The Life of King Henry the Fifth

SCENE I. France. Before Harfleur

Alarum. Enter the KING, EXETER, BEDFORD, GLOUCESTER, and soldiers with scaling-ladders

  KING. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;    Or close the wall up with our English dead.    In peace there's nothing so becomes a man    As modest stillness and humility;    But when the blast of war blows in our ears,    Then imitate the action of the tiger:    Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,    Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;    Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;    Let it pry through the portage of the head    Like the brass cannon: let the brow o'erwhelm it    As fearfully as doth a galled rock    O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,    Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.    Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide;    Hold hard the breath, and bend up every spirit    To his full height. On, on, you noblest English,    Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof-    Fathers that like so many Alexanders    Have in these parts from morn till even fought,    And sheath'd their swords for lack of argument.    Dishonour not your mothers; now attest    That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.    Be copy now to men of grosser blood,    And teach them how to war. And you, good yeomen,    Whose limbs were made in England, show us here    The mettle of your pasture; let us swear    That you are worth your breeding- which I doubt not;    For there is none of you so mean and base    That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.    I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,    Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:    Follow your spirit; and upon this charge    Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'[Exeunt. Alarum, and chambers go off]

SCENE II. Before Harfleur

Enter NYM, BARDOLPH, PISTOL, and BOY

  BARDOLPH. On, on, on, on, on! to the breach, to the breach!  NYM. Pray thee, Corporal, stay; the knocks are too hot, and for    mine own part I have not a case of lives. The humour of it istoo    hot; that is the very plain-song of it.  PISTOL. The plain-song is most just; for humours do abound:        Knocks go and come; God's vassals drop and die;                    And sword and shield                    In bloody field                 Doth win immortal fame.  BOY. Would I were in an alehouse in London! I wouid give all my    fame for a pot of ale and safety.  PISTOL. And I:               If wishes would prevail with me,               My purpose should not fail with me,                   But thither would I hie.  BOY. As duly, but not as truly,                   As bird doth sing on bough.

Enter FLUELLEN

  FLUELLEN. Up to the breach, you dogs!    Avaunt, you cullions! [Driving them forward]  PISTOL. Be merciful, great duke, to men of mould.    Abate thy rage, abate thy manly rage;    Abate thy rage, great duke.    Good bawcock, bate thy rage. Use lenity, sweet chuck.  NYM. These be good humours. Your honour wins bad humours.Exeunt all but BOY  BOY. As young as I am, I have observ'd these three swashers. Iam    boy to them all three; but all they three, though they would    serve me, could not be man to me; for indeed three suchantics do    not amount to a man. For Bardolph, he is white-liver'd and    red-fac'd; by the means whereof 'a faces it out, but fightsnot.    For Pistol, he hath a killing tongue and a quiet sword; bythe    means whereof 'a breaks words and keeps whole weapons. ForNym,    he hath heard that men of few words are the best men, and    therefore he scorns to say his prayers lest 'a should bethought    a coward; but his few bad words are match'd with as few good    deeds; for 'a never broke any man's head but his own, andthat    was against a post when he was drunk. They will stealanything,    and call it purchase. Bardolph stole a lute-case, bore ittwelve    leagues, and sold it for three halfpence. Nym and Bardolphare    sworn brothers in filching, and in Calais they stole a    fire-shovel; I knew by that piece of service the men wouldcarry    coals. They would have me as familiar with men's pockets astheir    gloves or their handkerchers; which makes much against my    manhood, if I should take from another's pocket to put intomine;    for it is plain pocketing up of wrongs. I must leave them and    seek some better service; their villainy goes against my weak    stomach, and therefore I must cast it up. Exit

Re-enter FLUELLEN, GOWER following

  GOWER. Captain Fluellen, you must come presently to the mines;the    Duke of Gloucester would speak with you.  FLUELLEN. To the mines! Tell you the Duke it is not so good tocome    to the mines; for, look you, the mines is not according tothe    disciplines of the war; the concavities of it is notsufficient.    For, look you, th' athversary- you may discuss unto the Duke,    look you- is digt himself four yard under the countermines;by    Cheshu, I think 'a will plow up all, if there is not better    directions.  GOWER. The Duke of Gloucester, to whom the order of the siegeis    given, is altogether directed by an Irishman- a very vallant    gentleman, i' faith.  FLUELLEN. It is Captain Macmorris, is it not?  GOWER. I think it be.  FLUELLEN. By Cheshu, he is an ass, as in the world: I willverify    as much in his beard; he has no more directions in the true    disciplines of the wars, look you, of the Roman disciplines,than    is a puppy-dog.

