Shall this his mock mock out of their dear husbands;
Mock mothers from their sons, mock castles down;
And some are yet ungotten, 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 me as I may, and to put forth
My rightful hand in a well-hallowed cause.
So, get you hence in peace; and tell the dauphin,
His jest will savor but of shallow wit,

When thousands weep, more than did laugh at it.—
Convey them with safe conduct.-Fare you well.
[Exeunt Ambassadors.

Exe. This was a merry message.

K. Hen. We hope to make the sender blush at it. [Descends from his throne. Therefore, my lords, omit no happy hour, That may give furtherance to our expedition; For we have now no thought in us but France, Save those to God, that run before our business. Therefore, let our proportions 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, We'll chide this dauphin at his father's door. Therefore, let every man now task his thought,

That this fair action may on foot be brought. [Exeunt.

ACT II.

Enter CHORUS.

Cho. Now all the youth of England are on fire,

And silken dalliance in the wardrobe lies;

Now thrive the armorers, and honor's thought

Reigns solely in the breast of every man.
They sell the pasture now, to buy the horse;
Following the mirror of all Christian kings,
With winged heels, as English Mercuries.
For now sits Expectation in the air;
And hides a sword, from hilt unto the point,
With crowns imperial, crowns, and coronets,'
Promised to Harry, and his followers.
The French, advised by good intelligence
Of this most dreadful preparation,
Shake in their fear; and with pale policy
Seek to divert the English purposes.

O, England!-model to thy inward greatness,
Like little body with a mighty heart,—

What mightst thou do, that honor would thee do,
Were all thy children kind and natural!

But see thy fault! France hath in thee found out
A nest of hollow bosoms, which he fills

With treacherous crowns; and three corrupted men-
One, Richard earl of Cambridge; 2 and the second,
Henry lord Scroop 3 of Masham; and the third,
Sir Thomas Grey, knight of Northumberland—
Have, for the gilt of France, (O guilt, indeed!)
Confirmed conspiracy with fearful France;
And by their hands this grace of kings must die,
(If hell and treason hold their promises,)
Ere he take ship for France, and in Southampton.
Linger your patience on; and well digest
The abuse of distance, while we force a play."
The sum is paid; the traitors are agreed;

1 In ancient representations of trophies, &c. it is common to see swords encircled with crowns. Shakspeare's image is supposed to be taken from a wood cut in the first edition of Holinshed.

2 Richard earl of Cambridge" was Richard de Conisbury, younger son of Edmund Langley, duke of York. He was father of Richard duke of York, and grandfather of Edward the Fourth.

3 "Henry lord Scroop" was a third husband of Joan duchess of York, mother-in-law of Richard earl of Cambridge.

4 The old copy reads:

66

Linger your patience on, and we'll digest
The abuse of distance; force a play."

The alteration was made by Pope.

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, charming the narrow seas
To give you gentle pass; for, if we may,
We'll not offend one stomach with our play.
But, till the king come forth, and but till then,
Unto Southampton do we shift our scene.1

SCENE I. The same. Eastcheap.

Enter NYм and BARDOLPH.

[Exit.

yet?

Bard. Well met, corporal Nym. Nym. Good morrow, lieutenant Bardolph. Bard. What, are ancient Pistol and you friends Nym. For my part, I care not. I say little but when time shall serve, there shall be smiles; 2-but that shall be as it may. I dare not fight; but I will wink, and hold out mine iron. It is a simple one; but what though? It will toast cheese; and it will endure cold as another man's sword will; and there's the humor of it.

Bard. I will bestow a breakfast, to make you friends;

1 "But till the king come forth, and but till then, Unto Southampton do we shift our scene."

The old copy reads:

"But till the king come forth, and not till then."

The emendation was proposed by Mr. Roderick, and deserves admission into the text. Malone has plainly shown that it is a common typographical error. The objection is, that a scene in London intervenes; but this may be obviated by transposing that scene to the end of the first act. The division into acts and scenes, it should be recollected, is the arbitrary work of Mr. Rowe and the subsequent editors; and the first act of this play, as it is now divided, is unusually short. This chorus has slipped out of its place.

