) was uncle to King Charles VI and co-regent during his minority; he was seventy-five in 1415 and took no part in the resistance to the English. Charolais is actually one of the titles of Philip of Burgundy, who appears under that title in 5.2. The rest were, according to Holinshed and other chroniclers, all either killed or captured at Agincourt, Alençon slain by King Henry’s bodyguard.
Go to this point in the text
d’Alberet
The Folio’s spelling of the constable’s name (Delabreth) follows Holinshed’s de la Berth spelling for metrical reasons; Holinshed also once renders the name Dalbreth (Chronicles, 1587 551). As with all historical figures I use the modern spelling; in this case the variant d’Alberet more closely preserves the meter than the more common d’Albret. Editors—even those who modernize other proper French nouns (e.g. Rouen for F’s Roan [A3 Sc5 Sp8])—often opt for a hybrid form like Delabret or De-la-bret.
Go to this point in the text
kings
Lesser royalty.
King Charles either flatters the nobility of his aristocratic subjects, employs poetic hyperbole, or alludes to the historical royal status of dukedoms like Burgundy. Cf. princes all (A3 Sc5 Sp12). Most editors, following Theobald’s conjecture, emend to knights (Works of Shakespeare).
Go to this point in the text
seats
Dignity, authority (as represented by thrones and estates).
Go to this point in the text
quit you of
Be rid of; take vengeance for.
Go to this point in the text
Bar
Block, obstruct.
Go to this point in the text
Harry England
This compound suggestively encapsulates the idea of ‘the king’s two bodiesʼ: the familiar form of the personal name joined with the idea of king-as-country (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
pennons
Long narrow banners attached to knights’ lances and helmets.
Go to this point in the text
host
Army.
Go to this point in the text
vassal seat
Inferior location.
Go to this point in the text
The Alps … upon.
The image of mountains spitting their melted snowpack on valleys originates in the Latin poet Furius Bibaculus, in a line parodied as bad verse by Horace (Satires II 5.41-42). For void his rheum (spit phlegm) cf. MV 1.3.110.
Go to this point in the text
void
Empty out; cough up.
Go to this point in the text
rheum
Moist discharge (i.e., melted snow).
Go to this point in the text
Go down upon
Attack.
Go to this point in the text
captive chariot
Cart for parading captives.
Holinshed reports that the French had planned to parade Henry in this way: The noble men had deuised a chariot, wherein they might triumphantlie conueie the king captiue to the citie of Paris (Chronicles, 1587 554).
Go to this point in the text
Rouen
F’s spelling, Roan, indicates contemporary English pronunciation; the meter requires a monosyllable.
Go to this point in the text
becomes the great
Befits your royal greatness.
Go to this point in the text
heart
Courage.
Go to this point in the text
sink
Sewage pit.
Go to this point in the text
’fore achievement
Even before his capture.
F’s spelling, for atchieuement, presents a confusing sense. The phrase may mean “instead of achievement”, but if achievement is taken to mean “capture” or “conquer” (its usual sense in the play; see A3 Sc3 Sp1, A4 Sc3 Sp20, Epilogue Sp1), the ransom would normally follow, rather than replacing Henry’s achievement. Editorial glosses of the original reading include Rann’s instead of attempting any great exploit (Works), Craik’s to bring the matter to an end (King Henry V), and the RSC editors’ in exchange for honour/as the only paltry thing to be achieved (Bate and Rasmussen).
Go to this point in the text
ransom
Payment for the return of captives.
In medieval warfare, leaders and noble members of an army could expect to be held hostage and treated well in anticipation of a rich ransom. Ransoms were, indeed, the largest source of potential income from a battle. Hence, Henry’s repeated boast that he will give no ransom for his safe return if captured (see A3 Sc6 Sp38, A4 Sc1 Sp58, A4 Sc3 Sp20) represents an extraordinary profession of an intention to fight to the death. Likewise, his infamous order to kill the prisoners at Agincourt (A4 Sc6 Sp5) is transgressive in part because it deprives his men of spoil.
Go to this point in the text
haste on
Send with speed.
Go to this point in the text
Prince … Rouen.
In F, but not in Q, the dauphin fights at Agincourt despite these lines. Shakespeare follows Holinshed for the exchange: The Dolphin sore desired to haue beene at the battell, but he was prohibited by his father (Chronicles, 1587 552). Famous Victories dramatizes the moment and provides the French King with emotional motivation:
Sp396
Dolphin.
I trust your Maiestie will bestow,
Some part of the battell on me,
I hope not to present any otherwise then well.
King.
I tell thee my sonne,
Although I should get the victory, and thou lose thy life,
I should thinke my selfe quite conquered,
And the Englishmen to haue the victorie.
Go to this point in the text
3.6
Location: the English camp in Picardy, northern France, near the river Canche.
Holinshed does not note the location of this action (Chronicles, 1587). Most editors, following Malone, place the historical encounter on the river Ternoise near Blangy, where English scouts captured a bridge on 23 October, and where the entire army crossed on the next day, the eve of the battle of Agincourt (Plays). During the English march to Calais, however, the French made several attempts to stop the retreat at river crossings; the skirmish described in this scene, according to Holinshed (Chronicles, 1587), took place on 22 October, three days before the battle, which would place it instead on the river Canche, near Frévent (see A3 Sc6 Sp27 n., and Curry 154–156). An audience, at any rate, cannot know which river the bridge spans, and is likely to assume it to be the Somme, mentioned in the previous scene.
Go to this point in the text
meeting
Gower and Fluellen, as the dialogue makes clear, must enter separately.
Go to this point in the text
services
Military feats.
Go to this point in the text
committed
Performed.
Go to this point in the text
at the bridge
Holinshed describes the encounter in some detail:
The king of England hearing that the Frenchmen approched, and that there was an other riuer for him to passe with his armie by a bridge, and doubting least if the same bridge should be broken, it would be greatlie to his hinderance, appointed certeine capteins with their bands, to go thither with all speed before him, and to take possession thereof, and so to keepe it, till his comming thither. (Chronicles, 1587 552)
Go to this point in the text
magnanimous
Generous, nobly brave.
Go to this point in the text
Agamemnon
Leader of the Greeks during the Trojan war.
Fluellen’s simile may be inadvertently faint praise. Not particularly noted for magnanimity even in Homer, Agamemnon, as Shakespeare portrays him in Troilus and Cressida (1603), is downright petty. Taylor suggests that Fluellen mentions him because of the echo of the sound of magnanimous (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
my live
My life.
Probably pronounced with a long vowel.
Go to this point in the text
Mark Antony
One of the three rulers of the Roman world during the Second Triumvirate (43–33 BCE).
Fluellen’s comparison is again ambivalent, as Mark Antony is most famous to military history for his famous retreat from the battle of Actium (31 BCE), which led to the inception of the Roman Empire and Antony’s disgrace and suicide.
Go to this point in the text
estimation
Reputation.
Go to this point in the text
as gallant service
Exploits as brave as a man of estimation might do.
Go to this point in the text
Pistol
The surprise of the identification is surely intended as comic, and probably reflects on Fluellen’s obsession with the form of military action, rather than its content (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
buxom
1) Vigorous; 2) kindly, affable.
The definition pliant, obedient (OED, 2nd ed. buxom, a.I.1.a) may also be appropriate, giving buxom valor the sense of valour under good command, obedient to its superiors (Steevens, Plays).
Go to this point in the text
giddy
Fickle.
Go to this point in the text
Fortune’s … blind
The goddess Fortune was traditionally represented as a blind woman turning a wheel that alternately exalted humans and cast them down.
Go to this point in the text
rolling restless stone
An alternate depiction of Fortune showed her standing on a spherical stone to represent her proverbial fickleness (cf. Tilley F606). One of the earliest such representations is that of the Roman tragedian Marcus Pacuvius (220–130 BCE), who writes,
Dame Fortune, some philosophers maintain,
Is witless, sightless, brutish; they declare
That on a rolling ball of stone she stands;
For whither that same stone a hazard tilts,
Thither, they say, falls Fortune; and they state
That she is witless for that she is cruel,
Untrustworthy, unstaid; and, they repeat,
Sightless she is because she nothing sees
Whereto she’ll steer herself.
(Page, Capps, and Rouse 2: 319)
Cf. Kyd’s Spanish Tragedy:
Fortune is blind
[…]
What help can be expected at her hands,
Whose foot is standing on a rolling stone
And mind more mutable than fickle winds?
(Kyd 1.3.23–30)
Engraving of Fortuna, a white woman with wings. She
                           is wearing a dress, garters decorated with lionsʼ heads, and sandles. In
                           her right hand, she holds a stalk of wheat and, in her left, a shipʼs
                           wheel with a man sitting on top, reaching towards her. On the ground
                           behind her is a stone sphere. A ship and a city are in the background.
                           Title reads: Fortvna. Text in the top right reads: 1541 HSB.
Hans Sebald Beham’s 1541 engraving of Fortuna depicts both wheel and spherical stone.
Pistol here combines the two icons of Fortune into one, and Fluellen cannot resist the temptation to read Pistol a little lecture on the emblems of Fortune (Kittredge).
Go to this point in the text
By your patience
Forgive my interruption.
Go to this point in the text
muffler
Blindfold.
Go to this point in the text
his
Many editors emend to her to regularize Fortune’s gender in Fluellen’s speech.
Go to this point in the text
to signify … blind
To illustrate that chance, the principle she represents, operates blindly.
Warburton found this to be a tautology signifying Fluellen’s absurdity (Works), but Steevens argues that the captain distinguishes between the goddess Fortuna and the abstraction fortune (Plays). I have rendered the latter in lowercase to suggest the distinction.
Go to this point in the text
rowls
Most editors regularize the spelling, but F’s spelling (rowles) may indicate Fluellen’s non-standard pronunciation. The spelling does occur rarely elsewhere—in Othello (F1 Oth sig. VV4v) and Henry VIII (F1 H8 sig. X3v)—though roll is the conventional spelling in early Shakespearean texts.
Go to this point in the text
the poet
Fluellen’s praise of some particular poet is humourous because this description of Fortune is so thoroughly traditional (Craik, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
moral
Symbolic figure, allegorical emblem.
Go to this point in the text
Fortune … him
A popular ballad began Fortune my foe, why dost thou frown on me?
Go to this point in the text
he hath … be
Cf. Holinshed:
Yet in this great necessitie, the poore people of the countrie were not spoiled, nor anie thing taken of them without paiment, nor anie outrage or offense doone by the Englishmen, except one, which was, that a souldiour tooke a pix out of a church, for which he was apprehended, & the king not once remooued till the box was restored, and the offendor strangled. (Chronicles, 1587 552)
Go to this point in the text
pax
Precious metal tablet depicting the crucifixion, kissed in mass by those taking communion.
Though pax is the reading of both F and Q, some editors emend to pix or pyx (the chest used to hold the consecrated bread), since that is the object stolen by the unnamed soldier in both Hall and Holinshed (The vnion; Chronicles, 1587 1217), and since a pyx is an object equally likely to be stolen from a church. In Hall, though not in the more Protestant-inclined chronicle of Holinshed, the soldier’s real crime is not theft, but the blasphemous eating of the host outside the context of mass.
Go to this point in the text
hemp
Rope made of hemp.
Go to this point in the text
doom
Sentence, judgment.
Go to this point in the text
vital thread
Thread of life, spun out by the three Fates.
See A5 Sc1 Sp5 n.
Go to this point in the text
penny-cord
Cheap rope.
Go to this point in the text
reproach
Shame, disgrace.
Go to this point in the text
requite
Repay (perhaps by bribing).
Go to this point in the text
partly
Either because Pistol’s speech is confusing or because the offer of a bribe is only implied.
Go to this point in the text
Why … therefore!
A theatrical phrase, perhaps (as Malone observes) recalling Marlowe’s Massacre at Paris (1594, D2): The Guise is slaine, and I reioyce therefore (Marlowe qtd. in Malone, Plays). Cf. Pistol’s Why then, lament therefor (2H4 5.3.94).
Go to this point in the text
For if
For even if.
Go to this point in the text
fico
“A fig” (Italian).
The fig was an insulting exclamation, usually accompanied by biting the thumb or thrusting it between the first two fingers. By its shape, the gesture, also called the fig or the fig of Spain (A3 Sc6 Sp19) suggests the fruit, but also evokes a hemorrhoid (another sense of fig; see OED, 2nd ed. fig, n.1.3.a), and indicates a wish for its recipient to suffer such a painful condition, or perhaps to be murdered by poisoned figs, a practice associated with Spanish and Italian revenge (n.1.2).
Go to this point in the text
fig of Spain
Go to this point in the text
arrant
Notorious, downright.
Go to this point in the text
counterfeit
Deceitful, pretending.
Go to this point in the text
bawd
Pimp.
Go to this point in the text
cutpurse
Pickpocket.
Go to this point in the text
prave
Brave.
Go to this point in the text
as you … day
I.e., as you shall ever see.
Summer days are the longest and thus offer the best chance at seeing wonders. The phrase is proverbial (Tilley S967); see also A4 Sc8 Sp13, below, and MND 1.2.69.
Go to this point in the text
warrant
Assure, promise.
Go to this point in the text
when … serve
Fluellen’s version of “when time shall serve”, i.e., when the opportunity arises.
Go to this point in the text
gull
1) Simpleton; 2) trickster.
Go to this point in the text
under the form
In the shape.
Go to this point in the text
perfect
Word-perfect.
Go to this point in the text
learn you
1) Learn; 2) teach.
The you is used here for emphasis (the ethical dative).
Go to this point in the text
by … done
Gower’s warning here recalls a confidence trick described in early modern literature of roguery: the whip-jack was a rogue who collected details of naval battles in order to beg more convincingly as a disabled veteran sailor. See, for example, Awdelay’s Fraternitie of uacabondes (sig. A2r).
Go to this point in the text
sconce
Small fort.
Andrew Gurr’s discussion of this word—on which he partly bases his argument about the relationship among Q1, Q3, and a manuscript copy-text for F—depends on a misreading of Q1, which Gurr believes has scene here. In fact, Q1 reads sconce, like Q3 and F, though a worn or imperfectly inked O type might suggest “scence”. See Gurr, King Henry V, Introduction 8.
Go to this point in the text
convoy
Armed escort.
Go to this point in the text
came off
Left combat; acquitted himself (OED, 2nd ed. come, v.B.IX.65.f, 65.h).
Go to this point in the text
terms … on
Conditions the enemy insisted on.
Go to this point in the text
con
Memorize.
Go to this point in the text
the phrase of war
Military jargon.
Go to this point in the text
trick up
Adorn.
Go to this point in the text
new-tuned
Newly invented.
Go to this point in the text
general’s cut
Same fashion as the general’s.
Francis M. Kelly and Randolphe Schwabe, in A Short History of Costume and Armour (1931), note that in the ’nineties the Earl of Essex set the fashion of rather long, square beards, otherwise reserved for elder men (Kelly and Schwabe 2.22), and Edward Le Comte argues that it is to this fashion, the so-called Cadiz beard to which Gower alludes (Shakspere, Guilpin, and Essex); this allusion would lend support to the identification of the general of our gracious empress mentioned by the Chorus (A5 Sc0 Sp1) with Essex. Taylor suggests that Pistol himself had such a beard, in the original performances (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
horrid
1) Shaggy, rough; 2) intimidating.
Go to this point in the text
suit
Uniform.
The Quarto’s different and equally sensible reading, shout, suggests a mishearing or misreading of copy text; contemporary spellings of suit included soute and shutte (OED, 2nd ed. suit, n.III.13.a, II.9.b).
Go to this point in the text
ale-washed
Drunken.
Go to this point in the text
wonderful
Amazing.
Go to this point in the text
know
Recognize.
Go to this point in the text
slanders … age
Disgraces to the current time.
Go to this point in the text
mistook
Deceived, misled.
Go to this point in the text
hole … coat
Misstep in his pretense; opportunity to expose him.
Go to this point in the text
from the pridge
About the bridge; i.e., to bring news about the skirmish at the bridge.
The phrase was deleted by some early editors—including Pope and Malone, who conjectured compositorial eyeskip from A3 Sc6 Sp26 (Pope, Works; Malone, Plays)—who misunderstood the preposition as being literally locative.
Go to this point in the text
Colors
Military banners.
Go to this point in the text
poor
Sick, tired, bedraggled.
Go to this point in the text
pless
Bless.
Go to this point in the text
The Duke … pridge.
Cf. Holinshed:
Those that were sent, finding the Frenchmen busie to breake downe their bridge, assailed them so vigorouslie, that they discomfited them, and tooke and slue them; and so the bridge was preserued till the king came, and passed the riuer by the same with his whole armie. This was on the two and twentith day of October. (Chronicles, 1587)
Holinshed does not mention the role of Exeter, whom Shakespeare has holding Harfleur for the English in 3.3 (See A3 Sc3 Sp3 n.). Exeter is presumably needed here so that Pistol can ask Fluellen to plead with him for Bardolph’s life (Gurr, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
prave passages
Brave passages, i.e., admirable fights.
Go to this point in the text
was have
Did have.
Go to this point in the text
enforced
Forced, compelled.
Go to this point in the text
perdition
Loss (of men).
Go to this point in the text
never a man
Not even one man.
Go to this point in the text
if … man
Fluellen, of course, has no way of knowing of the prior relationship between Henry and Bardolph, but assumes that the king might have noticed the latter’s odd appearance.
Go to this point in the text
His face … red.
Steevens suggests an echo of Chaucer’s description of the Summoner, whose face is fyr-reed with whelkes white and knobbes sittynge on his chekes (General Prologue 624–633). Johnson remarks with relief that
this is the last time that any sport can be made with the red face of Bardolph, which to confess the truth seems to have taken more hold on Shakespeare’s imagination than on any other. The conception is very cold to the solitary reader, though it may be somewhat invigorated by the exhibition on the stage. This poet is always more careful about the present than the future, about his audience than his readers. (Plays)
Go to this point in the text
bubuckles
Swollen, inflamed bumps.
A portmanteau of buboes (swellings that frequently marked plague victims) and carbuncles (facial pustules reminiscent the flame-red gems of the same name).
Go to this point in the text
whelks
Pimples.
Go to this point in the text
knobs
Warts, lumps.
Go to this point in the text
flames afire
Burns like fire.
Following Wilson, I read F’s a fire as an adverb describing the way His face […] flames (Wilson). The more usual reading is Dyce’s flames o’ fire, meaning “red patches” (Works of William Shakespeare). Lodged as it is between a series of nouns and a clause, the phrase could logically serve as both. Audiences are unlikely to hear the difference, but a verb gives the player of Fluellen a more active option.
Go to this point in the text
his lips … nose
His breath inflames the fire of his nose like a bellows.
Taylor takes this to imply that the character should have an underbite.
Go to this point in the text
plue
Blue.
Go to this point in the text
his … executed
His face no longer glows.
Either this means that Bardolph has been executed, an assumption that reveals Pistol’s pleading to have been useless and Fluellen’s prediction of the execution (A3 Sc6 Sp29) puzzling, or more likely, as Malone argued, it means that the anticipation of his fate has extinguished the fire in Bardolph’s face (Plays). Modern directors frequently portray the execution of Bardolph onstage at this point in the scene. In Adrian Noble’s 1984 RSC production, for example, the moment was played for full tragic effect: Bardolph was brought onstage to stare silently at Henry during Fluellen’s description of him, and slowly knelt after his fire’s out (Henry V). Kenneth Branagh’s Henry then gave a nod to Exeter, who garroted Bardolph gruesomely; his agonizingly slow death and Henry’s static, silent reaction to it took place in a full eighty seconds of silence, filled only by the sound of rain falling, before Henry’s next line.
Go to this point in the text
We would … winner
Shakespeare makes this proclamation a reaction to Bardolph’s offense, while Holinshed makes clear that this was policy from the outset of the campaign:
At his first comming on land, he caused proclamation to be made, that no person should be so hardie on paine of death, either to take anie thing out of anie church that belonged to the same, or to hurt or doo anie violence either to priests, women, or anie such as should be found without weapon or armor, and not readie to make resistance: also that no man should renew anie quarell or strife, whereby anie fraie might arise to the disquieting of the armie. (Chronicles, 1587 549)
Holinshed also describes the success of Henry’s policy of the gentler gamester:
The people of the countries thereabout, hearing of such zeale in him, to the maintenance of iustice, ministred to his armie victuals, and other necessaries, although by open proclamation so to doo they were prohibited. (Chronicles, 1587 552)
Go to this point in the text
cut off
Punished by death.
Go to this point in the text
express charge
An explicit command.
Go to this point in the text
compelled
Taken by force.
Go to this point in the text
upbraided
Reproached.
Go to this point in the text
levity
Lightness of touch, smoothness.
The Quarto reading, lenitie (mercy, gentleness), suggests that a u/n compositorial error is highly likely, but a nonce-use of levity—in the broadest, non-pejorative sense of “lightness”—makes sense as an opposite quality to heavy cruelty. The more usual sense of “jocularity” may seem inappropriate to the character and situation, but Henry is still a king capable of playing a violent practical joke on the battlefield while the dead are being counted.
Go to this point in the text
play for
Gamble for.
Go to this point in the text
gentler
Milder, more generous.
Go to this point in the text
gamester
Player, gambler.
Go to this point in the text
Tucket
Trumpet call.
Usually a signal for marching (OED, 2nd ed. tucket, n.1); here the announcement of Montjoy’s entrance.
Go to this point in the text
habit
Apparel.
The French royal herald would wear a tabard bearing the king’s coat of arms. Both Walter and Humphreys comment that Montjoy’s unceremoniously terse greeting is insolent, but Henry’s Thou dost thy office fairly (A3 Sc6 Sp38) suggests that he does not take offense (Humphreys, Henry V; Walter, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
of thee
From thee. i.e., What do you have to tell me?
Go to this point in the text
Unfold
Reveal, explain.
Go to this point in the text
Thus … king
This message does not appear in Holinshed, who has the French demand to know what Henry’s ransom will be only once, immediately before Agincourt (Chronicles, 1587; see A4 Sc3 Sp17 n.). Shakespeare makes the repeated French demands into a running joke: see A4 Sc3 Sp17, A4 Sc3 Sp20, A4 Sc3 Sp22, A4 Sc5 Sp6, and A4 Sc7 Sp16.
Go to this point in the text
Advantage
Superior circumstances (either a better attack location or greater numbers).
Go to this point in the text
rebuked him
Checked him, beaten him back.
Go to this point in the text
bruise an injury
Squeeze a boil.
Go to this point in the text
upon our cue
At the appropriate time.
Like an actor following a script.
Go to this point in the text
imperial
1) Commanding, majestic; 2) of a higher rank than a mere king.
Go to this point in the text
sufferance
Patient endurance.
Go to this point in the text
proportion
Correspond to, compensate for.
Go to this point in the text
digested
Endured.
Go to this point in the text
in … re-answer
To repay in full measure.
Go to this point in the text
pettiness
Weakness, insignificance.
Go to this point in the text
bow
Bend, collapse.
Implying Henry’s bow in obeisance to the French king.
Go to this point in the text
exchequer
Royal treasury.
Go to this point in the text
for th’effusion
In recompense for the spillage, loss (i.e., the slaughter of the French).
Go to this point in the text
muster … kingdom
Roll-call of soldiers if the entire population were militarized.
Go to this point in the text
faint
Inadequate.
Go to this point in the text
pronounced
Decreed, i.e., a foregone conclusion.
Go to this point in the text
So far
This concludes the message from.
Go to this point in the text
thy name
Go to this point in the text
thy quality
1) Your rank; 2) your occupation; 3) your character; 4) whose side you are on.
Go to this point in the text
office
Duty.
Go to this point in the text
Turn thee … master.
Holinshed records this response to the first encounter between Henry and the French herald:
King Henrie aduisedlie answered: Mine intent is to doo as it pleaseth God, I will not seeke your maister at this time; but if he or his seeke me, I will meet with them God willing. If anie of your nation attempt once to stop me in my iournie now towards Calis, at their ieopardie be it; and yet with I not anie of you so vnaduised, as to be the occasion that I die your tawnie ground with your red bloud. (Chronicles, 1587 552)
Go to this point in the text
impeachment
Hindrance.
Go to this point in the text
sooth
Truth.
Go to this point in the text
craft
Cunning, skill.
May also imply deceit and trickery (OED, 2nd ed. craft, n.1.II.4).
Go to this point in the text
vantage
Military advantage.
May also pun on vauntage (“boasting”).
Go to this point in the text
air of France
Q’s spelling, heire, makes clear the pun on heir of France, i.e., the dauphin.
Go to this point in the text
blown … me
Inflated me with boastfulness.
Continuing the heir/air wordplay, the dauphin can be said to have boasted (see OED, 2nd ed. blow, v.1.I.6.a) boastfulness into Henry.
Go to this point in the text
trunk
Body.
Go to this point in the text
God before
1) With God on our side; 2) I swear before God.
Go to this point in the text
France himself
1) The king in person; 2) the whole of France.
Go to this point in the text
There’s … labor
When he had thus answered the herald, he gaue him a princelie reward, and licence to depart (Holinshed, Chronicles, 1587 552).
Go to this point in the text
advise himself
Consider carefully.
Go to this point in the text
tawny
Yellow-brown.
Go to this point in the text
on … them
Tomorrow we will order the soldiers to.
Although MacDonald Jackson’s conjecture (Henry V), which Gurr accepts (King Henry V), is attractive, the punctuation of Q and F makes perfectly good sense, and since Henry himself has just given the order to march, a further command to give the order would be redundant.
Go to this point in the text
3.7
Location: the French camp, Agincourt.
Go to this point in the text
Dauphin
F includes the dauphin in this scene, despite his historical absence, and despite the French king having ordered him to remain in Rouen (A3 Sc5 Sp10); likely Shakespeare was obliged for dramatic reasons to humiliate the braggart of the tennis-balls at Agincourt (Wilson, Henry V): the decision to bring the dauphin to Agincourt, though it leads to another internal inconsistency in F, continues to focus the conflict of the French and English upon the dauphin as a foil for King Henry. The dauphin’s presence and defeat resolves the two characters’ in a dramatically satisfying way that Famous Victories, which sticks to the chronicle more closely on this issue, can only gesture at: in the earlier play, Henry explicitly laments that the dauphin’s absence means that he cannot pay his rival back for the mockery with the tennis balls (FV sigs. E2v-E3r). The Quarto version of Henry V solves the inconsistency by revising this scene and 4.5 in such a way as to replace the dauphin with Bourbon (4.2 has no analogue in Q). Gary Taylor’s was the first modern edition to adopt this substitution, on the grounds that it reflects Shakespeare’s most mature artistic intentions (Henry V); while this is likely the case, conflating the two states of the text in this way leads Taylor to rather awkward justifications, like Orléans’s reference to Bourbon (rather than the dauphin) as a gallant prince (A3 Sc7 Sp43), a title reserved elsewhere in the play for royalty.
Go to this point in the text
with others
None of these others participates in the scene’s dialogue, and they may be intended to pass on and off the stage to indicate the business of preparation for battle. Q does not indicate non-speaking characters.
Go to this point in the text
pasterns
Feet, hoofs.
Specifically, the pastern is the part of the foot between the fetlock and the hoof.
Go to this point in the text
Ch’ha!
Exclamation of pride.
The dauphin either attempts to mimic the sound of his horse, imagines making such a sound to urge him on in battle, or simply makes a general exclamation of triumph or delight. Cf. the passage in praise of the horse in Job: He sayth among the trumpets, Ha, ha: hee smelleth the battell afarre off, and the noyse of the captaines, and the shouting (Geneva, Job 39:25).
Go to this point in the text
as … hairs
As if his insides (specifically intestines) were light as hairs.
Alternately, the dauphin may allude to the bounding of tennis balls, which were traditionally stuffed with hairs (Warburton, Works; cf. Ado 3.2.34), or we may hear a pun on hares (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
le cheval volant
“The flying horse”.
Go to this point in the text
Pegasus
Winged horse of Greek myth.
Go to this point in the text
qui a … feu
“who has fiery nostrils”.
Go to this point in the text
basest horn
Lowest part.
With a play on the sense of “lowest-pitched wind instrument”.
Go to this point in the text
Hermes
Greek messenger god.
In myth, Hermes used his pipe to lull the giant Argus to sleep.
Go to this point in the text
heat
Great eagerness, ardor (as ginger is hot to the taste).
Go to this point in the text
Perseus
Greek hero, rider of Pegasus.
Perseus slew the gorgon Medusa, from whose blood Pegasus was born.
Go to this point in the text
air and fire
The two hot, light elements of the four elements of ancient philosophy.
Shakespeare associates these elements with swiftness and lightness (see Sonnets 44 and 45), and elsewhere with nobility and courage; see Cleopatra’s boasting self-description : I am fire and air; my other elements / I give to baser life (Ant 5.2.278–279).
Go to this point in the text
all … beasts
I.e., other horses do not deserve the name.
Since jade can also refer to a whore, the dauphin’s line may foreshadow the extended double entendre below.
Go to this point in the text
absolute
Perfect, incomparable.
Go to this point in the text
horse
Actors frequently emphasize this word or pause before it to emphasize the ironic absurdity of such overblown praise.
Go to this point in the text
palfreys
Riding horses.
A palfrey, typically ridden by women, would be unsuitable in battle, and the dauphin presumably doesn’t mean to imply that his warhorse is one, choosing it for the alliteration of the phrase and the word’s association with chivalric poetry.
Go to this point in the text
bidding
Command.
Go to this point in the text
countenance
Bearing, appearance.
Go to this point in the text
homage
Respect, alliegance.
Go to this point in the text
from … lamb
All day long.
Proverbial (Tilley B186).
Go to this point in the text
lodging
Settling down to sleep.
Go to this point in the text
vary
Express in innovative words.
A rhetorical term; see OED, 2nd ed. vary, v.II.9, I.5.d.
Go to this point in the text
theme
Subject of discourse.
Go to this point in the text
fluent
Variable; flowing easily from the tongue.
Go to this point in the text
the sands
Each of the infinite grains of sand.
Go to this point in the text
argument … all
Sufficient topic to keep them all busy.
Go to this point in the text
subject … sovereign
There seems to be word-play on subject (one who owes service to a king) and on ‘sovereign reasonʼ (the reason, as having the right to rule over other faculties Ham 3.1.151) (Craik, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
reason on
Discuss.
Go to this point in the text
familiar … unknown
Both the known world and beyond.
Go to this point in the text
to lay … functions
To put aside their individual occupations and join together.
Go to this point in the text
sonnet
Lyric poem.
Go to this point in the text
Wonder of nature—
Readers at least since Warburton have conjectured Shakespeare satirizes a specific contemporary poem here, but no such poem has been convincingly identified (Works).
Go to this point in the text
courser
Warhorse, charger.
Go to this point in the text
bears
Carries a man’s weight.
I.e., in riding or during sex. During the bawdy exchange following the dauphin’s comparison of his warhorse to a mistress, the constable and the dauphin quibble repeatedly on horsemanship as a euphemism for sex, playing on the punning resemblance of horse and whores.
Go to this point in the text
Me
She bears only me.
Go to this point in the text
prescript
Prescribed, proper.
Go to this point in the text
particular
Privately owned, personal.
As opposed to a common mistress, i.e., a prostitute.
Go to this point in the text
shrewdly
1) Sharply, severely; 2) like a shrew (a misogynist slang term for an ill-tempered woman).
Go to this point in the text
shook your back
1) Rattled you while riding; 2) had sex with you.
Go to this point in the text
Mine … bridled.
1) My mistress is a woman, not a horse; 2) my mistress is less controlled than yours.
Go to this point in the text
belike
Perhaps, presumably.
Go to this point in the text
rode
1) On horseback; 2) sexually.
Go to this point in the text
kern of Ireland
Irish peasant-soldier.
Go to this point in the text
hose
Breeches.
Go to this point in the text
in … strossers
1) In close-fitting trousers; 2) naked.
Go to this point in the text
horsemanship
Often pronounced “whoresmanship” in performance in order to bring out the implicit pun.
Go to this point in the text
foul bogs
1) Filthy mires; 2) diseased vaginas.
Go to this point in the text
to my mistress
As my mistress.
Go to this point in the text
as lief
Rather.
Go to this point in the text
jade
1) Worn-out horse; 2) whore.
Go to this point in the text
my mistress … hair
I.e., as opposed to yours, who has lost her natural hair to syphilis and so wears a wig.
Go to this point in the text
Le chien … bourbier.
“The dog has returned to its own vomit, and the washed sow to the mud”.
The proverb predates the New Testament; see 2 Peter: But it is come vnto them, according to the true Prouerbe, The dogge is returned to his owne vomit: and, The sowe that was washed, to the wallowing in the myre (Geneva 2:22). The French, as Gurr points out, follows the Huguenot bible (King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
Thou makest … anything.
You find any way to turn my words against me.
Go to this point in the text
use … for
1) Treat like; 2) employ sexually as.
Go to this point in the text
any such proverb
A proverb such as the one the dauphin has just quoted.
Go to this point in the text
kin … purpose
Relevant to the conversation.
Go to this point in the text
fall
Be knocked off the armour.
Go to this point in the text
want
Lack for stars; be diminished.
Go to this point in the text
a many
A great many.
Go to this point in the text
honor
Respectful, noble.
Go to this point in the text
Ev’n
Just.
Go to this point in the text
his desert
What he deserves.
Go to this point in the text
I will … faces
I.e., I will kill so many English tomorrow that their bodies will cover a mile (Craik, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
faced … way
Defied and driven from my course.
Go to this point in the text
fain
Eagerly.
Go to this point in the text
about the ears
Beating the heads.
Go to this point in the text
go to hazard
1) Make a wager; 2) go into danger, risk.
Literally a dice game; see the Chorus at A4 Sc0 Sp1 (and note).
Go to this point in the text
he will … kills
I.e., he will kill no one.
The phrase is proverbial (Dent A192.2). Cf. Beatrice’s similar mock: But how many hath he kil’d? for indeed, I promis’d to eate all of his killing (Ado 1.1.31–33).
Go to this point in the text
foot
May pun on the sense of “vagina” or the French foutre, “fuck”, contributing to the bawdy sense of tread out. See Partridge’s entry on foot (Shakespeare’s Bawdy).
Go to this point in the text
tread out
Erase by stamping out.
Also with a sexual sense; since tread refers to the copulation of birds, tread out can mean to beget or engender (OED, 2nd ed. tread, v.B.8).
Go to this point in the text
active
Energetic, diligent.
Go to this point in the text
Doing
Copulation.
See OED, 2nd ed. doing, vbl. n.1.b. Orléans, intentionally or not, takes the word in the neutral, more innocent sense. As Craik points out, nothing in the dialogue here or elsewhere suggests that the dauphin is particularly lecherous, so perhaps the constable means only constant, ineffectual activity (King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
still
Always, continually.
Go to this point in the text
did harm
Injured anyone.
Go to this point in the text
that good name
I.e., “harmless” (not a favorable epithet for a warrior).
Go to this point in the text
What’s he?
Who is that?
Go to this point in the text
he
The dauphin.
Go to this point in the text
it
Valor.
Go to this point in the text
no hidden virtue
Obvious.
Could also be taken to mean “nonexistent”.
Go to this point in the text
Never … lackey.
He has only ever done violence to his servant.
Go to this point in the text
hooded
1) Hidden; 2) masked like a hunting falcon.
Go to this point in the text
bate
1) Disappear, diminish; 2) flutter its wings restlessly.
The constable’s falconry quibble comes from hooded valor. A hawk bates (flaps its wings) when unhooded (OED, 2nd ed. bate, v.1.2).
Go to this point in the text
Ill … well.
Proverbial (Tilley I41).
Go to this point in the text
cap
Outdo, beat.
The constable here begins a game called Proverbs, in which players counter one proverbial saying with another. Taylor notes that such proverb duels also occur in Drayton’s Idea (1619), Henry Porter’s Two Angry Women of Abingdon (ca. 1588), and John Grange’s Golden Aphroditis (1577) (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
flattery in friendship
Outdo, beat.
The more common proverb is falsehood in fellowship (Tilley F41), but in Shakespeare flattery invariably connotes deception.
Go to this point in the text
take up
Counter.
Go to this point in the text
Give … due.
Proverbial (Tilley D273).
Go to this point in the text
Well placed.
That’s appropriate.
Go to this point in the text
There stands … for
Your friend (the dauphin) takes the place of.
Go to this point in the text
Have … eye
I’ll shoot at the target.
The constable imagines the dauphin, and the proverb that makes him into a devil, to stand as an archery target, the centermost point of which is called the eye (OED, 2nd ed. eye, n.1.III.16.c).
Go to this point in the text
A pox … devil.
More properly a curse than a proverb, a pox of/on— was quite a common formulation. Cf. a fig for— (Tilley F210).
Go to this point in the text
a fool’s … shot.
Proverbial (Tilley F515).
Go to this point in the text
bolt
Arrow.
Specifically, the short, blunt arrow of a crossbow. Orléans takes up the constable’s archery image.
Go to this point in the text
shot over