Enter MACMORRIS and CAPTAIN JAMY

  GOWER. Here 'a comes; and the Scots captain, Captain Jamy, with    him.  FLUELLEN. Captain Jamy is a marvellous falorous gentleman, thatis    certain, and of great expedition and knowledge in th'aunchient    wars, upon my particular knowledge of his directions. ByCheshu,    he will maintain his argument as well as any military man inthe    world, in the disciplines of the pristine wars of the Romans.  JAMY. I say gud day, Captain Fluellen.  FLUELLEN. God-den to your worship, good Captain James.  GOWER. How now, Captain Macmorris! Have you quit the mines?Have    the pioneers given o'er?  MACMORRIS. By Chrish, la, tish ill done! The work ish giveover,    the trompet sound the retreat. By my hand, I swear, and my    father's soul, the work ish ill done; it ish give over; Iwould    have blowed up the town, so Chrish save me, la, in an hour.O,    tish ill done, tish ill done; by my hand, tish ill done!  FLUELLEN. Captain Macmorris, I beseech you now, will youvoutsafe    me, look you, a few disputations with you, as partly touchingor    concerning the disciplines of the war, the Roman wars, in theway    of argument, look you, and friendly communication; partly to    satisfy my opinion, and partly for the satisfaction, lookyou, of    my mind, as touching the direction of the militarydiscipline,    that is the point.  JAMY. It sall be vary gud, gud feith, gud captains bath; and Isall    quit you with gud leve, as I may pick occasion; that sall I,    marry.  MACMORRIS. It is no time to discourse, so Chrish save me. Theday    is hot, and the weather, and the wars, and the King, and the    Dukes; it is no time to discourse. The town is beseech'd, andthe    trumpet call us to the breach; and we talk and, be Chrish, do    nothing. 'Tis shame for us all, so God sa' me, 'tis shame to    stand still; it is shame, by my hand; and there is throats tobe    cut, and works to be done; and there ish nothing done, soChrish    sa' me, la.  JAMY. By the mess, ere theise eyes of mine take themselves to    slomber, ay'll de gud service, or I'll lig i' th' grund forit;    ay, or go to death. And I'll pay't as valorously as I may,that    sall I suerly do, that is the breff and the long. Marry, Iwad    full fain heard some question 'tween you tway.  FLUELLEN. Captain Macmorris, I think, look you, under your    correction, there is not many of your nation-  MACMORRIS. Of my nation? What ish my nation? Ish a villain, anda    bastard, and a knave, and a rascal. What ish my nation? Whotalks    of my nation?  FLUELLEN. Look you, if you take the matter otherwise than ismeant,    Captain Macmorris, peradventure I shall think you do not useme    with that affability as in discretion you ought to use me,look    you; being as good a man as yourself, both in the disciplinesof    war and in the derivation of my birth, and in other    particularities.  MACMORRIS. I do not know you so good a man as myself; so    Chrish save me, I will cut off your head.  GOWER. Gentlemen both, you will mistake each other.  JAMY. Ah! that's a foul fault. [A parley sounded]  GOWER. The town sounds a parley.  FLUELLEN. Captain Macmorris, when there is more betteropportunity    to be required, look you, I will be so bold as to tell you Iknow    the disciplines of war; and there is an end. Exeunt

SCENE III. Before the gates of Harfleur

Enter the GOVERNOR and some citizens on the walls. Enter the KING and all his train before the gates

