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  • Title: Henry IV, Part 1 (Folio 1 1623)
  • Editor: Rosemary Gaby

    • ISBN: 978-1-55058-371-7

    Copyright Rosemary Gaby. This text may be freely used for educational, non-profit purposes; for all other uses contact the Editor.
    Author: William Shakespeare
    Editor: Rosemary Gaby
    Peer Reviewed

    Henry IV, Part 1 (Folio 1 1623)

    Actus Tertius. Scena Prima.
    1520 Enter Hotspurre, Worcester, Lord Mortimer,
    Owen Glendower.
    Mort. These promises are faire, the parties sure,
    And our induction full of prosperous hope.
    Hotsp. Lord Mortimer, and Cousin Glendower,
    1525Will you sit downe?
    And Vnckle Worcester; a plague vpon it,
    I haue forgot the Mappe.
    Glend. No, here it is:
    Sit Cousin Percy, sit good Cousin Hotspurre:
    1530For by that Name, as oft as Lancaster doth speake of you,
    His Cheekes looke pale, and with a rising sigh,
    He wisheth you in Heauen.
    Hotsp. And you in Hell, as oft as he heares Owen Glen-
    dower spoke of.
    1535Glend. I cannot blame him: At my Natiuitie,
    The front of Heauen was full of fierie shapes,
    Of burning Cressets: and at my Birth,
    The frame and foundation of the Earth
    Shak'd like a Coward.
    1540Hotsp. Why so it would haue done at the same season,
    if your Mothers Cat had but kitten'd, though your selfe
    had neuer beene borne.
    Glend. I say the Earth did shake when I was borne.
    Hotsp. And I say the Earth was not of my minde,
    1545If you suppose, as fearing you, it shooke.
    Glend. The Heauens were all on fire, the Earth did
    tremble.
    Hotsp. Oh, then the Earth shooke
    To see the Heauens on fire,
    1550And not in feare of your Natiuitie.
    Diseased Nature oftentimes breakes forth
    In strange eruptions; and the teeming Earth
    Is with a kinde of Collick pincht and vext,
    By the imprisoning of vnruly Winde
    1555Within her Wombe: which for enlargement striuing,
    Shakes the old Beldame Earth, and tombles downe
    Steeples, and mosse-growne Towers. At your Birth,
    Our Grandam Earth, hauing this distemperature,
    In passion shooke.
    1560Glend. Cousin: of many men
    I doe not beare these Crossings: Giue me leaue
    To tell you once againe, that at my Birth
    The front of Heauen was full of fierie shapes,
    The Goates ranne from the Mountaines, and the Heards
    1565Were strangely clamorous to the frighted fields:
    These signes haue markt me extraordinarie,
    And all the courses of my Life doe shew,
    I am not in the Roll of common men.
    Where is the Liuing, clipt in with the Sea,
    1570That chides the Bankes of England, Scotland, and Wales,
    Which calls me Pupill, or hath read to me?
    And bring him out, that is but Womans Sonne,
    Can trace me in the tedious wayes of Art,
    And hold me pace in deepe experiments.
    1575Hotsp. I thinke there's no man speakes better Welsh:
    Ile to Dinner.
    Mort. Peace cousin Percy, you will make him mad.
    Glend. I can call Spirits from the vastie Deepe.
    Hotsp. Why so can I, or so can any man:
    1580But will they come, when you doe call for them?
    Glend. Why, I can teach thee, Cousin, to command the
    Deuill.
    Hotsp. And I can teach thee, Cousin, to shame the Deuil,
    By telling truth. Tell truth, and shame the Deuill.
    1585If thou haue power to rayse him, bring him hither,
    And Ile be sworne, I haue power to shame him hence.
    Oh, while you liue, tell truth, and shame the Deuill.
    Mort. Come, come, no more of this vnprofitable
    Chat.
    1590Glend. Three times hath Henry Bullingbrooke made head
    Against my Power: thrice from the Banks of Wye,
    And sandy-bottom'd Seuerne, haue I hent him
    Bootlesse home, and Weather-beaten backe.
    Hotsp. Home without Bootes,
    1595And in foule Weather too,
    How scapes he Agues in the Deuils name?
    Glend. Come, heere's the Mappe:
    Shall wee diuide our Right,
    According to our three-fold order ta'ne?
    1600Mort. The Arch-Deacon hath diuided it
    Into three Limits, very equally:
    England, from Trent, and Seuerne. hitherto,
    By South and East, is to my part assign'd:
    All Westward, Wales, beyond the Seuerne shore,
    1605And all the fertile Land within that bound,
    To Owen Glendower: And deare Couze, to you
    The remnant Northward, lying off from Trent.
    And our Indentures Tripartite are drawne:
    Which being sealed enterchangeably,
    1610(A Businesse that this Night may execute)
    To morrow, Cousin Percy, you and I,
    And my good Lord of Worcester, will set forth,
    To meete your Father, and the Scottish Power,
    As is appointed vs at Shrewsbury.