Overshot the target, missed.
I.e., your proverb does not follow the game’s sequence. To be overshot, while not a proverb, was a commonplace expression (see Dent O91.1).
Go to this point in the text
overshot
1) Mistaken, deceived, confused; 2) surpassed in shooting.
Go to this point in the text
fifteen hundred paces
Roughly a mile and a half.
A military pace is a step, or roughly five feet—the mile being derived from the Roman mille passus, “a thousand paces”. Shakespeare alters this distance from his source in Holinshed, who writes that the French were incamped not past two hundred and fiftie pases distant from the English (Chronicles, 1587 552). The Chorus in 4.0 seems closer to Holinshed’s estimate of three bow shoots (554), with the two armies in earshot, eyeing each other’s campfires; see A4 Sc0 Sp1.
Go to this point in the text
Who … ground?
Although the constable’s subsequent comment on Grandpré (A3 Sc7 Sp65) suggests that Shakespeare did not intend comic irony here, this line is sometimes delivered ironically, as if to indicate either disbelief at the distance or the idea that any attempt at precise measurement would be absurd.
Go to this point in the text
peevish
Obstinate, foolish.
Go to this point in the text
mope
Wander aimlessly and stupidly.
Go to this point in the text
fat-brained
Thick-witted.
Go to this point in the text
out … knowledge
Beyond his familiarity, outside of his territory.
Go to this point in the text
apprehension
Understanding, perception.
Go to this point in the text
headpieces
Helmets.
Go to this point in the text
mastiffs
Large dogs bred for fighting.
The nationalistic association of the mastiff’s bravery with England is suggested by William Harrison’s Description of England in the first volume of Holinshed’s 1587 Chronicles, which describes the dogs as capable of courage, violent, valiant, stout and bold (Chronicles, 1587 230), and tells of one such dog performing English courage patriotically for an international audience: one English mastiffe, which alone and without anie helpe at all pulled downe first an huge beare, then a pard, and last of all a lion, each after other before the French king in one daie (231).
Go to this point in the text
winking
With closed eyes, i.e., blindly.
Go to this point in the text
bear
I.e., in a bear-baiting.
Frequently mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays, bear-baiting was a popular blood-entertainment in which a bear, often imported from as far as Russia, was chained to a large stake and attacked by dogs while onlookers bet on the outcome. Bear-baitings were held in the same spaces where plays took place, including permanent urban arenas such as the Paris Garden and the Bear Garden, close to the Globe playhouse. At least one Bankside playhouse, the Hope, was used alternately for both plays and bear-baitings; the Induction to Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair (1614) may suggest that actors at the Hope even shared tiring-house space with caged bears (Jonson).
Go to this point in the text
eat … on
Suck blood from.
Go to this point in the text
Just
Exactly so.
Go to this point in the text
sympathize with
Resemble.
Go to this point in the text
robustious
Violent, boisterous.
Go to this point in the text
coming on
Advancing, attacking headlong.
Go to this point in the text
give
If you give.
Go to this point in the text
meals … fight
The constable’s speech about English courage coming from his diet of beef (or alternately his warm bed or his ale) has several analogues in Shakespeare and his sources. Hall (though not Holinshed [Chronicles, 1587]) includes the following passage in the constable’s oration before Agincourt:
For you must vnderstand, that kepe an Englishman one moneth from his warme bed, fat befe and stale drynke, and let him that season tast colde and suffre hunger, you then shal se his courage a bated, his bodye waxe leane and bare, and euer desirous to returne into his owne countrey. (The vnion fol. 67v-68
Similarly, Famous Victories has an unnamed French captain ask, take an English man out of his warme bed / And his stale drinke, but one moneth, / And alasse, what will become of him (Sp427 FV). Alençon in 1 Henry VI attributes the weakness of an English siege to the besieger’s lack of their porridge and their fat bull beeves (1H6 1.2.9), and the French king in Edward III says of the English that if you
scant them of their chines of beefe,
And take awaie their downie featherbedes,
[…] presently they are as resty stiffe,
As twere a many ouer ridden iades.
(Q1 E3 sig. F3v)
Go to this point in the text
shrewdly
Grievously.
F’s spelling, shrowdly, may contain a macabre pun on shroud, i.e., “burial sheet”, anticipating the impending slaughter of the English.
Go to this point in the text
stomachs
Appetites.
Go to this point in the text
Now … arm.
The constable’s line suggests that the dauphin armed himself two hours too early, at midnight (A3 Sc7 Sp39).
Go to this point in the text
by ten
Cf. Holinshed:
They rested themselues, waiting for the bloudie blast of the terrible trumpet, till the houre betweene nine and ten of the clocke of the same daie. (Chronicles 553)
Go to this point in the text
entertain … of
Imagine.
Go to this point in the text
conjecture
Hypothetical supposition.
Go to this point in the text
murmur
Low continuous sounds; rumor.
Go to this point in the text
poring
Eye-straining.
The pun on pouring leads to the image of darkness as a liquid filling the wide vessel of the universe.
Go to this point in the text
From camp … face.
Holinshed sets the scene of the quiet firelit night before the battle:
Order was taken by commandement from the king after the armie was first set in battell arraie, that no noise or clamor should be made in the host; so that in marching foorth to this village, euerie man kept himselfe quiet: but at their comming into the village, fiers were made to giue light on euerie side, as there likewise were in the French host, which was incamped not past two hundred and fiftie pases distant from the English. (Chronicles, 1587 552)
Go to this point in the text
foul
Dark; loathsome.
Go to this point in the text
stilly
Quietly.
Go to this point in the text
That
So that.
Go to this point in the text
fixed sentinels
Watchmen at their stations (nearest the enemy).
Go to this point in the text
almost … watch
Hear their counterparts’ challenges (e.g., “who goes there?”).
Go to this point in the text
paly
Pale.
The heraldic sense of “striped” might also be evoked (OED, 3rd ed. paly, adj.1.1); i.e., the fires paint each soldier’s umbered faceumber is a heraldic color—with vertical stripes.
Go to this point in the text
battle
Army.
Go to this point in the text
umbered
Darkened, shadowed.
Literally, the adjective could mean “as if darkened with umber” a yellow-brown pigment derived from the earth in the Italian region of Umbria (see AYL 1.3.101). Additionally, the word could merely mean “shaded”, from Latin umbra, “shade”. And since an umber (OED, 2nd ed. umber, n.1.4) is also the visor of a helmet, the word could allude to the soldier’s heads being armed in readiness for the upcoming battle.
Go to this point in the text
accomplishing
Go to this point in the text
rivets
Metal bolts for attaching armour plates.
Go to this point in the text
note
Announcement; sound.
Go to this point in the text
named
Most editors see F’s apparent slip from present to past tense here, as at A4 Sc0 Sp1 (Presented) as errors— either visual (d/e confusion in nam’d) or aural (Presented for Presenteth)—and emend accordingly. I preserve the original readings as a grammatical aspect of the temporal doubleness of the speech; just as the Chorus is both a member of the modern audience and a voice from the historical past, and just as Henry is both a historical figure on a battlefield and an actor on a stage, the speech takes place both in the present of 1415 and that of performance, and the verbs’ temporal shifts reinforce that effect, in a way similar to the use of the historical or narrative present tense common to Latin epic.
Go to this point in the text
secure in soul
With over-confident spirits.
Go to this point in the text
over-lusty
1) Too-eager; 2) overly joyful; 3) extravagantly dressed.
Go to this point in the text
low-rated
Little esteemed, unvalued.
Go to this point in the text
play at dice
Gamble for.
Wagering, that is, for their anticipated captives; see A3 Sc7 Sp37. Holinshed reports that the French, as though they had beene sure of victorie, made great triumph, for the capteins had determined before, how to diuide the spoile, and the soldiers the night before had plaid the Englishmen at dice (Chronicles, 1587 554; FV); and Famous Victories devotes an entire scene to French soldiers dicing for English prisoners ( sigs. E3r-E4r).
Go to this point in the text
chide
Scold, complain about.
Go to this point in the text
cripple tardy-gaited
Lame, slow-moving.
F’s spelling, creeple-tardy-gated, suggests the etymological of cripple, one who can only creep.
Go to this point in the text
foul … witch
This metaphor, with its echo of foul womb (A4 Sc0 Sp1) continues the characterization of the night as both loathsome and female.
Go to this point in the text
tediously
1) Slowly, wearily; 2) disagreeably.
Go to this point in the text
Like sacrifices
Waiting patiently to be slaughtered. Cf. Hotspur: They come like sacrifices in their trim, / And to the fire-eyed maid of smoky war / All hot and bleeding will we offer them (1H4 4.1.114–116).
Go to this point in the text
inly
Internally; thoroughly.
Go to this point in the text
ruminate
Ponder.
Literally, “chew over”, a bovine verb that picks up the previous line’s image of animal sacrifices.
Go to this point in the text
gesture sad
Serious or mournful bearing, posture.
Go to this point in the text
Investing
Clothing, surrounding.
Go to this point in the text
lank-lean
Loose and shrunken, gaunt.
Go to this point in the text
So many
As just so many.
Go to this point in the text
horrid
1) Frightful; 2) shaggy, rough-clad.
Go to this point in the text
who
Whoever.
Go to this point in the text
Walking from … tent
Neither Hall nor Holinshed describes Henry cheering his soldiers on the eve of Agincourt (Hall, The vnion; Holinshed, Chronicles, 1587), though an anonymous manuscript biography of Henry V dated 1513 describes similar behaviour at the siege of Harfleur: The Kinge daylie and nightlie in his owne person visited and searched the watches, orders, and stacions of everie part of his hoast, and whome he found dilligent he praised and thanked, and the negligent he corrected and chasticed (The First English Life of King Henry the Fifth 38).
Go to this point in the text
watch
Group of guards.
Go to this point in the text
host
Army.
Go to this point in the text
note
Indication, sign.
Go to this point in the text
dread
Fearsome.
Go to this point in the text
enrounded
Surrounded.
Shakespeare uses hyperbole to emphasize the English army’s despair; the English were not literally surrounded, but merely at a tactical disadvantage, blocked in their path to Calais by a force of superior numbers. Hall does describe Henry’s battle tactics as an attempt to avoid being surrounded: the king had thus ordred his battaile, like a puissaunt conqueror without feare of his enemies, yet considering the multitude of them farre to excede the smal nombre of his people, doubtyng that the Frenchemen would compasse and beset him aboute, and so fight with him on euery side (The vnion fol. 68v).
Go to this point in the text
dedicate
Surrender, devote, assign.
Go to this point in the text
color
Natural redness of his complexion.
Go to this point in the text
all-watchèd
Universally wakeful; spent entirely in watchfulness.
Go to this point in the text
freshly
With undiminished vigor.
Go to this point in the text
overbears
Puts aside, overcomes, represses.
Go to this point in the text
attaint
Weariness.
Other senses are probably also relevant: “false color, stain”; “dishonor”. Inasmuch as Henry, as his soliloquy later in the act will reveal, is still concerned with legitimizing his claim to the throne that his father usurped, his entire war could be characterized as part of his attempt to overbear attaint.
Go to this point in the text
semblance
Appearance.
A word that may carry connotations of feigning or false seeming.
Go to this point in the text
pining
Languishing, wasting away.
Go to this point in the text
largess
Generosity.
Go to this point in the text
universal … sun
It is proverbial that the sun shines upon all alike (Tilley S985), but as Paul Jorgensen points out, Shakespeare may have derived this application of the metaphor from the anonymous A myrrour for English souldiers (1595): Let euerie Generall know himselfe to be the sunne in the heauen of his host, from whose beames euery soldier borroweth his shine (A myrrour C1). See Jorgensen, Shakespeare’s Military World 95–96.
Go to this point in the text
liberal
Generous, unrestrained.
Go to this point in the text
that
So that.
Go to this point in the text
mean … all
All men, regardless of rank.
Go to this point in the text
as … define
As my humble eloquence might roughly express it.
Go to this point in the text
touch
Glimpse, influence.
Go to this point in the text
Harry
Perhaps Harry is meant to signify the man, as distinct from Henry the king, though the French king does also refer to him as Harry.
Go to this point in the text
we … Agincourt
This apology echoes Philip Sidney’s criticism of the inadequacy of the stage to represent warfare: two Armies flye in, represented with foure swords and bucklers, & then what harde heart wil not receiue the stage for a pitched fielde? (Apologie for poetrie, printed 1595, K1). In his 1616 prologue to Every Man In His humour (which originally appeared in the same year as Henry V) Ben Jonson would aim a similar attack directly at Shakespeare and his chronicle history plays, sneering at players who would with three rustie swords, / And helpe of some few foot-and-halfe-foote words, / Fight ouer Yorke, and Lancasters long iarres (Workes, A3).
Go to this point in the text
vile and ragged
Cheap and shabby.
Go to this point in the text
foils
Blunted fencing swords.
Go to this point in the text
Right ill-disposed
Quite poorly handled.
Go to this point in the text
Minding
Bearing in mind.
Go to this point in the text
mock’ries
Imitations.
Go to this point in the text
4.1
Location: the English camp, Agincourt.
Go to this point in the text
meeting Bedford
It is clear from the dialogue that Henry enters in conversation with Gloucester alone and greets Bedford at A4 Sc1 Sp1. Gary Taylor substitutes the Duke of Clarence here, to comply with his earlier substitution of Clarence for Bedford at 1.2 (Henry V), although the following passage has no equivalent in Q. Historically, the Duke of Clarence was invalided home after Harfleur and so was absent from the battle of Agincourt.
Go to this point in the text
soul
Spirit, essence.
Go to this point in the text
Would men
If men would.
Go to this point in the text
observingly
Observantly.
Go to this point in the text
distill
Extract by purification.
Go to this point in the text
bad neighbor … stirrers
The French force us with their noise to rise early.
Proverbial; see Tilley N107: He that has an ill neighbor has oftentimes an ill morning.
Go to this point in the text
husbandry
Thrift, efficient management.
Go to this point in the text
outward
External.
Go to this point in the text
dress us
Prepare ourselves.
To dress for one’s end is to prepare spiritually for death. Holinshed writes that the English despite being hungrie, wearie, sore trauelled, and vexed with manie cold diseases, nevertheless reconciled themselues with God by hoossell and shriff, requiring assistance at his hands that is the onelie giuer of victorie (Chronicles, 1587 552).
Go to this point in the text
gather … weed
Proverbial; see Tilley B205 Chronicles, 1587.
Go to this point in the text
make a moral of
Draw a moral lesson from.
Go to this point in the text
old … Erpingham
Erpingham, commander of the archers at Agincourt, was fifty-eight years old in 1415; Holinshed describes him as an old knight and a man of great experience in the warre (554).
Go to this point in the text
churlish
Vulgar; hard.
Go to this point in the text
likes
Pleases.
Go to this point in the text
like a king
The usual sense of the commonplace would be “richly” or “luxuriously”, but Erpingham literalizes it for comic effect.
Go to this point in the text
Upon example so
By virtue of such an attitude to bodily pain.
The more usual editorial reading, which is, arguably, equally justified by the Folio punctuation, defines Upon example as “by taking example of another’s pain”. Moore Smith conjectured that A4 Sc1 Sp3 should be spoken as an aside, arguing that Henry is discussing the example he means to give his subjects (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
quickened
Refreshed, brought to life.
Go to this point in the text
out of doubt
Doubtlessly.
Go to this point in the text
Break … grave
Break out of the grave of sleep.
Go to this point in the text
casted slough
Discarded skin (like a reptile’s).
Given the older spelling of sloth as sloughe, the phrase also may have the punning sense of “abandoned sluggishness”. Walter asserts that a snake is sluggish and listless for a time immediately preceding the shedding of its skin (Henry V). Cf. Twelfth Night: cast thy humble slough, and appear fresh (TN 2.5.122–123).
Go to this point in the text
legerity
Lightness, nimbleness.
This adjective appears nowhere else in Shakespeare. F3’s emendation to celerity (swiftness) may have been an attempt to avoid the negative connotations of legerity, i.e., inappropriate frivolity. Robert Barret, in The theorike and practike of moderne warres (1598) uses the word for the sort of unsoldierly behaviour Fluellen attributes to the French, calling pratling to his next companions […] one of the greatest faults that a souldier can commit, and a signe of great ligeritie and lightnesse (Barret 12).
Go to this point in the text
Brothers both
Bedford and Gloucester.
Go to this point in the text
Commend me
Send my greetings to.
Go to this point in the text
anon
Soon.
Go to this point in the text
pavilion
Elaborate ornamental tent.
Go to this point in the text
Shall … grace?
This short speech may form a shared verse line either with Gloucester’s preceding speech or with Henry’s response. The latter seems more likely, making Gloucester’s speech a half line indicating that he and Bedford begin their exit after it. Capell added a direction for such an exit at A4 Sc1 Sp4 (Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies).
Go to this point in the text
bosom
Heart.
Go to this point in the text
debate
Deliberate, consider (OED, 2nd ed. debate, v.1.5.b).
Go to this point in the text
then
While I am debating with my bosom.
Go to this point in the text
would
Desire.
Go to this point in the text
Exeunt … cloak
Gurr argued that F’s placement of the Exeunt makes Henry’s next speech (A4 Sc1 Sp8) a soliloquizing comment indicating that Henry himself is not cheerful (King Henry V). The exits of Bedford, Gloucester, and Erpingham take place fluidly during these speeches, however, as A4 Sc1 Sp3 and A4 Sc1 Sp6 suggest, so it is more likely that the speech is an address to Erpingham as he departs. Henry can don the disguise of Erpingham’s cloak at any time after A4 Sc1 Sp3, but it is clear that he must be wearing it before Pistol encounters him at A4 Sc1 Sp9.
Go to this point in the text
God-a-mercy
God have mercy on you.
Either a general wish for Erpingham’s welfare or an expression of thanks, its meaning muddled with gramercy.
Go to this point in the text
Che vous la?
Pistol’s version of Qui va là?, French for “Who goes there?”
The fact that Pistol gives his challenge in pidgin French may indicate his ambiguous patriotism, or it may merely serve as a reminder of how close the camps are.
Go to this point in the text
Discuss
Declare, relate.
Go to this point in the text
popular
Of low birth; one of the common people.
For a discussion of the makeup of the English army and its class divisions, see Curry 57–78.
Go to this point in the text
gentleman … company
A gentleman serving as a volunteer rather than commissioned as a captain.
Go to this point in the text
Trail’st … pike?
Do you carry the mighty pike; i.e., are you an infantryman?
To trail a pike—the English infantryman’s usual weapon during the fifteenth century and into Shakespeare’s day—is to carry it below the head, dragging the butt along the ground. Trailing a pike, as opposed to carrying it over a shoulder, could be seen as a sign of defeat or of funereal mourning (see Cor ), but it was also the usual means of carrying the weapons when not marching into battle.
Go to this point in the text
Even so.
Just so.
Go to this point in the text
bawcock
Fine fellow.
Go to this point in the text
lad of life
Lively lad.
Go to this point in the text
imp
Shoot of a plant; i.e., child.
Pistol uses the same phrase for Henry just after his coronation (2H4 5.5.37). The sense of graft (OED, 2nd ed. imp, n.2.a) is a reminder that Henry’s lineage has been grafted onto the tree of fame, as opposed to growing naturally. Such reminders culminate in Henry’s anxious prayer that God will ignore his father’s usurpation (A4 Sc1 Sp79).
Go to this point in the text
heartstring
The deepest seat of emotion.
Literally, one of the tendons or nerves thought to support the heart.
Go to this point in the text
bully
Fine fellow, gallant.
Go to this point in the text
le Roy
Hints at “the king” (French le roi).
To have Henry respond in actual French (le Roi) as Capell and Gurr do, confuses the fact that Henry is ironically burying his royal identity, not announcing it (Capell, Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies; Gurr, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
Cornish name
Nothing about the name Leroy is particularly Cornish. Walter suggests an allusion to the now lost play Harry of Cornwall (ca. 1591) mentioned in Henslowe’s Diary (Henslowe fol. 7, 7v qtd. in Walter, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
crew
Band of soldiers.
Crew, related to crowd, is usually derogatory in Shakespeare; see, for example, Richard II, so dissolute a crew (R2 5.3.12), Robin’s a crew of patches (MND 3.2.9), and the doctor’s a crew of wretched souls (Mac 4.3.142).
Go to this point in the text
a Welshman
Henry was created Prince of Wales—the traditional title of the English heir apparent—at his father’s coronation, but he probably refers here to his birth in Monmouth, in southeast Wales. Cf. A4 Sc7 Sp26. Philip Schwyzer points out that the historical Henry V had no actual Welsh blood, and argues that his claim here relates more to the needs of the Tudor dynasty—whose own Welshness came from Owain Tudor, the man who would marry Henry V’s widow—to legitimize their link to Shakespeare’s heroic king: Henry ‘inheritsʼ his Welshness not from his ancestors, but from his Tudor successors (Schwyzer 127).
Go to this point in the text
leek
Onion-like vegetable whose green and white color, like that of the Welsh flag, makes it a Welsh national emblem.
Go to this point in the text
pate
Head.
Go to this point in the text
Saint Davy’s day
Feast day of David (Welsh Dewi), patron saint of Wales (1 March).
On this day Welshmen wear leeks in their caps; see A4 Sc7 Sp25 n.
Go to this point in the text
Do … yours.
Daggers often had thick wooden handles and could be used as clubs. Cf. Rom 4.4.140.
Go to this point in the text
kinsman
The Welsh were famous for keeping their genealogical connections up to the remotest degree. Hence it is proverbial that all Welsh gentlemen are related (Kittredge).
Go to this point in the text
fico
Go to this point in the text
sorts
Agrees.
Go to this point in the text
separately
Gower can either follow Fluellen on or enter at another door, meeting him, but the dialogue indicates that they are not already in conversation.
Go to this point in the text
’So!
I.e., God-so, a mild oath.
F’s apostrophe makes clear that this is the euphemistic oath, meaning “God’s such-and-such”, and not merely the adverb so. Compare ’sblood, ’sfoot, etc. In Ben Jonson’s roughly contemporary play Every Man In His humour (1600), Stephen uses this contracted version while lamenting his inability to swear: ’So, I had as lief as an angel I could swear as well as that gentleman! (Jonson 2.3.106–107). God-so may be an Anglicization of the very common Italian oath cazzo (“cock”, used with a broadness of sense comparable to the English fuck); the cobbler Juniper in Jonson’s The Case is Altered (1598) uses catso and Gods so interchangeably
(Jonson).Go to this point in the text
fewer
Fewer words; more quietly.
Some editors have emended fewer to Q3’s lower, on the grounds that Gower promises to speak lower at A4 Sc1 Sp35, and that he has only spoken two words. The fact that Fluellen goes on to speak a hundred and six, however, comically illustrates his hypocrisy in the matter. William Lily’s Short Introduction of Grammar (1549), to which Shakespeare elsewhere alludes, asserts that that manne is wyse, that speaketh fewe (Lily C7r). Cf. Pistol’s pauca (A2 Sc1 Sp23). Contemporary English historians emphasize that Henry had given the order for complete silence in the camp on the eve of battle; see Curry 168.
Go to this point in the text
admiration
Wonder.
Go to this point in the text
prerogatiffs
Prerogatives.
Fluellen either means something like principles, or the privilege of authority to maintain discipline and decorum, or prerogatiffs is an error for another word.
Go to this point in the text
Pompey the Great
Roman general and consul (106–148 BCE).
Go to this point in the text
tiddle … babble
Chatter, babbling.
Go to this point in the text
Pompey’s camp
Fluellen’s example is unfortunate, inasmuch as Pompey’s most famous camp, that just before the Battle of Pharsalia, was noted for its luxury and lack of discipline. No doubt Shakespeare knew this from Plutarch, and intentionally makes Fluellen’s learning go astray (Kittredge).
Go to this point in the text
ceremonies
Formalities.
Go to this point in the text
cares
Heedfulness, seriousness.
Go to this point in the text
forms
Set procedures.
Go to this point in the text
sobriety
Gravity, moderation.
Go to this point in the text
modesty
Decorum, propriety.
Go to this point in the text
otherwise
Different from the loud, undisciplined English camp.
Go to this point in the text
Why … night.
Holinshed records that the French, all that night after their comming thither, made great cheare and were verie merie, pleasant, and full of game (Chronicles, 1587 552), while the English were more disciplined: Order was taken by commandement from the king after the armie was first set in battell arraie, that no noise or clamor should be made in the host (552).
Go to this point in the text
prating coxcomb
Chattering fool.
Go to this point in the text
care
Attentive concern, responsibility.
Go to this point in the text
Under
1) In the company of; 2) under the borrowed cloak of.
Go to this point in the text
Thomas
F’s Iohn is a compositor’s error, possibly a misreading of the manuscript abbreviation Tho. (Walter, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
estate
Situation.
Go to this point in the text
wrecked
Shipwrecked.
Go to this point in the text
sand
Sandbar.
Go to this point in the text
meet
Fitting.
Go to this point in the text
though I … you
Though I say so myself.
The proverbial sense (Though I say it, that should not say it [Tilley S114]) has different implications for the onstage and offstage audiences: to the soldiers, he is a poor subject with no business discussing the king, and for the audience, of course, he is the king himself.
Go to this point in the text
element shows
Sky appears.
Go to this point in the text
but human conditions
The same limitations as those of all humans.
This idea is a commonplace that Shakespeare uses elsewhere (e.g. R2 3.2.171–173), but Walter notes a parallel with Florio’s translation of Montaigne’s essay on inequality:
All the true commodities that Princes have, are common vnto them with men of meane fortune. It is for Gods to mount winged horses, and to feed on Ambrosia. They i.e., princes have no other sleepe, nor no other appetite then ours. Their steele is of no better temper, then that wherewith we arme our selves. (Montaigne 144 qtd. in Walter, Henry V)
Go to this point in the text
ceremonies
Royal trappings, symbolic rites.
Go to this point in the text
laid by
Put aside.
Go to this point in the text
affections
Passions, emotions.
Go to this point in the text
higher mounted
Loftier, more sophisticated.
Literally, having flown higher.
Go to this point in the text
stoop
Swoop, plummet.
A falconry term used of an attacking hawk (OED, 2nd ed. stoop, v.1.II.6.a).
Go to this point in the text
with the like wing
In the same way as ours do.
Go to this point in the text
reason of
Reason for.
Go to this point in the text
out of doubt
Doubtlessly.
Go to this point in the text
relish
Taste.
Go to this point in the text
possess him with
Give him, induce in him.
Go to this point in the text
Thames
The river that runs through London.
Go to this point in the text
at all adventures
Whatever happens.
Go to this point in the text
quit here
Out of here, finished with this place.
Go to this point in the text
my conscience
My knowledge; my honest opinion.
In a play that features the word conscience more than even Hamlet, in a range of senses from Fluellen’s verbal tic to the fulcrum of Henry’s moral statecraft, this phrase’s surface meaning, as Camille Wells Slights argues, does not fully register its self reflexive force here (Conscience of the King 41). Slights cites contemporary theologian William Perkins to explain that for early modern England,
there be two actions of the understanding, the one is simple, which barely conceiveth or thinketh this or that: the other is a reflecting or doubting of the former, whereby a man conceives or thinks with himself what he thinks. And this action properly pertains to the conscience. (Perkins)
Henry is voicing an opinion here, argues Slights, that proceeds from his debate with his bosom: he has examined his conscience and is at peace with himself (Slights 41).
Go to this point in the text
feel
Feel out, test.
Go to this point in the text
seek after
Look to find out.
Some editors, following Malone’s conjecture, give this speech to Court, as it does not seem to agree with Bates’s earlier attitude (Plays).
Go to this point in the text
If … us.
This may be seen as a version of official Tudor response to Cardinal William Allen’s declaration that English Catholics should desert queen Elizabeth’s cause lest they be tainted by her heresy, but the debate over the tradition of just war had been inflamed in 1590s England not only by the Spanish Armada and the queen’s excommunication, but by the treatises like Alberico Gentilli’s De Jure Belli, published in England in 1589 and dedicated to the Earl of Essex. For discussion of the debate in England, see Campbell, Mirrors of Elizabethan Policy; Andrew Gurr’s introduction (King Henry V 22–23); and Paola Pugliatti, Shakespeare and the Just War Tradition.
Go to this point in the text
reckoning
Accounting (to God).
Refers to both the literal sense of counting the dead lost in the battle and the moral sense of accounting for sins.
Go to this point in the text
all … battle
The set of the 1994 Royal Shakespeare Company production was overhung, in the Agincourt sequence, with disjointed pieces of armour, suggesting the severed limbs that Williams mentions.
Go to this point in the text
join together
1) Rejoin their bodies; 2) speak in unison.
Go to this point in the text
latter day
Judgment day.
Cf. Job 19:25 (Bishop’s Bible): For I am sure that my redeemer saueth, and he shall rayse vp at the latter day them that lye in the dust.
Go to this point in the text
upon
1) In appeal to (as a witness); 2) on account of.
Go to this point in the text
rawly
1) Abruptly; 2) too young; 3) in destitution.
Cf. Malcolm’s Why in that rawness left you wife and child / […] Without leave-taking? (Mac 4.3.27–29).
Go to this point in the text
afeared
Afraid.
Go to this point in the text
well
Satisfied; in a state of grace.
Go to this point in the text
charitably
Holily; with Christian charity.
Go to this point in the text
dispose of
Make arrangements for; bestow.
Carries the sense both of arranging the provisions of a will and making the soul right with God.
Go to this point in the text
argument
Theme, subject.
Go to this point in the text
proportion of subjection
Due measure of obedience.
Go to this point in the text
So
I.e., on the principle that Williams has just laid down. Williams’s arguments are common and would instantly appeal to the rank and file in the Elizabethan theatre (Kittredge). Henry’s ensuing argument is theologically valid; indeed David Womersley argues that the exchange parallels popular theological dialogues in which a teacher exposes the falsehood of common-sense belief and presents difficult Protestant doctrine (Divinity and State 332–333). Rhetorically, even sophistically, however, Henry’s speech avoids the issues that Bates and Williams raise: the soldiers are concerned with the rightness of the cause and the king’s responsibility for their deaths, and Henry’s response is to argue for the individual’s responsibility for the destination of his soul.
Go to this point in the text
merchandise
Commercial trading.
Go to this point in the text
sinfully miscarry
Die in a state of sin.
Go to this point in the text
imputation of
Blame for.
Go to this point in the text
irreconciled iniquities
Unconfessed and unforgiven sins.
Go to this point in the text
author of
Cause of, person responsible for.
Go to this point in the text
purpose
Intend.
Go to this point in the text
arbitrament of swords
Deciding of the dispute through war.
Go to this point in the text
try it out
Take the cause to trial.
Go to this point in the text
unspotted
Sinless.
Go to this point in the text
peradventure
Perhaps.
Go to this point in the text
contrived
Ingeniously planned.
Go to this point in the text
beguiling
Seducing, deceiving.
Go to this point in the text
broken seals
The image suggests both the wax seals authenticating legal contracts and the maidenheads of the beguiled maidens.
Go to this point in the text
perjury
Oath-breaking.
Go to this point in the text
bulwark
Defense (from accusation of crimes).
Literally a military fortification or rampart.
Go to this point in the text
gored
Pierced.
Go to this point in the text
defeated
Escaped.
Go to this point in the text
native punishment
Civil punishment at home.
Steevens gives another possible reading: the punishment such as they are born to, if they offend (Plays).
Go to this point in the text
though … God
Many editors have found allusions to Old Testament passages on God’s omnipresence: Though they digge into the hel, thence shal mine hande take them: though they clime vp to heauen, thence will I bring them downe (Geneva, Amos 9:2); and Whither shall I goe from thy Spirite? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? […] Let mee take the winges of the morning, and dwell in the vttermost parts of the sea: Yet thither shall thine hand leade me (Geneva, Psalm 139:7–10).
Go to this point in the text
outstrip
Move faster than.
Go to this point in the text
beadle
Parish official who punished petty criminals.
Go to this point in the text
war … vengeance
On war as God’s tool of vengeance, see Jeremiah: Thou art mine hammer, and weapons of warre: for with thee will I breake the nations, & with thee wil I destroy kingdomes (Geneva, Jeremiah 51:20).
Go to this point in the text
before-breach
Previous breaking.
Go to this point in the text
now … quarrel
The present conflict fought on the king’s behalf.
This odd syntax is a mere construction for the occasion that parallels before-breach (Abbott section 429).
Go to this point in the text
Where … perish.
Cf. Matthew: For whosoeuer will saue his life, shall lose it: and whosoeuer shall lose his life for my sake, shall finde it (Geneva, Matthew 16:25).
Go to this point in the text
the death
Capital punishment.
Go to this point in the text
borne life away
Escaped with their lives.
Go to this point in the text
unprovided
Unready, i.e., without having confessed their sins.
Go to this point in the text
visited
Punished.
Go to this point in the text
mote
Speck of dust.
The word echoes Jesus’s metaphor for hypocrisy: And why seest thou the mote, that is in thy brothers eye, and perceiuest not the beame that is in thine owne eye? (Geneva, Matthew 7:3).
Go to this point in the text
death … advantage
Death is a benefit to him (in that, being prepared, he goes to heaven).
Henry echoes Philippians 1:21: For Christe is to me lyfe, and death is to me aduantage (Bishop’s Bible).
Go to this point in the text
blessedly lost
Spent in a holy manner.
Go to this point in the text
making … offer
In return for offering himself to God.
Go to this point in the text
he
God.
Go to this point in the text
prepare
Prepare for death.
Go to this point in the text
Williams
Williams’s later speeches indicate that he is not as immediately convinced by Henry’s argument as he seems here. The Quarto, which designates the soldiers by number, gives the speech to the analogue of Bates, not Williams, keeping quarrelsome soldier’s response to Henry consistent throughout the scene. Malone, the first to question the Folio’s attribution, suggests giving the speech to Court (Plays).
Go to this point in the text
ill
In sin.
Go to this point in the text
to answer it
Responsible for it.
Go to this point in the text
answer for me
Take responsibility for my sins.
Go to this point in the text
lustily
Vigorously, heartily.
Go to this point in the text
to see it
To see that happen.
Go to this point in the text
perilous
Dangerous (used sarcastically).
Go to this point in the text
elder-gun
Pop-gun.
Made of a shoot from an elder-bush. The Quarto reading makes the soldier’s ironic joke more lucid: ’Tis a great displeasure / That an elder gun can do against a cannon, / Or a subiect against a monarke (Q1 H5 sig. E1r).
Go to this point in the text
a poor … displeasure
The complaint of one poor commoner.
Go to this point in the text
go about
Try.
Go to this point in the text
reproof
Rebuke, insult.
Go to this point in the text
round
Bold, blunt.
Go to this point in the text
embrace
Eagerly accept.
Go to this point in the text
gage
Pledge.
The exchange of gages, usually gloves, was symbolic of a promise to duel.
Go to this point in the text
bonnet
Hat.
Go to this point in the text
take
Give.
Go to this point in the text
though
Even if.
Go to this point in the text
take
Encounter.
Go to this point in the text
if you … reckon
If you knew how to count.
Bates’s line about reckoning foreshadows, and may have suggested to Shakespeare, Henry’s prayer to God to remove their sense of reckoning (A4 Sc1 Sp79).
Go to this point in the text
Exeunt Soldiers.
The three soldiers may begin to exit when Williams bids Henry farewell (A4 Sc1 Sp73), allowing the following speeches to be thrown across the stage. F places the stage direction (Exit Souldiers) after Bates’s final speech.
Go to this point in the text
crowns
1) Gold coins; 2) heads.
Go to this point in the text
cut French crowns
1) Cut off French heads; 2) illegally clip or shave metal from the edges of French coins.
In addition to debasing the value of a coin, the practice of coin clipping counted as treason, as it defaced the image of the monarch.
Go to this point in the text
clipper
1) Clipper of coins; 2) barber; i.e., cutter of French heads.
Go to this point in the text
Upon … all.
Although F prints these lines as verse, they are inconsistently metrical, and editors have tried various lineation schemes, but it may be intended as a liminal form between verse and prose. The move in one speech from prose to irregular verse and finally to regular iambic pentameter reflects the discursive shift from external conflict to an internalized but not less vigorous attack on ceremony, and only at the end of the speech to confident, assertive rhetoric. See Prologue Sp1 n.
Go to this point in the text
careful
Full of anxiety.
Go to this point in the text
condition
1) Situation; 2) social rank; 3) restriction, proviso (accompanying kingship).
Go to this point in the text
We
1) I (the royal plural); 2) kings (in general).
Go to this point in the text
twin-born with
Born simultaneously to.
Go to this point in the text
breath
Opinion.
Go to this point in the text
wringing
Pains.
Go to this point in the text
heart’s-ease
Contentment, peace.
Go to this point in the text
privates
Ordinary soldiers; men who hold no public office.
Go to this point in the text
Save
Except.
Go to this point in the text
ceremony