  KING HENRY. How yet resolves the Governor of the town?    This is the latest parle we will admit;    Therefore to our best mercy give yourselves    Or, like to men proud of destruction,    Defy us to our worst; for, as I am a soldier,    A name that in my thoughts becomes me best,    If I begin the batt'ry once again,    I will not leave the half-achieved Harfleur    Till in her ashes she lie buried.    The gates of mercy shall be all shut up,    And the flesh'd soldier, rough and hard of heart,    In liberty of bloody hand shall range    With conscience wide as hell, mowing like grass    Your fresh fair virgins and your flow'ring infants.    What is it then to me if impious war,    Array'd in flames, like to the prince of fiends,    Do, with his smirch'd complexion, all fell feats    Enlink'd to waste and desolation?    What is't to me when you yourselves are cause,    If your pure maidens fall into the hand    Of hot and forcing violation?    What rein can hold licentious wickednes    When down the hill he holds his fierce career?    We may as bootless spend our vain command    Upon th' enraged soldiers in their spoil,    As send precepts to the Leviathan    To come ashore. Therefore, you men of Harfleur,    Take pity of your town and of your people    Whiles yet my soldiers are in my command;    Whiles yet the cool and temperate wind of grace    O'erblows the filthy and contagious clouds    Of heady murder, spoil, and villainy.    If not- why, in a moment look to see    The blind and bloody with foul hand    Defile the locks of your shrill-shrieking daughters;    Your fathers taken by the silver beards,    And their most reverend heads dash'd to the walls;    Your naked infants spitted upon pikes,    Whiles the mad mothers with their howls confus'd    Do break the clouds, as did the wives of Jewry    At Herod's bloody-hunting slaughtermen.    What say you? Will you yield, and this avoid?    Or, guilty in defence, be thus destroy'd?  GOVERNOR. Our expectation hath this day an end:    The Dauphin, whom of succours we entreated,    Returns us that his powers are yet not ready    To raise so great a siege. Therefore, great King,    We yield our town and lives to thy soft mercy.    Enter our gates; dispose of us and ours;    For we no longer are defensible.  KING HENRY. Open your gates. [Exit GOVERNOR] Come, uncleExeter,    Go you and enter Harfleur; there remain,    And fortify it strongly 'gainst the French;    Use mercy to them all. For us, dear uncle,    The winter coming on, and sickness growing    Upon our soldiers, we will retire to Calais.    To-night in Harfleur will we be your guest;    To-morrow for the march are we addrest.               [Flourish. The KING and his train enter the town]

SCENE IV. Rouen. The FRENCH KING'S palace

Enter KATHERINE and ALICE

  KATHERINE. Alice, tu as ete en Angleterre, et tu parles bien le    langage.  ALICE. Un peu, madame.  KATHERINE. Je te prie, m'enseignez; il faut que j'apprenne a    parler. Comment appelez-vous la main en Anglais?  ALICE. La main? Elle est appelee de hand.  KATHERINE. De hand. Et les doigts?  ALICE. Les doigts? Ma foi, j'oublie les doigts; mais je me    souviendrai. Les doigts? Je pense qu'ils sont appeles defingres;    oui, de fingres.  KATHERINE. La main, de hand; les doigts, de fingres. Je penseque    je suis le bon ecolier; j'ai gagne deux mots d'Anglaisvitement.    Comment appelez-vous les ongles?  ALICE. Les ongles? Nous les appelons de nails.  KATHERINE. De nails. Ecoutez; dites-moi si je parle bien: dehand,    de fingres, et de nails.  ALICE. C'est bien dit, madame; il est fort bon Anglais.  KATHERINE. Dites-moi l'Anglais pour le bras.  ALICE. De arm, madame.  KATHERINE. Et le coude?  ALICE. D'elbow.  KATHERINE. D'elbow. Je m'en fais la repetition de tous les motsque    vous m'avez appris des a present.  ALICE. Il est trop difficile, madame, comme je pense.  KATHERINE. Excusez-moi, Alice; ecoutez: d'hand, de fingre, de    nails, d'arma, de bilbow.  ALICE. D'elbow, madame.  KATHERINE. O Seigneur Dieu, je m'en oublie! D'elbow.    Comment appelez-vous le col?  ALICE. De nick, madame.  KATHERINE. De nick. Et le menton?  ALICE. De chin.  KATHERINE. De sin. Le col, de nick; le menton, de sin.  ALICE. Oui. Sauf votre honneur, en verite, vous prononcez lesmots    aussi droit que les natifs d'Angleterre.  KATHERINE. Je ne doute point d'apprendre, par la grace de Dieu,et    en peu de temps.  ALICE. N'avez-vous pas deja oublie ce que je vous ai enseigne?  KATHERINE. Non, je reciterai a vous promptement: d'hand, defingre,    de mails-  ALICE. De nails, madame.  KATHERINE. De nails, de arm, de ilbow.  ALICE. Sauf votre honneur, d'elbow.  KATHERINE. Ainsi dis-je; d'elbow, de nick, et de sin. Comment    appelez-vous le pied et la robe?  ALICE. Le foot, madame; et le count.  KATHERINE. Le foot et le count. O Seigneur Dieu! ils sont motsde    son mauvais, corruptible, gros, et impudique, et non pour les    dames d'honneur d'user: je ne voudrais prononcer ces motsdevant    les seigneurs de France pour tout le monde. Foh! le foot etle    count! Neanmoins, je reciterai une autre fois ma leconensemble:    d'hand, de fingre, de nails, d'arm, d'elbow, de nick, de sin,de    foot, le count.  ALICE. Excellent, madame!  KATHERINE. C'est assez pour une fois: allons-nous a diner.Exeunt