    1615My Father Glendower is not readie yet,
    Nor shall wee neede his helpe these foureteene dayes:
    Within that space, you may haue drawne together
    Your Tenants, Friends, and neighbouring Gentlemen.
    Glend. A shorter time shall send me to you, Lords:
    1620And in my Conduct shall your Ladies come,
    From whom you now must steale, and take no leaue,
    For there will be a World of Water shed,
    Vpon
    The First Part of King Henry the Fourth. 61
    Vpon the parting of your Wiues and you.
    Hotsp. Me thinks my Moity, North from Burton here,
    1625In quantitie equals not one of yours:
    See, how this Riuer comes me cranking in,
    And cuts me from the best of all my Land,
    A huge halfe Moone, a monstrous Cantle out.
    Ile haue the Currant in this place damn'd vp,
    1630And here the smug and Siluer Trent shall runne,
    In a new Channell, faire and euenly:
    It shall not winde with such a deepe indent,
    To rob me of so rich a Bottome here.
    Glend. Not winde? it shall, it must, you see it doth.
    1635Mort. Yea, but marke how he beares his course,
    And runnes me vp, with like aduantage on the other side,
    Gelding the opposed Continent as much,
    As on the other side it takes from you.
    Worc. Yea, but a little Charge will trench him here,
    1640And on this North side winne this Cape of Land,
    And then he runnes straight and euen.
    Hotsp. Ile haue it so, a little Charge will doe it.
    Glend. Ile not haue it alter'd.
    Hotsp. Will not you?
    1645Glend. No, nor you shall not.
    Hotsp. Who shall say me nay?
    Glend. Why, that will I.
    Hotsp. Let me not vnderstand you then, speake it in
    Welsh.
    1650Glend. I can speake English, Lord, as well as you:
    For I was trayn'd vp in the English Court;
    Where, being but young, I framed to the Harpe
    Many an English Dittie, louely well,
    And gaue the Tongue a helpefull Ornament;
    1655A Vertue that was neuer seene in you.
    Hotsp. Marry, and I am glad of it with all my heart,
    I had rather be a Kitten, and cry mew,
    Then one of these same Meeter Ballad-mongers:
    I had rather heare a Brazen Candlestick turn'd,
    1660Or a dry Wheele grate on the Axle-tree,
    And that would set my teeth nothing an edge,
    Nothing so much, as mincing Poetrie;
    'Tis like the forc't gate of a shuffling Nagge.
    Glend. Come, you shall haue Trent turn'd.
    1665Hotsp. I doe not care: Ile giue thrice so much Land
    To any well-deseruing friend;
    But in the way of Bargaine, marke ye me,
    Ile cauill on the ninth part of a hayre.
    Are the Indentures drawne? shall we be gone?
    1670Glend. The Moone shines faire,
    You may away by Night:
    Ile haste the Writer; and withall,
    Breake with your Wiues, of your departure hence:
    I am afraid my Daughter will runne madde,
    1675So much she doteth on her Mortimer. Exit.
    Mort. Fie, Cousin Percy, how you crosse my Fa-
    ther.
    Hotsp. I cannot chuse: sometime he angers me,
    With telling me of the Moldwarpe and the Ant,
    1680Of the Dreamer Merlin, and his Prophecies;
    And of a Dragon, and a finne-lesse Fish,
    A clip-wing'd Griffin, and a moulten Rauen,
    A couching Lyon, and a ramping Cat,
    And such a deale of skimble-skamble Stuffe,
    1685As puts me from my Faith. I tell you what,
    He held me last Night, at least, nine howres,
    In reckning vp the seuerall Deuils Names,
    That were his Lacqueyes:
    I cry'd hum, and well, goe too,
    1690But mark'd him not a word. O, he is as tedious
    As a tyred Horse, a rayling Wife,
    Worse then a smoakie House. I had rather liue
    With Cheese and Garlick in a Windmill farre,
    Then feede on Cates, and haue him talke to me,
    1695In any Summer-House in Christendome.
    Mort. In faith he was a worthy Gentleman,
    Exceeding well read, and profited,
    In strange Concealements:
    Valiant as a Lyon, and wondrous affable,
    1700And as bountifull, as Mynes of India.
    Shall I tell you, Cousin,
    He holds your temper in a high respect,
    And curbes himselfe, euen of his naturall scope,
    When you doe crosse his humor: 'faith he does.
    1705I warrant you, that man is not aliue,
    Might so haue tempted him, as you haue done,
    Without the taste of danger, and reproofe:
    But doe not vse it oft, let me entreat you.
    Worc. In faith, my Lord, you are too wilfull blame,
    1710And since your comming hither, haue done enough,
    To put him quite besides his patience.