The empty formalities and symbolic rites of royalty.
Go to this point in the text
general
Public; the entirety of.
Go to this point in the text
idol
Puns on “idle”, i.e., useless.
Go to this point in the text
mortal
Human, ordinary.
Go to this point in the text
rents
Sources of revenue.
Go to this point in the text
comings in
Income.
Go to this point in the text
What … adoration?
Are you made up of nothing but empty shows of reverence?
Editors have taken this line to be a textual crux, and at least six different emendations have been proposed, with the most commonly accepted being Johnson’s What is thy soul, O adoration? (Plays; interpreting adoration to be synonymous with ceremony) and Knight’s What is thy soul of adoration? (Works; i.e., What is the essence of the adoration paid to thee, ceremony?). While F1’s odoration is evidently an error, F2’s reading makes enough sense to demand no further emendation.
Go to this point in the text
aught
Anything.
Go to this point in the text
place … form
Social rank and conventions of etiquette.
Go to this point in the text
homage
Acknowledgement of superiority, shows of respect.
Go to this point in the text
bid … cure
See if ceremony will cure you (said ironically).
Go to this point in the text
Think’st … bending?
The rhetorical question may owe something to Ralph Robinson’s translation of More’s Utopia (1551): Is it not a lyke madnes to take a pride in vayne and vnprofitable honoures? For what naturall or trewe pleasure doest thou take of an other mans bare hede or bowed knees? Will thys ease the payne of thy knees, or remedye the phrensie of the heade? (More L8v).
Go to this point in the text
titles
Honors.
Puns on “tittles”, i.e., insignificant things.
Go to this point in the text
blown from adulation
1) Breathed by adorers (as if to cool the fiery fever); 2) inflated, exaggerated by flattery.
Go to this point in the text
flexure
Bending of knees; i.e., kneeling.
Go to this point in the text
bending
Bowing.
Go to this point in the text
command’st … knee
Demand that the beggar kneels to you.
Go to this point in the text
Command … it?
Either 1) command it to be healthy; or 2) claim the health of the knee (as you claim the respect of the kneeler).
Go to this point in the text
No, thou … king.
As Walter points out, although the speech about cares of state depriving a king of sleep derives its theme from Priscian, Shakespeare is explicitly revisiting the theme of Henry IV’s soliloquy that concludes Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown (2H4 3.1.31).
Go to this point in the text
subtly
Deceitfully.
Go to this point in the text
repose
Rest.
Go to this point in the text
find thee
Discover what you really are.
Go to this point in the text
balm
Holy oil used to anoint kings at their coronation.
Go to this point in the text
ball
Orb held by a monarch to symbolize earthly power.
Go to this point in the text
mace
Scepter.
Go to this point in the text
intertissued
Interwoven.
Go to this point in the text
farcèd
Stuffed, puffed up.
Although farce in the sense of ridiculous entertainment did not become common until a century after Henry V’s composition, an earlier sense of the verb meaning to paint the face (OED, 2nd ed. farce, v.2) might contain similar connotations of ludicrous hypocrisy.
Go to this point in the text
pomp
Vainglorious show.
Go to this point in the text
distressful
Gained by hard labor.
Go to this point in the text
lackey
Servant.
Specifically, the footman who runs alongside a coach (here the chariot of Phoebus). Cf. Titus Andronicus’s
I will dismount, and by thy wagon wheel
Trot like a servile footman all day long,
Even from Hyperion’s rising in the east
Until his very downfall in the sea.
(Titus 5.2.54–57)
Go to this point in the text
the rise to set
Sunrise to sunset.
Go to this point in the text
in … Phoebus
In the sun.
I.e., Phoebus Apollo, god of the sun.
Go to this point in the text
Elysium
The classical equivalent of heaven; i.e., peaceful contentment.
Go to this point in the text
help … horse
Start work at sunrise.
Hyperion is a Titan who fathered Helios, the sun. Shakespeare often uses the name interchangeably with the Olympian sun god, Phoebus.
Go to this point in the text
profitable
Beneficial, valuable.
Go to this point in the text
Had … vantage of
Would have the upper hand and an advantage over.
Go to this point in the text
member of
Sharer in.
Go to this point in the text
Enjoys it
Enjoys the peace.
Go to this point in the text
gross
Dense, unsophisticated.
Go to this point in the text
wots
Knows.
Go to this point in the text
watch
1) Guard; 2) wakefulness.
Go to this point in the text
advantages
Benefits from.
Go to this point in the text
jealous of
Anxious over.
Go to this point in the text
before thee
Before you are.
Go to this point in the text
Kneeling
Actors typically kneel as the prayer begins, though no such direction is specified in either text.
Go to this point in the text
God of battles
Rather than the classical Mars, this is likely the aspect of the Christian god referred to in the Old Testament as the Lord of Hosts (i.e., armies).
Go to this point in the text
steel
Harden.
Go to this point in the text
sense of reck’ning
Ability to count.
Go to this point in the text
ere
Before, lest.
F’s of presents another famous textual crux. The reading likely comes from a misreading of either if (as Tyrwhitt conjectured [Observations and Conjectures]) or or (Moore Smith). I have followed Taylor in using ere (Henry V), a synonym of or, since it makes more sense for God to prevent the soldiers’ loss of courage before it has happened.
Go to this point in the text
th’opposèd numbers
The number of the enemy.
Hall has the king exhort his army, in his speech before the battle, let not their multitude feare youre heartes, nor their great nombre abate your courages (The vnion fol. 69).
Go to this point in the text
the fault … crown
Henry IV’s deposition of Richard II, who was later murdered while imprisoned at Pomfret castle by Sir Piers of Exton, as dramatized by Shakespeare in Richard II (R2 5.5.105–112).
Go to this point in the text
compassing
Catching, attaining; plotting for (OED, 2nd ed. compass, v.1.I.2, IV.9, IV.11.b).
Go to this point in the text
interrèd new
Reburied with proper funeral rites.
After Richard’s murder, he was buried at Kings Langley in Hertfordshire. One of Henry V’s first acts as king, in 1413, was to rebury Richard II at Westminster, after a lavish funeral procession. See Holinshed, Chronicles, 1587 543–544.
Go to this point in the text
contrite
Penitent.
Go to this point in the text
forcèd
Violently shed.
Go to this point in the text
Five hundred … soul.
This detail derives from Robert Fabyan’s 1516 New Chronicles of England and France:
for asmoche as he knewe well that his fader had laboured the meanes to depose the noble Prynce Richarde the Seconde / And after was consentyng to his deth / for which offence his said Fader had sent to Rome. Of that great Cryme to be assayled absolved / And was by the Pope enioyned that lyke as he had beraft hym of his naturall and bodely lyfe for euer in this world / That so by contynuel prayer & Suffragies of the Churche he shuld cause his Soule to lyue perpetuelly in the Celestyall worlde. Whiche penaunce for that his Fader by his lyfe dyd nat perfourme. This goostly ghostly, i.e., spiritual knyght in most habaundaunt maner perfourmyd it / For first he buyldyd iii. houses of Relygyon / as the Charterhous of Monkes called Shene / The house of close Nunnes called Syon / and the thirde was an house of Obseruauntes buyldyd vpon that other side of Thamys. (Fabyan fol. 182v)
The charterhouse was a Carthusian monastery on the royal estate of Sheen (now Richmond) on the south bank of the Thames, and the convent of Syon was across the river from Sheen, each within easy visiting distance of the estate. The house of Obseruauntes was a Celestine monastery of French friars; because the friars objected to Henry’s ongoing war against their homeland and so refused to pray for the king, he suffred ye hous to fall in ruyne.
And ouer this great acte of founding of thise .ii. Religious houses he ordeyned at Westminster to brenne perpetually without Extincton .iiii. Tapers of waxe vpon the Sepulture of kyng Richarde / & ouer yt he ordeyned ther to be contynued for euer / one day i the weke, a solpempne Dirige to be songe / & vpon the morowe a masse; after which masse endid certayn money to be gyuen
Fabyan elsewhere specifies the sums given to the poor for the benefit of King Richard’s soul to be eleven shillings eightpence after the weekly mass and a further twenty pounds yearly on the anniversary of Richard’s death (fol. 176).
Go to this point in the text
blood
Richard’s murder.
Go to this point in the text
chantries
Privately financed chapels where priests sang masses to reduce an individual’s time in purgatory.
Go to this point in the text
sad
Serious; mournful.
Go to this point in the text
still
1) Continually; 2) even now.
Go to this point in the text
nothing worth
According to the Anglican doctrine of Shakespeare’s audience, though not to the Catholic belief of the historical Henry, such acts of penitence as he describes here would have been insufficient to gain God’s favor, and the purgatory he imagines Richard to dwell in was an outdated Catholic fable.
Go to this point in the text
Since … pardon.
In an essay on this crux appended to his edition, Gary Taylor demonstrates that the lack of clarity many editors have found in these lines rests on the interpretation of the word all (A3 Sc5 Sp5): either Henry means 1) all that has happened (including his father’s sin); 2) all that he has done; or 3) all that he could possibly do to expiate that sin (Henry V, Appendix B, 295–301). Taylor avoids the issue in his text by emending the word to ill (i.e., evil acts), though that emendation makes Henry’s assertion both unnecessary and theologically irrelevant, since all penitence comes after ill. He is surely right, however, to see in the passage a statement of the Protestant stance on the controversy about salvation by grace versus good works. By placing the orthodox Anglican position—that such works of penitence dependent on the existence of a Purgatory in which the English audience no longer believed—into the mouth of a still-Catholic hero of England’s past, Shakespeare seems to claim King Henry as a Protestant hero. By ending his prayer imploring pardon with this bathetic admission of the inadequacy of his penitence, Henry enables for the audience the interpretation that the famous victory at Agincourt is the product of divine grace alone, and that Henry himself is a member of the elect, regardless of his sins or those of his father. For more discussion, see my introduction.
Go to this point in the text
friend
Though F makes sense as a reference, or even an address, to Gloucester, most editors emend to friends, following the Q reading (Sp294 H5 Q1) and conjecturing a misreading of terminal s as e.
Go to this point in the text
stay
Wait.
Go to this point in the text
4.2
Location: the French camp, Agincourt.
Go to this point in the text
Beaumont.
A ghost character, Beaumont never speaks and appears only in this stage direction. In 4.5 Shakespeare seems to have replaced him with Bourbon, though he does mention him in the list of French casualties (A4 Sc8 Sp32), which closely follows Holinshed. Holinshed also mentions a Beaumont fighting for the English (Chronicles, 1587 553), which may account for Shakespeare’s abandonment of the name for a French character.
Go to this point in the text
gild
Color golden.
Go to this point in the text
Montez à cheval
“To horse”.
This may either be itself an order to mount or a call for the monte à cheval, a trumpet signal for the French cavalry (Craik, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
varlet
Attendant; rascal.
Go to this point in the text
lackey
Manservant.
Go to this point in the text
Via … terres.
“Go forth over water and earth”.
Go to this point in the text
Rien … feu?
“Nothing more? Not the air and fire?”
Orléans refers to the dauphin’s earlier boast that his horse is pure air and fire (A3 Sc7 Sp9).
Go to this point in the text
Cieux
“The heavens”.
The dauphin boasts that the horse can bound over all the elements and even to heaven itself, to which the realm of fire extended; see Prologue Sp1 n.
Go to this point in the text
present service
Immediate employment.
Go to this point in the text
make … hides
Spur them.
The medical connotation of incision suggests blood-letting to drain off excess spirit.
Go to this point in the text
dout
Extinguish or douse, as a fire.
A contraction of “do out” that most modern editors since Malone have accepted as an emendation of F’s doubt, since it gives a much more specific sense to the image (Plays). There may be some cause to retain the Folio spelling, as a minority of editors have done: doubt can take the sense of to make afraid (OED, 2nd ed. doubt, v.II.9).
Go to this point in the text
superfluous courage
The excess of our courage.
As illustrated by the abundance of blood.
Go to this point in the text
embattled
Drawn up in battle formation.
Cf. Holinshed:
King Henrie […] perceiuing a plot of ground verie strong & meet for his purpose, […] on both sides defended with hedges and bushes, thought good there to imbattell his host, and so ordered his men in the same place, as he saw occasion, and as stood for his most aduantage. (Chronicles, 1587 553)
Go to this point in the text
peers
1) Noblemen; 2) companions in arms.
Go to this point in the text
Do … yield.
Holinshed records that
the constable made vnto the capteins and other men of warre a pithie oration, exhorting and incouraging them to doo valiantlie, with manie comfortable words and sensible reasons. (Chronicles, 1587 553)
Hall presents his readers with the text of the oration (in effecte):
FRENDES and companions in armes, I cannot but bothe reioyce and lament the chances & fortunes of these two armies whiche I openly se and behold with myne iyes here presente. I reioyce for the vamp;ictorie whiche I se at hand for our part, and I lament and sorow for the misery and calamitee whiche I perceiue to approche to the otherside: For wee cannot but be victours and triumphant conquerors, for who saw euer so florisshyng an armie within any christian region, or suche a multitude of valiaunt persones in one compaignie? Is not here the flower of the Frenche nacion on barded horsses with sharpe speares and dedly weapons? Are not here the bold Britons i.e., Bretons with fiery handgonnes and sharpe swerdes? Se you not present the practised Pickardes with strong and weightie Crossebowes? Beside these, we haue the fierce Brabanders & strong Almaines with long pykes and cuttyng slaughmesses. And on the otherside is a smal handfull of pore Englishmen whiche are entred into this region in hope of some gain or desire of proffite, whiche by reson that their vitaill is consumed & spent, are by daily famyn sore wekened, consumed & almost without spirites: for their force is clerly abated and their strength vtterly decaied, so that or the battailes shall ioyne thei shalbe for very feblenes vanquished & ouercom, & in stede of men ye shal fight with shadowes. For you must vnderstand, that kepe an Englishman one moneth from his warme bed, fat befe and stale drynke, and let him that season tast colde and suffre hunger, you then shal se his courage a bated, his bodye waxe leane and bare, and euer desirous to returne into his owne countrey. Experience now declareth this to be true, for if famine had not pinched them, or colde wether had not nipped them surely they would houe made their progresse farther into Fraunce, and not by so many perilous passages retired towarde Calays. Suche courage is in Englishmen when fayre wether and vitaile folow them, and suche weaknes they haue when famine and cold vexe and trouble them. Therfore nowe, it is no mastery to vanquishe and ouerthrowe them, beyng both wery & weake, for by reason of feblenes and faintnes their weapones shal fal out of their handes when they profer to strike, so that ye may no easelier kyll a poore shepe then destroye them beyng alredy sicke & hungerstaruen. But imagyn that thei wer lusty, strong and couragious, and then ponder wisely the cause of their commyng hither, and the meanyng of their enterprice: Fyrst their king a yong striplyng (more mete for a tenice playe then a warlike campe), claimeth the croune, scepter and souereigntie of the verye substance of the Frenche nacion by battaile: then he and his entende to occupy this country, inhabite this land, destroy our wiues and children, extinguishe our blud and put our names in the blacke boke of obliuion. Wherfore remembre wel, in what quarel can you better fight then for the tuicion of your natural countrey, the honor of your prince, the surety of your children and the sauegard of your land and liues. If these causes do not encourage you to fight, beholde before your eyes the tentes of your enemies, with treasure, plate & iewels wel stuffed and richely furnished, whiche pray is surely yours if euery man strike but one stroke, besyde the great raunsomes whiche shalbe paied for riche capitaines and welthy prisoners, whiche as surely shalbe yours as you now had them in your possession. Yet this thyng I charge you withal, that in nowise the kyng him selfe be killed, but by force or otherwise to be apprehended & taken to the entent that with glorye & triumphe we may conuey him openly through the noble cytie of Paris to oure kyng and dolphyn as a testimony of our victory & witnes of our noble act. And of this thyng you be sure, that fly they cannot, and to yelde to our fight, of necessitie they shalbe compelled. Therfore good felowes take courage to you, the victory is yours, the gaine is yours & the honor is yours without great laboure or muche losse. (The vnion fol. 67v-68)
Go to this point in the text
yon … band
The English.
Go to this point in the text
fair show
Splendid battle array.
Go to this point in the text
shales
Shells.
Literally, nutshells or eggshells, a traditional figure for worthless things.
Go to this point in the text
curtle-ax
Short broadsword, cutlass.
Go to this point in the text
gallants
Fine gentlemen; military followers.
Go to this point in the text
for … sport
Because no prey remains to be hunted.
Go to this point in the text
o’erturn them
Knock them down.
Go to this point in the text
exceptions
Objections.
Go to this point in the text
squares of battle
Square military formations.
Both the French and English armies at Agincourt divided their forces into different battles (A4 Sc3 Sp11) separated by function (see map).
A line map titled Battle of Agincourt 25th Oct 1415. Placement of
                           English and French horse and foot troops along with archers are depicted
                           along a road labelled To Calais with Agincourt to the West and Tramecourt
                           to the East. Maisoncelles is to the South. Caption reads: See
                           Shakespeare’s Henry V., etc., etc.
Battle of Agincourt, J.G. Bartholomew, A Literary and Historical Atlas of Europe 124. Image via Internet Archive
The English strategy was to alternate groups of archers with groups of foot soldiers armed with pikes to deter the French cavalry charge, and to flank the French with more archers concealed in wooded areas. Though Shakespeare never mentions the English longbowmen, they were instrumental in evening the odds in Henry’s favor.
Go to this point in the text
hilding
Worthless, contemptible.
Usually applied to horses. Cf. 2H4 1.1.57, AWW 3.6.3.
Go to this point in the text
Though … speculation
Even if we stood idly watching on the base of this nearby mountain.
No mountain is mentioned in Holinshed (Chronicles, 1587), but the line sets up a parallel with the famous English victory at Crécy, mentioned twice already (A1 Sc2 Sp10, A2 Sc4 Sp5), where Edward III did just what the constable suggests.
Go to this point in the text
honors
1) High ranks; 2) sense of our reputations.
Go to this point in the text
What’s
What more is left.
Go to this point in the text
tucket sonance
Sounding of the tucket (the trumpet signal to begin a cavalry advance).
Go to this point in the text
dare
Daze and paralyze with the sight of it.
To dare the field is a phrase in falconry. Birds are dared by the falcon in the air if they are terrified from rising, so that they will be sometimes taken by the hand (Johnson, Plays). See OED, 2nd ed. dare, v.2.II.5). The lark may be dared by soaring of a bird of prey (i.e., the French host) or by a shiny reflective object, perhaps here the French armour that the sun doth gild (A4 Sc2 Sp1).
Go to this point in the text
couch down
Fall flat.
Go to this point in the text
Grandpré
Grandpré is mentioned at A3 Sc7 Sp64 and appears in the list of French dead at A4 Sc8 Sp32, though as he is not here identified in the dialogue, an audience has no opportunity to make the connection (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
Yon
Those yonder.
Go to this point in the text
island
Island-dwelling, i.e., English.
Go to this point in the text
carrions
Corpses.
Go to this point in the text
desperate … bones
Without hope of saving themselves.
Go to this point in the text
Ill-favoredly become
Are too ugly to befit.
Go to this point in the text
curtains
Banners.
Go to this point in the text
passing
Extremely.
Go to this point in the text
Mars
Roman god of war.
The Chorus had lamented that the staged Henry could not truly assume the port of Mars (Prologue Sp1), and Grandpré’s metaphor of the bankrupt Mars draws a parallel with the historical Henry’s inability to seem appropriately like a war god.
Go to this point in the text
bankrupt
Exhausted, destitute.
Go to this point in the text
beggared host
Impoverished army.
Go to this point in the text
faintly
Weakly.
Go to this point in the text
beaver
Faceguard of a helmet.
Strictly, the beaver is the hinged lower part of a helmet that can be opened to drink (Old French beivre); Shakespeare conflates it with the visor, the upper part through which the wearer looks; cf. Hamlet: he wore his beaver up (Ham 1.2.228).
Go to this point in the text
fixèd … hand
Inanimate candlesticks holding staffs for torches (instead of lances).
Grandpré alludes to traditional candlesticks shaped like human figures with hands extended to hold sockets for candles. Steevens was the first to compare Webster’s White Devil (1612): I saw him at last tilting; he showed like a pewter candlestick fashioned like a man in armour, holding a tilting staff in his hand little bigger than a candle of twelve i’th’pound (Webster 3.1.65–68 qtd. in Steevens, Plays).
Go to this point in the text
Lob
Droop heavily.
Go to this point in the text
gum
Sticky discharge.
Go to this point in the text
down-roping
Hangling in ropes.
Go to this point in the text
gemelled
Double-linked.
A gemel in this context signifies either a doubling (OED, 2nd ed. gemel, n.1; derived from Latin geminus, “twin”), or a type of hinge (n.5); the related word gimmal can refers to a ring twisted or divided into two (OED, 2nd ed. gimmal, n.1) or to linked pieces of machinery (n.2). The reference to gimmaled mail in Edward III (E3 1.2.29) suggests interlinked rings. F’s spelling (Iymold, Sp467) could be modernized either way, but each would suggest a bit consisting of or including doubled, hinged, or linked rings.
Go to this point in the text
foul
Dirty.
Go to this point in the text
their executors
Those who dispose of what remains of them after death, a legal term (OED, 2nd ed. executor, n.1).
Go to this point in the text
hour
Chance (to feed on the English dead).
Go to this point in the text
suit
Dress; befit.
Go to this point in the text
demonstrate … battle
Realistically depict such an army.
Go to this point in the text
In … lifeless
Though living, so apparently dead.
Go to this point in the text
stay
Wait.
Go to this point in the text
Shall … them?
Either a scornful mock-proposal (Gurr, King Henry V) or a misguided attempt at hyperbolic chivalry, the speech ends with a half line that suggests a pause for a double-take from the French lords at the dauphin’s suggestion.
Go to this point in the text
fasting
Hungry.
Go to this point in the text
provender
Fodder.
Go to this point in the text
guard
Either some ornament of distinction, or a standard bearer.
The next line makes it clear that the constable has been waiting for some ornament that can be replaced by a trumpet banner; guard must refer either to the ornament itself or to a member of his retinue in charge of bringing it to him. Many editors emend F’s Guard: on to guidon (i.e., the pennant for his lance).
Go to this point in the text
the banner … trumpet
Shakespeare here includes a popular anecdote from the Agincourt history. As Holinshed recounts:
diuerse of the noble men made such hast towards the battell, that they left manie of their seruants and men of warre behind them, and some of them would not once staie for their standards: as amongst other the Duke of Brabant, when his standard was not come, caused a banner to be taken from a trumpet and fastened to a speare, the which he commanded to be borne before him in steed of his standard. (Chronicles, 1587 554)
Go to this point in the text
outwear
Waste.
Go to this point in the text
4.3
Location: the English camp, Agincourt.
Go to this point in the text
his host
Gary Taylor emends to the host, on the rationale that the army is Henry’s, not Erpingham’s (Henry V). Erpingham was, however, the commander of the archers who were so crucial to the English victory at Agincourt, and so the direction may call for him to enter with a contingent of longbowmen. Craik suggests that since the King had bidden Erpingham assemble the nobles at his tent […] until he appears Shakespeare regards Erpingham as having charge of the army (King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
Westmorland
Historically, Westmorland remained in England during the Agincourt campaign, and Q replaces him in this scene with Warwick. Gurr suggests that Shakespeare includes him here so that Henry can address him as cousin as he had at A1 Sc2 Sp5, thus emphasizing the theme of the battlefield family around which the Saint Crispin’s day speech centers (King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
The king … rode
In a passage marked by the marginal note King Henrie rideth foorth to take view of the French armie, Holinshed reports that after the English scouts reported that a great armie of Frenchmen was at hand, approching towards them,
the king therevpon, without all feare or trouble of mind, caused the battell which he led himselfe to staie, and incontinentlie rode foorth to view his aduersaries, and that doone, returned to his people, and with cheerefull countenance caused them to be put in order of battell. (Chronicles, 1587 552)
Go to this point in the text
their battle
The battle formation of their army.
Go to this point in the text
threescore thousand
Sixty thousand.
For this number Shakespeare follows Holinshed (citing the French chronicler Enguerran de Monstrelet [c. 1400–1453]), though Holinshed applies the number only to the French cavalry, not their entire army: threescore thousand horssemen, besides footmen, wagoners and other (Chronicles, 1587 553).
Go to this point in the text
five to one
Odds against the English.
Contemporary historians, both French and English, provide differing estimates of the size of the English army, ranging from 6,000 to 15,000; contemporary estimates of the French army range from 10,000 to 150,000 and the chroniclers variously calculate the French outnumbering the English at multiples ranging from one and a half to six (see Curry 326–328). Exeter’s line would suggest that the English numbered 12,000, and Henry seems to suggest an army of only 5,000 (A4 Sc3 Sp16). Holinshed, following Hall (The vnion), gives the odds as six to one (Chronicles, 1587 553). In performance, of course, mathematical discrepancies go unnoticed. The numerical difficulty is harder to ignore in Famous Victories, since King Henry performs faulty arithmetic on stage:
Oxf.
And it please your Maiestie,
Our Captaines haue numbred them,
And so neare as they can iudge,
They are about threescore thousand horsemen,
And forty thousand footmen.
Hen. 5.
They threescore thousand,
And we but two thousand.
They threescore thousand footmen,
And we twelue thousand.
They are a hundred thousand,
And we forty thousand, ten to one.
(FV sig. E4r)
Go to this point in the text
besides
Besides the fact that.
Go to this point in the text
fresh
Unlike the English, who have been on the march.
Go to this point in the text
charge
Company.
Go to this point in the text
kinsman
Westmorland.
Salisbury (Thomas Montacute) was related to Westmorland through the marriage of their children. Hall, in a passage that Shakespeare consulted for 1 Henry VI, records that Salisbury died leuyng behind hym, an onely daughter named Alice, maried to Richarde Neuell, sonne to Raufe erle of Westmerland (The vnion fol. 105v).
Go to this point in the text
And yet … valor.
These two lines are evidently misplaced in F, appearing after Bedford’s good luck go with thee; They serve as an apology for reminding (minding) Salisbury to do his duty, not for wishing him luck. Greg suggested that the lines were a late addition written in the margin and misplaced by a compositor (Aspects of Shakespeare 143.
Go to this point in the text
mind
Remind.
Go to this point in the text
framed
Entirely formed, composed.
Go to this point in the text
truth
Essence, genuineness.
Go to this point in the text
Exit Salisbury.
Salisbury must exit here in order to re-enter at A4 Sc3 SD5.
Go to this point in the text
Enter the King.
The king’s entry unobserved here repeats his previous anonymity (Gurr, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
Oh … England
Holinshed reports that before the battle, King Henry heard one of the host vtter his wish to another thus: I would to God there were with vs now so manie good soldiers as are at this houre within England! (Chronicles, 1587 553). The anonymous Gesta Henrici Quinti (1417) attributes the sentiment to Sir Walter Hungerford, who wished for decem milia de melioribus sagitariis Angliae qui secum desiderarent esse (ten thousand of the best archers in England who would have been only too glad to be there). See Gesta Henrici Quinti, trans. Taylor and Roskell, 78–79.
Go to this point in the text
no work today
The battle of Agincourt was fought on a holiday, the feast day of Saints Crispin and Crispinian (25 October).
Go to this point in the text
If … more.
Shakespeare derives only this small portion of Henry’s famous speech from Holinshed, whose analogous pre-battle oration focuses mainly on the glory of God:
the king answered: I would not wish a man more here than I haue, we are indeed in comparison to the enimies but a few, but if God of his clemencie doo fauour vs, and our iust cause (as I trust he will) we shall speed well inough. But let no man ascribe victorie to our owne strength and might, but onelie to Gods assistance, to whome I haue no doubt we shall worthilie haue cause to giue thanks therefore. And if so be that for our offenses sakes we shall be deliuered into the hands of our enimies, the lesse number we be, the lesse damage shall the realme of England susteine. (Chronicles, 1587 553)
The remainder of the speech warns the English, in the unlikely event of victory, against ascribing it to their own strength.
Go to this point in the text
we are … loss
There are enough of us for England to feel the loss.
Go to this point in the text
The fewer … honor.
Proverbial; see Tilley D35.
Go to this point in the text
God’s will
Either “by God’s will” (an oath), or “God’s will be done” (a prayer).
Go to this point in the text
wish
Wish for.
Go to this point in the text
Jove
Jupiter, the ruler of the Roman gods.
Henry’s swearing by Jove as well as by God’s will and God’s peace—or as Johnson adroitly put it, the fact that The king prays like a Christian, and swears like a heathen (Plays)—has led editors since Malone to posit the interference of a censor changing by God or by Heaven to by Jove (Plays). The Folio text, however, shows no other signs of censorship of the kind associated with the 1606 act against stage profanity, and the alternation must be intentional.
Go to this point in the text
I … gold
Holinshed describes largesse as one of Henry V’s qualities: his saieng was, that he neuer desired monie to keepe, but to giue and spend (Chronicles, 1587 583).
Go to this point in the text
upon my cost
At my expense.
Go to this point in the text
earns
Grieves.
Go to this point in the text
coz
Cousin (i.e., Westmorland).
Go to this point in the text
God’s peace
An oath (“by God’s peace”).
Go to this point in the text
share
Take as his share.
Go to this point in the text
the best … have
I.e., the hope for my soul’s salvation.
Go to this point in the text
proclaim
Announce.
Go to this point in the text
stomach to
Appetite for; courage for.
Go to this point in the text
Let … purse.
Shakespeare derives this proclamation from an account of King Edward IV’s proclamation before the battle of Towton that appears in Holinshed (Chronicles, 1587 664) and in Hall:
THE lusty kyng Edward, perceiuing the courage of his trusty frend the erle of Warwycke, made proclamacion that all men, whiche were afrayde to fighte, shoulde incontinent departe, and to all men that tarried the battell, he promised great rewardes with this addicion, that if any souldiour, which voluntariely would abide, and in, or before the conflict flye, or turne his backe, that then he that could kil him, should haue a great remuneracion and doble wages. (The vnion fol. 186–186v)
Cf. Clarence: Yet let us all together to our troops. / And give them leave to fly that will not stay (3H6 2.3.49–50).
Go to this point in the text
passport
Document authorizing safe passage back to England.
Go to this point in the text
convoy
His journey.
Go to this point in the text
his fellowship
Duty as a comrade.
Go to this point in the text
feast of Crispian
A holiday commemorating the martyrdom of the brothers Crispin and Crispinian in 287 CE.
Although historically Henry dedicated the battle of Agincourt to Saint John of Beverley, it became traditionally associated with the mostly legendary Saints Crispin and Crispinian, said to have been two third-century noble brothers who fled persecution by Diocletian in Rome and lived in obscurity in France, making Christian converts and supporting themselves as shoemakers before their martyrdom in 287 CE. Cf. Holinshed: The daie following was the fiue and twentith of October in the yeare 1415, being then fridaie, and the feast of Crispine and Crispinian, a day faire and fortunate to the English, but most sorrowfull and vnluckie to the French (Chronicles, 1587 552). Shakespeare seems to have combined Crispin and Crispinian into one name (Crispin Crispian), perhaps for metrical reasons. The name Crispian, an alternate spelling of Crispinian, also appears in Thomas Deloney’s The Gentle Craft (1597–1598), a prose work in praise of famous shoemakers that includes the story of the craft’s patron saints, the two Roman brothers. Deloney’s version of the saints’ legend, set in England and involving the conscription of one of the brothers to fight in Gaul (France), also provided the source for Thomas Dekker’s comedy The Shoemakers’ Holiday (1599). Dekker’s play, which the Lord Chamberlain’s Men probably performed in repertory with Henry V, has many thematic and verbal parallels to Shakespeare’s history play, and indeed strongly suggests that the English king who appears in the final act to resolve the romantic comedy and conscript its characters into his French war is Henry V himself.
Go to this point in the text
stand a tiptoe
Stand tall; i.e., feel eagerness and pride.
Go to this point in the text
live
Live to.
Pope’s emendation, transposing the line’s verbs (Works), would seem to be supported by the Quarto’s reading, and has proven popular among editors, as has Keightley’s live t’old age (Keightley). The elliptical expression is clear as it stands, and emendation is unnecessary.
Go to this point in the text
vigil
Eve, night before a holiday.
Go to this point in the text
all
Everything else.
Go to this point in the text
advantages
Additions, embellishments.
Go to this point in the text
Warwick and Talbot
Shakespeare is himself remembering with advantages here: neither Warwick nor John Talbot, first Earl of Shrewsbury (ca. 1388–1453) fought at Agincourt. The latter, in fact, played no part at all in the 1415 campaign, and his name appears nowhere else in the play. Both names would have been familiar to Shakespeare’s audience, however, as heroes of the French wars he had depicted in 1 Henry VI, so this half line provides literary, if unhistorical continuity, serving as a reminder of and advertisement for the earlier play.
Go to this point in the text
Be … remembered.
Have a toast raised to them.
The plural their flowing cups refers to the hearers of the singular veteran remembering the battle (Knight, Works).
Go to this point in the text
happy
Fortunate (to be so small in number).
Go to this point in the text
vile
Base, low-ranking.
Go to this point in the text
gentle his condition
Ennoble him.
Steevens and Walter both note that when Henry passed restrictions on bearing coats of arms in 1418, he excepted veterans of Agincourt (Steevens, Plays; Walter, Henry V). Here, however, he promises only figurative gentility; certainly no common soldier is promoted during or after the battle. Taylor suggests that a depiction of such literal promotion may have occurred in some earlier play (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
manhoods
Manliness, courage.
Go to this point in the text
any
Anyone.
Go to this point in the text
bestow yourself
Move, get into position.
Go to this point in the text
bravely
1) Fearlessly; 2) ostentatiously, showily.
Go to this point in the text
in … set
Ready in their attack formation.
Go to this point in the text
expedience
Speed.
Go to this point in the text
backward
Reluctant, unready.
Go to this point in the text
five thousand men
See A4 Sc3 Sp4 n. Kittredge employs considerable ingenuity and interpretive generosity to square Henry’s sums: since by Holinshed’s arithmetic the English army was about ten thousand strong, he writes, the king regards himself and Westmoreland as each representing half of the English forces (as would indeed be the case if the two fought the battle alone), and thinks of Westmoreland as having wished his own half out of existence (Works).
Go to this point in the text
likes
Pleases.
Go to this point in the text
Once … overthrow
Cf. Holinshed:
Here we may not forget how the French thus in their iolitie, sent an herald to king Henrie, to inquire what ransome he would offer. Wherevnto he answered, that within two or three houres he hoped it would so happen, that the Frenchmen should be glad to common rather with the Englishmen for their ransoms, than the English to take thought for their deliuerance, promising for his owne part, that his dead carcasse should rather be a prize to the Frenchmen, than that his liuing bodie should paie anie ransome. (Chronicles, 1587 554)
Go to this point in the text
compound
Negotiate terms.
Go to this point in the text
gulf
Whirlpool.
Go to this point in the text
englutted
Swallowed up.
Go to this point in the text
mind … repentance
Remind your army to repent their sins (before death).
Go to this point in the text
retire
Withdrawal, retreat.
Go to this point in the text
achieve
Capture.
Go to this point in the text
The man … him.
I.e., overestimating oneself is dangerous.
Henry refers to the proverb sell not the bear’s skin before you have caught him (Tilley B132), derived from a fable of Aesop. In substituting a lion for the more usual bear, he personalizes the proverb, alluding to the heraldic symbol of English royalty.
Go to this point in the text
A many
A great many.
Go to this point in the text
Find … graves
Be buried in England; i.e., survive the battle.
Go to this point in the text
in brass
Inscribed in monumental plaques.
Go to this point in the text
though … dunghills
Even if they are buried shamefully and anonymously.
Go to this point in the text
reeking
1) Rising like steam (from newly-dead corpses); 2) blood-smeared.
Go to this point in the text
clime
Realm; climate, atmosphere.
Go to this point in the text
breed a plague
Plague was thought to be spread by unwholesome air.
Go to this point in the text
Mark
Note, behold.
Go to this point in the text
abounding
1) Plentiful; 2) pun on a bounding, i.e., “rebounding like a cannonball”.
Go to this point in the text
crazing
Fragmenting after impact (for greater damage).