SCENE V. The FRENCH KING'S palace

Enter the KING OF FRANCE, the DAUPHIN, DUKE OF BRITAINE, the CONSTABLE OF FRANCE, and others

  FRENCH KING. 'Tis certain he hath pass'd the river Somme.  CONSTABLE. And if he be not fought withal, my lord,    Let us not live in France; let us quit an,    And give our vineyards to a barbarous people.  DAUPHIN. O Dieu vivant! Shall a few sprays of us,    The emptying of our fathers' luxury,    Our scions, put in wild and savage stock,    Spirt up so suddenly into the clouds,    And overlook their grafters?  BRITAINE. Normans, but bastard Normans, Norman bastards!    Mort Dieu, ma vie! if they march along    Unfought withal, but I will sell my dukedom    To buy a slobb'ry and a dirty farm    In that nook-shotten isle of Albion.  CONSTABLE. Dieu de batailles! where have they this mettle?    Is not their climate foggy, raw, and dull;    On whom, as in despite, the sun looks pale,    Killing their fruit with frowns? Can sodden water,    A drench for sur-rein'd jades, their barley-broth,    Decoct their cold blood to such valiant heat?    And shall our quick blood, spirited with wine,    Seem frosty? O, for honour of our land,    Let us not hang like roping icicles    Upon our houses' thatch, whiles a more frosty people    Sweat drops of gallant youth in our rich fields-    Poor we call them in their native lords!  DAUPHIN. By faith and honour,    Our madams mock at us and plainly say    Our mettle is bred out, and they will give    Their bodies to the lust of English youth    To new-store France with bastard warriors.  BRITAINE. They bid us to the English dancing-schools    And teach lavoltas high and swift corantos,    Saying our grace is only in our heels    And that we are most lofty runaways.  FRENCH KING. Where is Montjoy the herald? Speed him hence;    Let him greet England with our sharp defiance.    Up, Princes, and, with spirit of honour edged    More sharper than your swords, hie to the field:    Charles Delabreth, High Constable of France;    You Dukes of Orleans, Bourbon, and of Berri,    Alengon, Brabant, Bar, and Burgundy;    Jaques Chatillon, Rambures, Vaudemont,    Beaumont, Grandpre, Roussi, and Fauconbridge,    Foix, Lestrake, Bouciqualt, and Charolois;    High dukes, great princes, barons, lords, and knights,    For your great seats now quit you of great shames.    Bar Harry England, that sweeps through our land    With pennons painted in the blood of Harfleur.    Rush on his host as doth the melted snow    Upon the valleys, whose low vassal seat    The Alps doth spit and void his rheum upon;    Go down upon him, you have power enough,    And in a captive chariot into Rouen    Bring him our prisoner.  CONSTABLE. This becomes the great.    Sorry am I his numbers are so few,    His soldiers sick and famish'd in their march;    For I am sure, when he shall see our army,    He'll drop his heart into the sink of fear,    And for achievement offer us his ransom.  FRENCH KING. Therefore, Lord Constable, haste on 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.  DAUPHIN. Not so, I do beseech your Majesty.  FRENCH 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

