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  • Title: Henry V (Modern, Quarto)
  • Editor: James D. Mardock

    • ISBN: 978-1-55058-409-7

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

    Henry V (Modern, Quarto)

    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.
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