May also suggest “grazing”, i.e., ricocheting. The F2 compositors, who printed grasing, evidently took this as the primary meaning. Craik defends F1’s reading because it implies the destruction, not merely the deflection, of the bullets (King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
course of mischief
Round of damage.
Go to this point in the text
in … mortality
As they fall into decomposition.
Like the shattered bullets, the English will kill even as they disintegrate.
Go to this point in the text
speak proudly
Wilson glosses this as leave this jesting (Wilson, Henry V), but since he continues to jest, a literal reading is more likely.
Go to this point in the text
for … day
Dressed as ordinary workmen.
Henry derides the French army’s ornate battlefield apparel (see also 3.7) to throw the English shabbiness into the light of unostentatious modesty and working class honesty. His speech may be undercut, however, by the memory of Vernon’s earnest praise of Prince Henry’s own army at the battle of Shrewsbury in 1 Henry IV:
All furnished, all in arms,
All plumed like ostriches, that with the wind
Baited like eagles having lately bathed,
Glittering in golden coats like images,
As full of spirit as the month of May,
And gorgeous as the sun at midsummer;
Wanton as youthful goats, wild as young bulls.
I saw young Harry with his beaver on,
His cuisses on his thighs, gallantly armed,
Rise from the ground like feathered Mercury,
And vaulted with such ease into his seat
As if an angel dropped down from the clouds
To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus,
And witch the world with noble horsemanship.
(1H4 4.1.97–111)
Go to this point in the text
gayness
Decoration, brightness of color.
Go to this point in the text
gilt
Gold-colored trappings.
Go to this point in the text
besmirched
Muddied, stained.
Go to this point in the text
rainy … field
Marching in the rain through grueling terrain.
On the march from Harfleur to Calais, writes Holinshed, dailie it rained, and nightlie it freesed (Chronicles, 1587 552).
Go to this point in the text
feather
Decorative helmet feathers.
Go to this point in the text
fly
Flee.
With a quibble on the usual sense.
Go to this point in the text
slovenry
Sloppiness.
Go to this point in the text
in the trim
1) Fashionably dressed; 2) in working order.
Go to this point in the text
in fresher robes
Newly clothed in heaven (Wilson, Henry V).
This subtle joke has seemed too grim and obscure for some editors, who read the fresher robes as synonymous with the gay new coats to be pillaged from the French (A4 Sc3 Sp20). Such a reading usually requires emendation of or (A4 Sc3 Sp20) to for (Hanmer) or as (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
pluck … service
Strip the dead Frenchmen of their finery.
A servant who has been turned out of service (newly dismissed) has his livery removed.
Go to this point in the text
them
The French soldiers, not the coats.
Go to this point in the text
levied
Raised.
Go to this point in the text
gentle
Noble.
Go to this point in the text
joints
Limbs.
With the connotation of a butcher’s portioning of meat (OED, 2nd ed. joint, n.1.II.8).
Go to this point in the text
as … them
I.e., dead.
Go to this point in the text
I … ransom.
Some editors print this line as prose, but the rest of the scene is verse, and F’s extrametrical and redundant againe might have resulted from a compositor having failed to see that a word in the copy text had been stricken out, so, following Taylor (Henry V), I emend to regularize the meter. The tautology is not necessarily an error: Craik compares once more backe againe (F1 H5 sig. I4v) and Harryes backe returne againe (sig. I6r) (King Henry V). Gurr argues that the line is meant to be heard as prose and signals an aside revealing doubts that Henry will not admit to his soldiers (Gurr, King Henry V), but the tone of the line is equally likely to be mocking French diplomatic tediousness.
Go to this point in the text
vanguard
Foremost division.
Holinshed does not record York’s request, but does write that Henry appointed a vaward, of the which he made capteine Edward duke of Yorke, of an haultie courage had desired that office, and with him were the lords Beaumont, Willoughbie, and Fanhope, and this battell was all of archers. (Chronicles, 1587 553).
Go to this point in the text
dispose
Direct, manage.
Go to this point in the text
4.4
Location: the battlefield, Agincourt.
Shakespeare may have derived this scene from a similar one in Famous Victories in which Dericke the clown is captured for ransom, tricks his French captor out of his sword, and takes him prisoner instead (FV sig. F2v).
Go to this point in the text
Excursions.
Small bouts of fighting between men running over the stage.
Go to this point in the text
Je … qualité.
“I think you are a gentleman of good quality”.
Go to this point in the text
Qualtity?
Confused repetition of qualité.
This edition retains Pistol’s pronunciation from F (Qualtitie, Sp497), as he knows no more what’s being said in French than he knows the bastard Irish it reminds him of.
Go to this point in the text
Calinny … me!
Gibberish, echoing the refrain of an Irish ballad (perhaps sung).
Warburton’s emendation, which some editors follow, attempted to make English sense of the words (Works), but Malone (cited by Boswell) identified them as the refrain of a song printed in 1584 in Clement Robinson’s A Handful of Pleasant Delights (Malone, Plays; Boswell, Plays). The actual Irish of the line, which Robinson renders Calen o Custure me, is either cailin og a’ stor (“young maiden, my treasure”), or as Claire McEachern suggests, Cailin ó chois tSúire me (Henry the Fifth; “I am a girl from beside the Suir”). As Kittredge notes, it is perilous to emend Pistol’s gibberish, and we have no warrant for supposing that he would not murder Irish as badly as he murders French in this play (Works). The lyrics of the song, as Clement Robinson prints them, are as follows:
A Sonet of a Louer in the praise of his lady.
To Calen o Custure me: sung at euerie lines end.
When as I view your comly grace, Ca. &c
Your golden haires, your angels face:
Your azured veines much like the skies,
Your siluer teeth your Christall eies.
Your Corall lips, your crimson cheeks,
That Gods and men both loue and leekes.
Your pretie mouth with diuers gifts,
Which driueth wise men to their shifts:
So braue, so fine, so trim, so yong,
With heauenlie wit and pleasant tongue,
That Pallas though she did excell,
Could frame ne tel a tale so well.
Your voice so sweet, your necke so white,
your bodie fine and small in sight:
Your fingers long so nimble be,
To vtter foorth such harmonie,
As all the Muses for a space:
To sit and heare do giue you place.
Your pretie foot with all the rest,
That may be seene or may be gest:
Doth beare such shape, that beautie may
Giue place to thee and go her way:
And Paris nowe must change his doome,
For Venus lo must giue thee roome.
Whose gleams doth heat my hart as fier,
Although I burne, yet would I nier:
Within my selfe then can I say:
The night is gone, behold the day:
Behold the star so cleare and bright,
As dimmes the sight of Phoebus light:
Whose fame by pen for to discriue,
Doth passe ech wight that is aliue:
Then how dare I with boldned face,
Presume to craue or wish your grace?
And thus amazed as I stand,
Not feeling sense, nor moouing hand.
My soule with silence moouing sense,
Doth wish of God with reuerence,
Long life, and vertue you possesse:
To match those gifts of worthinesse,
And loue and pitie may be spide,
To be your chief and onely guide.
(A Handful sigs. C3v-C4r)
Go to this point in the text
Discuss.
Declare.
Go to this point in the text
O Seigneur Dieu!
“O Lord God!”
Go to this point in the text
O … gentleman.
Signieur Dew is presumably a gentleman.
Pistol recognizes ‘Seigneurʼ as meaning ‘Lord,ʼ and infers that his prisoner is a gentleman (Kittredge).
Go to this point in the text
Perpend
Ponder, consider.
Used in Shakespeare twice by Pistol and once each by Touchstone, Feste, and Polonius: clearly intended to sound slightly ridiculous (Taylor, Henry V). Craik suggests that Shakespeare had the word in his head after reading it in Preston’s overwrought, semi-allegorical tragedy Cambyses, to which he alludes comically in 1 Henry IV (Craik, King Henry V; 1H4 2.5.316).
Go to this point in the text
mark
Take note.
Go to this point in the text
fox
A type of English sword.
This fairly obscure term may come from the blade-mark stamped on certain swords to identify their maker. Webster’s White Devil uses it to distinguish an English-made rapier: O what blade is’t? / A Toledo, or an English fox? (Webster 5.6.233–234).
Go to this point in the text
except
Unless.
Go to this point in the text
egregious
Extraordinarily large.
Go to this point in the text
Oh … moi!
“Oh, have mercy! Have pity on me!”
Go to this point in the text
Moy
Uncomprehending repetition of moi.
The French word may have been pronounced by contemporary Englishmen as rhyming with destroy (e.g., R2 5.4.118–119). Pistol takes moy to mean a coin, and although OED calls it a nonce-word and denies that any real coin is intended (OED, 2nd ed. moy, n.2), it may relate to the later word moidore (Portuguese moeda de ouro; French moi-d’or), an eighteenth-century designation for a gold coin.
Go to this point in the text
rim
Peritoneum; stomach lining.
Pistol extravagantly threatens to put his fist down the Frenchman’s throat and pull his insides out (Craik, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
Est-il … bras?
“Is it impossible to escape the strength of your arm?”
Go to this point in the text
Brass
Cheap metal (Pistol’s misunderstanding of bras).
The terminal s was still pronounced before pauses in sixteenth century French, though the joke inevitably falls flat with modern audiences.
Go to this point in the text
luxurious
Lecherous.
Go to this point in the text
mountain goat
Goats are traditionally associated with lechery, and Pistol’s insult is of a kind with other instances of abuse, though he generally associates mountains with the Welsh, not the French; cf. mountain squire (A5 Sc1 Sp10) and mountain foreigner (Wiv 1.1.123).
Go to this point in the text
Oh, pardonnez-moi!
“Oh, pardon me!”
Go to this point in the text
ton of moys
Pistol’s attempt to interpret the French.
Go to this point in the text
Écoutez … appellé?
“Listen: what is your name?”
As Taylor observes, there is no textual justification for the boy to struggle with the French in performance, and a contrast between his fluency and Pistol’s butchered French often raises a laugh (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
le Fer
“Iron” (French).
Go to this point in the text
fer
Nonce-word, apparently meaning “beat”.
Pistol may also play on “fear” (frighten), but Shakespeare elsewhere uses similar nonsensical repetitions of names as threatening verbs (cf. Wiv 4.2.144–145, Cor 2.1.104.
Go to this point in the text
firk
Several other violent senses are possible; the word sometimes puns on “fuck”, as in Dekker’s Shoemakers’ Holiday—which also has a character named Firk—though the bawdy sense seems less likely here.
Go to this point in the text
ferret
Worry (as a ferret would).
Go to this point in the text
Que … monsieur?
“What does he say, sir?”
Go to this point in the text
Il … gorge.
“He commands me to tell you to make ready, because this soldier here is disposed, at this very hour, to cut your throat”.
Go to this point in the text
Owi … permafoy
Pistol’s attempt to say Oui, couper la gorge, par ma foi (“Yes, cut the throat, by my faith”).
Go to this point in the text
Brave
Good, worthy.
The punctuation of F makes Pistol’s or redundant after unless, not that Pistol need care about his grammar. My pointing makes Brave crowns an addendum: And what’s more, they’d better be brave crowns. Mceachern’s emendation to o’er-mangled also solves the grammatical difficulty (Henry the Fifth).
Go to this point in the text
Oh … écus.
“Oh, I beseech you, for the love of God, to pardon me! I am a gentleman of a good house. Save my life, and I will give you two hundred crowns”.
Go to this point in the text
maison
“House”, i.e., family.
Go to this point in the text
Petit … dit-il?
“Little sir, what says he?”
Go to this point in the text
Encore … franchisement.
“Although it is contrary to his judgment to pardon any prisoner, nevertheless, for the crowns that you have promised him, he is content to give you liberty, freedom”.
Go to this point in the text
Kneeling to Pistol
Le Fer must be on his knees by this point at the latest, as the following speech indicates, though there are many logical opportunities in the scene for him to kneel—e.g. at his line Oh, je vous supplie—or he may be on his knees throughout.
Go to this point in the text
Sur … d’Angleterre.
“On my knees I give you a thousand thanks, and I esteem myself lucky that I have fallen into the hands of a knight that I think the most brave, valiant, and very distinguished gentleman of England”.
Go to this point in the text
Expound
Translate, explain.
Go to this point in the text
thrice-worthy
Most worthy.
Apparently the boy mistranslates Le Fer’s très distingué. Gary Taylor’s emendation of the French to trois-distingué, to ensure that the Boy translates corrently, is unnecessary (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
suck blood
Am bloodthirsty; am a leech.
Compare Pistol’s earlier promise the very blood to / suck like horse-leeches (A2 Sc3 Sp16).
Go to this point in the text
Suivez-vous … capitaine.
“Follow the great captain”.
Go to this point in the text
full
Loud.
Go to this point in the text
The … sound.
Proverbial (Tilley V36).
Go to this point in the text
devil … play
Character of the devil in a medieval morality play.
Go to this point in the text
everyone … nails
Any clown may trim his claws.
The devil in English morality plays was traditionally mocked, ridden, and beaten by the comic Vice figure, as Samuel Harsnett’s A declaration of egregious popish impostures (1603) describes:
It was a prety part in the old Church-playes, when the nimble Vice would skip vp nimbly like a Iacke an Apes into the deuils necke, and ride the deuil a course, and belabour him with his woodden dagger, til he made him roare, wherat the people would laugh to see the deuil so vice-haunted. (Harsnett 114–115)
Although no extant play includes a vice that pares a devil’s nails, paring the devil’s nails was proverbial (Tilley N12), and Shakespeare’s audience must have been familiar with it; such business is also referred to by Feste:
I am gone, sir,
And anon, sir,
I’ll be with you again,
In a trice,
Like to the old Vice,
Your need to sustain,
Who with dagger of lath,
In his rage and his wrath,
Cries “Aha!” to the devil,
Like a mad lad, ’Pare thy nails, dad,
Adieu, goodman devil.
(TN 4.2.98–109)
Go to this point in the text
wooden dagger
Wooden daggers, or daggers of lath, were the traditional prop of the vice figure in a morality play. Cf. TN 4.2.104, 2H6 4.2.2.
Go to this point in the text
both hanged
The only exit Nym has (Wilson, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
this
Pistol.
Go to this point in the text
adventurously
In a truly daring manner, riskily.
Go to this point in the text
lackeys
Footmen, squires.
Go to this point in the text
The … boys.
Grimly foreshadowing the massacre that occurs between 4.6 and 4.7.
Go to this point in the text
good prey
Valuable plunder.
Go to this point in the text
4.5
Location: the battlefield, Agincourt.
Go to this point in the text
O diable!
“O the devil!”
Go to this point in the text
O Seigneur! … perdu!
“O Lord! The day is lost, all is lost!”
Go to this point in the text
Dauphin
In order to continue his strategy of assigning the dauphin’s speeches to Bourbon, Gary Taylor is forced in this scene to rearrange the order and assignment of F’s speeches to avoid Bourbon replying to himself (Henry V). As Gurr points out, Bourbon’s characterization in this scene as an aggressive speaker and leader of men suggests that Shakespeare had not decided to use him to replace the dauphin, with whom he is clearly contrasted (Gurr, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
Mort … vie!
“God’s death! My life!”
Many editors emend to Mort de ma vie, which appears at A3 Sc5 Sp4.
Go to this point in the text
confounded
Disordered, put to confusion; ruined.
Go to this point in the text
in our plumes
In the feathers of our helmets, i.e., over us.
Go to this point in the text
A short alarum
This is evidently the cue for some action that impels the Dauphin’s Do not run away! (A4 Sc5 Sp3). Taylor argues that the trumpet startles one of the onstage lords (he suggests Rambures) into attempting an exit (Henry V). Craik thinks it more likely that the Dauphin addresses fleeing French soldiers passing over the stage (King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
O … Fortune!
“O wicked Fortune!”
Go to this point in the text
broke
Broken, disordered, put to flight.
Cf. Holinshed:
the king minding to make an end of that daies iornie, caused his horssemen to fetch a compasse about, and to ioine with him against the rereward of the Frenchmen, in the which was the greatest number of people. When the Frenchmen perceiued his intent, they were suddenlie amazed and ran awaie like sheepe, without order or arraie. Which when the king perceiued, he incouraged his men, and followed so quickelie vpon the enimies, that they ran hither and thither, casting awaie their armour: manie on their knees desired to haue their liues saued. (Chronicles, 1587 554)
Go to this point in the text
perdurable
Everlasting.
Go to this point in the text
In once more
Let us go back into battle.
F’s lack of punctuation and irregular meter has led some editors to conjecture a missing word (see collation). Adding a period is the simplest way to maintain the sense of the original reading.
Go to this point in the text
with … hand
Doffing his cap in servility.
Go to this point in the text
pander
Pimp.
Go to this point in the text
no gentler
1) No kinder, no less rough; 2) with no more gentility.
Go to this point in the text
contaminated
Corrupted; i.e., raped.
Go to this point in the text
spoiled
Ruined; plundered.
Go to this point in the text
friend
Befriend.
Go to this point in the text
on heaps
In heaps.
This may echo the Gesta Henrici Quinti:
Nam cum quidam eorum congressu prelii interfecti ceciderunt a fronte, tanta erat indisciplinata violencia et pressura posterioris multitudinis, quod vivi super mortuos caderent et super vivos etiam alii cadentes interficiebantur, sic quod, in tribus locis ubi erat fortitudo et acies vexilloum nostrorum, tanta crevit congeries occisorum et interiacencium oppressorum quod nostrates ascenderunt ipsas congeries, que creverant ultra altitudinem longitudinis hominis, et adversarios versus deorsum gladiis, securibus et offensionibus aliis iugularunt.
For when some of them, killed when battle was first joined, fell at the front, so great was the undisciplined violence and pressure of the mass of men behind that the living fell on top of the dead, and others falling on top of the living were killed as well, with the result that, in each of the three places where the strong contingents guarding our standards were, such a great heap grew of the slain and of those lying crushed in between that our men climbed up those heaps, which had risen above a man’s height, and butchered their enemies down below with swords, axes, and other weapons. (Gesta Henrici Quinti 90–91)
Go to this point in the text
upon
Of.
Go to this point in the text
Let … long.
Bourbon’s last line in the play is a version of the proverb better to die with honor than to live with shame (Tilley H576), rendered ironic by his appearance onstage as a prisoner at A4 Sc7 SD2.
Go to this point in the text
4.6
Location: the battlefield, Agincourt.
Go to this point in the text
train
Followers.
Go to this point in the text
with prisoners
Not the French lords who resolve to rally in 4.4, but prisoners taken by the English earlier in the battle.
Go to this point in the text
thrice-valiant
Most brave.
Go to this point in the text
keep
Occupy, remain on.
Go to this point in the text
Enter Exeter.
It makes more sense for Exeter to enter shortly after the others (and presumably from a different direction) than for him to stand there silent before delivering his news (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
commends him to
Greets.
Go to this point in the text
down
Unhorsed.
According to Enguerran de Monstrelet, the Duke of Alençon unhorsed and killed York, then tried to engage King Henry, striking off part of his crowned helmet (See Curry 258). Shakespeare refers both to Henry’s fight with Alençon (A4 Sc7 Sp47) and to his bruisèd helmet (A5 Sc0 Sp1).
Go to this point in the text
array
Condition; attire (i.e., his blood).
Go to this point in the text
Larding
Enriching (with his blood).
Go to this point in the text
Yoke-fellow
Partner, companion.
Go to this point in the text
honor-owing
Honorable.
Owing here has the sense of “owning, possessing”.
Go to this point in the text
Suffolk … love.
Suffolk and York dying in each other’s arms is Shakespeare’s invention. This Suffolk (Michael de la Pole, 1394–1415) was succeeded by his brother, William de la Pole, who became a stalwart supporter of Henry VI during the Wars of the Roses until his execution in 1450 at the orders of his archenemy Richard, son of this Duke of York. The testament of noble-ending love here related therefore serves both as an ironic foil for the conflict to come between the houses of York and Lancaster, and prefigures that conflict’s resolution. As Wilson noted, the passage also recalls the death of the Talbots in 1 Henry VI (1H6 4.7.1–32).
Go to this point in the text
haggled over
Hacked, mangled all over.
The word (in this sense) seems to be Shakespeare’s invention, a portmanteau of hacked and mangled.
Go to this point in the text
insteeped
Immersed, drenched.
Go to this point in the text
yawn
Gape like mouths.
Julius Caesar, another 1599 play, also compares wounds to gaping mouths: thy wounds […] Which like dumb mouths do ope their ruby lips, / To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue (JC 3.1.263–265).
Go to this point in the text
Tarry
Linger, stay here.
Go to this point in the text
abreast
Side by side.
Go to this point in the text
well-foughten field
Well-fought battle.
Go to this point in the text
chivalry
Knightliness; martial skill.
Go to this point in the text
cheered him up
Spoke encouragingly to him.
Go to this point in the text
raught me
Reached to me.
Go to this point in the text
Commend
Remember; offer (my service).
Go to this point in the text
espoused
Committed, pledged (OED, 3rd ed. espouse, v.3).
Go to this point in the text
testament
Formal declaration, bequest.
Go to this point in the text
waters
Tears.
Go to this point in the text
my mother
My feminine tenderness.
The mother frequently refers to a medical condition thought to arise from the uterus and cause hysteria in women, or a condition with similar symptoms (a sense of constriction in the torso, shortness of breath) in men (OED, 3rd ed. mother, n.1.II.9). See also Lr 2.2.215 and TN 2.2.30–31. Exeter also plays on the chemical sense of solids rising to the surface in a distillation (OED, 3rd ed. mother, n.2.1), which leads to Henry’s compound and mixtful.
Go to this point in the text
perforce
Necessarily.
Go to this point in the text
compound / With
1) Come to terms, negotiate with; 2) adjust the mixture of ingredients in.
Go to this point in the text
mixtful
Probably “full of a mixture of tears”.
The word is of unclear meaning, and appears nowhere else. Editors have emended to mistful (full of mist), wilful (unruly) and my full, but mixtful seems to be an intentional nonce-word suggested by the alchemical connotations of mother (see A4 Sc6 Sp4 n.) and compound (see A4 Sc6 Sp5 n.).
Go to this point in the text
issue
Flow forth.
Go to this point in the text
But hark … prisoners.
Henry orders the killing of the prisoners so that the men guarding them might be free to fight. Shakespeare ingeniously adapts his source material in order to make render Henry’s infamous killing of the French prisoners morally ambiguous. Although he seems both to condemn the French attack on the luggage train and to sympathize with the slaughtered French prisoners, Holinshed presents the attack on the boys as preceding Henry’s order. But Holinshed’s Henry does not order the slaughter of prisoners in retaliation for the cowardly French attack, but because he mistakes the noise of the attack on the luggage for a French rally:
In the meane season, while the battell thus continued, and that the Englishmen had taken a great number of prisoners, certeine Frenchmen on horssebacke […] which were the first that fled, hearing that the English tents & pauilions were a good waie distant from the armie, without anie sufficient gard to defend the same, either vpon a couetous meaning to gaine by the spoile, or vpon a desire to be reuenged, entred vpon the kings campe, and there spoiled the hails, robbed the tents, brake vp chests, and caried awaie baskets, and slue such seruants as they found to make anie resistance. For which treason and haskardie villainy in thus leauing their campe at the verie point of fight, for winning of spoile where none were to defend it, verie manie were after committed to prison […] But when the outcrie of the lackies and boies, which ran awaie for feare of the Frenchmen thus spoiling the campe, came to the kings eares, he doubting least his enimies should gather togither againe and begin a new field; and mistrusting further that the prisoners would be an aid to his enimies, or the verie enimies to their takers in deed if they were suffered to liue, contrarie to his accustomed gentlenes, commanded by sound of trumpet, that euerie man (vpon paine of death) should incontinentlie slaie his prisoner. When this dolorous decree, and pitifull proclamation was pronounced, pitie it was to see how some Frenchmen were suddenlie sticked with daggers, some were brained with pollaxes, some slaine with malls, other had their throats cut, and some their bellies panched, so that in effect, hauing respect to the great number, few prisoners were saued. (Chronicles, 1587 554)
Shakespeare removes the news of the French attack on the boys in the camp until after Henry’s order, thus making the order a canny battlefield decision and isolating Henry’s savagery from the French war crime. Critics and commentators have debated the extent to which Shakespeare’s intended the killing of the prisoners to seem morally questionable; certainly the play does not explicitly condemn him for it. What this incident does illustrate, however, is the process of historical interpretation, which Shakespeare shows to start immediately upon the battlefield itself (see A4 Sc7 Sp2 n.).
Go to this point in the text
The French … men.
An audience will naturally interpret this as the onset of the desperate French counterattack concerted in 4.5 (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
Give … through.
Pass the order to the whole army.
Craik argues that this line implies that the killing happens off stage (King Henry V), but other editors disagree; based on the indication of onstage prisoners at the top of the scene and Pistol’s probably improvised addition in Q (Couple gorge [Q1 H5 sig. E4r]), Gary Taylor added a stage direction to require the killing on stage (Henry V). For many modern directors, the savage onstage slaughter of the French prisoners becomes a grim climactic spectacle for the Agincourt sequence. In the 1994 RSC production, for example, Iain Glen’s Henry coldly gave the order, then proceeded to strangle a prisoner with his bare hands before his exit. In Ron Daniel’s 1997 production, the soldiers were taken aback by the order, and Pistol was forced at gunpoint to execute the kneeling, screaming Le Fer. In Nicholas Hytner’s post-Iraq production at the National in 2003, Adrian Lester’s media-savvy Henry ordered the embedded news cameras shut off before giving the order, which was carried out by the disciplinarian Fluellen after the other English soldiers balked.
Go to this point in the text
4.7
Location: the battlefield, Agincourt.
Go to this point in the text
poys
Boys.
Go to this point in the text
luggage
Presumably Fluellen means “those guarding the luggage”.
Go to this point in the text
offer’t
Offered, i.e., dared, attempted.
Go to this point in the text
wherefore
For which reason.
Shakespeare’s adaptation of his source material makes clear that Gower’s interpretation of the prisoner-killing as retaliation for the French atrocity is simply incorrect; as we have just seen (A4 Sc6 Sp5), it was instead a tactical response to the French rally suggested in 4.5, which is different from the attack by the cowardly rascals that ran from the battle (A4 Sc7 Sp2). The disjunction between what we see and what the English army incorrectly remember serves as a subtle commentary on the process of making history.
Go to this point in the text
worthily
Justly; honorably.
Go to this point in the text
porn
Born.
Go to this point in the text
Monmouth
Town in south Wales near the English border.
Go to this point in the text
Pig
Big.
Go to this point in the text
one reckonings
The same thing.
Go to this point in the text
phrase … variations
Wording is a little different.
Go to this point in the text
Macedon
Macedonia, formerly a region in the north of Greece.
Go to this point in the text
take
Understand.
Go to this point in the text
I think it is in Macedon
In Q, Fluellen’s response to Gower (I think it was Macedon indeed) is clearly an agreement; i.e., “Ah, yes, you’re right; it is Macedon”. Taylor alter’s F to read e’en Macedon in order to give the line the sense it has in Q (Henry V), but the Folio reading preserves an attractive option for actors: if Fluellen stresses is, he merely agrees with Gower, but if not, then he pretends not to have heard Gower and to have answered his own factual question.
Go to this point in the text
’orld
World.
Go to this point in the text
situations
Geography.
Go to this point in the text
Wye
River forming the border between Wales and England.
Monmouth sits at the junction of the Monmow and the Wye.
Go to this point in the text
both
Both rivers.
Fluellen ridiculously and ineffectually follows the Erasmian method of place description, which included describing the waterways and fish therein (see Baldwin 2.285).
Go to this point in the text
If … well
This culminates and bathetically undercuts the play’s strategy of comparisons between Henry and Alexander (see A1 Sc1 Sp11, A3 Sc1 Sp1). As Steevens was the first to note, Shakespeare here parodies the rhetorical exercize of comparatio, in which the lives of two famous historical figures are compared (Plays). Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, the most famous extended example of comparatio, was the main source for three of Shakespeare’s Roman plays, including Julius Caesar —likely written concurrently with Henry V—in which Caesar’s life is compared to Alexander’s; it is no coincidence that Fluellen seems to have been revisiting the lives of the same two famous generals.
Go to this point in the text
is … it
Follows it, parallels it.
Go to this point in the text
figures
Similitudes, comparisons.
Specifically alluding to the Christian practice of typology, in which an Old Testament character like Isaac is thought to be a type or figure for Christ. See OED, 2nd ed. figure, n.II.12.
Go to this point in the text
cholers
Anger.
Anger was thought to be governed by choler (yellow bile), one of the four humours that determined human temperaments.
Go to this point in the text
intoxicates
Drunk.
Go to this point in the text
prains
Brains.
Go to this point in the text
in his ales
While drunk.
Go to this point in the text
Cleitus
Macedonian general, friend and bodyguard of Alexander the Great.
Cleitus, or Kleitos (375–328 BCE) was ordered in 328—when Alexander was twenty-eight, Henry’s age in 1415—to command a separate army in Asia. Like Falstaff,
A greyscale illustration of of Alexander the Great
                           killing Cleitus in a room of cowering people. Cleitus clutches a curtain
                           as he collapses with a spear sticking out of his chest. Alexander is in
                           throwing stance and holding a second spear. There is a table with food in
                           the foreground and a fallen wine cup on the floor.
André Castaigne’s The Killing of Cleitus (1898-99).
Cleitus rankled at the prospect of being forced to withdraw from the king’s company to be forgotten; he quarreled with Alexander and was speared to death by the drunken king, who later regretted the deed. Shakespeare’s audience would have been familiar with the anecdote; Fluellen follows the crown-approved Homilie against Gluttonie and Dronkennes:
The great Alexander, after that he hadde conquered the whole worlde, was hym selfe ouercome by dronkennesse, in so muche, that beyng dronken, he slew his faythfull frende Clitus, whereof when he was sober, he was so muche ashamed, that for anguyshe of harte he wyshed death. (The seconde tome of homilies fol. 107v)
Go to this point in the text
to take … mouth
Proverbial; see Tilley T50.
Go to this point in the text
his cups
Drunkenness.
Go to this point in the text
Harry Monmouth
Harry of Monmouth.
Cf. Harry England (A3 Sc5 Sp8).
Go to this point in the text
great belly-doublet
Tight jacket padded in the stomach covering.
The belly, or lower part of a doublet (OED, 2nd ed. belly, n.II.3.b), could be great (padded) or thin (unpadded), according to fashion. The padding, in Falstaff’s case, was of course his fat, but the line serves as a reminder of the padded costuming of an actor playing the role.
Go to this point in the text
gipes
Gibes, i.e., scoffing jokes.
Go to this point in the text
knaveries
Trickery.
Go to this point in the text
mocks
Acts of mockery.
Go to this point in the text
I … name.
Taylor suggests that this is a joking allusion to the name having had to be changed—from Oldcastle in 1 Henry IV to Falstaff in 2 Henry IV (Henry V); similarly in Merry Wives, Mistress Page declares that she cannot tell what the dickens his name is (Wiv 3.2.14). But in addition to the inside joke, Fluellen’s line gives point to the Henriad’s arguably tragic process of casting off Falstaff and excising him from Henry’s story, and reinforces the play’s theme of memory, forgetfulness, and remembering with advantages (A4 Sc3 Sp10).
Go to this point in the text
Enter … prisoners.
F’s odd wording (Enter King Harry and Burbon with prisoners) may be explained, as Craik does, by Bourbon’s addition being an afterthought (King Henry V). He is mentioned by Exeter as one of the French prisoners taken, and some editors have removed him from the stage direction, following Theobald’s logic that such a prominent character would not remain silent on stage, nor would Exeter mention him without acknowledging his presence if he were standing right there (Works of Shakespeare). His presence does serve, however, to demonstrate that this is a second batch of prisoners, resulting from the failure of the last desperate counterattack that Bourbon led after 4.5.
Go to this point in the text
this instant
The killing of the boys.
Evidently Henry has only just heard of the French attack on the luggage train, which implicitly contradicts Gower’s earlier assertion (see A4 Sc7 Sp2 n.).
Go to this point in the text
trumpet
Trumpeter.
Go to this point in the text
Ride thou … so.
Holinshed’s version of this threat suggests that the horsemen on yon hill are attempting to rescue either the current group of prisoners (in which Shakespeare includes Bourbon) or to put an end to the killing of the earlier group:
Some write, that the king perceiuing his enimies in one part to assemble togither, as though they meant to giue a new battell for preseruation of the prisoners, sent to them an herald, commanding them either to depart out of his sight, or else to come forward at once, and giue battell: promising herewith, that if they did offer to fight againe, not onelie those prisoners which his people alreadie had taken; but also so manie of them as in this new conflict, which they thus attempted should fall into his hands, should die the death without redemption. (Chronicles, 1587 555)
In Shakespeare’s scene the English herald is prevented from sending this message by the arrival of Montjoy, but in Holinshed the message and Henry’s threat are successful in bringing the battle to a close, after which Henry celebrates victory:
The Frenchmen fearing the sentence of so terrible a decree, without further delaie parted out of the field. And so about foure of the clocke in the after noone, the king when he saw no apperance of enimies, caused the retreit to be blowen; and gathering his armie togither, gaue thanks to almightie God for so happie a victorie. (555)
Go to this point in the text
void
Leave unoccupied.
Go to this point in the text
skirr
Flee.
Go to this point in the text
as swift … slings.
Craik hears an echo of Marlowe’s 1593 translation of Lucan’s Pharsalia (Swifter than bullets thrown from Spanish slings [Marlowe 231]), and suggests that for patriotic reasons Shakespeare substituted Assyrians, who, according to the Geneva translation of Judith, trust in shield, speare and bow, and sling (Geneva, Judith 9:7) (Craik, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
Enforcèd
Violently flung.
Go to this point in the text
Besides
Additionally.
Go to this point in the text
those
The prisoners.
Go to this point in the text
take
Capture.
Go to this point in the text
Go … so.
The English herald’s exit to carry out this order is prevented and made irrelevant by Montjoy’s entrance; he must remain onstage in order to go with him (A4 Sc7 Sp30).
Go to this point in the text
fined … mine
Determined to pay only my bones and nothing more.
Go to this point in the text
I come … Crispianus.
Cf. Holinshed:
In the morning, Montioie king at armes and foure other French heralds came to the K. to know the number of prisoners, and to desire buriall for the dead. Before he made them answer (to vnderstand what they would saie) he demanded of them whie they made to him that request, considering that he knew not whether the victorie was his or theirs? When Montioie by true and iust confession had cleered that doubt to the high praise of the king, he desired of Montioie to vnderstand the name of the castell neere adioining: when they had told him that it was called Agincourt, he said, Then shall this conflict be called the battell of Agincourt. (Chronicles, 1587 555)
In Holinshed, Henry’s question about whether the day be ours or no is sarcastic, since he had already celebrated his victory the previous night, but Shakespeare seems to intend Henry to ask it sincerely.
Go to this point in the text
charitable license
Gracious permission.
Go to this point in the text
book
Record the names of.
Go to this point in the text
princes
Nobles.
Go to this point in the text
woe the while
Cursed be the day.
Go to this point in the text
mercenary blood
The blood of paid soldiers, i.e., commoners.
Montjoy distinguishes between our princes and their blood from our vulgar who shed merely mercenary blood. There is no need to assume, as Gurr and Taylor do, that the French had hired foreign mercenaries (Gurr, King Henry V; Taylor, Henry V). The distinction is one of class, not nationality: nobility were presumed to offer military service in return for the lands ranted them by the king, not for money.
Go to this point in the text
vulgar
Commoners.
Go to this point in the text
Fret
Chafe, struggle.
Go to this point in the text
fetlock deep
Up to their ankles.
The fetlock is the back of the horse’s pastern, just above the hoof.
Go to this point in the text
Jerk
Lash, whip.
Go to this point in the text
armèd heels
Hoofs with iron horseshoes.
Go to this point in the text
twice
Twice over, again.
Go to this point in the text
O, give … bodies.
Walter points out an echo of Famous Victories, where a French herald tells Henry that the French king hath sent me to desire your Maiestie, / To giue him leaue to go into the field to view his poore / Country men, that they may all be honourably buried (FV sig. F1v qtd. in Walter, Henry V)
Go to this point in the text
day
Victory.
Go to this point in the text
peer
Appear; look carefully.
Go to this point in the text
hard by
Nearby.
Go to this point in the text
grandfather … memory
Edward III.
Properly, Edward III was Henry’s great-grandfather, and Craik suggests emending, as Fluellen has no reason to get this wrong (King Henry V). Grandfather might mean simply “ancestor” here, however, and in later Scottish, though not Welsh usage, it could mean great-grandfather (OED, 2nd ed. grandfather, n.2, 3).
Go to this point in the text