SCENE VI. The English camp in Picardy

Enter CAPTAINS, English and Welsh, GOWER and FLUELLEN

  GOWER. How now, Captain Fluellen! Come you from the bridge?  FLUELLEN. I assure you there is very excellent servicescommitted    at the bridge.  GOWER. Is the Duke of Exeter safe?  FLUELLEN. The Duke of Exeter is as magnanimous as Agamemnon;and a    man that I love and honour with my soul, and my heart, and my    duty, and my live, and my living, and my uttermost power. Heis    not- God be praised and blessed! – any hurt in the world, but    keeps the bridge most valiantly, with excellent discipline.There    is an aunchient Lieutenant there at the bridge- I think in my    very conscience he is as valiant a man as Mark Antony; and heis    man of no estimation in the world; but I did see him do as    gallant service.  GOWER. What do you call him?  FLUELLEN. He is call'd Aunchient Pistol.  GOWER. I know him not.

Enter PISTOL

  FLUELLEN. Here is the man.  PISTOL. Captain, I thee beseech to do me favours.    The Duke of Exeter doth love thee well.  FLUELLEN. Ay, I praise God; and I have merited some love at his    hands.  PISTOL. Bardolph, a soldier, firm and sound of heart,    And of buxom valour, hath by cruel fate    And giddy Fortune's furious fickle wheel,    That goddess blind,    That stands upon the rolling restless stone-  FLUELLEN. By your patience, Aunchient Pistol. Fortune ispainted    blind, with a muffler afore her eyes, to signify to you that    Fortune is blind; and she is painted also with a wheel, to    signify to you, which is the moral of it, that she isturning,    and inconstant, and mutability, and variation; and her foot,look    you, is fixed upon a spherical stone, which rolls, and rolls,and    rolls. In good truth, the poet makes a most excellentdescription    of it: Fortune is an excellent moral.  PISTOL. Fortune is Bardolph's foe, and frowns on him;    For he hath stol'n a pax, and hanged must 'a be-    A damned death!    Let gallows gape for dog; let man go free,    And let not hemp his windpipe suffocate.    But Exeter hath given the doom of death    For pax of little price.    Therefore, go speak- the Duke will hear thy voice;    And let not Bardolph's vital thread be cut    With edge of penny cord and vile reproach.    Speak, Captain, for his life, and I will thee requite.  FLUELLEN. Aunchient Pistol, I do partly understand yourmeaning.  PISTOL. Why then, rejoice therefore.  FLUELLEN. Certainly, Aunchient, it is not a thing to rejoiceat;    for if, look you, he were my brother, I would desire the Duketo    use his good pleasure, and put him to execution; fordiscipline    ought to be used.  PISTOL. Die and be damn'd! and figo for thy friendship!  FLUELLEN. It is well.  PISTOL. The fig of Spain! Exit  FLUELLEN. Very good.  GOWER. Why, this is an arrant counterfeit rascal; I rememberhim    now- a bawd, a cutpurse.  FLUELLEN. I'll assure you, 'a utt'red as prave words at thepridge    as you shall see in a summer's day. But it is very well; whathe    has spoke to me, that is well, I warrant you, when time isserve.  GOWER. Why, 'tis a gull a fool a rogue, that now and then goesto    the wars to grace himself, at his return into London, underthe    form of a soldier. And such fellows are perfect in the great    commanders' names; and they will learn you by rote whereservices    were done- at such and such a sconce, at such a breach, atsuch a    convoy; who came off bravely, who was shot, who disgrac'd,what    terms the enemy stood on; and this they con perfectly in the    phrase of war, which they trick up with new-tuned oaths; andwhat    a beard of the General's cut and a horrid suit of the campwill    do among foaming bottles and ale-wash'd wits is wonderful tobe    thought on. But you must learn to know such slanders of theage,    or else you may be marvellously mistook.  FLUELLEN. I tell you what, Captain Gower, I do perceive he isnot    the man that he would gladly make show to the world he is; ifI    find a hole in his coat I will tell him my mind. [Drumwithin]    Hark you, the King is coming; and I must speak with him fromthe    pridge.Drum and colours. Enter the KING and his poor soldiers, and GLOUCESTER    God pless your Majesty!  KING HENRY. How now, Fluellen! Cam'st thou from the bridge?  FLUELLEN. Ay, so please your Majesty. The Duke of Exeter hasvery    gallantly maintain'd the pridge; the French is gone off, look    you, and there is gallant and most prave passages. Marry, th'    athversary was have possession of the pridge; but he isenforced    to retire, and the Duke of Exeter is master of the pridge; Ican    tell your Majesty the Duke is a prave man.  KING HENRY. What men have you lost, Fluellen!  FLUELLEN. The perdition of th' athversary hath been very great,    reasonable great; marry, for my part, I think the Duke hathlost    never a man, but one that is like to be executed for robbinga    church- one Bardolph, if your Majesty know the man; his faceis    all bubukles, and whelks, and knobs, and flames o' fire; andhis    lips blows at his nose, and it is like a coal of fire,sometimes    plue and sometimes red; but his nose is executed and hisfire's    out.  KING HENRY. We would have all such offenders so cut off. And we    give express charge that in our marches through the countrythere    be nothing compell'd from the villages, nothing taken butpaid    for, none of the French upbraided or abused in disdainful    language; for when lenity and cruelty play for a kingdom the    gentler gamester is the soonest winner.