2 "When time shall serve, there shall be smiles." Dr. Farmer thought that this was an error of the press for smites, i. e. blows, a word used in the Poet's age, and still provincially current. The passage, as it stands, has been explained:-"I care not whether we are friends at present; however, when time shall serve, we shall be in good humor with each other; but be it as it may."

and we'll be all three sworn brothers to France; let it be so, good corporal Nym.

Nym. 'Faith, I will live so long as I may, that's the certain of it; and when I cannot live any longer, I will do as I may that is my rest,' that is the rendezvous of it.

Bard. It is certain, corporal, that he is married to Nell Quickly and, certainly, she did you wrong; for you were troth-plight to her.

Nym. I cannot tell; 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, yet she will plod. There must be conclusions. Well, I cannot tell.2

Enter PISTOL and MRS. QUICKLY.

Bard. Here comes ancient Pistol, and his wife: -good corporal, be patient here.-How now, mine host Pistol?

3

Pist. Base tike, call'st thou me-host?

Now, by this hand, I swear, I scorn the term;

Nor shall my Nell keep lodgers.

Quick. No, by my troth, not long; for we cannot lodge and board a dozen or fourteen gentlewomen, that live honestly by the prick of their needles, but it will be thought we keep a bawdy-house straight. [NYм draws his sword.] O well-i-day, Lady, if he be not drawn now! we shall see wilful adultery and murder committed. Good lieutenant Bardolph,-good corporal, offer nothing here.

1 "That is my rest;" that is my determination.

2 i. e. "I know not what to say or think of it." See this phrase amply illustrated in Mr. Gifford's Ben Jonson, vol. i. p. 125. No phrase is more common in our old dramatic writers.

3 i. e. base fellow. Still used in the north; where a tike is also a dog of a large, common breed.

an evi

4 The folio has "O well-a-day, Lady, if he be not hewn now; dent error of the press. The quarto reads, "O Lord! here's corporal Nym's-now," &c.

Nym. Pish!

Pist. Pish for thee, Iceland dog!1 thou prick-eared cur of Iceland!

Quick. Good corporal Nym, show the valor of a man, and put up thy sword.

Nym. Will you shog off? I would have you solus.

[Sheathing his sword. Pist. Solus, egregious dog? O viper vile!

The solus in thy most marvellous face;

The solus in thy teeth, and in thy throat,

And in thy hateful lungs, yea, in thy maw, perdy;
And, which is worse, within thy nasty mouth!
I do retort the solus in thy bowels;

For I can take,2 and Pistol's cock is up,

And flashing fire will follow.

3

Nym. I am not Barbason; you cannot conjure me. I have a humor to knock you indifferently well. If you grow foul with me, Pistol, I will scour you with my rapier, as I may, in fair terms; if you would walk off, I would prick your guts a little, in good terms, as I may; and that's the humor of it.

Pist. O, braggard vile, and damned furious wight! The grave doth gape, and doting death is near; Therefore exhale. [PISTOL and NYм draw. Bard. Hear me, hear me what I say;-he that strikes the first stroke, I'll run him up to the hilts, as I am a soldier. [Draws. Pist. An oath of mickle might; and fury shall abate.

1 "Iceland dogges, curled and rough all over, which, by reason of the length of their heare, make show neither of face nor of body. And yet thes curres, forsoothe, because they are so strange, are greatly set by, esteemed, taken up, and made of, many times instead of the spaniell gentle or comforter." Abraham Fleming's translation of Caius de Canibus, 1576, Of English Dogges.-Island cur is again used as a term of contempt in Epigrams served out in Fifty-two several Dishes;" no date :

66

"He wears a gown lac'd round, laid down with furre,

Or, miser-like, a pouch where never man

Could thrust his finger, but this island curre."

2 "For I can take." Malone would change this, without necessity, to "I can talk." Pistol only means, "I can understand or comprehend you."

3 Barbason is the name of a demon mentioned in The Merry Wives of Windsor.