an’t
If it.
Go to this point in the text
Plack
Black.
Go to this point in the text
chronicles
History books.
Go to this point in the text
prave pattle
Brave battle.
This is the third mention of the battle of Crécy; see A1 Sc2 Sp10, A2 Sc4 Sp5.
Go to this point in the text
the Welshmen … service
Fluellen is the only source for the idea that the tradition of Welshmen wearing leeks comes from Crécy, though Shakespeare may have gathered a tradition from Welshmen in London, as he seems to have done for details of Glendower’s character in 1 Henry IV (Humphreys, Henry V). Editors usually comment that the custom commemorates a 1 March victory of the Welsh over the Saxons in 540 CE, Taylor points out that that explanation dates from the late seventeenth century (Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
Monmouth caps
Round, woolen, tapered caps, originally made in Monmouth.
Go to this point in the text
badge
Emblem.
Go to this point in the text
Tavy’s
Davy’s.
See A4 Sc1 Sp23 n. Moore Smith first noticed a parallel with the Duke of Essex (Henry V). The Duke, according to the essayist Francis Osborne (1593–1659) did not fail to wear a Leek on St. David’s day, but besides, would upon all occasions vindicate the Welch Inhabitants, and own them for his Countrymen, as Queen Elizabeth usually was wont, upon the first of March (Politicall deductions from Essex’s death 217).
Go to this point in the text
memorable honor
Honor worth remembering.
Go to this point in the text
I am Welsh
Go to this point in the text
Wye
See A4 Sc7 Sp7 n.
Go to this point in the text
plood
Blood.
Go to this point in the text
pody
Body.
Go to this point in the text
pless
Bless.
Go to this point in the text
his grace
Either an epithet for the king or a reference to God’s grace.
The two senses run together, resulting in a comic muddling of divine and royal agency.
Go to this point in the text
Our heralds … him.
Cf. Holinshed:
He feasted the French officers of armes that daie, and granted them their request, which busilie sought through the field for such as were slaine. But the Englishmen suffered them not to go alone, for they searched with them, & found manie hurt, but not in ieopardie of their liues, whom they tooke prisoners, and brought them to their tents. When the king of England had well refreshed himselfe, and his souldiers, that had taken the spoile of such as were slaine, he with his prisoners in good order returned to his towne of Calis. (Chronicles, 1587 555)
Go to this point in the text
just notice
An accurate account.
Go to this point in the text
Gower
Gower must exit at some point before his qualities are discussed and Williams is sent to fetch him (A4 Sc7 Sp44). This is a logical point for his exit, but not the only possibility.
Go to this point in the text
gage
Pledge.
Go to this point in the text
should
Have agreed to.
Go to this point in the text
An Englishman?
As opposed to one of the enemy. The question probably carries with it a hint of displeasure, which accounts for Williams’s defensive further definition, a rascal, (which, in its turn, improves the dramatic irony) (Craik, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
swaggered
Boasted, quarreled.
Go to this point in the text
challenge
Go to this point in the text
take
Give.
Go to this point in the text
if alive
Capell’s emendation (if a live) gives dare an explicit subject (Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies), but the sense of the line in F is clear enough.
Go to this point in the text
ever dare
If he ever dare.
Go to this point in the text
fit
Appropriate that.
Go to this point in the text
craven
Admitted coward.
Go to this point in the text
else
Otherwise.
Go to this point in the text
sort
Rank.
Go to this point in the text
from … degree
Above the need to answer Williams’s challenge.
A gentleman of great sort would be forbidden by his rank to accept a challenge from a common soldier; Henry’s practical joke allows Williams to keep his oath while preserving the strictures of social hierarchy (and without committing treason by striking the king).
Go to this point in the text
as good … is
The devil’s high rank is traditional. Editors usually cite Edgar’s declaration in King Lear that The Prince of Darkness is a gentleman (Lr 3.4.112), but of course any prince is a gentleman. The Bible refers to the devil as princely repeatedly: he’s the prince that ruleth in the aire (Geneva, Ephesians 2:2) and the prince of this world (John 12:31); and Mark makes Beelzebub specifically the prince of the deuils (3:22).
Go to this point in the text
Lucifer and Belzebub
Names of the devil.
The spelling of the latter in F may, but likely does not indicate Fluellen’s idiosyncratic pronunciation; it is the Folio’s usual spelling (F1 TN sig. Z5v, m3r).
Go to this point in the text
perjured
Forsworn, an oath-breaker.
Go to this point in the text
jack-sauce
Impudent knave.
Go to this point in the text
as ever
As sure as.
Go to this point in the text
black
1) Filthy; 2) wicked.
Go to this point in the text
law
Exclamation of affirmation.
Go to this point in the text
sirrah
Sir (an address to an inferior).
Pronounced with emphasis on the first syllable.
Go to this point in the text
is
Has.
Go to this point in the text
literatured
Is well-read.
Fluellen’s nonce-word, but based on the once primary sense of literature as acquaintance with ‘lettersʼ or books […] literary culture (OED, 2nd ed. literature, n.1).
Go to this point in the text
favor
Badge or token worn as a mark of favor.
Go to this point in the text
Alençon
A French duke (see A3 Sc5 Sp8).
The Duke of Alençon mentioned in Henry V would likely have reminded the Elizabethan audience of François of Anjou and Alençon (1555–1584), who courted Queen Elizabeth in 1572. François, or simply Monsieur, as he was popularly known, occasioned much ridicule for his physical deformities and for the twenty-two-year gap in age between himself and the queen, and caused English Protestants consternation at the idea of a royal marriage to a foreign, Catholic king.
Go to this point in the text
down together
Fighting on the ground.
Perhaps the phrase merely distinguishes between fighting on foot or on horseback, but its occurrence in Coriolanus (Cor 4.5.119) suggest a rough and tumble wrestling match on the battlefield. At any rate, Shakespeare has Henry recall his fight with Alençon as hand-to-hand affair, while Holinshed records it differently:
The king that daie shewed himselfe a valiant knight, albeit almost felled by the duke of Alanson; yet with plaine strength he slue two of the dukes companie, and felled the duke himselfe; whome when he would haue yelded, the kings gard (contrarie to his mind) slue out of hand. (Chronicles, 1587 554)
Go to this point in the text
helm
Helmet.
Go to this point in the text
our person
Me; the person of the king.
Go to this point in the text
apprehend
Arrest.
Go to this point in the text
love
An act of loyalty and kindness.
Henry’s phrase is often emended to an thou dost me love, i.e., “if you love me”.
Go to this point in the text
fain
Gladly.
Go to this point in the text
the man … legs
Any man at all.
Go to this point in the text
aggrief’d
Aggrieved, annoyed.
Go to this point in the text
it
That man’s annoyance.
Go to this point in the text
Know’st thou Gower?
As Fluellen has already volunteered information about Gower, Henry’s emphasis is presumably on Know’st. i.e., ‘are you personally familiar with the man,ʼ the point being ‘would you recognize him? (or have you only heard of him)ʼ (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
haply
Perhaps.
Go to this point in the text
by bargain
According to my agreement with Williams.
Go to this point in the text
blunt
1) Plain-spoken; 2) unrefined, rough.
Go to this point in the text
mischief
Trouble, harm.
Go to this point in the text
touched
Afflicted
Many editors read And, touched with choler—i.e., “and when he is touched with choler, etc”. This stresses the wordplay on touched, which can mean “touched off” or “lit” (like a fuse or gunpowder). The original Folio punctuation, without the comma, suggests that choler is one of Fluellen’s inherent qualities, not merely an occasional condition in which he is hot as gunpowder.
Go to this point in the text
choler
Anger.
More precisely, yellow bile, the humour an excess of which causes anger.
Go to this point in the text
will
Will he.
Go to this point in the text
Exeunt
Warwick and Gloucester must depart at A4 Sc7 Sp53, with Henry and Exeter just behind; as the next scene indicates, all four are heading in the same direction.
Go to this point in the text
4.8
Location: the field of victory, Agincourt.
Go to this point in the text
I … captain.
Williams has just delivered the king’s summons to Gower and guesses at its meaning. Holinshed records that to incourage his capteins the more earlier in the campaign, Henry had dubbed certeine of his hardie and valiant gentlemen knights (Chronicles, 1587 551), but he records no such knighthoods granted on the battlefield after Agincourt (though see A4 Sc3 Sp10 n.). Gurr reads this line as a reminder that Henry’s promises to gentle the conditions of his brothers in arms fall prey to the realities of social inequality (King Henry V, Introduction, 32–33).
Go to this point in the text
apace
Quickly.
Go to this point in the text
toward
Coming to.
Go to this point in the text
peradventure
Perhaps, possibly.
Go to this point in the text
know you
Do you recognize.
Go to this point in the text
this glove
Henry’s glove (in Williams’s possession).
Go to this point in the text
this
Williams’s glove (in Fluellen’s cap).
Go to this point in the text
Strikes him.
Both Williams (A4 Sc1 Sp69, A4 Sc7 Sp35) and Henry (A4 Sc7 Sp53) suggest that this blow is to be a box on the ear; since Fluellen claims, Williams struck the glove (A4 Sc8 Sp15), then either the glove must be pictured hanging from Fluellen’s cap near his ear, or Fluellen is speaking metonymically.
Go to this point in the text
’Sblood
God’s blood.
I.e., by the blood of Christ, a powerful oath.
Go to this point in the text
To Williams
Some editors place this direction at the beginning of the line, but How now, sir? might as easily be addressed to Fluellen, with the sense of “What’s going on?” or “Are you all right?”
Go to this point in the text
be forsworn
Break my oath.
Go to this point in the text
his
Its.
Go to this point in the text
into plows
In blows.
Perhaps, as Johnson conjectured, this should read in two blows, i.e., in short order (Plays)
Go to this point in the text
That’s … thy throat.
1) That’s a foul, deliberate lie; 2) I cast that lie back down your throat.
Proverbial; see Tilley T268 and Ham 3.1.470–471. Also cf. Pistol’s retort of the word solus (A2 Sc1 Sp17).
Go to this point in the text
contagious
Dangerous.
Some editors see this as a malapropism, perhaps for outrageous, but the now-obsolete sense is morally or socially injurious (OED, 2nd ed. contagious, a.II.7).
Go to this point in the text
as … day
As you could ever hope to see.
Go to this point in the text
is take out
Took out.
Go to this point in the text
fellow
Companion (matching glove).
Go to this point in the text
change
Exchange.
Go to this point in the text
as good … word
Proverbial; see Tilley M184.
Go to this point in the text
saving … manhood
An apology for the scurrility of Fluellen’s terms of abuse. The usual formula is saving your reverence, but Fluellen works in a compliment to Henry’s courage as well.
Go to this point in the text
is pear
Will bear.
Go to this point in the text
will avouchment
Will avouch, attest.
Either Fluellen uses avouchment as a verb, or he means “will make an avouchment”.
Go to this point in the text
is give me
Gave me.
Go to this point in the text
thy glove
That glove (actually Henry’s).
Go to this point in the text
bitter terms
Abusive language.
Go to this point in the text
An’t
If it.
Go to this point in the text
satisfaction
Amends.
In context, the word carries the sense of an opportunity for Henry to satisfy honor in a duel (OED, 2nd ed. satisfaction, n.I.4.a), as he and Williams might have done had they been of the same rank.
Go to this point in the text
offences
Deeds truly worthy to be called offenses.
Go to this point in the text
abuse
Insult.
Go to this point in the text
lowliness
Disguise of low rank.
Go to this point in the text
under that shape
In that disguise.
Go to this point in the text
pardon me
Some editors insert a stage direction to indicate that Williams kneels when begging for pardon. Though such a direction would be logical and may be indicated by the text, its insertion depends more upon editorial bias than textual support: Gurr, who reads this scene as an extended reminder of the unbridgeable social distance between Henry and his men, has Williams kneel and never rise (King Henry V), while Craik, seeing Henry as more congenial, has the king raise Williams himself before directing him to be rewarded (King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
mettle
Courage.
Go to this point in the text
prawls, and prabbles
Brawls and brabbles (frivolous quarrels).
Go to this point in the text
dissensions
Disagreements, disputes.
Go to this point in the text
will
Want.
Whether Williams assents to take Fluellen’s shilling is a performer’s choice; Taylor argues that he does so, but he has no obvious warrant for arguing for the assertion that silence normally gives consent to a direction implied in the dialogue or that continued refusal would surely elicit some verbal reaction from Henry or the others (Henry V). The scene allows no time for such comment, as the focus is shifted to loftier matters by the French herald’s entrance.
Go to this point in the text
pashful
Bashful, modest.
Since pash can mean head (OED, 3rd ed. pash, n.2; WT 1.2.128), Fluellen’s pronunciation may also suggest “headstrong”.
Go to this point in the text
good silling
Genuine shilling (not counterfeit).
Go to this point in the text
Herald
This, and the speech prefix at A4 Sc8 SD12, could refer either to the English herald or to the French one (i.e., Montjoy).
Go to this point in the text
Presenting a paper
Either the herald presents the paper directly to Exeter, who reads from it before passing to the Henry, or he hands it to the king, who may or may not bid Exeter to read from it, since Exeter may simply speak from his own knowledge. I have attempted to leave the stage directions as open as possible.
Go to this point in the text
good sort
High rank, nobility.
Go to this point in the text
Charles … common men.
Shakespeare closely follows Holinshed:
There were taken prisoners, Charles duke of Orleance nephue to the French king, Iohn duke of Burbon, the lord Bouciqualt one of the marshals of France (he after died in England) with a number of other lords, knights, and esquiers, at the least fifteene hundred, besides the common people. (Chronicles, 1587 555)
Go to this point in the text
This note … Lestrelles.
Cf. Holinshed, whom the Folio follows nearly verbatim, preserving even his idiosyncratic spellings of the slain French lords:
There were slaine in all of the French part to the number of ten thousand men, whereof were princes and noble men bearing baners one hundred twentie and six; to these, of knights, esquiers, and gentlemen, so manie as made vp the number of eight thousand and foure hundred (of the which fiue hundred were dubbed knights the night before the battell) so as of the meaner sort, not past sixteene hundred. Amongst those of the nobilitie that were slaine, these were the cheefest, Charles lord de la Breth high constable of France, Iaques of Chatilon lord of Dampier admerall of France, the lord Rambures master of the crossebowes, sir Guischard Dolphin great master of France, Iohn duke of Alanson, Anthonie duke of Brabant brother to the duke of Burgognie, Edward duke of Bar, the earle of Neuers an other brother to the duke of Burgognie, with the erles of Marle, Uaudemont, Beaumont, Grandpree, Roussie, Fauconberge, Fois and Lestrake, beside a great number of lords and barons of name. (Chronicles, 1587 555)
Go to this point in the text
princes
Royalty.
Go to this point in the text
bearing banners
Of rank sufficient to fly their own standards.
Go to this point in the text
gallant
Fine, noble.
Go to this point in the text
mercenaries
Common soldiers serving for pay.
Cf. Montjoy’s mention of mercenary blood at A4 Sc7 Sp17. These sixteen hundred correspond to Holinshed’s meaner sort, not past sixteene hundred (Chronicles, 1587 555).
Go to this point in the text
blood
Noble birth.
Go to this point in the text
Admiral
Commander of the navy.
Go to this point in the text
Master … Crossbows
Commander of the French archers, a title traditionally given to a high-ranking member of the French aristocracy.
Go to this point in the text
Great Master
Head of the royal household.
The Grand Maître was one of the highest-ranking officials of the French court. Guichard Dauphin is a name; he is not to be confused with the French crown prince.
Go to this point in the text
Duke of Burgundy
This Duke of Burgundy (also mentioned at A3 Sc5 Sp8) is John the Fearless (Jean sans Peur, 1371–1419), the notorious lord who, in the power vacuum left by Charles VI’s dementia, took part in internecine conflict including civil war and assassination, and secretly treated with the English before and during Henry’s invasion (see Curry 35–56). After his assassination in 1419 John was succeeded by his son Philip the Good (Philippe le Bon, 1396–1467), the Duke of Burgundy who negotiated the Treaty of Troyes and who appears in 5.2.
Go to this point in the text
lusty
Valiant, strong.
Go to this point in the text
Edward … Suffolk
See A4 Sc6 Sp4 n.
Go to this point in the text
Sir Richard Kyghley
Captain of a company of archers, Kyghley is one of the few English casualties recorded by name in multiple chronicles.
Go to this point in the text
Davey Gam
A Welshman sometimes recorded as having killed Alençon, Gam’s recorded surname is actually a version of a Welsh word meaning “squinty”.
Go to this point in the text
name
Repute, high rank.
Go to this point in the text
five-and-twenty
Neither the French nor the English kept accurate records of the mortality rates at Agincourt, and both sides had motives for exaggerating the discrepancy between the sides’ losses. Most accounts put English losses in the hundreds at most, but twenty-five is an absurdly low number that became traditional among those wishing to emphasize the miraculous quality of the victory (see Curry 278–282). Even Holinshed, from whom Shakespeare derives the number, cautiously qualifies the figure:
Of Englishmen, there died at this battell, Edward duke Yorke, the earle of Suffolke, sir Richard Kikelie, and Dauie Gamme esquier, and of all other not aboue fiue and twentie persons, as some doo report; but other writers of greater credit affirme, that there were slaine aboue fiue or six hundred persons. Titus Liuius saith, that there were slaine of Englishmen, beside the duke of Yorke, and the earle of Suffolke, an hundred persons at the first incounter. (Chronicles, 1587 555)
Go to this point in the text
arm
Power, influence.
Go to this point in the text
Ascribe we all.
Do we attribute the victory.
Go to this point in the text
stratagem
Trickery.
The usual sense is an artifice or trick designed to outwit or surprise the enemy (OED, 2nd ed. stratagem, n.1.a). Often paired as a synonym with policy, Shakespeare seems to use it contemptuously, as he does that word (see A2 Sc0 Sp1). As Andrew Gurr points out (King Henry V), Henry’s claim to have used no strategem ignores what Holinshed calls a politike invention, the innovation of protecting archers from a cavalry charge with sharpened stakes:
he caused stakes bound with iron sharpe at both ends, of the length of fiue or six foot to be pitched before the archers, and of ech side the footmen like an hedge, to the intent that if the barded horsses ran rashlie vpon them, they might shortlie be gored and destroied. Certeine persons also were appointed to remooue the stakes, as by the mooueing of the archers occasion and time should require, so that the footmen were hedged about with stakes, and the horssemen stood like a bulwarke betweene them and their enimies, without the stakes. This deuise of fortifieng an armie, was at this time first inuented. (Chronicles, 1587 553, margin)
Go to this point in the text
plain shock
Straightforward encounter of forces.
Go to this point in the text
even play
Direct contest.
Go to this point in the text
Take it
Accept the credit.
Go to this point in the text
wonderful
Extraordinary, to be wondered at.
Go to this point in the text
Come … men.
Cf. Holinshed:
And so about foure of the clocke in the after noone, the king when he saw no apperance of enimies, caused the retreit to be blowen; and gathering his armie togither, gaue thanks to almightie God for so happie a victorie, causing his prelats and chapleins to sing this psalme: In exitu Israel de Aegypto, and commanded euerie man to kneele downe on the ground at this verse: Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam. Which doone, he caused Te Deum, with certeine anthems to be soong, giuing land and praise God, without boasting of his owne force or anie humane power. That night he and his people tooke rest, and refreshed themselues with such victuals as they found in the French campe, but lodged in the same village where he laie the night before. (Chronicles, 1587 555)
Go to this point in the text
village
Maisoncelles, a village near Agincourt castle.
Go to this point in the text
my conscience
I swear upon my conscience.
Camille Wells Slights suggests that Fluellen, reflecting the contemporary idea of the monarch as the conscience of the commonwealth, may here address the Henry as his conscience (The Conscience of the King 46–47).
Go to this point in the text
Non nobis
Latin hymn based on Psalm 115: “Give not praise to us, Lord”.
The Psalm reads Non nobis Domine non nobis sed nomini tuo da gloriam (Vulgate, Psalm 113:9), or “Not vnto vs, O Lord, not vnto vs, but vnto thy Name giue the glorie” (Geneva, Psalm 115:1).
Go to this point in the text
Te Deum
Latin hymn of thanksgiving, beginning Te deum laudamus (“We praise thee, O God”).
A Te Deum is sung regularly at the Catholic service of Matins and at public occasions celebrating divinely influenced deliverance or victory.
Go to this point in the text
with … clay
Given Christian burial.
According to Holinshed, the English army departed to Calais leaving the despoiled French bodies on the field for days until the Earl of Charolais had 5,800 bodies buried in three pits (Chronicles, 1587 555). The English dead seem to have been burned or buried, for the most part, though Holinshed records that Henry brought the corpses of York and Suffolk with him to be buried in England (see Curry 12).
Go to this point in the text
happy
1) Joyful; 2) lucky, fortunate.
Go to this point in the text
Vouchsafe
Grant, allow.
Go to this point in the text
prompt them
Remind them what comes next.
Go to this point in the text
admit … time
1) Allow that a play affords limited time; 2) tolerate our treatment of historical time.
A five-year gap occurred between Agincourt (1415) and the Treaty of Troyes (1420).
Go to this point in the text
numbers
Insufficient number of players.
Go to this point in the text
due … things
Nature and order of historical events.
Go to this point in the text
huge … life
True magnificence.
Go to this point in the text
grant
Acknowledge, allow (in your imagination).
Go to this point in the text
Athwart
Across.
Go to this point in the text
Behold … his way.
The account of Henry’s reception at Dover does not appear in Holinshed or Hall (Chronicles, 1587; The vnion); Shakespeare seems to have derived it from the Annales of the great London historian John Stow (1592), who had himself twice been a whiffler (A5 Sc0 Sp1) for Lord Mayor’s processions. Stow recounts that When the king had passed the sea, and was come to arriue and to take land at Douer, innumerable people of religion, priests and noblemen, and of the commons came running to meete the king in euery way (Annales 564).
Go to this point in the text
Pales in
Fences in.
Go to this point in the text
flood
Sea.
Go to this point in the text
men, wives, and boys
Editors have found fault with the First Folio’s reading on grounds of both meter and of sense. Those that object to its irregular meter generally emend to some version of F2’s men, with wives, and boys. This reading can be interpreted as “men—that is to say, wives and boys”, thus answering the other objection, that men should properly be those returning home, not those greeting the fleet. This reasoning led Gary Taylor to emend men to maids, but while it is just possible to justify this with manuscript misreading, it is unnecessary (Henry V). As Westmorland’s lament at A4 Sc3 Sp9 made clear, England has men enough among those who did not go to war.
Go to this point in the text
claps
Applause.
Go to this point in the text
deep-mouthed
Deep-voiced, loud.
Go to this point in the text
whiffler
Officer who leads a procession and clears the crowd from its route.
Go to this point in the text
solemnly
Ceremoniously.
Go to this point in the text
Blackheath
Open grassy area just southeast of London.
Cf. Holinshed:
The maior of London, and the aldermen, apparelled in orient grained scarlet, and foure hundred commoners clad in beautifull murrie, well mounted, and trimlie horssed, with rich collars, & great chaines, met the king on Blackheath, reioising at his returne: and the clergie of London, with rich crosses, sumptuous copes, and massie censers, receiued him at saint Thomas of Waterings with solemne procession. (Chronicles, 1587 556)
Go to this point in the text
Where that
Where.
Go to this point in the text
have borne
Order to be borne.
Go to this point in the text
bruisèd
Dented.
Go to this point in the text
bended
Bent.
An older form of the participle used for poetic reasons of alliteration and meter, this description of the sword is probably not meant literally; a steel sword, as Craik points out, is unlikely to bend from use (King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
He … God.
Cf. Holinshed:
The king like a graue and sober personage, and as one remembring from whom all victories are sent, seemed little to regard such vaine pompe and shewes as were in triumphant sort deuised for his welcomming home from so prosperous a iournie, in so much that he would not suffer his helmet to be caried with him, whereby might haue appeared to the people the blowes and dints that were to be seene in the same; neither would he suffer any ditties to be made and soong by minstrels of his glorious victorie, for that he would wholie haue the praise and thanks altogither giuen to God. (Chronicles, 1587 556)
Go to this point in the text
vainness
Vanity, pride.
Go to this point in the text
self-glorious
Self-glorifying.
Go to this point in the text
trophy
Memorial tokens of victory.
Go to this point in the text
signal
Signs of honor.
Go to this point in the text
ostent
Show, display.
Go to this point in the text
Quite from himself
Entirely away from him.
Go to this point in the text
quick
Fast; lively.
Go to this point in the text
forge … of thought
Blacksmith’s workshop of your imagination.
Go to this point in the text
brethren
Aldermen and fellow governors of the city.
Go to this point in the text
best sort
Finest array; i.e., their robes of office.
Go to this point in the text
th’antique Rome
Ancient Rome.
Go to this point in the text
plebeians
Common people of ancient Rome.
Go to this point in the text
by … likelihood
On a similar, less magnificent, but still loving occasion.
The second by may be a compositorial error; since Rowe (Works, 1714), editors have either deleted it or replaced it with high (Taylor, conjecturing a misreading of hy [Henry V]) or with as (Craik, suggesting a mistaken repetition of the wrong word from the line’s beginning [King Henry V]). Likelihood here suggests both similitude and the more usual sense of probability (OED, 2nd ed. likelihood, n.1, 2), suggesting that the return of the general of our gracious empress is both like Henry’s and likely (As in good time he may).
Go to this point in the text
the general … coming
A reference to the Earl of Essex, commanding troops in Ireland in 1599 on behalf of Elizabeth I.
Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, was a popular hero and still Queen Elizabeth’s favorite when he sailed to Ireland in late March 1599 to put down Tyrone’s rebellion. His unsuccessful return on 28 September of that year allows for the dating of this Chorus speech, and hence of the version of the play in which it appears, which must have been written and acted before the fall from Elizabeth’s graces that ended in his own unsuccessful rebellion in 1600 and his execution in 1601. Some editors and critics, attributing to Shakespeare an improbable degree of political clout, have attributed a political stance to the allusion to Essex: Wilson remarks on how subtly Shakespeare flatters Essex while keeping him neatly in his place by referring to Elizabeth as an empress (Henry V), while Annabel Patterson reads the Chorus as a well-meant but ill-advised attempt at mediation between the earl and the queen (54). See Patterson, Back by popular demand. Another candidate for the subject of this allusion—less likely, but popular with critics who favor a later dating of the play—is Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy, who succeeded Essex as governor of Ireland from 1600 to 1603. See, for example Smith, The Henry V Choruses..
Go to this point in the text
broachèd
Impaled.
Go to this point in the text
Much more
Many more people.
Go to this point in the text
and much more
And with much more.
Go to this point in the text
As yet
While.
Go to this point in the text
lamentation
Mourning.
Go to this point in the text
Invites
Encourages, requires.
Go to this point in the text
emperor’s coming
Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund visited England in May of 1416, forming an alliance with England and confirming, as Anne Curry writes, Henry’s new-found importance on the European stage (Curry 291).
Go to this point in the text
we omit
We (the players) leave out, ignore.
Editors have dealt in various ways with a perceived problem in these lines as F punctuates them. The RSC editors, following Rowe (Works, 1714), make a short clause out of The emperor’s coming […] between them (Bate and Rasmussen). This changes the sense of the nominal phrase to the emperor is coming, and awkwardly jars the verb tenses in the passage. Others, starting with Capell, conjecture two missing half-lines between between them and and omit, occasionally even undertaking to write the missing lines (Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies). My emendation—adopted from Singer (Dramatic Works)—of and omit to we omit avoids these extreme measures, and is easily justified by manuscript confusion: in secretary hand, w could easily be mistaken for an, and terminal e is notoriously similar to d.
Go to this point in the text
All … France.
In the five years between Agincourt and the Treaty of Troyes in May 1420, the English staged several further campaigns in France and attempts at negotiation. In fact, despite the Chorus’s implication here that Henry only returned for the meeting dramatized in 5.2, the king was hardly absent from France during this period. As Holinshed recounts, he captured Caen in 1417 and laid siege to Rouen for half a year, capturing it in January 1419 (Chronicles, 1587). As Curry argues, however, Shakespeare’s jump from Agincourt to the treaty is justified: The memory of Agincourt was so deeply ingrained on French consciousness that they were never prepared to meet Henry in battle again (Curry 292).
Go to this point in the text
played … interim
Stood in for the gap in time.
Go to this point in the text
brook
Tolerate, accept.
Go to this point in the text
5.1
Location: France.
The precise location is uncertain. Johnson thought this scene was misplaced and belonged among the post-battle scenes in the fourth act (Plays), but it is clear from the opening lines that it takes place in early March (just after Saint Davy’s day), and not in mid-October, when Agincourt was fought, so apparently time has passed, as the Chorus states.
Go to this point in the text
wherefore
Why, how.
The pairing of the synonyms why and wherefore is proverbial (Tilley W332).
Go to this point in the text
ass
As; unintentionally plays on “ass”.
Go to this point in the text
scald
Scabby; contemptible.
Go to this point in the text
pragging
Bragging.
Go to this point in the text
petter
Better.
Go to this point in the text
prings
Brings.
Go to this point in the text
pread
Bread.
Go to this point in the text
yesterday
Since Gower implies that the only day Fluellen would normally wear a leek is Saint Davy’s day, the scene must take place the day after, i.e., 2 March.
Go to this point in the text
breed no contention
Start any quarrel.
Go to this point in the text
swelling … turkey-cock.
Puffed up with aggressive pride.
The comparison is proverbial (Tilley T612), and used of Malvolio (TN 2.5.25), but Fluellen’s response—swellings and cocks—plays upon the resonances of “erect penis”.
Go to this point in the text
pless
Bless.
Go to this point in the text
scurvy
Contemptible; scabby.
Go to this point in the text
bedlam
Insane.
The word derives from Bedlam (i.e., Bethlehem) Hospital, a famous asylum north of London.
Go to this point in the text
base Trojan
Villain.
Usually Trojan is a positive epithet for a boisterously good fellow (OED, 3rd ed. Trojan, n.2.a), but Pistol seems to intend a melodramatic insult on a Homerically epic scale.
Go to this point in the text
fold … web
Kill you.
I.e., cut the cord of Fluellen’s life, spun out, according to classical myth, by the Fates, or Parcae. Pistol invokes the sisters Three in 2 Henry IV (2H4 2.4.167).
Go to this point in the text
qualmish at
Nauseated by.
Go to this point in the text
peseech
Beseech.
Go to this point in the text
disgestions
Digestion, stomach.
The spelling probably indicates a Fluellenism; it is not usual for this compositor (cf. digested, A2 Sc2 Sp18).
Go to this point in the text
Cadwallader
Welsh king of the seventh century.
Cadwaladr became a semi-legendary hero to the Welsh in the later middle ages; as the last Welsh king to claim sovereignty over all of Britain, he was prophesied to redeem the Welsh from the Saxons.
Go to this point in the text
goats
Goats are traditionally associated with Wales; Pistol may intend a sneer at Welsh poverty by implying that they are the height of Welsh wealth and luxury.
Go to this point in the text
goat
I.e., blow.
Fluellen may refer to his cudgel, punning on “goad”, a pointed stick for driving livestock.
Go to this point in the text
when God’s will is
When God determines.
Go to this point in the text
victuals
Food.
Go to this point in the text
sauce
Flavor; rebuke.
See OED, 2nd ed. sauce, v.4.c, n.3.a. The joke is akin to the phrase a taste of the same sauce, i.e., more of the same suffering.
Go to this point in the text
mountain squire
Contemptuous phrase for a Welshman.
As squire, literally an attendant upon a knight, may be used contemptuously, Pistol’s phrase is comparable to the modern American hillbilly.
Go to this point in the text
squire … degree
Object of contempt.
The Squire of Low Degree is the title of a late Middle English verse romance, printed in its fullest form by William Copland ca. 1560.
Go to this point in the text
fall to
Start eating.
Go to this point in the text
astonished
Stunned, stupefied.
Go to this point in the text
peat his pate
Beat his head.
Go to this point in the text
green
Fresh.
Go to this point in the text
ploody coxcomb
Bloody head.
Metaphorically, a jester’s hat made of blood (OED, 2nd ed. coxcomb, n.1, 2).
Go to this point in the text
Fluellen threatens him.
Some threat by Fluellen seems necessary to account for the about-face between revenge and eat (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
I swear.
The Folio’s punctuation makes I swear an affirmation that Pistol is indeed eating the leek. Some editors adopt Rowe’s dashes (Works, 1714), arguing that I swear looks like an interrupted resumption of histrionics, perhaps when Fluellen lowers his cudgel or partly turns away (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
do you
May it do you.
Go to this point in the text
take occasions
Have an opportunity.
Go to this point in the text
Good.
Very well.
Go to this point in the text
groat
Small coin worth four pence.
A groat a proverbially small amount, e.g. not worth a groat, and Fluellen’s offering—a third of the price he offers for striking Williams only once—is a gesture of contempt.
Go to this point in the text
another leek
Depending on how savage Pistol’s beating has been, this line can get a large laugh in performance, whether or not Fluellen flourishes the leek, and whether or not it is of monstrous size as Taylor claims is invariably the case (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
in … revenge
As a down payment for the revenge you owe me.
Go to this point in the text
cudgels
Blows, beatings.
Go to this point in the text
woodmonger
Wood merchant.
Go to this point in the text
stir
Rouse itself (for vengeance).
J. A. K. Thompson, in Shakespeare and the Classics, first noted a possible echo of Virgil’s Aeneid, in which Juno vows, Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronto movebo (“If I cannot bend the powers above, I will stir up those of Acheron one of the rivers in hell ”) (Virgil 7.312 qtd. in Thompson 106).
Go to this point in the text
counterfeit
Pretending, deceitful.
Go to this point in the text
upon an honorable respect
In esteem for honor.
Go to this point in the text
predeceased valor
The valor of predecessors.
Go to this point in the text
avouch in
Make good with.
Go to this point in the text
gleeking
Sneering, jesting.
Go to this point in the text
galling
Scoffing, harassing.
Go to this point in the text
garb
Fashion.
Go to this point in the text
correction
Punishment, flogging.
Go to this point in the text
condition
behaviour, disposition.
As a farewell to Fluellen, this doubles as a highly ambivalent statement of English national identity. The most English thing about the Welshman, Gower’s admonition suggests, is his affinity for violence. Only by beating Pistol does Fluellen finally achieve a good English condition himself.
Go to this point in the text
play the hussy
Abandon me, betray me.
The modern hussy is a corruption of housewife (pronounced “hussif”) in a derogatory sense. The idea of Fortune as a whore is proverbial (Dent F603.1; cf. Ham 2.2.225).
Go to this point in the text
Doll
A mistress of Pistol’s, or possibly a generic word for a whore.
Many editors emend to Nell, assuming that Pistol means his wife, the former Nell Quickly, a rather sentimental assumption about his marital fidelity. Johnson spent some time considering the possibility that Doll is Doll Tearsheet, the prostitute mentioned in 2 Henry IV and contemptuously at A2 Sc1 Sp23, and John Dover Wilson uses this mistake as evidence that Pistol’s character was a late replacement for Falstaff, whom Shakespeare decided to kill off during the process of composing the play (Wilson, Appendix II, 114–115).
Go to this point in the text
i’th’Spital
In the hospital.
Go to this point in the text
a malady of France
Syphilis, known in England as the French disease.
Go to this point in the text
rendezvous
Refuge, last resort.
May also carry the sense of “sexual tryst”.
Go to this point in the text
wax
Grow.
Go to this point in the text
bawd
Pimp.
Go to this point in the text
something lean … hand
Am somewhat inclined to become a dexterous pickpocket.
Go to this point in the text
steal
Sneak.
With the play on the more usual sense (“rob”) in the repetition.
Go to this point in the text
patches
Bandages.
Go to this point in the text
Gallia wars
French wars.
The pretentiousness of Pistol’s last phrase, from the Latin for Gaul (France), would remind every former schoolboy in Shakespeare’s audience of Caesar’s Gallic Wars. His promise to lie about the origins of his scars reminds us of Gower’s slanders of the age (A3 Sc6 Sp23); as Joel B. Altman points out, in the late 1590s England was troubled with veterans returning from the Irish wars to a life of robbery such as Pistol imagines for himself: Pistol was speaking to current affairs when he envisioned a profitable future in sturdy vagabondage upon his return from Henry’s France (Altman, Vile Participation 12). The speech also provides a rather pathetic conclusion to the Henriad’s comic scenes, as Johnson noted:
The comic scenes of The History of Henry the Fourth and Fifth are now at an end, and all the comic personages are now dismissed. Falstaff and Mrs Quickly are dead; Nym and Bardolph are hanged; Gadshill was lost immediately after the robbery; Poins and Peto have vanished since, one knows not how; and Pistol is now beaten into obscurity. I believe every reader regrets their departure. (Johnson, Plays)
Go to this point in the text
5.2
Location: a court in Troyes, France.
Shakespeare’s final scene follows the structure of the last three scenes in Famous Victories, with initial negotiations between Henry and a resistant French king giving way to a dialogue between Henry and Catherine, and a final agreement to make Henry the heir to France and Catherine’s husband. The author of Famous Victories interposes a scene of clowning, which Shakespeare removes, or rather relocates to the beginning of the act, and Shakespeare also makes Henry’s motivations more ambiguous and the parallel between the political and romantic negotiations more subtle. See A5 Sc2 Sp13 n. Historically, the meeting depicted in this scene took place on 20 May, 1420, though as recounted by Holinshed, the negotiations depicted here spanned several weeks, even before Henry came face to face with the French royalty. First the French King and the Duke of Burgundy appealed to Henry for peace, and Henry,
minding not to be reputed for a destroier of the countrie, which he coueted to preserue, or for a causer of christian bloud still to be spilt in his quarell, began so to incline and giue eare vnto their sute and humble request, that at length (after often sending to and fro) […] they both finallie agreed vpon certeine articles, so that the French king and his commons would thereto assent. Now was the French king and the queene with their daughter Katharine at Trois in Champaigne gouerned and ordered by them, which so much fauoured the duke of Burgognie, that they would not for anie earthlie good, once hinder or pull backe one iot of such articles as the same duke should seeke to preferre. And therefore what needeth manie words, a truce tripartite was accorded betweene the two kings and the duke. (Chronicles, 1587 572)
After further negotiations with English ambassadors at Troyes, it was agreed that Henry should come to Troyes himself,
and marie the ladie Katharine; and the king hir father after his death should make him heire of his realme, crowne and dignitie. It was also agreed, that king Henrie, during his father in lawes life, should in his steed haue the whole gouernement of the realme of France, as regent thereof, with manie other couenants and articles, as after shall appeere. […] he went to visit the French king, the queene, and the ladie Katharine, whome he found in saint Peters church, where was a verie ioious meeting betwixt them (and this was on the twentith daie of Maie) and there the king of England, and the ladie Katharine were affianced. After this, the two kings and their councell assembled togither diuerse daies, wherein the first concluded agreement was in diuerse points altered and brought to a certeinetie, according to the effect aboue mentioned. (572)
Go to this point in the text
Enter … French
The stage direction has been expanded to include the speakers in the scene and those mentioned at A5 Sc2 Sp11.
Go to this point in the text
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a ghost character in Henry V, addressed at A5 Sc2 Sp11 but with no lines. John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon (1395–1447), was a first cousin of Henry V who acquired that title after distinguishing himself at Agincourt. He later became Duke of Exeter when Thomas Beaufort, Henry’s uncle and the Exeter of the play, died without heirs. Taylor suggests that his mention at A5 Sc2 Sp11 reflects audience familiarity with Huntingdon as a character from other, earlier plays about Henry V; the character appears in the slightly later Sir John Oldcastle.
Go to this point in the text
Alice
Catherine’s attendant is not addressed as Alice in this scene, and her speech prefix throughout is Lady. Since she serves as a translator, however, editors have always presumed her to be identical to the Alice of 3.4.
Go to this point in the text
Peace to … met.
Peace, for which we are here met, be to this meeting (Johnson, Plays).
Go to this point in the text
brother
Fellow king.
The address of cousin for Catherine and Burgundy, and sister for Queen Isabeau, are likewise terms of courtesy among nobility and do not refer to any familial relationship.
Go to this point in the text
sister
Queen Isabeau, wife of the French king.
Go to this point in the text
fair … day
Good day.
Go to this point in the text
princely
Royal.
Go to this point in the text
royalty
Group of royals.
Go to this point in the text
contrived
Arranged, brought together.
Go to this point in the text
issue
Outcome.
Possibly looking forward to the sense of “offspring” (i.e., her hoped-for grandchildren) used by the French king at A5 Sc2 Sp77.
Go to this point in the text
England
Wilson suggested that F1’s Ireland was a mistake suggested by Shakespeare’s preoccupation with Irish affairs in 1599 (Henry V), and some modern editors defend the F1 reading (Mowat and Werstine). Cf. the character of Macmorris in 3.2, the reference to kerns in 3.8, Pistol’s snatch of an Irish song in 4.4, and the allusion to the Irish rebellion in 5.0; the only other play with a reference to Ireland not required by the subject matter is As You Like It (3.2.152), also written in 1599. Walter’s explanation of the error, however, is just as likely: that the compositor misread the manuscript’s Ingland, a spelling favored by hand D—usually identified as Shakespeare —in the anonymous manuscipt of Sir Thomas More (Walter, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
gracious
Prosperous, fortunate; pleasant.
Go to this point in the text
bent
Direction of gaze; line of fire.
Go to this point in the text
balls
1) Eyeballs; 2) cannonballs.
Go to this point in the text
basilisks
1) Mythical reptile whose look killed; 2) large cannons.
Go to this point in the text
quality
Poisonous nature.
Go to this point in the text
Burgundy
This Duke of Burgundy is Philip the Good, son of the duke mentioned at A3 Sc5 Sp8 and A4 Sc8 Sp32, who inherited his father’s independent diplomatic relationship with England and thus became an engineer of peace. He was twenty-four at the time of the events pictured in this scene.
Go to this point in the text
My … qualities.
This speech—reduced to four lines in Q—is almost always cut or shortened in performance. One of the most effective uses of the passage appears in Branagh’s 1989 film, in which Harold Innocent’s Burgundy delivered the lines in voiceover during a montage of the dead characters: the Constable, York, the Boy, Mistress Quickly, Nym, Bardolph, Scrope, and finally Falstaff. The montage, and its scoring, were arguably more effective at stirring the audience’s grief than Burgundy’s words themselves, which are nearly lost during the montage, would have been.
Go to this point in the text
pains
Effort, exertion.
Go to this point in the text
bar
Courtroom, assembly place.
Go to this point in the text
interview
Face-to-face meeting.
Go to this point in the text
Since, then
Some editors read these words as since that time, and punctuate accordingly, ending the sentence at congreeted. F’s pointing admits either possibility.
Go to this point in the text
congreeted
Greeted each other.
Go to this point in the text
disgrace me
Ill befit me, deprive me of your favor.
Go to this point in the text
before this royal view
In your royal eyes; at this royal meeting.
Go to this point in the text
rub
Obstacle, hindrance.
A bowling term (OED, 2nd ed. rub, n.1.2).
Go to this point in the text
nurse
Nourisher.
Go to this point in the text
arts
Learning.
Go to this point in the text
put up
Raise.
Go to this point in the text
visage
Face.
Go to this point in the text
husbandry
Agricultural produce.
The husbandry of peace may refer figuratively and more broadly to the benefits and resources managed and cultivated under peace, e.g. the arts, plenties, and joyful births mentioned above (A5 Sc2 Sp6).
Go to this point in the text
on heaps
In disorderly piles; in a mess.
Go to this point in the text
Corrupting … fertility.
Rotting in its overripe, overgrown state.
Three forms of the possessive case neuter were in use: his (the most frequent in Shakespeare), it (less frequent), and its (rare) (Craik, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
Her … heart
That good wine makes a merry heart was proverbial (Tilley W460); cf. Psalm 104:15: wine that maketh glad the heart of man (Geneva).
Go to this point in the text
even-pleached
Formed of carefully interwoven branches.
Go to this point in the text
fallow leas
Untended fields.
Go to this point in the text
darnel … fumitory
Harmful weeds.
Darnel is a rye-grass that chokes wheat fields, while hemlock and fumitory are both poisonous.
Go to this point in the text
rank
Rampantly growing; overabundant.
Go to this point in the text
root upon
Overgrow, take root in.
Go to this point in the text
colter
Plow blade.
Go to this point in the text
deracinate
Uproot, exterminate.
Go to this point in the text
savagery
Wild vegetation (OED, 3rd ed. savagery, n.1.a).
Go to this point in the text
even mead
Level meadow.
Go to this point in the text
erst
Formerly.
Go to this point in the text
freckled
Brown-spotted.
The yellow petals of the cowslip have light brown spots in them.
Go to this point in the text
cowslip … clover
Plants with dietary and medicinal uses.
Cowslips can be diuretic and analgesic, burnet is edible and can be used in poultices to stop bleeding, and clover contains trace amounts of morphine.
Go to this point in the text
Wanting
Lacking.
Go to this point in the text
withal uncorrected
Unchecked by it (the scythe).
Go to this point in the text
Conceives by
Breeds because of; is impregnated by.
Go to this point in the text
teems
Flourishes.
Go to this point in the text
docks
Course weeds.
Go to this point in the text
kexes
Dry, hollow stems.
A modernization of F’s Keksyes; kex (or Thomas Middleton’s preferred spelling, kix) was in common use from the fourteenth century, while kecksy is not cited by the OED again until 1800, though it may have been a dialectical variant familiar to Shakespeare (OED, 2nd ed. kecksy, n).
Go to this point in the text
burrs
Weeds producing prickly seeds.
Go to this point in the text
And all
Editors since Capell have unnecessarily emended this phrase (see collation) and changed the period following wildness (A5 Sc2 Sp6) to fit Burgundy’s comparison of vegetable and human wildness into one sentence.
Go to this point in the text
fallows
Arable fields.
Go to this point in the text
Defective … natures
Failing in their proper functions.
Another reading, “being by nature defective”, might allude to original sin and the theme of lost Edenic gardens and fallen man that recurs throughout the play (e.g. A1 Sc1 Sp9, A2 Sc2 Sp25). Burgundy’s point is that the plants have grown to wildness, whether the fault be their own or the war’s.
Go to this point in the text
houses
Families.
Go to this point in the text
sciences
Skills, knowledge.
Go to this point in the text
diffused
Disordered.
Go to this point in the text
reduce
Restore.
Literally, “lead back”; see OED, 2nd ed. reduce, v.I.5.
Go to this point in the text
favor
Pleasant appearance; good grace.
Go to this point in the text
entreats
Implores, prays.
Go to this point in the text
let
Hindrance.
Go to this point in the text
would
Desire.
Go to this point in the text
want
Lack, absence.
Go to this point in the text
accord
Agreement.
Go to this point in the text
just
1) Fair, legitimate; 2) exact.
Go to this point in the text
tenors
Contents, drift.
May pun on tenures, whose legals sense of “right to hold estates” is indeed the tenor of the English demands.
Go to this point in the text
particular effects
Various significances; specific details and purposes.
In addition to the more general tenors.
Go to this point in the text
enscheduled
Listed.
A schedule is a slip or scroll of parchment or paper containing writing (OED, 2nd ed. schedule, n.1; cf. MV 2.9.54; 2H4 4.1.105).
Go to this point in the text
curselary
Cursory, hasty.
Most editors emend this word to cursitory, a form that appears in no authoritative printed version, and only rarely in the seventeenth century; OED’s only citation is from 1632 (OED, 2nd ed. cursitory, a). Q1 and Q2 read cursenary, Q3 reads cursorary, and F has curselarie. Shakespeare clearly intended to coin a four-syllable word meaning “passing over rapidly”. The only such word to have gained common currency, cursory (whose earliest OED occurrences are contemporary with Henry V [OED, 2nd ed. cursory, a]), is metrically inadequate. Since no modern alternative recommends itself, this edition retains the original forms.
Go to this point in the text
O’erglanced
Looked over.
Go to this point in the text
Pleaseth
If it please.
Go to this point in the text
better heed
More attention.
Go to this point in the text
suddenly
Shortly.
Go to this point in the text
Pass
Give, pronounce.
Go to this point in the text
accept
Agreed upon.
Go to this point in the text
peremptory
Conclusive, final.
Go to this point in the text
ratify
Confirm.
Go to this point in the text
Augment
Increase (the extent of the demands).
Go to this point in the text
advantageable for
Advantageous to.
Go to this point in the text
consign thereto
Subscribe to it.
Go to this point in the text
Haply
Perhaps.
Go to this point in the text
nicely
Precisely, strictly.
Go to this point in the text
urged
Argued.
Go to this point in the text
stood on
Insisted upon.
Go to this point in the text
Yet leave … us.
Shakespeare adapted the following interlude, Henry’s wooing of Catherine, from Famous Victories, though he makes the rather uncomfortable link between romantic and policital bargaining more implicit than it had been in the earlier play. In Famous Victories, Catherine is sent to Henry for the explicit purpose of convincing him to abandon his Unreasonable demands, and before she enters, Henry has a short soliloquy, acknowledging the awkwardness of his situation and egging himself on:
Ah Harry, thrice vnhappie Harry.
Hast thou now conquered the French King,
And begins a fresh supply with his daughter,
But with what face canst thou seeke to gain her loue,
Which hast sought to win her fathers Crowne?
Her fathers Crowne said I, no it is mine owne:
I but I loue her, and must craue her,
Nay I loue her, and will haue her.
(FV sig. F3v)
Go to this point in the text
capital
Chief.
Go to this point in the text
comprised
Included.
Go to this point in the text
forerank
First line.
The marriage to Catherine was the first item in the treaty, as Holinshed records:
1 First, it is accorded betweene our father and vs, that forsomuch as by the bond of matrimonie made for the good of the peace betweene vs and our most deere beloued Katharine, daughter of our said father, & of our most deere moother Isabell his wife; the same Charles and Isabell beene made our father and moother: therefore them as our father and moother we shall haue and worship, as if fitteth and seemeth so worthie a prince and princesse to be worshipped, principallie before all other temporall persons of the world. (Chronicles, 1587 573)
Go to this point in the text
articles
Terms, conditions.
Go to this point in the text
vouchsafe
Condescend.
Go to this point in the text
terms
Words, phrases.
Plays on the sense of “treaty conditions”.
Go to this point in the text
love-suit
Wooing plea.
A traditional phrase, but also another reminder of the setting: a court of law where legal matters are being decided.
Go to this point in the text
Oh
This is either a vocative address (properly O), or a reaction of surprise to Catherine’s lack of English. Henry’s heightened language being in vain, he shifts into prose.
Go to this point in the text
soundly
1) Fully; 2) healthily, unbrokenly.
Go to this point in the text
brokenly
Imperfectly.
Go to this point in the text
Pardonnez-moi
“Excuse me”.
Go to this point in the text
wat
The wat spelling of what occurs three times in this scene and must indicate a foreign pronunciation. Rowe emended to vat on the evidence of Doctor Caius’s French dialect in Merry Wives (Works, 1714), and many editors follow.
Go to this point in the text
Que dit-il? … anges?
“What says he? That I resemble the angels?”
Go to this point in the text
Oui, vraiment … dit-il.
“Yes, truly, saving your grace, so he says”.
Go to this point in the text
O bon … tromperies!
“O good God, the tongues of men are full of deceptions”.
Go to this point in the text
fair one
Many editors, even as recent ones as Taylor and Craik, discounting the possibility that an old gentlewoman (A3 Sc4 SD1) might be sincerely addressed as fair, see this as evidence of either irony or flattery on Henry’s part, or error on Shakespeare’s (Taylor, Henry V; Craik, King Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
Dat … princess.
That is what the princess says.
Go to this point in the text
the better Englishwoman
Behaving like an Englishwoman (in her mistrust).
Go to this point in the text
fit
Well-suited.
Go to this point in the text
plain
Plain-spoken; unsophisticated.
Go to this point in the text
mince it
Speak with delicacy; behave pretentiously.
Go to this point in the text
wear … suit
Exhaust my skill at courtship.
May pun on the sense of “worn-out clothes”.
Go to this point in the text
clap … bargain
Shake hands to seal the deal.
Go to this point in the text
Sauf votre honneur
“Saving your honor” (an apologetic phrase).
Go to this point in the text
me understand well
Because Sauf votre honneur is an apologetic formula, some editors have conjectured an error, either on Shakespeare’s part or on Catherine’s. Keightley inserted a negative, reducing this most subtle of Catherine’s lines to a simple failure to understand English (Keightley). Since Henry’s continued rhetoric makes no acknowledgement of such a failure, and since Catherine has evidently understood his proposal at her next speech, it seems more likely that her line—often delivered quite dakly in modern performance—refers not only to the plain English of the proposal, but to the larger situation at hand, including, perhaps, her position as a bargaining chip in a game whose end has already been determined.
Go to this point in the text
put me to verses
Make me recite poetry.
Go to this point in the text
undid
Would ruin.
The verb is in the subjunctive mood.
Go to this point in the text
measure
Poetic meter.
Go to this point in the text
strength in measure
Capacity for dancing.
A measure is a stately, courtly dance.
Go to this point in the text
measure in strength
Amount of physical strength.
Go to this point in the text
If I … wife.
Cf. Holinshed’s description of Henry’s athleticism: In strength and nimblenesse of bodie from his youth few to him comparable, for in wrestling, leaping, and running, no man well able to compare (Chronicles, 1587 583).
Go to this point in the text
leapfrog
A boys’ vaulting game.
Go to this point in the text
vaulting … back
Cf. Vernon’s description of Henry in 1 Henry IV:
I saw young Harry with his beaver on,
His cuisses on his thighs, gallantly armed,
Rise from the ground like feathered Mercury,
And vaulted with such ease into his seat
As if an angel dropped down from the clouds
To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus,
And witch the world with noble horsemanship.
(1H4 4.1.105–111)
Go to this point in the text
under … spoken
Let it be said at the risk of punishment for boasting.
Go to this point in the text
leap into
Win, gain.
With the attendant bawdy sense of “have sex with”.
Go to this point in the text
buffet
Deal blows, fight.
Go to this point in the text
bound my horse
Make my horse leap.
Go to this point in the text
lay on
Strike vigorously.
With the sexual undertone of “lie on her”.
Go to this point in the text
sit
On my horse.
Or perhaps with a sexual undertone, “on my wife”.
Go to this point in the text
jackanapes
Monkey.
Go to this point in the text
look greenly
Gaze at you 1) like an inexperienced young lover; 2) with the pale, sickly complexion that indicates jealousy.
Go to this point in the text
cunning in protestation
Skill in professing love.
Go to this point in the text
downright
Plain.
Go to this point in the text
urged
Provoked, given reason.
Go to this point in the text
urging
The persuasions of others.
Go to this point in the text
temper
Disposition.
Go to this point in the text
not worth sunburning
Too ugly for the sun to make worse.
By Elizabethan conventions of beauty, dark skin was considered ugly.
Go to this point in the text
glass
Mirror.
Go to this point in the text
be thy cook
Work to make my face more appetizing.
Proverbial: Let his eye be the best cook (Dent E242.1).
Go to this point in the text
plain soldier
Plainly, like a soldier.
Go to this point in the text
uncoined
1) Genuine, unfeigned; 2) pristine, like metal not yet stamped as a coin and put into circulation.
Go to this point in the text
perforce
Necessarily.
Go to this point in the text
in other places
Other women.
Go to this point in the text
infinite tongue
Boundless eloquence.
Go to this point in the text
favors
Good graces, approval.
Go to this point in the text
What!
Exclamation used to call attention to and express contempt for the following statement.
Go to this point in the text
prater
Chatterer.
Go to this point in the text
ballad
Common (and so contemptible) popular song.
Go to this point in the text
fall
Shrink away.
Go to this point in the text
full
Perfect, intense; overflowing with emotion.
Go to this point in the text
wax hollow
Become sunken; grow insincere.
Go to this point in the text
the sun … moon
I.e., everything worthwhile in the world.
Go to this point in the text
his
Its.
Go to this point in the text
An take … soldier.
If you take me, you take a soldier.
This edition is the first to render And to An (i.e., “if”). The sense here, as suggested by the rhetorically parallel following sentence, requires a conditional, not a simple conjunction.
Go to this point in the text
fairly
Favorably; in the affirmative.
Go to this point in the text
Is it … France?
Cf. Famous Victories: How should I loue him, that hath dealt so hardly / With my father and How should I loue thee, which is my fathers enemie (FV sig. F4r, G2r).
Go to this point in the text
Je quand … moi
“I, when I have the possession of France, and when you have the possession of me”.
The Folio’s French here is clumsier even than is usual for this text, which seems to indicate that Henry’s French is awkward by design. Whether that design is the playwright’s or the character’s is unclear, but Henry’s sudden shift to more sophisticated French below, at A5 Sc2 Sp38, may indicate that his struggle with the language here is disingenuous.
Go to this point in the text
Saint Denis
Patron saint of France.
Go to this point in the text
be my speed
Help me.
Go to this point in the text
donc vôtre … mienne
“Then yours is France and you are mine”.
Go to this point in the text
move
Provoke compassion in.
Go to this point in the text
Sauf votre … parle.
“Saving your honor, the French that you speak, it is better than the English that I speak”.
Go to this point in the text
truly falsely
Sincerely, if poorly.
Go to this point in the text
much at one
Much the same.
Go to this point in the text
neighbors
Friends, people close by.
Go to this point in the text
closet
Private chamber.
Go to this point in the text
dispraise
Disparage.
Go to this point in the text
cruelly
Excessively, extremely.
Go to this point in the text
saving faith
Faith true enough to gain salvation.
Henry uses the phrase facetiously, but the theological term is opposed to mere speculative faith, the outward assent to religion. See OED, 2nd ed. faith, n.I.3.b. See also Maurice Hunt, Hybrid Reformations 199–200.
Go to this point in the text
scambling
Struggling, conflict.
Go to this point in the text
between … George
With the combined blessings of the patron saints of France and England.
Go to this point in the text
compound
Create, make up.
Go to this point in the text
a boy
Henry VI.
The irony of Henry’s hopes for Henry VI, a famously ineffectual king, could not but be apparent to the audience (see Epilogue, Epilogue Sp1).
Go to this point in the text
take … beard
Drive out the Turks.
To pluck a man by the beard was a humiliating insult (cf. Ham 3.1.469; Lr 3.7.32). Henry’s sentiment is an anachronism, as the Ottoman Turks did not occupy Constantinople (modern Istanbul) until 1453, three decades after Henry’s death. See General Introduction.
Go to this point in the text
flower-de-luce
Lily (fleur-de-lis), the symbol on the French royal arms.
An actor might prefer to modernize, as the anglicized form now sounds like a blunder (Taylor, Henry V).
Go to this point in the text
hereafter
In the future.
Go to this point in the text
know
May play on the sense to have sex (OED, 3rd ed. know, v.II.8).
Go to this point in the text
moiety
Portion.
Go to this point in the text
bachelor
1) Unmarried man; 2) young novice knight.
Go to this point in the text
la plus … déesse
“The most beautiful Catherine of the world, my most dear and divine goddess”.
Apart from the masculine forms mon and divin incorrectly applied to déesse, this is the most accurate French that Henry has spoken in the scene. In performance, the eruption of relatively smooth French can indicate duplicity on Henry’s part about his linguistic abilities. Historically, Henry certainly spoke French, as it had been the language of the English ruling families for centuries, though he was the first English monarch since the Norman invasion to use English in personal correspondence, and during his reign he promoted the use of English as the official language of government.
Go to this point in the text
’ave
Have (i.e., has).
Go to this point in the text
fausse
False (i.e., either “incorrect” or “deceptive”).
Go to this point in the text
sage demoiselle
Wise young lady.
Go to this point in the text
blood
1) Emotion; 2) sexual desire.
The sense of royal lineage (OED, 3rd ed. blood, n.8.a) may also be relevant, since it is the reason that the marriage is a fait accompli.
Go to this point in the text
notwithstanding
Despite.
Go to this point in the text
untempering
Unpersuasive, unsettling.
See OED, 2nd ed. temper, v.I.6, II.7. More technically, the sense may be “unable to melt or soften up” a beholder.
Go to this point in the text
beshrew
Curse.
Go to this point in the text
thinking … me
Concerned with the strife following his deposition of Richard II at the moment I was conceived.
Contemporary wisdom held that a child’s temperament and appearance could be affected by its parents’ disposition at conception. Historically, Henry was already twelve years old when his father deposed Richard II.
Go to this point in the text
aspect
Appearance.
Go to this point in the text
ill layer-up
Bad preserver.
The image may be that of a garment put away without being dried and folded first, and therefore wrinkled like an old man’s face. Cf. 2 Henry IV: O, you shall see him laugh till his face be like a wet cloak ill laid up. (2H4 5.1.66–67).
Go to this point in the text
spoil
Harm.
Go to this point in the text
wear
Use, possess.
This continues the conceit of Henry as a garment; see A5 Sc2 Sp40 n.
Go to this point in the text
Avouch
Affirm.
Go to this point in the text
Plantagenet
Henry’s dynastic surname.
Go to this point in the text
fellow with
Equal to.
Go to this point in the text
king … fellows
Foremost among good-natured men.
Go to this point in the text
broken
Arranged in parts; i.e., harmonious.
Go to this point in the text
break
Open, reveal.
Go to this point in the text
de roi mon père
The “king my father”.
Go to this point in the text
will … shall
Henry is not merely speaking redundantly here. The former verb is a simple future tense, and the latter has the sense of “must”, so the (potentially sinister) sense of Henry’s speech is “He will be pleased, since he has no choice but to be pleased”.
Go to this point in the text
Laissez … puissant seigneur.
“Forbear, my lord, forbear, forbear! My faith, I would not have you abase your greatness in kissing the hand of one of your lordship’s unworthy servants. Excuse me, I beg you, my most mighty lord”.
Go to this point in the text
Les dames … France.
“For ladies and maids to be kissed before their weddings, it is not the custom of France”.
Go to this point in the text
entend … moi
“Understands better than me”.
Go to this point in the text
Oui, vraiment.
“Yes, truly”.
Go to this point in the text
Oh, Kate
Again, I have opted for the interjection Oh rather than the vocative O, as I think it better suits the informality of this prose scene.
Go to this point in the text
nice
Strict.
Other possibly relevant senses of this versatile adjective include “silly”, “fastidious”, “polite”, “timid”, and “affectedly coy”.
Go to this point in the text
list
Boundary.
Specifically, the railing enclosing a dueling or jousting arena.
Go to this point in the text
follows our places
Attends our royal rank.
Go to this point in the text
find-faults
Critics, detractors.
Go to this point in the text
There … monarchs.
Cf. Famous Victories: none in the world could sooner haue perswaded mee to / It then thou (FV sig. F4r).
Go to this point in the text
apt
Quick to learn.
The bawdy undertone of “ready” (for sex) anticipates the string of double entendre that follows.
Go to this point in the text
Our tongue
The English language (not the royal plural).
Go to this point in the text
condition
Temperament.
Go to this point in the text
frankness
Cadidness, coarseness.
Go to this point in the text
conjure
Raise up, i.e., cause (a penis) to become erect.
Go to this point in the text
make a circle
1) Draw a magic circle for conjuring; 2) open her vagina.
Go to this point in the text
naked and blind
1) Like the traditional image of the Roman love god Cupid; 2) like a penis, with its one blind eye.
Go to this point in the text
maid
Virgin.
Go to this point in the text
rosed over
Flushing, either with shame or excitement.
Go to this point in the text
deny
Refuse.
Go to this point in the text
in her … self
1) Emotionally within her; 2) inside her vagina.
Go to this point in the text
naked seeing
1) Exposed; 2) aware of nudity.
Go to this point in the text
hard condition
1) Difficult circumstance; 2) erection.
The diplomatic sense, i.e., a term of a treaty (OED, 2nd ed. condition, n.I.3) serves as a reminder, like consign, that this sexual negotiation is part of the larger political one.
Go to this point in the text
consign
Consent.
The same verb Henry used at A5 Sc2 Sp11 in reference to the treaty.
Go to this point in the text
wink and yield
Close their eyes and give in.
Go to this point in the text
enforces
Overcomes, forces his way in.
The verb is used both for the taking of besieged towns and of the rape of women (see OED, 2nd ed. enforce, v.II.9), which may suggest the analogy below (A5 Sc2 Sp66).
Go to this point in the text
do
1) Enact; 2) have sex with.
Go to this point in the text
consent winking
Agree to wink and yield (A5 Sc2 Sp60).
Go to this point in the text
wink … consent
1) Wink at her to suggest that she consent; 2) be complaisant with her consenting.
Go to this point in the text
teach … meaning
Make her ready to understand (by arousing her sexually).
Go to this point in the text
summered
Fed, nurtured.
Literally, pastured during the summer like cattle (OED, 2nd ed. summer, v.1.2).
Go to this point in the text
warm
1) Tenderly, comfortably; 2) in a state of sexual arousal.
Go to this point in the text
Bartholomew-tide
Saint Bartholomew’s day, 24 August.
Hence the hottest part of the summer.
Go to this point in the text
blind … eyes
Senseless from the heat.
Go to this point in the text
handling
1) Being held (flies); 2) being sexually handled (maids).
The word is ambiguously either a participle (“being handled”) or a transitive verb (handling that which before they would not abide looking on (i.e., a penis).
Go to this point in the text
moral
Lesson.
Go to this point in the text
ties me over
Confines me.
Go to this point in the text
latter end
1) Late summer; 2) backside, lower body.
Go to this point in the text
before it loves
1) Until it sees its object; 2) before it is consummated.
Some editors emend to before that it loves (i.e., “when faced with the object of affection”).
Go to this point in the text
who cannot … way
I am distracted from capturing more French cities by the sight of Catherine.
Go to this point in the text
perspectively
Obliquely, as an optical illusion.
A perspective is either a lens or mirror that produces an optical distortion (OED, 3rd ed. perspective, n.2.a) or a painting that appears distorted except when viewed from a particular angle (2.b).
Go to this point in the text
maiden
“Virginal”, i.e., unbreached.
Go to this point in the text
so
So long as.
Go to this point in the text
wait on her
1) Attend on her like servants; 2) come with her as a dowry.
Go to this point in the text
will
Desires (political and sexual).
Go to this point in the text
terms of reason
Reasonable terms.
Go to this point in the text
every article
As Gurr points out, the play glosses over the fact that the terms of the Treaty of Troyes are largely the same as the offer that the act three Chorus said likes not (A3 Sc0 Sp1), and are substantially less than Henry’s stated goal of seizing the crown of France (King Henry V). He becomes the heir to the throne, receiving it in reversion for his son, and ignoring the alternate claim of the dauphin—not the Louis depicted in this play, who died of dysentery in 1415, but his younger brother Charles, who would later be crowned through the efforts of Joan of Arc.
Go to this point in the text
in sequel
In succession.
Craik calls this an eminently defective line and emends to the sequel because elsewhere the word takes an article (King Henry V). Others smooth the metrical irregularity by emending to then in sequel (Bate and Rasmussen).
Go to this point in the text
their
The articles’.
Go to this point in the text
firm … natures
Strictly defined stipulations.
Go to this point in the text
subscribèd
Signed agreement to.
Go to this point in the text
where … demands
Holinshed lists this demand as the twenty-fifth of thirty-three:
25 Also that our said father, during his life, shall name, call, and write vs in French in this maner: Nostre treschier filz Henry roy d’ Engleterre heretere de France. And in Latine in this maner: Praeclarissimus filius noster Henricus rex Angliae & haeres Franciae.. (Chronicles, 1587 574)
Praeclarissimus (“most renowned”) is an error for the original treaty’s praecharissimus (“most dear”) that crept into the second edition of Hall’s chronicle and was maintained by Holinshed and later Shakespeare.
Go to this point in the text
for … grant
In conferring titles or estates.
Go to this point in the text
addition
Title.
Go to this point in the text
NotreFranciae.
Both the French and Latin translate to “Our most dear son Henry, King of England, heir of France”.
Go to this point in the text
your request
Your request to marry Catherine (making you my most dear son).
Go to this point in the text
Issue
Descendants.
Go to this point in the text
pale
Possibly a reference to the chalky cliffs of England’s France-facing shores.
Go to this point in the text
and this … France.
Holinshed records the language of article twenty-nine:
29 Also that there shall be from henceforward for euermore, peace and tranquillitie, & good accord, and common affection, and stable friendship betweene the said realmes, and their subiects before said. The same realmes shall keepe themselues with their councell, helps, and common assistance against all maner of men that inforce them for to dooen or to imagine wrongs, harmes, displeasures, or grieuances to them or either of them. (Chronicles, 1587 575)
Go to this point in the text
dear
1) Tender; 2) dearly bought.
Go to this point in the text
neighborhood
Neighborliness.
Go to this point in the text
bosoms
Hearts.
Go to this point in the text
advance
Lift.
Go to this point in the text
bleeding
Bloody.
Go to this point in the text
God … marriages
The phrase recalls the language of the marriage service (Whom God hath joined together let no man put asunder) and the proverb Marriages are made in heaven (Tilley M688).
Go to this point in the text
spousal
Marriage-like union.
Go to this point in the text
ill office
Disservice, shirked duties.
Go to this point in the text
fell
Deadly, fierce.
Go to this point in the text
paction
League, covenant.
Go to this point in the text
incorporate
United in one body.
Go to this point in the text
Receive
Accept.
Go to this point in the text
God … amen
May God grant it.
Go to this point in the text
My lord … oath.
Both of Shakespeare’s primary sources list Burgundy as the first to take the oath of loyalty to Henry:
When this great matter was finished, the kings sware for their parts to obserue all the couenants of this league and agreement. Likewise the duke of Burgognie and a great number of other princes and nobles which were present, receiued an oth. (Holinshed, Chronicles, 1587, 573)
The oath is somewhat more belligerently administered in Famous Victories (FV sig. G2r); at Henry’s insistence, the French King commands Burgundy to swear and kiss Henry’s sword, after which Henry compels the Dauphin, who remains silent, to kiss the sword as well.
Go to this point in the text
peers’
Noblemen’s (oaths).
Go to this point in the text
for … leagues
As a pledge of our alliance.
Go to this point in the text
Sennet
Trumpet signal for a ceremonial exit or procession.
Go to this point in the text
Epilogue
This speech, designed to elicit applause as well as to fit this last play into Shakespeare’s extant cycle of histories, is written as a regular Shakespearean sonnet of three quatrains and a couplet.
Go to this point in the text
rough
Unpolished, imperfect.
Go to this point in the text
all-unable
Entirely incompetent.
Go to this point in the text
bending
Bent over his writing.
Other possible connotations include: humbly bowing for applause; stooping beneath the weight of his subject matter; or distorting the history to suit his purposes.
Go to this point in the text
by starts
By abrupt starting and stopping; by presenting intermittent episodes.
Go to this point in the text
course
Career.
Go to this point in the text
Small time
Henry V reigned for only nine years, dying in 1422—two years after the events depicted in this play—at the age of thirty-six. Holinshed remarks:
Thus ended this puissant prince his most noble and fortunate reigne, whose life (saith Hall) though cruell Atropos abbreuiated; yet neither fire, malice, nor fretting time shall appall his honour, or blot out the glorie of him that in so small time had doone so manie and roiall acts. (Chronicles, 1587 584)
Go to this point in the text
star of England
A phrase possibly derived from Holinshed: a maiestie was he that both liued & died a paterne in princehood, a lode-starre in honour, and mirrour of magnificence (Holinshed, Chronicles, 1587 583).
Go to this point in the text
world’s … garden
France.
Cf. A5 Sc2 Sp6. The word may pun here on guerdon (“reward”).
Go to this point in the text
infant bands
Swaddling clothes, strips of linen in which babies were wrapped.
Go to this point in the text
Whose
Of whose.
Go to this point in the text
That … bleed.
The sense of destiny in this reminder of England’s catastrophic failures during Henry VI’s reign derives from the audience’s familiarity both with Shakespeare’s history plays and their subject matter, of course, but it is reinforced by a tradition, recorded by Holinshed, that Henry V himself prophesied the losses to come:
This yeare at Windsore on the daie of saint Nicholas in December, the queene was deliuered of a sonne named Henrie. […] The king being certified hereof, as he laie at siege before Meaux, gaue God thanks, in that it had pleased his diuine prouidence to send him a sonne, which might succeed in his crowne and scepter. But when he heard reported the place of his natiuitie; were it that he had been warned by some prophesie, or had some foreknowledge, or else iudged himselfe of his sonnes fortune, he said vnto the lord Fitz Hugh his trustie chamberleine these words: My lord, I Henrie borne at Monmouth, shall small time reigne, & much get; and Henrie borne at Windsore, shall long reigne, and all loose: but as God will, so be it. (Chronicles, 1587 581)
Go to this point in the text
oft … shown
The three parts of Shakespeare’s Henry VI were popularly performed throughout the 1590s.
Go to this point in the text
for … sake
Insofar as the Henry VI plays have pleased you.
Go to this point in the text
let … take
Let this play find favor with you.
Go to this point in the text