Tucket. Enter MONTJOY

  MONTJOY. You know me by my habit.  KING HENRY. Well then, I know thee; what shall I know of thee?  MONTJOY. My master's mind.  KING HENRY. Unfold it.  MONTJOY. Thus says my king. Say thou to Harry of England:Though we    seem'd dead we did but sleep; advantage is a better soldierthan    rashness. Tell him we could have rebuk'd him at Harfleur, but    that we thought not good to bruise an injury till it werefull    ripe. Now we speak upon our cue, and our voice is imperial:    England shall repent his folly, see his weakness, and admireour    sufferance. Bid him therefore consider of his ransom, whichmust    proportion the losses we have borne, the subjects we havelost,    the disgrace we have digested; which, in weight to re-answer,his    pettiness would bow under. For our losses his exchequer istoo    poor; for th' effusion of our blood, the muster of hiskingdom    too faint a number; and for our disgrace, his own personkneeling    at our feet but a weak and worthless satisfaction. To thisadd    defiance; and tell him, for conclusion, he hath betrayed his    followers, whose condemnation is pronounc'd. So far my kingand    master; so much my office.  KING HENRY. What is thy name? I know thy quality.  MONTJOY. Montjoy.  KING HENRY. Thou dost thy office 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; for, to say the sooth-    Though 'tis no wisdom to confess so much    Unto an enemy of craft and vantage-    My people are with sickness much enfeebled;    My numbers lessen'd; 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 air of France    Hath blown that vice in me; I must repent.    Go, therefore, tell thy master here I am;    My ransom is this frail and worthless trunk;    My army but a weak and sickly guard;    Yet, God before, tell him we will come on,    Though France himself and such another neighbour    Stand in our way. There's for thy labour, Montjoy.    Go, bid thy master well advise himself.    If we may pass, we will; if we be hind'red,    We shall your tawny 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.  MONTJOY. I shall deliver so. Thanks to your Highness. Exit  GLOUCESTER. I hope they will not come upon us now.  KING HENRY. We are in God's hand, brother, not in theirs.    March to the bridge, it now draws toward night;    Beyond the river we'll encamp ourselves,    And on to-morrow bid them march away. Exeunt