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Henry V, Modern text based on the Quarto

Author: William Shakespeare
Editor: James D. Mardock
Not Peer Reviewed
884.1

[Scene 5]

Enter King of France, Bourbon, Dauphin, [Constable, Orléans, Berry,]and others.
887.1French King Now you Lords of Orléans, of Bourbon, and of Berry,
You see the King of England is not slack,
For he is footed on this land already.
Dauphin My gracious lord, 'tis meet we all go forth,
And arm us against the foe,
910And view the weak and sickly parts of France.
But let us do it with no show of fear,
No, with no more than if we heard
England were busied with a morris dance.
For, my good Lord, she is so idly kinged,
915Her scepter so fantastically borne,
So guided by a shallow humorous youth,
That fear attends her not.
Constable Oh, peace, Prince Dauphin; you deceive yourself. --
920Question your grace the late ambassador:
With what regard he heard his embassage,
How well supplied with agèd counselors,
922.1And how his resolution answered him.
You then would say that Harry was not wild.
French King Well, think we Harry strong,
And strongly arm us to prevent the foe.
939.1Constable My lord, here is an ambassador
From the King of England.
French King Bid him come in.
[Exit Constable.]
960You see this chase is hotly followed, lords.
Dauphin My gracious father, cut up this English short.
Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a thing
As self-neglecting.
Enter Exeter.
French King
From our brother England?
970Exeter From him, and thus he greets your majesty:
He wills you in the name of God almighty
That you divest yourself, and lay apart
That borrowed title, which by gift of heaven,
Of law, of nature, and of nations, longs
975To him and to his heirs, namely the crown
And all wide-stretchèd titles that belongs
Unto the crown of France. That you may know
'Tis no sinister nor no awkward claim
980Picked from the wormholes of old vanished days,
Nor from the dust of old oblivion racked,
He sends you these most memorable lines,
[Offers the French King a paper]
In every branch truly demonstrated,
Willing you overlook this pedigree.
985And when you find him evenly derived
From his most famed and famous ancestors,
Edward the Third, he bids you then resign
Your crown and kingdom, indirectly held
From him, the native and true challenger.
990French King If not, what follows?
Exeter Bloody constraint: for if you hide the crown
Even in your hearts, there will he rake for it.
Therefore in fierce tempest is he coming,
In thunder and in earthquake, like a Jove,
995That if requiring fail, he will compel it.
1000And on your heads turns he the widows' tears,
The orphans' cries, the dead men's bones,
The pining maidens' groans
For husbands, fathers, and distressèd lovers,
Which shall be swallowed in this controversy.
This is his claim, his threat'ning, and my message,
1005Unless the dauphin be in presence here,
To whom expressly we bring greeting too.
1010Dauphin For the dauphin? I stand here for him,
What to hear from England?
Exeter Scorn and defiance, slight regard, contempt,
And anything that may not misbecome
The mighty sender doth he prize you at.
1015Thus saith my king: unless your father's highness
Sweeten the bitter mock you sent his majesty,
He'll call you to so loud an answer for it,
That caves and wombly vaults of France
1020Shall chide your trespass and return your mock
In second accent of his ordinance.
Dauphin Say that, my father render fair reply,
It is against my will, for I desire
Nothing so much as odds with England.
1025And for that cause, according to his youth
I did present him with those Paris balls.
Exeter He'll make your Paris Louvre shake for it,
Were it the mistress court of mighty Europe.
And be assured, you'll find a difference,
1030As we his subjects have in wonder found,
Between his younger days and these he musters now,
Now he weighs time even to the latest grain,
Which you shall find in your own losses
If he stay in France.
1034.1French King Well, for us, you shall return our answer back
To our brother England.
Exeunt omnes.