Collations

Adopted reading (Craig):
Enter Chorus as Prologue.
F1:
Enter Prologue.
Enter Chorus.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Boswell):
pardon,
F1:
pardon:
pardon;
pardon!
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
high, uprearèd
F1:
high, vp-reared
high up-reared
high-up-reared
high-upreared
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
kings,
king
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
1.1
F1:
Actus Primus. Scoena Prima.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
Enter the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely.
F1:
Enter the two Bishops of Canterbury and Ely.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
scambling
scrambling
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
age
Adopted reading (Clark):
This would … and all.
shared line
F1:
This would … deepe. / ʼTwould … and all.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
currence
F1:
currance
F2:
currant
F4:
current
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
We are
We’re
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
art
F1:
Art
Adopted reading (F1):
severals
F1:
seueralls
several
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
1.2
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
Humphrey Duke of Gloucester,
F1:
Humfrey
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Malone):
, with attendants.
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Exit attendant.
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
wrongs
F2:
wrong
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
gives
give
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
swords That makes
swords That make
sword That makes
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
gloss
F1:
gloze
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Germany, called
F1:
Germanie, call’d
F3:
Germany call’d
Germany call’d--
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
find
F1:
find
Q1:
fine
line
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Lingare,
Q1:
Inger
Lingard
conjectured by Wilson
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Charlemagne,
F1:
Charlemaine
Charlechauve
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Tenth,
Ninth
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Sisson):
Ermengarde,
F1:
Ermengare
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Gurr 1992):
embar
F1:
imbarre
Q1:
imbace
Q3:
embrace
make bare
imbrace
imbare
conjectured by Warburton
unbare
conjectured by Theobald
unbar
imbar
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F3):
Ely
F1:
Bish.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
these
F1:
these
those
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
grace
F1:
Grace
Race
cause
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
cause, and means, and might;
F1:
cause, and means, and (might;
cause, and means, and might,
cause; and means and might
grace and means and might
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
So hath your highness.
F1:
So hath your Highnesse
So haste, your highness
So doth your highness
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
bloods
F1:
Bloods
F3:
Bloud
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
spiritualty
F1:
Spiritualtie
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Our inland
F1:
Our in-land
Q1:
your England
Our England
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
herself:
F1:
her selfe,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
their chronicle
F1:
their Chronicle
Q1:
your Chronicles
his Chronicle
her chronicle
conjectured by Johnson
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Ely
F1:
Bish.Ely.
Q1:
Lord.
Exe.
Wes.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
If that … win Then … begin.
lineation as Capell
F1:
If that you will France win, then with Scotland first begia.
one line in F1
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Wilson):
’tame
conjectured by Greg
F1:
tame
Q1:
spoyle
:
tear
Adopted reading (F1):
Exeter
F1:
Exet.
Ely.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
but a crushed
F1:
but a crush’d
Q1:
but a curst
but a ʼscus’d
but a crude
not a curs’d
but a cur’s
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
act
F1:
Act
F5:
Art
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Harbage):
majesties, surveys
F1:
Maiesties surueyes
Majesty, surveys
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Q1):
End
F1:
And
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Exit attendant.
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
waxen
Q1:
paper
lasting
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
embassy?
F1:
Embassie.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
is
are
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
I have
F1:
I haue
Q1:
haue we
have I
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
furtherance
F1:
furth’rance
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Exeunt.
Flourish. Exeunt.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Malone):
2.0
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Johnson):
Chorus
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
But see, thy fault
F1:
But see, thy fault
But see thy fault!
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
out:
F1:
out,
Adopted reading (F1):
he
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
crowns;
F1:
Crownes,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
men,
F1:
men:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
die,
F1:
dye.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
we’ll
F1:
wee’l
well
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
force a play.
while we force a play
farce a play
force -- perforce -- a play
and we’ll force a play
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Hanmer):
when
F1:
till
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Hanmer):
2.1
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Ancient
Ensign
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
shall be smiles.
F1:
shall be smiles
shall be -- smiles
conjectured by Warburton
shall be smites
conjectured by Farmer
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
do
F1:
doe
die
conjectured by Mason
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Q1):
mare,
F1:
name
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (this edition):
Hostess, formerly Mistress Quickly.
F1:
Quickly
:
Hostess
Hostess Quickly
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
tyke,
F1:
Tyke
tick
conjectured by Malone
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Malone):
Nym draws his sword.
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
hewn
F1:
hewne
drawn
hewing
Steevensʼ conjecture
here
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Bardolph … good Corporal
F1:
Bar. Good Lieutenant, good Corporal
Good lieutenant, -- Bard. Good corporal
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
lieutenant,
ancient
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Johnson):
Iceland
F1:
Island
Q1:
Iseland
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Craik):
To Pistol
substantively, at the beginning of the line
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Solus… fire will follow.
prose F1
verse Pope
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F3):
marvelous
F3:
marvellous
F1:
meruailous
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
take,
Q1:
talk
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
O braggart … exhale.
verse F1
Adopted reading (Malone):
Pistol draws his sword.
F1:
Q1:
They drawe.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Malone):
Draws his sword (?)
substantively, at the end of the speech
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Wilson):
They sheathe their swords.
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Couple a gorge, … enough. Go to.
prose F1
verse Pope
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Couple a gorge,
Q1:
Couple gorge
Coupe a gorge
Coup à gorge
Coupe le gorge
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
enough. Go to.
(enough, go to.)
F1:
enough to go to.
Q1:
inough.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
your hostess.
F1:
your Hostesse
you, hostess
you hostess
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Exeunt Boy and Hostess.
F1:
Exit.
Exit Quick.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Sisson):
Drawing his sword (?)
substantively, at the end of the line
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
Nym and Bardolph sheathe their swords. (?)
substantively, after A2 Sc1 Sp35
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
that’s
F1:
that
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Wilson):
Pistol and Nym shake hands. (?)
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
Exit.
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Nym, thou … corroborate.
prose F1
verse Capell
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
lambkins, … live.
F1:
(Lambekins) we will liue.
lambkins we will live
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Q1):
Exeunt.
Q1:
Exeunt omnes.
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
2.2
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
’Fore
F1:
Fore
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
and attendants.
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
kind lord of
F1:
kinde Lord of
lord of
kind lord
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
the
Q1:
their
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Giving them papers
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
have
F1:
haue
F2:
hath
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
monsters:
F1:
monsters:
monsters!
monsters?
monsters.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
furnish him
F1:
furnish
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (this edition):
unnatural cause
conjectured by Brinsley Nicholson
F1:
an naturall cause
F2:
a natural cause
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
And
All
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
by treasons,
F1:
by treasons
By-Treasons
to treasons
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
thee, bade
F1:
thee, bad
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
affiance!
F1:
affiance?
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
make
mock
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
the
F1:
thee
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
best,
F1:
best
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
indued
F4:
endued
endowed
conjectured by Capell
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
suspicion. I
F1:
suspition, I
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Q1):
Henry
F1:
Thomas
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
I in sufferance heartily
F1:
in sufferance heartily
heartily in sufferance
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
rejoice,
F1:
reioyce
rejoice for
rejoice at
bless
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
enemy proclaimed
F1:
enemy proclaim’d
Q1:
enemy proclaimed and fixed
enemy
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
you
Q1:
you haue
F2:
you three
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Exeunt traitors, guarded.
F1:
Exit.
Q1:
Exit three Lords.
F2:
Exeunt.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Kittredge):
Flourish. Exeunt.
F1:
Flourish.
Q1:
Exit omnes.
F2:
Exeunt.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
2.3
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
honey-sweet husband,
F1:
honey sweet Husband
F3:
honey, sweet Husband
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
No, for … earn therefore.
prose F1
verse Pope
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
doth earn … . earn
F1:
doth erne […] erne
F3:
doth yern […] yern
doth yearn […] yearn
doth ern […] ern
doth erne […] earn
doth yearn […] earn
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
finer
F1:
finer
Adopted reading (F1):
christom
F1:
Christome
Q1:
crymsobd
chrisom’d
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
with flowers,
wi’th’ flowers
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
finger’s end,
F1:
fingers end
Q1:
fingers ends
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
and a babbled of green fields.
F1:
and a Table of greene fields
and a’ talked of green fields
anonymous in Theobald 1726
on a table of green fields
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
o’ good
F1:
a good
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (this edition):
up-peered, and upward and all
F1:
vp-peer’d, and vpward, and all
F2:
up-war’d and upward, and all
up’ard and up’ard, and all
up’ard, and upward, and all
up-peered and upward, and all
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Come, let’s away … . to suck!
prose F1
verse Capell
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Kisses her
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
world
Q1:
word
word
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
dog, my duck,
F1:
Dogge: My Ducke
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Kisses her
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F4):
housewifery
F4:
Houswifry
F1:
Huswiferie
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
2.4
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Bevington):
Brittany,
and throughout
F1:
Britaine
Q1:
Burbon
Britain
Bretagne
Brittaine
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
and the Constable of France.
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Bevington):
filled,
F1:
fill’d:
fill’d;
filled --
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
mountain sire
F1:
Mountaine Sire
mounting sire
mountant sire
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
We’ll give … bring them.
one line
F1:
Weele giue […] audience. / Goe, and bring them.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
Exit messenger.
F1:
Exeunt Mes. and certain Lords.
Exeunt Messenger and others
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Enter Exeter.
Re-enter Lords, with Exeter and Train.
Enter Exeter, attended
Enter Exeter and others
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
Gives the French King a paper
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Therefore
And therefore
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
fierce
fiery
conjectured by Walker
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
And
He
Adopted reading (F1):
and on your head Turning
Q1:
And on your heads turnes he
and on your head Turns he
upon your head Turning
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
privy
F1:
priuy
Q1:
pining
privèd
conjectured by Warburton
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Q1):
greeting too.
F1:
greeting to
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
defiance,
F1:
defiance,
defiance;
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
contempt,
contempt;
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading ():
king: an
F1:
King: and
King; and
king, and
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
Nothing but odds … that end, As matching … and vanity
F1:
Nothing but Oddes with England. To that […] and Vanitie,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
Louvre
F1:
Louer
F2:
Loover
F3:
Lover
F4:
Louver
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Kittredge):
grain. That
F1:
Graine: that
Q1:
graine, Which
F4:
Grain; that
Grain, that
grain, which
grain; which
:
grain: -- that
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
3.0
F1:
Actus Secundus
ACT III. SCENE I
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Johnson):
Chorus
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
In motion … celerity Than that … seen
F1:
In motion […] of Thought. Suppose […] seene
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Dover
F1:
Douer
Hampton
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
feigning.
F1:
fayning
fanning
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F4):
ordnance
F1:
Ordenance
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Hanmer):
3.1
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
Enter soldiers with
F1:
with
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
Once more … more,
F1:
Once more […] Breach, Deare friends, once more;
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Walter):
conjure
F1:
commune
summon
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (this edition):
On! On,
F1:
On, on,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Steevens):
noble
F1:
Noblish
F2:
Noblest
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F4):
men
F1:
me
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
Straining
F1:
Straying
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Harry, England, and
Harry! England! and
Harry! England and
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
Exeunt.
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Hanmer):
3.2
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
corporal,
F1:
Corporall
lieutenant
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Johnson):
And sword … immortal fame
verse Johnson
F1:
prose F1
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Johnson):
And I … . I hie.
verse Johnson
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Singer 1826):
As duly … on bough.
verse Singer
F1:
prose F1
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Q1):
Beating them
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Be merciful, … sweet chuck.
prose F
verse Pope
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
great duke,
F1:
great Duke
Q1:
sweete knight
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
wins
runs
conjectured by Capell
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Evans 1974):
Exeunt Pistol, Bardolph, and Nym.
Exit with Bardolph and Pistol; Fluellen steps aside.
F1:
Exit.
Exeunt.
Exeunt Nym, Pistol, and Bardolph, driven in by Fluellen.
Exeunt all but the Boy.
Fluellen drives them in with his men
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
antics
F1:
Antiques
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
handkercheifs,
F1:
Hand-kerchers
handkerchiefs
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Exit Boy. Enter Gower.
F1:
Exit. Enter Gower.
Exit Boy. Enter Gower and Fluellen.
Re-enter Fluellen; to him Gower
Exit Boy. / Enter Gower and Fluellen
Re-enter Fluellen, Gower following
Exit / 3.3 Enter Captain Gower and Captain Fluellen, meeting
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
digged
F1:
digt
Q1:
digd
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
himself, four yard under, the
F1:
himselfe foure yard vnder the
himself, four yard under them,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
as in
as is in
as any in
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
aunchient
F1:
aunchiant
ancient
anciant
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Craik):
guid day,
F1:
gudday
gude day
gud day
guidday
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
Good e’en
F1:
Godden
Good-e’en
Goodden
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
pioneers
F1:
Pioners
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Chrish law,
F1:
Chrish Law
F4:
Chrish, Law
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
me law,
F4:
me, Law
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
quit
quite
’quite
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Johnson):
besieched, and
F1:
beseech’d: and
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
be
F4:
by
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Dorius):
nothing!
F1:
nothing,
nothing;
nothing:
nothing.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Christ
F1:
Christ
Chrish
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Craik):
I owe God a death,
F1:
ay, or goe to death
Ay owe Got a death
conjectured by Craik, 1980
I owe Got a death
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
surely
F1:
suerly
suirely
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
brefe
F1:
breff
brief
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
heard
hear
conjectured by Walker; Wilson argues for a d / -e misreading.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
nation --
F1:
Nation.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Ish a
F1:
Ish a
Ish’t a
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
rascal?
F1:
Rascall.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
you will
you still
you
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
Exeunt.
F1:
Exit.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Hanmer):
3.3
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Enter the King … the gates.
stage direction as F1
Q1:
alarum
at the end of the stage direction
Flourish
at the end of the stage direction
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F3):
career?
F1:
Carriere
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
As send … leviathan To come … Harfleur,
F1:
As send […] ashore. Therefore […] Harflew,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
headly
F2:
heady
deadly
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1714):
Defile
F1:
Desire
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Alexander):
Exit Governor.
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
all for us, dear uncle.
F1:
all for vs, deare Vnckle.
all. For us, dear uncle,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
3.4
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Alice,
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
Un
F1:
En
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
prie, m’enseignez;
F1:
prie m’ensigniez
F2:
prie m’enseigner
prie de m’enseigner
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
j’apprenne
F1:
ie apprend
F2:
ie apprene
j’apprends
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
parler.
F1:
parlen
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
Comment
F1:
Comient
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Steevens):
Elle est appellée
F1:
il & appelle
Il est appellé
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
hand. Et les
F1:
Hand. Alice. E le
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
Alice
F1:
Kat.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
j’oublie les doigts!
F1:
Ie oublie, e doyt
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
souviendrai:
F2:
souiendray
F1:
souemeray
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
sont
F1:
ont
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
Catherine
F1:
Alice.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Gurr 1992):
les fingres.
F1:
le Fingres
de fingers
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
écolière. J’ai
F1:
escholier. / Kath. I’ay
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Clark):
nous les
F1:
les
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
l’anglais pour
F1:
l’Anglois pour
F2:
en Anglois
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
le coude
F1:
de coudee
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
Je m’en fais
F2:
Ie m’en faitz
F1:
Ie men fay
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
répétition
F2:
repetition
F1:
repiticio
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
tous
F1:
touts
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
m’avez
F1:
maves
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Steevens):
appris
F1:
apprins
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
d’arma,
F1:
d’Arma
F2:
d’Arme
de arm
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
par la
F1:
par de
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Evans 1974):
N’avez-vous
F1:
N’aue vos y
F2:
N’avez vouz pas
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
déjà
F1:
desia
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
vous ai
F2:
vous ay
F1:
vous a
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
Non, et je
F1:
Nome ie
F2:
Nomme ie
Non, je
Non je le
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
réciterai
F2:
reciteray
F1:
recitera
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Wilson):
mailés
F1:
Maylees
mayles
mails
nails
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
Sauf
F1:
Sans
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
honneur,
F1:
honeus
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
dis-je,
F2:
dis-ie
F1:
de ie
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Q1):
le pied
Q1:
le peid
F1:
les pied
F2:
les pieds
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Q1):
la robe
Q1:
le robe
F1:
de roba
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
le … le
de […] de
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
count.
F1:
Count
Q1:
con
coun
Adopted reading (Wilson):
ils
F1:
il
F2:
ce
ces
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
les mots de son mauvais,
F1:
le mots de son mauvais
F2:
des mots mauuais
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
Néanmoins,
F2:
neant moins
F1:
neant moys
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
réciterai
F2:
reciteray
F1:
recitera
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
ensemble:
F2:
ensemble
F1:
ensembe
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
le count.
F1:
le Count
Q1:
de con
F3:
de count
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
Exeunt.
F1:
Exit.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
3.5
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
the Duke of Brittany,
F1:
Q1:
Burbon
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
And if
An if
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Bevington):
Brittany
F1:
Brit.
Q1:
Bur.
BOURBON
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
Mort de ma vie,
F2:
Mort de ma vie,
F1:
Mort du ma vie,
Q1:
Mor du
Mort Dieu! Ma vie!
conjectured by Greg
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Collier):
dull,
F1:
dull?
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
frowns?
F2:
frownes?
F1:
frownes.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
youth
F1:
Youth
Q1:
youthfull blood
blood
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
Poor we may
F2:
Poore we may
F1:
Poore we
Poor may we
Lest poor we
’Poor’ may we
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
By faith
My faith
conjectured by Craik
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Brittany
F1:
Brit.
Adopted reading (this edition):
d’Alberet,
F1:
Delabreth
De-la-bret
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Foix,
normalizing Holinshed’s Fois
F1:
Loys
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
Lestrelles,
F1:
Lestrale
Lestrake
Holinshed’s spelling
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
kings,
F1:
Kings
:
Knights
conjectured by Theobald
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Steevens2):
him -- you … enough --
F1:
him, you […] enough,
him (you […] enough,)
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (this edition):
’fore
conjectured by Staunton
F1:
for
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
3.6
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
, meeting.
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
aunchient lieutenant
F1:
aunchient Lieutenant
Q1:
Ensigne
:
aunchient
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Bardolph, a soldier … restless stone --
prose F1
verse Pope
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
stone --
F1:
Stone.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
blind, with
with
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
his
her
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
rowls
F1:
rowles
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Fortune is … thee requite.
prose F1
verse Pope
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
pax,
Adopted reading (F1):
therefore!
therefor
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Collier):
fico
F1:
Figo
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
suit
F1:
Sute
Q1:
shout
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Drum within
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Kittredge):
Drum and Colors … . Gloucester.
F1:
Drum and Colours. Enter the King and his poore Souldiers.
Enter the King and soldiers
Enter the KING, GLOUCESTER, and Soldiers
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
like to be executed
F1:
like to be executed
executed
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Gurr 1992):
bubuckles,
F1:
bubukles
bubuncles
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Wilson):
afire,
F1:
a fire
of fire
:
o’fire
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
levity
F1:
Leuitie
Q1:
lenitie
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Thus says … my office.
prose F1
verse Pope
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
cue,
F1:
Q.
Q1:
kue
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
air
F1:
ayre
Q1:
heire
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Gives money
Giving a chain
:
Gives a purse.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
Exit.
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
on tomorrow bid
F1:
on to morrow bid
on tomorrow. Bid
conjectured by Jackson
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Hanmer):
3.7
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Dauphin,
F1:
Dolphin
Q1:
Burbon
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Dauphin
F1:
Dolph.
Q1:
Burbon.
and substantively throughout the scene
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
is this!
F1:
is this?
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
pasterns.
F2:
pasternes
F1:
postures
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Ch’ha!
F1:
ch’ha:
ça, ha!
Ha, ha!
Ca, ha!
Ah ha!
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
hairs:
F1:
hayres
hares
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
qui a
F1:
ches
qu’il a
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
nature --
F1:
Nature.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
prescript
F1:
prescript
prescribed
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F3):
vomissement,
F3:
vomissement
F1:
vemissement
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
et
F1:
est
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
la truie
F1:
la leuye
F2:
la levye
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
dauphin
F1:
Dolphin
Q1:
Duke of Burbon
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
day!
F1:
day?
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
say that’s
F1:
say, that’s
say, ’That’s
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
lion.
F1:
Lyon.
lion.’
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
shrewdly
F2:
shrewdly
F1:
shrowdly
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F4):
Englishmen.
F4:
Englishmen
F1:
English men
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
4.0
F1:
Actus Tertius.
ACT IV. SCENE I.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
Enter
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Johnson):
Chorus
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
morning named.
F1:
Morning nam’d,
morning name.
conjectured by Tyrwhitt
morning’s named.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Investing
F1:
Inuesting
Invest in
In fasting,
Steevens notes an anonymous conjecture
Infestive
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
lank-lean
F1:
lanke-leane
lank lean
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Presented
F1:
Presented
Presenteth
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
fear, that
F1:
feare, that
fear. Then
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
define,
F2:
define,
F1:
define.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
night.
F1:
Night,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Hanmer):
4.1
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
and Gloucester, meeting Bedford.
F1:
Enter the King, Bedford, and Gloucester.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F3):
Good morrow,
F1:
God morrow
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
dress
F1:
dresse
’dress
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Gurr 1992):
pains.
F1:
paines,
F2:
paine,
pains;
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Staunton):
example so,
F1:
example, so
example; so
example -- so
example: so
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
legerity.
F1:
legeritie
F3:
celerity
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Clark):
Exeunt all but King Henry, who disguises himself in Erpingham’s cloak.
F1:
Exeunt.
Exit Erpingham
Exeunt all but King Henry.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Che vous la?
Qui va la?
Qui vous là?
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Discuss unto … popular?
prose F1
verse Pope
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
The king’s … thy name?
prose F1
verse Pope
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
le Roy.
F1:
le Roy
le Roi
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Gurr 1992):
Leroy?
F1:
Le Roy
Le Roi
Leroi
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Saint Davy’s day.
F1:
S. Dauies
St. David’s
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Collier):
fico
F1:
Figo
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (this edition):
Exit Pistol.
F1:
Exit […] . Manet King.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Johnson):
separately.
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Craik):
’So!
F1:
’So,
So,
Adopted reading (F1):
fewer!
Q1:
lewer
Q3:
lower
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
aunchient
Q1:
auncient
aunchiant
ancient
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
prerogatiffs
F1:
Prerogatifes
Q1:
Prerogatiues
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F3):
tiddle-taddle nor pibble-babble
F1:
tiddle tadle nor pibble bable
Q1:
tittle tattle, nor bible bable
tiddle taddle, nor pibble-pabble
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Q1):
Exeunt Gower and Fluellen.
F1:
Exit.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading ():
Thomas
conjectured by Theobald
F1:
Iohn
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Collier):
alone, howsoever
F1:
alone: howsoeuer
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
minds.
F1:
minds,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
who
F2:
whom
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
purpose their
F1:
purpose their
Q1:
craue their
propose their
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
before-breach
F1:
before breach
former breach
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Malone):
mote
F1:
Moth
Q1:
moath
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Williams
F1:
Will.
Q1:
3. Lord.
Bat.
Court
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Bates
Q1:
no new speech prefix in Q1
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
They exchange gloves.
substantively; Capell’s characteristic double dagger for props changing hands occurs after my (2060) and There (2062).
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
Exeunt
F1:
Exit
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
Upon the … the king.
lineation as Rowe
F1:
Vpon the […] Soules, Our debts […] Wiues, Our children […] the King: We must beare all.
prose Gurr
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
O hard … men enjoy?
lineation as F1
We must […] condition, Twin-born […] breath Of every […] feel But his […] heart’s-ease Must kings […] enjoy!
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
What? Is thy soul of adoration?
F2:
What? is thy Soule of Adoration?
F1:
What? is thy Soule of Odoration?
What is thy toll, O adoration?
conjectured by Warburton
What is thy shew of adoration?
What is thy soul, O adoration?
What is thy roul of adoration?
What is the soul of adoration?
What is thy soul of adoration?
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Collier):
men,
F1:
men?
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Sisson):
fearing?
F1:
fearing.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
Think’st
F1:
Thinks
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
repose.
F1:
Repose.
repose,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Clark):
intertissued
F1:
enter-tissued
inter-tissued
:
intertissu’d
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
Hyperion
F2:
Hiperion
F1:
Hiperio
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
ere
F1:
of
Q1:
That
if
conjectured by Tyrwhitt
or
anonymous conjecture noted in Cambridge
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
numbers
F1:
numbers:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
Toward heaven … will I do,
lineation after Pope
F1:
Toward Heauen […] blood: And I […] Chauntries, Where the […] still For Richards […] I doe:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
all,
call
conjectured by Warburton
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
4.2
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Enter the Dauphin, … Beaumont.
F1:
Enter the Dolphin, Orleance, Ramburs, and Beaumont.
Enter Dauphin, Orleans, Rambures, and Others.
Enter the Dukes of Bourbon and Orlans, and Lord Rambures
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Kittredge):
armor. Up,
F1:
Armour vp
F2:
Armour, up
armour; up
armour: up
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Dauphin
F1:
Dolph.
Q1:
BOURBON
throughout the scene
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Steevens):
Montez à cheval:
F1:
Monte Cheual:
Montez cheval
Montez! Cheval!
Monte à cheval!
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Evans 1974):
varlet lackey,
F1:
Verlot Lacquay:
F2:
Valet Lacquay:
valet! Lacquay!
:
varlet, laquais!
varlet! Lacquay!
varlet! laquais!
varlet lacquais!
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Via les eaux et terres
F1:
Via les ewes & terre
Voyer les Ceux & la terre
Via!les eaux et la terre
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Malone):
Rien puis? L’air
F1:
Rien puis le air
Rien plus? l’air
Rien puis les air
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Wilson):
feu?
F1:
feu.
feu!
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Munro):
Cieux
conjectured by Wilson
F1:
Cein
F3:
Cien
Rien
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
d’out
F1:
doubt
dout
daunt
Adopted reading (F1):
shales
F1:
shales
shells
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
against
F1:
against
F2:
’gainst
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
speculation,
F1:
speculation:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Johnson):
tucket sonance
F1:
Tucket Sonuance
tucket-sonance
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
hand,
hands
conjectured by Capell
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
pale dead
F1:
pale-dead
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
pale dull
palled
pull’d dull
palled dull
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Gurr 1992):
gemelled
F1:
Iymold
gimmal
gimmal’d
gimmaled
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
chawed grass,
F2:
chaw’d grasse
F1:
chaw’d-grasse
chew’d grass
chewed-grass
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
them all,
F1:
them all,
them all
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
lifeless
F1:
liuelesse
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
They have … death.
lineation as Pope
F1:
They haue […] prayers, And they […] death.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
I stay … trumpet take
lineation as Rowe
F1:
I stay […] on To the […] Trumpet take,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
guard. On
F1:
Guard: on
guidon
conjectured by Rann
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
4.3
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Bedford, … Westmorland.
F1:
Bedford . . . Westmerland
Clarence […] Warwick
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
his host,
F1:
his Hoast
the host
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Bedford
F1:
Bedf.
CLARENCE
throughout scene
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Westmorland
F1:
West.
Q1:
War.
substantively throughout scene
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
one, besides
F1:
one, besides
one; besides
one: besides
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading ():
God b’wi’you,
F1:
God buy’ you
God be wi’ you
God bye you
God buy you
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Johnson):
To Salisbury
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
And yet … of valor.
lines positioned as Theobald
F1:
lines follow Bedford’s previous speech (2252) in F1
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
Exit Salisbury.
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Westmorland?
F1:
Westmerland
Q1:
Warwick
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Wilson):
earns
F1:
yernes
yearns
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
shall see this day and live old age
F1:
shall see this day, and liue old age
Q1:
outliues this day, and sees old age
shall live this day, and see old age
shall see this day and live t’old age
conjectured by Keightley
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
scars. Old
F1:
skarres: Old
Q1:
skars And say, these wounds I had on Crispines day:
The following line (F1 H5 sig. I3v) does not appear in Q1.
scars, And say, these wounds I had on Crispin’s day. Old
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
yet all shall be forgot,
F1:
yet all shall be forgot
yet shall not all forget
all shall not be forgot
yea, all shall be forgot
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Clark):
forgot, But
F1:
forgot: But
forgot But
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
his mouth
Q1:
their mouthes
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
rememberèd,
F1:
remembred
remember’d
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
five thousand
F1:
fiue thousand
twelve thousand
fifteen thousand
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
abounding
Q1:
abundant
a bounding
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
crazing,
F1:
crasing
F2:
grasing
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
or
for
Adopted reading (Pope):
Will soon … thy labor.
lineation as Pope
F1:
Will soone be leuyed. Herauld, saue thou thy labour:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
’em
F1:
vm
Q1:
am
F4:
’um
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Johnson):
little. Tell
F1:
little, tell
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
thou wilt
thou’lt
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
come for a ransom.
conjectured in Cambridge
F1:
come againe for a Ransome.
come again for Ransom
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
vanguard.
F1:
Vaward
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
Take it, … away,
lineation as Pope
F1:
Take it, braue Yorke. Now Souldiers march away,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
4.4
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Qualtity?
F1:
Qualtitie
F2:
Qualtity
F4:
Quality
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (this edition):
Calinny custure me!
F1:
calmie custure me.
cality -- construe me,
Quality, call you me?
conjectured by Edwards
Calen o custure me!
conjectured by Malone
Callino, castore me!
Calmly; construe me,
caline custure me!
Callino custore me!
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Dew
throughout scene
F1:
Dewe
Due
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
for
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
rim
F1:
rymme
F4:
rym
ransom
ryno
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
bras?
F1:
bras.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Brass, cur? … brass?
prose F1
verse Johnson
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Say’st thou … his name.
prose F1
verse Johnson
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F4):
ton
F1:
tonne
tun
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Q1):
Master
Q1:
Master
F1:
M.
F4:
Mr.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Master
F1:
M.
F4:
Mr.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Mowat):
To Boy
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
à cette heure
F1:
asture
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Owi, cuppe-la gorge, permafoy
prose F1 to sword; verse, Johnson
F1:
Owy, cuppele gorge permafoy
Oui, couper la gorge, par ma foi
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (this edition):
crowns. Brave crowns,
F1:
Crownes, braue Crownes;
crowns, brave crowns,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
or mangled
O’ermangled
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
le gentilhomme
F1:
le Gentilhome
Q1:
vn gentelhome
F2:
Gentil-home
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Tell him … take.
prose F1
verse Johnson
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Mowat):
To Boy
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Singer 1826):
l’avez promis,
F1:
layt a pro mets
F2:
luy promettez
l’ay promettez
l’avez promettes
lui ci promettez
l’ayes promis
lui ici promettez
conjectured by Taylor
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
Kneeling to Pistol
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
je vous donne
F2:
ie vous donne
F1:
se vous donnes
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
remerciements,
F2:
remerceiment
F1:
remercious
remerciemens
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
je suis tombé
F1:
Ie intombe
F2:
ie ne tombe
j’ai tombe
je tombe
j’ai tombé
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Gurr 1992):
je pense,
F1:
Ie peuse
comme je pense
conjectured by Capell
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
très distingué
F1:
tres distinie
F2:
tres destiné
tres estimée
treis-distingué
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Suivez-vous
F1:
Saaue vous
Suivez vous
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
capitaine.
F1:
Capitaine?
F3:
Capitain!
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
Exeunt Pistol and French Soldier
F1:
Q1:
Exit omnes.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
everyone
F1:
euerie one
every vice
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
4.5
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
est perdu, tout est perdu!
F1:
et perdia, toute et perdie
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Dauphin
F1:
Dolph.
BOURBON
and throughout scene
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Wilson):
Mort Dieu! Ma vie!
conjectured by Greg
F1:
Mor Dieu ma vie
F2:
Mort Dieu ma vie
Mort de ma vie
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Reproach
Reproach, reproach
Mortal reproach
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
shame sits
lineation as Pope
F1:
shame Sits
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
Fortune!
F1:
Fortune,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Evans 1974):
die. In once
F1:
dye in once
F2:
flye in once
die instant: -- Once
fly in: -- Once
die in fight: Once
die in honour: Once
die: -- In! -- Once
die in harness: once
die in arms: once
conjectured by Mason
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
Whilst by a slave
F1:
Whilst a base slaue
F2:
Whilst by a base slave
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
contaminated.
contaminate
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
Exeunt.
F1:
Exit.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
4.6
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
Enter Exeter.
F1:
Exeunt Soldiers and Prisoners. / Enter EXETER.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
Duke
F1:
D.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F4):
honor-owing wounds,
F1:
honour-owing-wounds
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
noble-ending love.
F1:
noble-ending-loue
Q1:
neuer ending loue
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
mixtful
F1:
mixtfull
mistful
conjectured by Warburton
mixed-full
wilful
my full
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
Exeunt.
F1:
Exit
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
4.7
F1:
Actus Quartus.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
certain there’s
F1:
certaine, there’s
certain. There’s
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
in Macedon
F1:
in Macedon
Q1:
Macedon indeed
e’en Macedon
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
King Harry, … and other prisoners.
F1:
King Harry and Burbon with prisoners.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Boswell):
this, herald?
F1:
this Herald
Q1:
this?
F2:
their Herald
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
and the
F1:
and with
compositor error picked up from and with in the next line.
while their
and their
and our
while the
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
Jerk
F1:
Yerke
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Q1):
countryman.
F1:
Countrymen
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Jeshu,
F1:
Ieshu
Cheshu
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Q1):
God
F1:
Good
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Craig):
Exeunt Montjoy, English heralds, and Gower.
F1:
Q1:
Exit Heralds.
Exeunt Heralds with Montjoy
Exeunt Montjoy and Others
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
alive
F1:
aliue
’a live
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F4):
o’th’ear;
F1:
a’th ere
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
alive,
F1:
aliue
a live
a lived
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
jack-sauce
F1:
Iacke sawce
jacksauce
Jack Sauce
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
literatured
Q1:
hath good littrature
literature
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Gives him Williams’s glove
substantively: double dagger
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
and thou dost me love.
F1:
and thou do’st me loue
if thou dost love me
an thou dost love me
an thou dost me love
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
aggrief’d
F1:
agreefd
F2:
agreev’d
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (this edition):
glove. That
F1:
Gloue; that
glove, that
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (this edition):
all, but
F1:
all: but
all; but
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading ():
once an’t
F1:
once, and
once, an
once. An’t
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
might see.
F1:
might see.
might see it.
would see.
might.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F4):
o’th’ear.
F1:
a’th’eare
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Dyce 1867):
him -- as
F1:
him, as
him, (as
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Dyce 1867):
word --
F1:
word;
word)
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
And touched
F1:
And toucht
Q1:
And being toucht,
And, touched
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
4.8
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
’Sblood,
F1:
’Sblud
Q1:
Gode plut, and his
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F4):
any’s
F1:
anyes
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
into plows,
F1:
into plowes
in plows
in two plows
in due plows
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
will avouchment,
F1:
will auouchment
Q1:
auouchments
avouchment
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Presenting a paper
substantively: double dagger
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (this edition):
d’Alberet,
F1:
Delabreth
De-la-bret
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Great Master
F1:
Great Master
Great-Master
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
earls,
F1:
Earles,
Charillas,
earls:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
Lestrelles.
F1:
Lestrale.
Lestrake
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Takes a paper
substantively: double dagger
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Edward the … twenty.
:
Exe. Edward the […] twentie.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
twenty. O
lineation as Capell
F1:
twenty. O
:
twentie. King. O
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
loss
F1:
losse?
Q1:
losse,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
th’other?
F1:
th’other,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
5.0
F1:
Actus Quintus.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Johnson):
Chorus
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
There seen,
F1:
there seene
F2:
And there being seene
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Pales in
Pales-in
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
flood
F1:
flood;
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
wives,
F1:
wiues
F2:
with wives
and wives
wives, maids
maids, wives
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
Where that … him
F1:
Where, that […] him,
Where that […] him,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
citizens.
F1:
Citizens,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
by loving
F1:
by louing
loving
behoving
conjectured by Proudfoot
high-loving
as loving
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (this edition):
him,
F1:
him.
him --
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
emperor’s
F1:
Emperour’s
emperor
conjectured by Heath
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Singer 1826):
we omit:
F1:
and omit
But these now We pass in silence over, and omit
and the death O’th’Dauphin leap we over, and omit
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
5.1
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Gurr 1992):
with a cudgel
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
Fluellen threatens him.
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
and eat, I swear.
F1:
and eate I sweare.
F4:
and, eat, I swear.
and eat -- I swear --
and swear.
and eat I swear --
and eke I swear.
conjectured Johnson
I eat! an I eat, I swear --
and yet I swear
and eat, I swear --
and eat, I swear!
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading ():
b’wi’you,
F1:
Bu’y you,
be wi’ you,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
begun
F1:
began
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Doth fortune … Gallia wars.
prose F1
verse Pope
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Taylor 1982):
hussy
F1:
huswife
Q1:
huswye
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Doll
Nell
conjectured by Johnson
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
cudgeled.
F1:
Cudgeld
cudgellèd
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Q1):
swear
Q1:
sweare
F1:
swore
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Hanmer):
5.2
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Westmorland,
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Herford):
(Clarence,
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Malone):
Gloucester,
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Humphreys):
Huntingdon).
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Q1):
Catherine,
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Alice,
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
Burgundy,
F1:
Bourgougne
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
wherefore
wherefor
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
Burgundy.
F1:
Burgogne
Q1:
Burgondie
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
face,
face;
face.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
England;
F1:
England,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
met.
F1:
met,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Q1):
princes English,
F1:
Princes (English)
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
England,
F1:
Ireland
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
Your eyes … bent
lineation as F2
F1:
Your eyes […] borne In them […] bent,
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading ():
Since, then,
F1:
Since then
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
congreeted, let
F1:
congreeted: let
congreeted. Let
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
it
F3:
it’s
its
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rann):
even-pleached,
F1:
euen pleach’d
even-plashed
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F4):
fumitory
F1:
Femetary
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
scythe, withal
F1:
Sythe, withall
scythe, all
scythe withal
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
And all
And as
An all
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
natures,
Nurtures
conjectured by Warburton
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Johnson):
ourselves,
F1:
our selues
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
Burgundy,
F1:
Burgonie
Q1:
Burgondy
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Pope):
Well then, … answer.
lineation as Pope
F1:
Well then […] vrg’d, Lyes in his Answer.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
have
F1:
haue
have as yet
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
curselary
F1:
curselarie
Q1:
cursenary
Q3:
cursorary
cursitory
cursory
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Pass our accept
F1:
Passe our accept
Pass, or, accept,
conjectured by Warburton
pass or except
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Clarence,
Bedford
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Warwick,
Westmorland
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F4):
Haply
F1:
Happily
F2:
Happely
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading ():
and Alice.
F1:
Q1:
and the Gentlewoman
and a Lady
and her Gentlewoman
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (this edition):
Oh, fair
F1:
O faire
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Alice
substantively, throughout the scene
F1:
Lady.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
tongues
F1:
tongeus
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Dat is de princess.
F1:
dat is de Princesse
Dat says de princess
Dat is de Princess say
Dat is say de Princess
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
well.
vell.
not well.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Keightley):
back -- … spoken --
F1:
backe; vnder […] spoken.
back; under […] spoken,
back, under […] spoken,
back, under […] spoken
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
sees there,
F1:
sees there?
sees there;
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
take me.
F1:
take me?
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
not,
F1:
not?
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (this edition):
An take me,
F1:
And take me
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F2):
enemy
F2:
ennemy
F1:
ennemie
ennemi
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
Je quand sur le possession de France,
F1:
Ie / quand sur le possession de Fraunce
quand j’ay le possession
Je quand suis le possesseur
conjectured by Fuzier
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading ():
Denis
F1:
Dennis
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading ():
français
F1:
Francois
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
meilleur
F1:
melieus
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading ():
l’anglais
F1:
l’Anglois
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
scambling,
F1:
skambling
scrambling
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Hanmer):
beard?
F1:
Beard.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
très cher
F1:
trescher
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
majesty
F1:
Maiestee
majesté
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
fausse
F1:
fause
faux
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Steevens):
good fellows.
F1:
Good-fellowes
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
de roi
F1:
de Roy
le roy
le roi
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Ma foi,
F1:
may foy
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Clark):
abaissez
F1:
abbaisse
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Clark):
d’une de votre seigneurie indigne
F1:
d’une nostre Seigneur indignie
d’une vostre, Seigneur, indignie
d’une vostre indigne
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Kittredge):
serviteure. Excusez-moi, je
F1:
seruiteur excuse moy. Ie
serviteure; excusez moy, Je
serviteur, excusez moy. Je
serviteur; excusez-moi, je
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Warburton):
très puissant
F1:
tres-puissant
treis-puissant
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Hanmer):
noces,
F1:
nopcese
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
de fashion … ladies
F1:
de fashon pour le Ladies
de fashion pour de ladies
de façon pour les ladies
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
baiser
F1:
buisse
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Collier):
entend
F1:
entendre
entends
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Keightley):
Oh, Kate,
F1:
O Kate
O, Kate
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Craik):
yielding --
F1:
yeelding.
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
Kisses her
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
God save … English?
prose F1
verse Capell
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Collier):
majesty. My
F1:
Maiestie, my
Majesty! my
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
before it
before that it
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Craik):
no war hath
F1:
Warre hath
war hath never
war hath not
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (F1):
in sequel, all,
F1:
in sequele, all
F2:
then in sequele, all
so in sequel all
in the sequel all
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Rowe 1709):
très cher
F1:
trescher
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Warburton):
Praecarissimus
F1:
Præclarissimus
Percarissimus
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Theobald 1740):
paction
F1:
Pation
F3:
passion
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Steevens2):
peers’,
F1:
Peeres
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Clark):
Epilogue
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading ():
Chorus
F1:
Go to this point in the text
Adopted reading (Capell 1779):
Exit.
F1:
Go to this point in the text

Characters

Chorus
The presenter of the action, usually distinctively dressed (see Prologue Sp1 n.), and to be imagined as contemporary with the audience, rather than with the characters of the play.

The English

King Henry V
The eldest son (1386–1422) of King Henry IV, Henry reigned from 1413 until his death. He is mentioned in Richard II as the “unthrifty son” of King Henry IV (R2 5.3.1), and figures as the protagonist in 1 Henry IV and 2 Henry IV. While this play’s title promises “The Life” of Henry V, it focuses almost entirely on the first of his three campaigns in France, in 1415. Among his domestic accomplishments are the establishment of English, not Anglo-Norman French, as the language of government, which may be reflected in Shakespeare’s portrait of a king who struggles to speak French, and the unification of his kingdom after civil wars that troubled his father’s reign. Shakespeare’s audience would also have known him as a persecutor of the Lollards, a heretical Christian movement that advocated English translation of the bible, and whose agitation in early 1414 Henry quickly quelled (see Para55).
Duke of Clarence, brother to the king
Thomas of Lancaster, first Duke of Clarence (1387–1421), was the second son of Henry IV. He speaks no lines in the Folio version of this play, though he is on stage in 1.2 and is addressed in 5.2 (A5 Sc2 Sp11). He has a speaking role in the Quarto version of Henry V (substituting for Bedford), as well as in 2 Henry IV. Historically, Clarence took very little part in the 1415 campaign, being invalided home with dysentery at the siege of Harfleur, though he did participate in later French campaigns, meeting his death at the battle of Baugé.
Duke of Bedford, brother to the king
John of Lancaster, first Duke of Bedford (1389–1435), was the third son of Henry IV. He appears as Bedford in folio Henry V and 1 Henry VI, and as Prince John of Lancaster in the Henry IV plays. After King Henry’s death, Bedford was named Regent, but focused his energy on the war in France, while his younger brother Humphrey of Gloucester became Lord Protector. Contrary to Shakespeare’s depiction, he was neither at Agincourt nor at the Treaty of Troyes, serving as Lieutenant of England throughout the 1415 campaign.
Duke of Gloucester, brother to the king
Humphrey of Lancaster, first Duke of Gloucester (1391–1447) was the fourth and youngest son of Henry IV. He appears as a main character in 1 Henry VI and in 2 Henry VI, which includes, as its Folio title promises, the tragic “death of the Good Duke HVMFREY” (F1 2H6 sig. M2v). Historically, he was instrumental in the siege of Harfleur, and was wounded at Agincourt:
“The duke of Glocester the kings brother was sore wounded about the hips, and borne downe to the ground, so that he fell backwards, with his feet towards his enimies, whom the king bestrid, and like a brother valiantlie rescued from his enimies, & so sauing his life, caused him to be conueied out of the fight, into a place of more safetie.” (Holinshed, Chronicles, 1587 555)
Gloucester was not present (contrary to the play) at the Treaty of Troyes. He became Lord Protector of England during the minority of Henry VI, and died in disgrace after his wife Eleanor Cobham was accused of sorcery.
Duke of Exeter, uncle to the king
Thomas Beaufort (ca. 1377–1426), Henry’s “Uncle of Exeter” (A2 Sc2 Sp13) was the illegitimate (later legitimated) son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and therefore half-brother of Henry IV. He was not created Duke of Exeter until 1416. He held Harfleur for the English during the 1415 campaign, and he was present at the Treaty of Troyes, as in the play; Shakespeare’s seeming confusion over his presence at Agincourt seems to have come from Holinshed, who wrongly places him at the battle (Holinshed, Chronicles, 1587 553).
Duke of York, cousin to the king
Edward of Norwich, second Duke of York (1373–1415), was a first cousin of Henry V. He appears as the Duke of Aumerle in Richard II, but is unseen in the Henry IV plays. His title was inherited from his father Edmund Langley (the Duke of York in Richard II), and passed eventually to his nephew Richard, whose claim to the throne precipitated the Wars of the Roses, as dramatized in 2 Henry VI and 3 Henry VI. Shakespeare makes explicit neither his connection to Richard II nor his offspring’s claim, nor for that matter the fact that his younger brother was Cambridge, the traitor of 2.2. York’s death at Agincourt is the tragic theme of 4.6, though historically his death was less chivalry than ignoble accident: he smothered to death under a pile of corpses when unhorsed in the chaos of battle.
Earl of Westmorland, cousin to the king
Ralph Neville (1364–1425) was Henry V’s cousin (A1 Sc2 Sp5) and Exeter’s brother-in-law by virtue of his marriage to John of Gaunt’s daughter, and appears as a supporter of Henry IV in 1 Henry IV and 2 Henry IV. Historically he remained in England during the Agincourt campaign, serving as warden of the Scottish marches (see A1 Sc2 Sp17 n.).
Earl of Warwick
Richard Beauchamp, thirteenth Earl of Warwick (1382–1439), also appears in 1 Henry VI. His presence at Agincourt is unhistorical; various sources have him either holding Calais for the English or returning to England with Clarence after Harfleur.
Earl of Salisbury
Thomas Montacute or Montagu, fourth Earl of Salisbury (1388–1428), was one of the peers who tried Cambridge for treason, fought at Harfleur and Agincourt, and led English forces in France until his death at the siege of Orléans. See A4 Sc3 Sp5 n.
Earl of Huntingdon
John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon (1395–1447), is addressed in 5.2, but speaks no lines. See A5 Sc2 SD1 n.
Archbishop of Canterbury
Henry Chichele (ca. 1364–1443), was closely involved in crown and international affairs during his long tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury (1414–1442).
Bishop of Ely
John Fordham (ca. 1340–1425). Holinshed does not mention a second bishop in his account of Canterbury’s speech; Ely may have been chosen to appear in 1.1 because of contemporary rather than historical associations (see annotations to A1 Sc1 Sp3, A1 Sc1 Sp12). Despite his historical presence at the Treaty of Troyes, Shakespeare does not include Ely in 5.2, and his presence seems to have been edited out of the play for the shorter version behind Q.
Richard Earl of Cambridge, conspirator
Richard Plantagenet, third Earl of Cambridge (ca. 1375–5 August 1415), was the second son of Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, and younger brother of Edward of Norwich, (York in Henry V). He was the father of Richard, Duke of York, and grandfather of Edward IV and Richard III. See A2 Sc2 Sp28 n.
Henry, Lord Scrope of Masham, conspirator
Henry Scrope, third Baron of Masham (ca. 1376–1415), was a loyal supporter of King Henry IV, who made him Lord Treasurer and Knight of the Garter in 1410, and a close friend of Henry V, who sent him on diplomatic missions to France in the years leading up to the 1415 campaign. His motives for participation in the Southampton plot are unknown. See A2 Sc2 Sp5 n.
Sir Thomas Grey, conspirator
Sir Thomas Grey of Heaton Moor, Northumberland (1384–1415) was a son-in-law to Ralph Neville (Westmorland) and a brother of Sir John Grey, who served with distinction in the French campaigns.
Ancient Pistol
Pistol, whose name suggests both the notoriously inaccurate and noisy firearm and, through its likely pronunciation (pizzle), a penis (see A2 Sc1 Sp17 n.), is a recurring comic character who appears in 2 Henry IV and Merry Wives as an associate of Sir John Falstaff. His appearance here in a more major role suggested to John Dover Wilson that he was a late replacement for Falstaff, who had originally been intended—as the epilogue to 2 Henry IV suggests—to participate in Henry’s French wars. A3 Sc6 Sp23 suggests that he was originally played with a beard.
Since, as Malone argues, Pistol is elsewhere called merely ancient and not lieutenant (Plays), some editors have considered this phrase an error and, taking their cue from the Quarto reading, “Ensigne” (Q1 H5 C4r), have eliminated “lieutenant”. Craik suggests that listing the two ranks side by side represents an authorial correction unnoticed by the compositor (King Henry V). Gurr retains the Folio reading, glossing the phrase “sub-lieutenant”, but this retention is unnecessary (King Henry V). Since “ancient” (or “aunchient”) describes his position as standard-bearer, not his rank, it is quite possible for Pistol to be both, i.e., an ancient with the rank of lieutenant. The Oxford editors made the case for modernizing Pistol’s rank to “Ensign”, but since “Ancient Pistol” is the more recognized name of the character I have chosen not to do so. At any rate, since ensign is chiefly now a naval rank, such a modernization would be somewhat inaccurate. See A2 Sc1 Sp2 n.
Hostess, formerly Mistress Quickly, married to Pistol
Mistress of an inn, perhaps with the connotation of prostitution. The Hostess is evidently the same character who appears in the Henry IV plays as the keeper of an Eastcheap tavern and in Merry Wives as a suburban housekeeper. She is a wife in 1 Henry IV, a widow in 2 Henry IV, and the unmarried object of Pistol’s affection in Merry Wives. She is named Mistress Quickly in the dialogue and some speech prefixes in those plays, but only gets a first name, Nell, in Henry V (A2 Sc1 Sp7). The Hostess was originally played by a boy actor.
Lieutenant Bardolph
One of the companions of Sir John Falstaff in 1 Henry IV, 2 Henry IV, and Merry Wives, recognizable for his red complexion (see A2 Sc1 Sp24 n.). For his military rank, see A2 Sc1 Sp2 n.
Corporal Nym
Nym appears in Merry Wives as a companion of Sir John Falstaff. For his rank see A2 Sc1 Sp1 n. and A2 Sc1 Sp2 n. His name means “thief” or “to thieve” (OED Nim, n.1, v. 4.). The puritan Nicholas, in Middleton’s The Puritan, comically uses the word—as Bardolph and Nym use purchase (A3 Sc2 Sp10)—as a euphemism to satisfy his legalistic scruples:
Nicholas
That’s the word literal, thou shalt not steal. And would you wish me to steal then?
Pieboard
No, faith, that were too much, to speak truth. Why, wilt thou nim it from him?
Nicholas
That I will.
(Middleton 1.4.143–146)
Boy
The page, or serving boy, attendant upon Falstaff, the boy appears in 2 Henry IV and (with the name Robin) Merry Wives. The role originally required a boy actor with the ability to speak French, and may have been doubled, as it is in some modern productions, with the role of Catherine.
Sir Thomas Erpingham
Thomas Erpingham (ca. 1355–1428) was a soldier and loyal retainer to three generations of Lancasters: John of Gaunt, Henry Bolingbroke (later Henry IV), and Henry V. He commanded the archers at Agincourt; see A4 Sc1 Sp1 n.
Gower, an English Captain
An English captain
Like the other three captains in 3.2, Gower is Shakespeare’s invention, and as the representative of the English he is understandably the least caricatured of the four. Taylor argues that he is the “Master Gower” of 2 Henry IV (F1 2H4 G3r), but the name might also allude to the famous English poet John Gower—whom Shakespeare would later stage as the presenter of Pericles—and hence signify a characteristically English surname.
Fluellen, a Welsh captain
Fluellen’s name is a phonetic rendering of the common Welsh surname Llewellyn, but since he is based on no historical figure and exists solely as a dramatic character, there is no need to emend the name to its more usual spelling, as Gurr does. Shakespeare’s spelling reflects English practice: a William Fluellen appears on a list of recusants living in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1590 (see Brownlow, John Shakespeare’s recusancy). The character was popular enough to appear, with Macmorris, in a 1720 comedy, Charles Molloy’s The Half-pay Officers, with half-parodic lines taken liberally from Shakespeare’s play. Lisa Hopkins suggests that Flewellen must have been played by the same Welsh-accented actor who had portrayed Glendower in 1 Henry IV “and is thus, in the double-haunted world of these plays, his symbolic replacement” (Hopkins 64).
Jamy, a Scottish captain
Jamy is not a characteristic Scots surname. The name might be, as Gurr suggests, an acknowledgement of Scottish King James I’s participation in Henry V’s 1420 French campaign (see Holinshed, Chronicle, 1587 577, 580); others have suggested that Shakespeare had King James VI (later, as James I of England, the playing company’s patron) in mind.
Macmorris, an Irish captain

John Bates, a soldier

Alexander Court, a soldier
A soldier

Michael Williams, a soldier

Herald
an officer in charge of bearing messages between royalty and in keeping track of the names and coats of arms of the nobility.

The French

French King, Charles VI
King Charles VI (1380–1422), was known both as Charles the Beloved and, because of occasional bouts of insanity (probably schizophrenia), Charles the Mad. His madness is not mentioned by Shakespeare, who knew from his source that the French king suffered from an “old disease of frensie” (Holinshed, Chronicle, 1587 547). Charles outlived Henry V by two months.
Queen Isabeau
Isabeau of Bavaria, queen consort to Charles VI (1385–1422), took a prominent role in government to help fill the gap left by her husband’s frequent mental illness, and was instrumental in approving the Treaty of Troyes. Her role was originally played by a boy actor.
Louis the Dauphin, their son
Louis (1397–1415) was the eldest surviving son of Charles and Isabeau to hold the title of dauphin; ten years younger than King Henry, he did not fight at Agincourt, but died, probably of dysentery, shortly after the battle. He was succeeded as dauphin by his brother John, and then in 1417 by his brother Charles, who assassinated Duke John of Burgundy and later became the King Charles VII depicted by Shakespeare in 1 Henry VI. Historically, the “certain dukedoms” that Henry claimed chiefly included the much-contested Guienne, one of the dauphin’s holdings, and thus Henry’s claim was a personal affront to the crown prince (see Curry 20–22). On the traditional title of the heir to the French throne, derived from the dolphin heraldry he carried, see A1 Sc2 Sp22 n. The role requires the ability to speak French.
Catherine, their daughter
Catherine (1401–1437) was Henry’s Queen consort from the Treaty of Troyes until his death, after which she secretly married the Welsh soldier Owain Tudor, founding the Tudor dynasty. As Queen Elizabeth’s great-great-grandmother, she provided much of the legitimacy for her rule, and her appearance in the play underscores the discussion of female succession and the Salic law in 1.2. Her role was originally played by a boy actor who could speak French.
Alice, Catherine’s waiting woman
Another boy actor’s role requiring the ability to speak French. Alice is referred to as “an old gentlewoman” (A3 Sc4 SD1).
Constable of France
Charles d’Albret (d. 1415) held the office of Constable of France—a chief officer of the French royal household who commanded the army in the king’s absence—from 1402–1411 and again from 1413 until his death at Agincourt, at which he was nominal commander (along with Marshal Jean Boucicaut) of the French forces. On the spelling of his name, see A3 Sc5 Sp8 n.
Duke of Burgundy
The Burgundy who speaks in 5.2 is Philip the Good (1396–1467), and should perhaps therefore be acted by a young man. He succeeded his father, John the Fearless—mentioned at A3 Sc5 Sp8 and A4 Sc8 Sp32—in 1419. See A4 Sc8 Sp32 n.
Duke of Bourbon
John I, Duke of Bourbon (1381–1434) was a maternal uncle to King Charles VI. He was captured at Agincourt and lived out his remaining years in England.
Duke of Orléans
Charles, Duke of Orléans (1394–1465) was a nephew of King Charles VI and head of the Armagnac faction of French nobles, enemies of the Burgundians, who had assassinated Charles’s father in 1407. Because he was in line for the French throne, after his capture at Agincourt he was deemed too important to ransom, and lived as a prisoner in England for twenty-four years.
Duke of Berry
John, Duke of Berry (1340–1416) was the son of King John II and uncle to Charles VI, during whose bouts of insanity he sometimes served as regent. A herald in his employ is one of the chief historical accounts of Agincourt, but though he appears onstage in the play in 2.4 and possibly 3.5, his is a mute role.
Lord Rambures
David, Sire de Rambures (1364–1415) was a strong supporter of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, and the master of the crossbowmen (both an honourific title and a command position) at Agincourt, where he died.
Lord Grandpré
Holinshed lists an Earl of Grandpré among the French lords slain at Agincourt, as do some contemporary accounts of the battle, but no specific details survive.
Montjoy, the Herald
Shakespeare takes “Montjoy” to be a name, when it was in fact the title of the chief herald, or king-of-arms, of the French, as instituted in 1406 by Charles VI. Taken from the French battle cry “Montjoie Saint Denis!”, a montjoy (from the Latin Mons Gaudii) is a heap of stones by a roadside (OED montjoy, n.), used by armies to act as signposts leading soldiers to a battle, hence an appropriate metaphor for a herald of war. In Famous Victories, the battle of Agincourt is begun with the stage direction “The French-men cry within, S. Dennis, S. Dennis. Mount, Ioy, Saint Dennis” (F1 FV F1r).
I have not regularized to the more usual “Mountjoye” or “Montjoie”, as the Folio’s spelling (“Montioy”) represents a fictional character as Shakespeare envisioned him. By coincidence, “Mountjoy” was the surname of the family from whom Shakespeare rented lodgings in London sometime before 1604, as well as of Elizabeth’s governor in Ireland from 1600–1603 (see A5 Sc0 Sp1 n.).
Governor
Contemporary accounts differ as to who was captain of Harfleur during the siege (see Curry 84–85).
Ambassador to England
Holinshed mentions an embassy from the Archbishop of Bourges (Chronicles, 1587 547), and in Famous Victories this is equated with the earlier embassy of the tennis balls (FV sig. D3r), also depicted in 1.2, but Shakespeare gives no indication that the ambassador is a prelate. The second ambassador is a mute role.
French Soldier, Monsieur le Fer
Monsieur le Fer (Fr. “iron”): “an incongruous enough name for a soldier who yields to Pistol” (Craik, Henry V). The role requires the ability to speak French.