    You must needes learne, Lord, to amend this fault:
    Though sometimes it shew Greatnesse, Courage, Blood,
    And that's the dearest grace it renders you;
    1715Yet oftentimes it doth present harsh Rage,
    Defect of Manners, want of Gouernment,
    Pride, Haughtinesse, Opinion, and Disdaine:
    The least of which, haunting a Nobleman,
    Loseth mens hearts, and leaues behinde a stayne
    1720Vpon the beautie of all parts besides,
    Beguiling them of commendation.
    Hotsp. Well, I am school'd:
    Good-manners be your speede;
    Heere come your Wiues, and let vs take our leaue.
    1725 Enter Glendower, with the Ladies.
    Mort. This is the deadly spight, that angers me,
    My Wife can speake no English, I no Welsh.
    Glend. My Daughter weepes, shee'le not part with you,
    Shee'le be a Souldier too, shee'le to the Warres.
    1730Mort. Good Father tell her, that she and my Aunt Percy
    Shall follow in your Conduct speedily.
    Glendower speakes to her in Welsh, and she an-
    sweres him in the same.
    Glend. Shee is desperate heere:
    1735A peeuish selfe-will'd Harlotry,
    One that no perswasion can doe good vpon.
    The Lady speakes in Welsh.
    Mort. I vnderstand thy Lookes: that pretty Welsh
    Which thou powr'st down from these swelling Heauens,
    1740I am too perfect in: and but for shame,
    In such a parley should I answere thee.
    The Lady againe in Welsh.
    Mort. I vnderstand thy Kisses, and thou mine,
    And that's a feeling disputation:
    1745But I will neuer be a Truant, Loue,
    Till I haue learn'd thy Language: for thy tongue
    Makes
    62 The First Part of King Henry the Fourth.
    Makes Welsh as sweet as Ditties highly penn'd,
    Sung by a faire Queene in a Summers Bowre,
    With rauishing Diuision to her Lute.
    1750Glend. Nay, if thou melt, then will she runne madde.
    The Lady speakes againe in Welsh.
    Mort. O, I am Ignorance it selfe in this.
    Glend. She bids you,
    On the wanton Rushes lay you downe,
    1755And rest your gentle Head vpon her Lappe,
    And she will sing the Song that pleaseth you,
    And on your Eye-lids Crowne the God of Sleepe,
    Charming your blood with pleasing heauinesse;
    Making such difference betwixt Wake and Sleepe,
    1760As is the difference betwixt Day and Night,
    The houre before the Heauenly Harneis'd Teeme
    Begins his Golden Progresse in the East.
    Mort. With all my heart Ile sit, and heare her sing:
    By that time will our Booke, I thinke, be drawne.
    1765Glend. Doe so:
    And those Musitians that shall play to you,
    Hang in the Ayre a thousand Leagues from thence;
    And straight they shall be here: sit, and attend.
    Hotsp. Come Kate, thou art perfect in lying downe:
    1770Come, quicke, quicke, that I may lay my Head in thy
    Lappe.
    Lady. Goe, ye giddy-Goose.
    The Musicke playes.
    Hotsp. Now I perceiue the Deuill vnderstands Welsh,
    1775And 'tis no maruell he is so humorous:
    Byrlady hee's a good Musitian.
    Lady. Then would you be nothing but Musicall,
    For you are altogether gouerned by humors:
    Lye still ye Theefe, and heare the Lady sing in Welsh.
    1780Hotsp. I had rather heare (Lady) my Brach howle in
    Irish.
    Lady. Would'st haue thy Head broken?
    Hotsp. No.
    Lady. Then be still.
    1785Hotsp. Neyther, 'tis a Womans fault.
    Lady. Now God helpe thee.
    Hotsp. To the Welsh Ladies Bed.
    Lady. What's that?
    Hotsp. Peace, shee sings.
    1790 Heere the Lady sings a Welsh Song.
    Hotsp. Come, Ile haue your Song too.
    Lady. Not mine, in good sooth.
    Hotsp. Not yours, in good sooth?
    You sweare like a Comfit-makers Wife:
    1795Not you, in good sooth; and, as true as I liue;
    And, as God shall mend me; and, as sure as day:
    And giuest such Sarcenet suretie for thy Oathes,
    As if thou neuer walk'st further then Finsbury.
    Sweare me, Kate, like a Lady, as thou art,
    1800A good mouth-filling Oath: and leaue in sooth,
    And such protest of Pepper Ginger-bread,
    To Veluet-Guards, and Sunday-Citizens.
    Come, sing.
    Lady. I will not sing.
    1805Hotsp. 'Tis the next way to turne Taylor, or be Red-
    brest teacher: and the Indentures be drawne, Ile away
    within these two howres: and so come in, when yee
    will. Exit.
    Glend. Come, come, Lord Mortimer, you are as slow,
    1810As hot Lord Percy is on fire to goe.
    By this our Booke is drawne: wee'le but seale,
    And then to Horse immediately.
    Mort. With all my heart. Exeunt.
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