Messenger

Brittany

Lords

All

Prosopography

Chris Horne

Donald Bailey

Eric Rasmussen

Eric Rasmussen is Regents Teaching Professor and Foundation Professor of English at the University of Nevada. He is co-editor with Sir Jonathan Bate of the RSC William Shakespeare Complete Works and general editor, with Paul Werstine, of the New Variorum Shakespeare. He has received the Falstaff Award from PlayShakespeare.com for Best Shakespearean Book of the Year in 2007, 2012, and 2013.

James D. Mardock

James Mardock is Associate Professor of English at the University of Nevada, Associate General Editor for the Internet Shakespeare Editions, and a dramaturge for the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival and Reno Little Theater. In addition to editing quarto and folio Henry V for the ISE, he has published essays on Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and other Renaissance literature in The Seventeenth Century, Ben Jonson Journal, Borrowers and Lenders, and contributed to the collections Representing the Plague in Early Modern England (Routledge 2010) and Shakespeare Beyond Doubt (Cambridge 2013). His book Our Scene is London (Routledge 2008) examines Jonsonʼs representation of urban space as an element in his strategy of self-definition. With Kathryn McPherson, he edited Stages of Engagement (Duquesne 2013), a collection of essays on drama in post-Reformation England, and he is currently at work on a monograph on Calvinism and metatheatrical awareness in early modern English drama.

Janelle Jenstad

Janelle Jenstad is a Professor of English at the University of Victoria, Director of The Map of Early Modern London, and Director of Linked Early Modern Drama Online. With Jennifer Roberts-Smith and Mark Kaethler, she co-edited Shakespeare’s Language in Digital Media: Old Words, New Tools (Routledge). She has edited John Stow’s A Survey of London (1598 text) for MoEML and is currently editing The Merchant of Venice (with Stephen Wittek) and Heywood’s 2 If You Know Not Me You Know Nobody for DRE. Her articles have appeared in Digital Humanities Quarterly, Elizabethan Theatre, Early Modern Literary Studies, Shakespeare Bulletin, Renaissance and Reformation, and The Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. She contributed chapters to Approaches to Teaching Othello (MLA); Teaching Early Modern Literature from the Archives (MLA); Institutional Culture in Early Modern England (Brill); Shakespeare, Language, and the Stage (Arden); Performing Maternity in Early Modern England (Ashgate); New Directions in the Geohumanities (Routledge); Early Modern Studies and the Digital Turn (Iter); Placing Names: Enriching and Integrating Gazetteers (Indiana); Making Things and Drawing Boundaries (Minnesota); Rethinking Shakespeare Source Study: Audiences, Authors, and Digital Technologies (Routledge); and Civic Performance: Pageantry and Entertainments in Early Modern London (Routledge). For more details, see janellejenstad.com.

Joey Takeda

Joey Takeda is LEMDO’s Consulting Programmer and Designer, a role he assumed in 2020 after three years as the Lead Developer on LEMDO.

Martin Holmes

Martin Holmes has worked as a developer in the UVicʼs Humanities Computing and Media Centre for over two decades, and has been involved with dozens of Digital Humanities projects. He has served on the TEI Technical Council and as Managing Editor of the Journal of the TEI. He took over from Joey Takeda as lead developer on LEMDO in 2020. He is a collaborator on the SSHRC Partnership Grant led by Janelle Jenstad.

Michael Best

Michael Best is Professor Emeritus at the University of Victoria, BC. He is the Founding Editor of the Internet Shakespeare Editions, of which he was the Coordinating Editor until 2017. In print, he has published editions of works of Elizabethan magic and huswifery, a collection of letters from the Australian goldfields, and Shakespeare on the Art of Love (2008). He contributed regular columns for the Shakespeare Newsletter on Electronic Shakespeares, and has written many articles and chapters for both print and online books and journals, principally on questions raised by the new medium in the editing and publication of texts. He has delivered papers and plenary lectures on electronic media and the Internet Shakespeare Editions at conferences in Canada, the USA, the UK, Spain, Australia, and Japan.

Navarra Houldin

Project manager 2022–present. Textual remediator 2021–present. Navarra Houldin (they/them) completed their BA in History and Spanish at the University of Victoria in 2022. During their degree, they worked as a teaching assistant with the University of Victoriaʼs Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies. Their primary research was on gender and sexuality in early modern Europe and Latin America.

Nicole Vatcher

Technical Documentation Writer, 2020–2022. Nicole Vatcher completed her BA (Hons.) in English at the University of Victoria in 2021. Her primary research focus was womenʼs writing in the modernist period.

Tracey El Hajj

Junior Programmer 2019–2020. Research Associate 2020–2021. Tracey received her PhD from the Department of English at the University of Victoria in the field of Science and Technology Studies. Her research focuses on the algorhythmics of networked communications. She was a 2019–2020 President’s Fellow in Research-Enriched Teaching at UVic, where she taught an advanced course on Artificial Intelligence and Everyday Life. Tracey was also a member of the Map of Early Modern London team, between 2018 and 2021. Between 2020 and 2021, she was a fellow in residence at the Praxis Studio for Comparative Media Studies, where she investigated the relationships between artificial intelligence, creativity, health, and justice. As of July 2021, Tracey has moved into the alt-ac world for a term position, while also teaching in the English Department at the University of Victoria.

William Shakespeare

Bibliography

A Mirror for English Soldiers. London, 1595. STC 10418. ESTC S115547.
Abbott, E.A. A Shakespearian Grammar. London: Macmillan, 1870.
Alexander, Peter, ed. William Shakespeare: The Complete Works. London: Collins, 1951.
Altman, Joel B. Vile Participation: The Amplification of Violence in the Theater of Henry V . Shakespeare Quarterly 42.1 (1991): 1–32. WSB bd1032. doi: 10.2307/2870650.
Anonymous. The Second Tome of Homilies. London: Richard Jugge, 1563. STC 13666.7. ESTC S125416.
Awdelay, John. The fraternitie of uacabondes. London, 1575. STC 994. ESTC S108226.
Baldwin, T.W. William Shakspere’s Small Latine & Lesse Greeke. 2 vols. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1944.
Barret, Robert. The theorike and practike of moderne warres. London. 1598. STC 1500. ESTC S106853.
Bate, Jonathan and Eric Rasmussen, eds. William Shakespeare: Complete Works. The RSC Shakespeare. New York: Modern Library, 2007; rpt. London: MacMillan, 2007 WSB aau143.
Becon, Thomas. Flower of Godly Prayers. London, 1550. STC 1719.5. ESTC S1782.
Bevington, David, ed. The Complete Works of Shakespeare. 5th ed. New York: Longman, 2003.
Boorde, Andrew. A compendyous regyment or a dyetary of healthe. London, 1547. STC 3380. ESTC S116196.
Boswell, James, the Younger. The Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare. 21 vols. London, 1821. Boswell.
Bourus, Terri, ed. A Midsummer Nightʼs Dream. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 1083–1134. WSB aaag2304.
Bourus, Terri, ed. Antony and Cleopatra. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 2571–2657. WSB aaag2304.
Bourus, Terri, ed. The Winterʼs Tale. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 2897–2973. WSB aaag2304.
Bridges, John. A sermon, preached at Paules Crosse. London, 1571. STC 3736. ESTC S109682.
Brissenden, Alan. Shakespeare and the Dance. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press, 1981. WSB aq123.
Brownlow, F.W. John Shakespeare’s Recusancy: New Light on an Old Document. Shakespeare Quarterly 40.2 (1989): 186–191. WSB bf1173. doi: 10.2307/2870819.
Caius, John. Of Englishe Dogges. Trans. Abraham Fleming. London, 1576. STC 4347. ESTC S113247.
Calvin, Jean. The Sermons of M. Iohn Caluin vpon the fifth booke of Moses called Deuteronomie. Trans. Arthur Golding. London: Henry Middleton, 1583. STC 4443. ESTC S115633.
Campbell, Lily B. Shakespeare’s Histories: Mirrors of Elizabethan Policy. San Marino: Huntington Library Press, 1947.
Capell, Edward, ed. Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. 10 vols. London: Dryden Leach, 1767; rpt. 1768. ESTC T138599. Murphy 304.
Murphy notes that individual volumes are dated either 1767 or 1768, but the full set was issued together in 1768.
Capell, Edward, ed. The Works of Shakespeare. 10 vols. London, 1767–1768; rpt. 1774; rpt. 1779.
Capell, Edward. Notes and Various Readings to Shakespeare. 3 vols. 1783. ESTC T73629.
Caxton, William. Cronycles of Englond. London, 1482. STC 9992. ESTC S121383.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Ed. Larry D. Benson. The Riverside Chaucer. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987.
Cicero. De re publica. Trans. Clinton Walker Keyes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1928.
Clark, William George, John Glover, and William Aldis Wright, eds. Works of William Shakespeare. 9 vols. Cambridge and London: MacMillan and Co, 1863–1866.
Collier, John Payne, ed. The Works of William Shakespeare. 8 vols. London: Whittaker & Co., 1842–1844.
Connor, Francis X., ed. A Pleasant Conceited Comedy Called Love’s Labour’s Lost. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 777–844. WSB aaag2304.
Connor, Francis X., ed. As You Like It. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 1693–1755. WSB aaag2304.
Connor, Francis X., ed. Lucrece. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 677–721. WSB aaag2304.
Connor, Francis X., ed. Shakespeareʼs Sonnets and A Loverʼs Complaint. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 2814–2892. WSB aaag2304.
Connor, Francis X., ed. The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 1001–1077. WSB aaag2304.
Connor, Francis X., ed. The Second Part of Henry the Fourth. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 1359–1436. WSB aaag2304.
Connor, Francis X., ed. The Tragedy of Coriolanus. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 2727–2813. WSB aaag2304.
Copley, Anthony. Wits fittes and fancies. London, 1595. STC 5738. ESTC S111171.
Craig, Hardin, ed. The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Ed. David Bevington. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman, 1973.
Craik, T.W. Henry V. Times Literary Supplement. 29 February 1980. 236. WSB br743.
Craik, T.W., ed. King Henry V. By William Shakespeare. Arden Shakespeare. London and New York: Routledge, 1995. WSB ai7.
Curry, Anne. Agincourt: A New History. Stroud: Tempus, 2005.
Davies, John. Orchestra or A poeme of dauncing. London, 1596. STC 6360. ESTC S105203.
Dekker, Thomas. The Shomakerʼs Holiday. London, 1600. STC 6523. ESTC S105232.
Delius, Nicolaus, ed. Shakespeares Werke. 2 vols (Elberfield: R.L. Friderichs,1882).
Deloney, Thomas. The gentle craft. London, 1637. STC 6555. ESTC S118250.
Dent, R.W. Shakespeare’s Proverbial Language: An Index. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981. WSB aq146.
Digges, Leonard and Thomas Digges. An Arithmetical Warlike Treatise Named Stratioticos. London, 1579. STC 6848. ESTC S109689.
Dollimore, Jonathan and Alan Sinfield. History and Ideology: the instance of Henry V . Alternative Shakespeares. Ed. John Drakakis. London, Methuen, 1985. 206–227. WSB bk1255.
Dorius, R.J. The Life of Henry the Fifth. The Yale Shakespeare. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1955.
Dyce, Alexander, ed. The Works of William Shakespeare. 2nd edition. 9 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1866–1867. (See HathiTrust Record 008925297.)
Dyce, Alexander, ed. The Works of William Shakespeare. 6 vols. London: Edward Moxon, 1857.
Déprats, Jean-Michel. A French history of Henry V . Shakespeare’s History Plays. Ed. Hoenselaars. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 75–91.
Elyot, Thomas. The Book Named The Governour. London, 1537. STC 7636. ESTC S100413.
Evans, G. Blakemore, ed. The Riverside Shakespeare. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974. WSB av91.
Evans, H.A., ed. Henry V. Arden Shakespeare. London: Methuen, 1903.
Fabyan, Robert. New Chronicles of England and France. London, 1516. STC 10659. ESTC S109993.
Galloway, David. Fluellen. Notes and Queries 204.3 (1959): 116.
Geary, Patrick J. Before France and Germany: The Creation and Transformation of the Merovingian World. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Gesta Henrici Quinti. Ed. and trans. Frank Taylor and John S. Roskell. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975.
Greg, W.W. Aspects of Shakespeare. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1933.
Gurr, Andrew, ed. King Henry V. New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992; rpt. 2005. WSB aaq278.
Gurr, Andrew, ed. The First Quarto of Henry V . New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. WSB aab370.
Gurr, Andrew. Why Captain Jamy in Henry V? Archiv 226.2 (1989): 365–373. WSB bf1597.
Hall, Edward, dir. Henry V. By William Shakespeare. Stratford: Royal Shakespeare Company, 2000.
Hall, Edward. The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and Yorke. London, 1548. STC 12721. ESTC S121062.
Hanmer, Thomas. The Works of Mr William Shakespear. 6 vols. London, 1743–1744. ESTC T138604.
Harbage, Alfred, ed. William Shakespeare: The Complete Works. The Pelican Shakespeare. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1969. WSB aai237.
Harsnett, Samuel. A Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures. London: James Roberts, 1603. STC 12880. ESTC S120922.
Harvey, Gabriel. Pierces supererogation. London, 1593. STC 12903. ESTC S103899.
Henslowe, Philip. Henslowe’s Diary. Ed. R.A. Foakes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1961.
Herford, C.H., ed. The Works of Shakespeare. 10 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1903.
Heywood, Thomas. The Four Prentices of London. London, 1615. STC 13321. ESTC S120519.
Hinman, Charlton and Peter W.M. Blayney, eds. The Norton Facsimile: The First Folio of Shakespeare: Based on Folios in the Folger Shakespeare Library Collection. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996. WSB ao884.
Holinshed, Raphael. Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande. London, 1577. STC 13568.5. ESTC S93012.
Holinshed, Raphael. Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande. Vol. 3. London, 1587. STC 13569. ESTC S122178.
Hopkins, Lisa. Welshness in Shakespeare’s English Histories. Shakespeare’s History Plays: Performance, Translation and Adaptation in Britain and Abroad. Ed. Ton Hoenselaars. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 60–74. WSB bbm1501.
Horace. Satires. Epistles. The Art of Poetry. Translated by H. Rushton Fairclough. Loeb Classical Library 194. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1926.
Horace. Trans. C.E. Bennet. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1960.
Hotson, Leslie. I, William Shakespeare, do appoint Thomas Russell, Esquire. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1937.
Hudson, Henry N. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. 11 vols. London, 1856.
Humphreys, A.R., ed. Henry V. The New Penguin Shakespeare. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1968. WSB aaj143.
Hunt, Maurice. The Hybrid Reformations of Shakespeare’s Second Henriad. Comparative Drama 32.1 (1998): 176–206. WSB bw147. DOI 10.1353/cdr.1998.0041.
Jackson, MacDonald P. Henry V III.vi.181: An Emendation. Notes and Queries 13 (1966): 133–134. WSB bbn945.
Johnson, Samuel. The Plays of William Shakespeare. 8 vols. London, 1765. ESTC T138601.
Jonson, Ben. Bartholmew fayre. London, 1631. STC 14753.5. ESTC S4350.
Jonson, Ben. Every Man in His Humour. Ed. Robert S. Miola. Revels Plays. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000.
Jonson, Ben. The Case is Altered. London, 1598.
Jonson, Ben. Workes. London, 1616. STC 14751. ESTC S126501.
Jorgensen, Paul A. Shakespeare’s Military World. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1956.
Jowett, John, ed. King Lear and his Three Daughters. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 2351–2433. WSB aaag2304.
Jowett, John, ed. The Third Part of Henry the Sixth; or, The Tragedy of Richard Duke of York. By William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, and Anonymous. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 335–406. WSB aaag2304.
Jowett, John, ed. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 1997–2099. WSB aaag2304.
Jowett, John, ed. The Tragedy of Macbeth. By William Shakespeare and Thomas Middleton. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 2505–2565. WSB aaag2304.
Jowett, John, ed. The Tragedy of Richard the Third. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 547–638. WSB aaag2304.
Jowett, John, ed. Troilus and Cressida. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 1907–1992. WSB aaag2304.
Julius Caesar. The Gallic War. Trans. H.J. Edwards. Loeb Classical Library, 72. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1917.
Kaplan, Joel H. Pistol’s Oath: Henry V, II.i. 101. Shakespeare Quarterly 22.4 (1971): 399–401. WSB bbe512. DOI 10.2307/2868923.
Keightley, Thomas, ed. The Plays of Shakespeare. 6 vols. London: Bell and Daldy, 1864–1866.
Kelly, Francis M. and Randolphe Schwabe. A Short History of Costume and Armour. 2 vols. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1931.
Kingsford, C.L. The First English Life of King Henry the Fifth. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1911.
Kittredge, George Lyman, ed. The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Boston: Ginn and Co., 1936.
Knight, Charles, ed. Comedies, Histories, Tragedies & Poems of William Shakespeare. Vol. 10. London: Charles Knight, 1843.
Knight, Charles, ed. The Pictorial Edition of the Works of Shakspere. 6 vols. London, 1838–1843.
Kyd, Thomas. The Spanish Tragedy. Ed. Philip Edwards. Revels Plays. Manchester, NY: Manchester University Press, 1959; rpt. 1995.
Le Comte, Edward S. Shakspere, Guilpin, and Essex. Shakespeare Association Bulletin 23.1 (1948): 17–19.
Lily, William. A Short Introduction of Grammar. London, 1549. STC 15611. ESTC S104797; rpt. Reyner Wolfe, 1567. STC 15614.2. LEME 110.
Loughnane, Rory, ed. Allʼs Well That Ends Well. By William Shakespeare and Thomas Middleton. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford Universtiy Press, 2016. 2275–2346. WSB aaag2304.
Loughnane, Rory, ed. Cymbeline, King of Britain. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 2979–3068. WSB aaag2304.
Loughnane, Rory, ed. The Comical History of the Merchant of Venice; or, The Jew of Venice. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 1211–1273. WSB aaag2304.
Loughnane, Rory, ed. The Reign of King Edward the Third. By Anonymous and William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 481–542. WSB aaag2304.
Loughnane, Rory, ed. The Second Part of Henry the Sixth; or, The First Part of the Contention. By William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 255–330. WSB aaag2304.
Loughnane, Rory, ed. The Tempest. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 3073–3131. WSB aaag2304.
Loughnane, Rory, ed. Twelfth Night; or, What you Will. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 1829–1889. WSB aaag2304.
Lupton, Thomas. A thousand notable things. London, 1579. STC 16955. ESTC S104926.
Lyly, John. Euphues and his England. Containing hbis voyage and his adventures, mysed with sunrie pretie discourses of honest love, the discription of the countrey, the court, and the manners of that isle. London: T. East for Gabriell Cawood, 1580. STC 17070. ESTC S908.
Malone, Edmond, ed. The Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare. 10 vols. London: J. Rivingston and Sons, 1790. ESTC T138858.
Marlowe, Christopher, trans. Lucans first booke. London, 1600. STC 16883.5. ESTC S94045.
Marlowe, Christopher. The Massacre at Paris. London: Edward White, 1594. STC 17423. ESTC S109865. DEEP 207.
Mason, John Monck. Comments on the Last Edition of Shakespeare’s Plays. Dublin, 1785. ESTC T164011.
McCloskey, John. The Mirror of All Christian Kings. Shakespeare Association Bulletin 19.1 (1944): 36–40.
McEachern, Claire, ed. The Life of King Henry the Fifth. The Pelican Shakespeare. New York: Penguin Putnam, 1999. WSB aaa308.
Middleton, Thomas. The Collected Works. Ed. Gary Taylor and John Lavagnino. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. WSB aau409.
Montaigne, Michel de. Essays. Trans. John Florio. London, 1613. STC 18042. ESTC S111840.
Moore Smith, G.C. Henry V. Warwick Shakespeare. London: Blackie and Son, 1893.
More, Thomas. Utopia. Trans. Ralph Robinson. London, 1551. STC 18094. ESTC S110035.
Mowat, Barbara A., Werstine, Paul, ed. Henry V. Washington, D.C. Folger Shakespeare Library. 2020. https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/henry-v/.
Mowat, Barbara K., and Paul Werstine, eds. The Life of Henry V. The New Folger Library Shakespeare. New York: Washington Square Press, 1995. WSB ai89.
Munday, Anthony, Michael Drayton, Robert Wilson, and Richard Hathaway. Sir John Oldcastle. London, 1600. STC 18795. ESTC S106323.
Munro, John, ed. The London Shakespeare: A New Annotated and Critical Edition of the Complete Works. 6 vols. London: Eyre and Spottiswood, 1957.
Neville, Sarah, ed. The Comedy of Errors. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 727–771. WSB aaag2304.
Neville, Sarah, ed. The First Part of King Henry the Sixth; or, Harry the Sixth. By Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nashe, Anonymous, and William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 927–996. WSB aaag2304.
Neville, Sarah, ed. The Merry Wives of Windsor. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 1761–1824. WSB aaag2304.
Neville, Sarah, ed. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 1611–1675. WSB aaag2304.
Noble, Adrian, dir. Henry V. Stratford: Royal Shakespeare Company, 1984.
Nowell, Alexander. Catechisme. London, 1570. STC 18708. ESTC S119860.
OED: The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.
OED: The Oxford English Dictionary. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.
Osborne, Francis. A miscellany of sundry essayes. London, 1659. ESTC R200748. Wing O516.
Ovid. Metamorphosis. Trans. Arthur Golding. London, 1584. STC 18958. ESTC S119907.
Page, T.E., E. Capps, and W.H.D. Rouse, eds. Remains of Old Latin. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1936.
Palmer, D.J. Casting off the Old Man: History and St. Paul in Henry V . Critical Quarterly 12.3 (1970): 267–283. WSB bbg388. doi 10.1111/j.1467–8705.1970.tb02338.x.
Partridge, Eric. Shakespeare’s Bawdy. 1947; rpt. London: Routledge, 1968; rpt. 1996.
Patterson, Annabel M. Back by Popular Demand: The Two Versions of Henry V . Renaissance Drama 19 (1988): 29–62. WSB bg1057.
Perkins, William. Four Great Liars. London: Robert Waldegrave, 1585. STC 19721.7. ESTC S113859.
Pliny the Elder. Natural History. Trans. Philemon Holland. London, 1601.
Pollard, A.W. and John Dover Wilson. Henry V (1600). Times Literary Supplement. 13 March 1919. 134.
Pope, Alexander, ed. The Works of Mr William Shakespear. 6 vols. London, 1723; rpt. 8 vols. London, 1728.
Prothero, R.E. Shakespeare’s England: An Account of the Life & Manners of His Age. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1917.
Pruitt, Anna, ed. Much Ado about Nothing. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 1441–1505. WSB aaag2304.
Pruitt, Anna, ed. The History of Henry the Fourth. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 1279–1353. WSB aaag2304. 1H4.
Pruitt, Anna, ed. The Tragedy of King Richard the Second. By William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 851–922. WSB aaag2304.
Pugliatti, Paola. Shakespeare and the Just War Tradition. Farnham: Ashgate, 2010. WSB aaz53.
Rann, Joseph, ed. The Dramatic Works of Shakespeare. 6 vols. Oxford, 1786–1794. ESTC T138854.
Rasmussen, Eric. Anonymity and the Erasure of Shakespeare’s First Eighteenth-Century Editor. Reading Readings: Essays on Shakespeare Editing in the Eighteenth Century. Ed. Joanna Gondris. Madison and Teaneck: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press; London: Associated University Presses, 1998. 318–322. bw764.
Rasmussen, Eric. Shakespeare without Rules: The Fifth Shakespeare Folio and Market Demands in the Early 1700s. Canonizing Shakespeare: Stationers and the Book Trade, 1640–1740. Ed. Emma Depledge and Peter Kirwan. Cambridge University Press, 2017. 55–63. WSB bbbh1325.
Rasmussen, Eric. The Shakespeare Fifth Folio (c. 1700). Tulsa, Privately Printed, 1994.
Rauchut, E.A. Guilty in Defense: A Note on Henry V . Shakespeare Quarterly 42.1 (1991): 55–57. WSB bd708. DOI 10.2307/2870653.
Robinson, Clement. A Handful of Pleasant Delights. London, 1584. STC 21105. ESTC S110524.
Robinson, Mairi, ed. The Concise Scots Dictionary. Edinburgh: Polygon, 1999.
Rowe, Nicholas, ed. The Works of Mr William Shakespear. 6 vols. London, 1709; rpt. 8 vols. 1714. ESTC T138296.
Rowe, Nicholas, ed. The Works of Mr. William Shakespear. Second edition. 6 vols. London: Jacob Tonson, 1709.
Rowe, Nicholas, ed. The Works of Mr. William Shakespear. Vol. 5. London: Jacob Tonson, 1709; rpt. 1714. ESTC N25981; rpt. London: Pickering & Chatto, 1999. ESTC T138294.
Sacra Biblia. The Vulgate Bible. Ed. Bonifatius Fischer. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1969.
Schwyzer, Philip. Literature, Nationalism, and Memory in Early Modern England and Wales. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. WSB aam517.
Scot, Reginald. Discoverie of Witchcraft. London, 1584. STC 21864. ESTC S116888.
Shakespeare, William. Mr William Shakespeares comedies, histories & tragedies: Published according to the true originall copies. London: William Jaggard, 1623. STC 22273. ESTC S111228. DEEP 5081.
Shakespeare, William. Mr William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. London: Robert Allot, 1632. STC 22274. ESTC S111233.
Shakespeare, William. Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Herringman, 1685. Wing S2915. ESTC R25621.
Shakespeare, William. Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. London: Philip Chetwinde, 1663. Wing S2913. ESTC R212954.
Shakespeare, William. The Chronicle History of Henry the Fifth with his Battle Fought at Agincourt in France. London, 1600. STC 22289. ESTC S111105.
Shakespeare, William. The late, and much admired play, called Pericles, Prince of Tyre With the true relation of the whole historie, aduentures, and fortunes of the said prince: as also, the no lesse strange, and worthy accidents, in the birth and life, of his daughter Mariana. As it hath been diuers and sundry times acted by his Maiesties Seruants, at the Globe on the Banck-side. London, 1609. STC 22335. ESTC S111194.
Shakespeare, William. The Raigne of King Edward the third as it hath bin sundrie times plaied about the citie of London. London, 1596. STC 7501. ESTC S106297.
Sharpe, Will, ed. All Is True; or, The Famous History of the Life of King Henry VIII. By John Fletcher and William Shakespeare. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Ed. Gary Taylor, John Jowett, Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016. 3183–3268. WSB aaag2304.
Sidney, Philip. Apology for Poetry. London, 1595. STC 22534. ESTC S111043.
Singer, Samuel Weller, ed. Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare. 10 vols. 1856.
Singer, Samuel Weller, ed. The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare. 10 vols. Chiswick: Whittingham, 1826.
Sisson, C.J. New Readings in Shakespeare. 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1956.
Sisson, C.J., ed. William Shakespeare: The Complete Works. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1954.
Slights, Camille Wells. The Conscience of the King: Henry Vand the Reformed Conscience. Philological Quarterly 80.1 (2001): 37–55. WSB bbf2025.
Smith, Emma, ed. King Henry V. Shakespeare in Production. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. WSB aah130.
Smith, Thomas. De Republica Anglorum. London, 1583. STC 22857. ESTC S117628.
Smith, Warren D. The Henry V Choruses in the First Folio. Journal of English and Germanic Philology 53.1 (1954): 38–57.
Staunton, Howard, ed. The Works of Shakespeare. 3 vols. London: Routledge, 1858–1861.
Steevens, George and Samuel Johnson, eds., Plays. 10 vols. London, 1773; rpt. 1778. ESTC T149955.
Stern, Tiffany. The Curtain is Yours . Locating the Queen’s Men, 1583–1603: Material Practices and Conditions of Playing. Ed. Helen Ostovich, Holger Schott Syme, and Griffin. Burlington, Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2009. 77–96. WSB bby198.
Stone, George Walter, ed. The Life of Henry the Fift. New Shakespere Society Publications. 2nd series, 10. London: N. Trübner & Co., 1880.
Stow, John. The Annals of England. London, 1592. STC 23334. ESTC S117874.
Taylor, Gary, ed. Henry V. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982. WSB ap267.
Taylor, Gary, Terri Bourus, Rory Loughnane, Anna Pruitt, and Francis X. Connor. Ed. The Most Lamentable Roman Tragedy of Titus Andronicus. By William Shakespeare, George Peele, and Thomas Middleton. The New Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016, 187–249. WSB aaag2304.
Taylor, Gary. Shakespeare’s Leno: Henry V IV.V.14. Notes and Queries 26.2 (1979): 117–118. WSB bs597.
The Bible in English. The Bishops’ Bible. London, 1568. STC 2099. ESTC S122070.
The Bible. The Geneva Bible. London, 1587. STC 2146. ESTC S3398.
The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth: Containing the Honourable Battell of Agin-Court. As it was Acted by the Kinges Maiesties Servants. London: Barnard Alsop, 1617. STC 13073. ESTC S4698. DEEP 253.
The Famous Victories of Henry the fifth: Containing the Honourable Battell of Agin-court: As it was plaide by the Queenes Maiesties Players. London: Thomas Creed, 1598. STC 13072. ESTC S106379.
Theobald, Lewis, ed. The Works of Shakespeare. 7 vols. London, 1733; rpt. 1740. ESTC N492493.
Theobald, Lewis. Shakespeare Restored: or, a Specimen of the Many Errors, as well Committed, as Unamended, by Mr. Pope in his Late Edition of this Poet. London, 1726. ESTC T136611.
Thompson, J.A.K. Shakespeare and the Classics. London: Allen & Unwin, 1952.
Tilley, Morris P. A Dictionary of the Proverbs in England in the Sixeenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1950; rpt. 1966.
Tyrwhitt, Thomas. Observations and Conjectures upon Some Passages of Shakespeare. Oxford, 1766. ESTC T5910.
Virgil. Aeneid, Eclogues, Georgics. Trans. H. Rushton Fairclough. Loeb Classical Library. 2 vols. 1965.
Walker, William Sidney, A Critical Examination of the Text of Shakespeare, 3 vols, 1860.
Walter, J.H., ed. King Henry V. By William Shakespeare. Arden Shakespeare. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1954; rpt. London: Methuen, 1964.
Warburton, William, ed. The Works of Shakespear. 8 vols. London, 1747. ESTC T138851.
Warchus, Matthew, dir. Henry V. Stratford-upon-Avon: Royal Shakespeare Co., 1994.
Webster, John. The White Devil. Ed. Christina Luckyj, New Mermaids. London: A&C Black, 1996.
Wells, Stanley W. and Gary Taylor. Modernizing Shakespeare’s Spelling: With Three Studies of the Text of Henry V . Oxford Shakespeare Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979. WSB as264.
Wells, Stanley, Gary Taylor, John Jowett, and William Montgomery. William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987. WSB ah155.
Wentersdorf, Karl P. The Conspiracy of Silence in Henry V . Shakespeare Quarterly 27.3 (1976): 264–287. WSB bx750. doi 10.2307/2869500.
Whitney, Geoffrey. A Choice of Emblems, and Other Devices. London, 1586. STC 25438. ESTC S119929.
Wilson, John Dover, ed. Henry V. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1947.
Wilson, John Dover. The Fortunes of Falstaff. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1943.
Wilson, John Dover. The Stolne and surreptitious Shakespearean texts. TLS. 13 March 1919.
Womersley, David. Divinity and State. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. WSB aaz147.
Wordsworth, Charles, ed. Shakespeare’s Historical Plays, Roman and English. 3 vols. Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1883.
Wright, William Aldis, ed. The Works of William Shakespeare. 9 vols. London: Macmillan, 1891.

Orgography

Internet Shakespeare Editions (ISE1)

The Internet Shakespeare Editions (ISE) was a major digital humanities project created by Emeritus Professor Michael Best at the University of Victoria. The ISE server was retired in 2018 but a final staticized HTML version of the Internet Shakespeare Editions project is still hosted at UVic.

LEMDO Team (LEMD1)

The LEMDO Team is based at the University of Victoria and normally comprises the project director, the lead developer, project manager, junior developers(s), remediators, encoders, and remediating editors.

New Internet Shakespeare Editions (NISE1)

The Coordinating Editors of the NISE are Brett Greatley-Hirsch, Janelle Jenstad, James Mardock, and Sarah Neville.

University of Victoria (UVIC1)

https://www.uvic.ca/

Witnesses

1700 issue of F4 with 17 reprinted sheets. See Rasmussen 1998, Rasmussen 1994, and Rasmussen 2017.
A later edition by Steevens
Alexander, Peter, ed. William Shakespeare: The Complete Works. London: Collins, 1951.
Bate, Jonathan and Eric Rasmussen, eds. William Shakespeare: Complete Works. The RSC Shakespeare. New York: Modern Library, 2007; rpt. London: MacMillan, 2007 WSB aau143.
Bevington, David, ed. The Complete Works of Shakespeare. 5th ed. New York: Longman, 2003.
Boswell, James, the Younger. The Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare. 21 vols. London, 1821. Boswell.
Capell, Edward, ed. The Works of Shakespeare. 10 vols. London, 1767–1768; rpt. 1774; rpt. 1779.
Capell, Edward. Notes and Various Readings to Shakespeare. 3 vols. 1783. ESTC T73629.
Clark, William George, John Glover, and William Aldis Wright, eds. Works of William Shakespeare. 9 vols. Cambridge and London: MacMillan and Co, 1863–1866.
Collier, John Payne, ed. The Works of William Shakespeare. 8 vols. London: Whittaker & Co., 1842–1844.
Craig, Hardin, ed. The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Ed. David Bevington. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman, 1973.
Craik, T.W., ed. King Henry V. By William Shakespeare. Arden Shakespeare. London and New York: Routledge, 1995. WSB ai7.
Delius, Nicolaus, ed. Shakespeares Werke. 2 vols (Elberfield: R.L. Friderichs,1882).
Dorius, R.J. The Life of Henry the Fifth. The Yale Shakespeare. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1955.
Dyce, Alexander, ed. The Works of William Shakespeare. 2nd edition. 9 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1866–1867. (See HathiTrust Record 008925297.)
Dyce, Alexander, ed. The Works of William Shakespeare. 6 vols. London: Edward Moxon, 1857.
Evans, G. Blakemore, ed. The Riverside Shakespeare. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974. WSB av91.
Evans, H.A., ed. Henry V. Arden Shakespeare. London: Methuen, 1903.
Gurr, Andrew, ed. King Henry V. New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992; rpt. 2005. WSB aaq278.
Gurr, Andrew, ed. The First Quarto of Henry V. New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. WSB aab370.
Hanmer, Thomas. The Works of Mr William Shakespear. 6 vols. London, 1743–1744. ESTC T138604.
Harbage, Alfred, ed. William Shakespeare: The Complete Works. The Pelican Shakespeare. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1969. WSB aai237.
Herford, C.H., ed. The Works of Shakespeare. 10 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1903.
Hudson, Henry N. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. 11 vols. London, 1856.
Humphreys, A.R., ed. Henry V. The New Penguin Shakespeare. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1968. WSB aaj143.
Jackson, MacDonald P. Henry V III.vi.181: An Emendation. Notes and Queries 13 (1966): 133–134. WSB bbn945.
Johnson, Samuel. The Plays of William Shakespeare. 8 vols. London, 1765. ESTC T138601.
Keightley, Thomas, ed. The Plays of Shakespeare. 6 vols. London: Bell and Daldy, 1864–1866.
Kittredge, George Lyman, ed. The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Boston: Ginn and Co., 1936.
Knight, Charles, ed. The Pictorial Edition of the Works of Shakspere. 6 vols. London, 1838–1843.
Malone, Edmond, ed. The Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare. 10 vols. London: J. Rivingston and Sons, 1790. ESTC T138858.
Mason, John Monck. Comments on the Last Edition of Shakespeare’s Plays. Dublin, 1785. ESTC T164011.
McEachern, Claire, ed. The Life of King Henry the Fifth. The Pelican Shakespeare. New York: Penguin Putnam, 1999. WSB aaa308.
Moore Smith, G.C. Henry V. Warwick Shakespeare. London: Blackie and Son, 1893.
Mowat, Barbara K., and Paul Werstine, eds. The Life of Henry V. The New Folger Library Shakespeare. New York: Washington Square Press, 1995. WSB ai89.
Munro, John, ed. The London Shakespeare: A New Annotated and Critical Edition of the Complete Works. 6 vols. London: Eyre and Spottiswood, 1957.
Pollard, A.W. and John Dover Wilson. Henry V (1600). Times Literary Supplement. 13 March 1919. 134.
Pope, Alexander, ed. The Works of Mr William Shakespear. 6 vols. London, 1723; rpt. 8 vols. London, 1728.
Q3
Rann, Joseph, ed. The Dramatic Works of Shakespeare. 6 vols. Oxford, 1786–1794. ESTC T138854.
Rowe, Nicholas, ed. The Works of Mr William Shakespear. 6 vols. London, 1709; rpt. 8 vols. 1714. ESTC T138296.
Rowe, Nicholas, ed. The Works of Mr. William Shakespear. Second edition. 6 vols. London: Jacob Tonson, 1709.
Shakespeare, William. Mr William Shakespeares comedies, histories & tragedies: Published according to the true originall copies. London: William Jaggard, 1623. STC 22273. ESTC S111228. DEEP 5081.
Shakespeare, William. Mr William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. London: Robert Allot, 1632. STC 22274. ESTC S111233.
Shakespeare, William. Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Herringman, 1685. Wing S2915. ESTC R25621.
Shakespeare, William. Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. London: Philip Chetwinde, 1663. Wing S2913. ESTC R212954.
Shakespeare, William. The Chronicle History of Henry the Fifth with his Battle Fought at Agincourt in France. London, 1600. STC 22289. ESTC S111105.
Singer, Samuel Weller, ed. The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare. 10 vols. Chiswick: Whittingham, 1826.
Sisson, C.J., ed. William Shakespeare: The Complete Works. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1954.
Smith, Emma, ed. King Henry V. Shakespeare in Production. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. WSB aah130.
Staunton, Howard, ed. The Works of Shakespeare. 3 vols. London: Routledge, 1858–1861.
Steevens, George and Samuel Johnson, eds., Plays. 10 vols. London, 1773; rpt. 1778. ESTC T149955.
Stone, George Walter, ed. The Life of Henry the Fift. New Shakespere Society Publications. 2nd series, 10. London: N. Trübner & Co., 1880.
Taylor, Gary, ed. Henry V. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982. WSB ap267.
Taylor, Gary. Shakespeare’s Leno: Henry V IV.V.14. Notes and Queries 26.2 (1979): 117–118. WSB bs597.
Theobald, Lewis, ed. The Works of Shakespeare. 7 vols. London, 1733; rpt. 1740. ESTC N492493.
Theobald, Lewis. Shakespeare Restored: or, a Specimen of the Many Errors, as well Committed, as Unamended, by Mr. Pope in his Late Edition of this Poet. London, 1726. ESTC T136611.
Walker, William Sidney, A Critical Examination of the Text of Shakespeare, 3 vols, 1860.
Walter, J.H., ed. King Henry V. By William Shakespeare. Arden Shakespeare. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1954; rpt. London: Methuen, 1964.
Warburton, William, ed. The Works of Shakespear. 8 vols. London, 1747. ESTC T138851.
Wells, Stanley, Gary Taylor, John Jowett, and William Montgomery. William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987. WSB ah155.
Wilson, John Dover, ed. Henry V. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1947.
Wordsworth, Charles, ed. Shakespeare’s Historical Plays, Roman and English. 3 vols. Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1883.
Wright, William Aldis, ed. The Works of William Shakespeare. 9 vols. London: Macmillan, 1891.

Metadata