SCENE IV. Another Part of the Field. Alarums. Excursions. Enter the KING, Prince K. Hen. I pr'ythee, Harry, withdraw thyself; thou bleed'st too much.— P. John. Not I, my lord, unless I did bleed too. Lest your retirement do amaze your friends. K. Hen. I will do so.-My lord of Westmoreland, Lead him to his tent. West. Come, my lord, I'll lead you to your tent. P. Hen. Lead me, my lord? I do not need your help: And heaven forbid, a shallow scratch should drive The prince of Wales from such a field as this, And rebels' arms triumph in massacres ! P. John. We breathe too long.-Come, cousin Westmoreland, Our duty this way lies: for God's sake, come. [Exeunt Prince JOHN and WESTMORELAND. P. Hen. By God thou hast deceiv'd me, Lancaster, I did not think thee lord of such a spirit: Before, I lov'd thee as a brother, John, But now, I do respect thee as my soul. K. Hen. I saw him hold lord Percy at the point, With lustier maintenance than I did look for Of such an ungrown warrior. P. Hen. Lends mettle to us all. O! this boy [Exit. Alarums. Enter DOUGLAS. Doug. Another king! they grow like Hydra's heads. I am the Douglas, fatal to all those That wear those colours on them:-what art thou, K. Hen. The king himself; who, Douglas, grieves at heart, So many of his shadows thou hast met, And not the very king. I have two boys Doug. I fear thou art another counterfeit, They fight the KING being in danger, enter P. Hen. Hold up thy head, vile Scot, or thou art like Never to hold it up again! the spirits Of valiant Shirley, Stafford, Blunt, are in my arms: [They fight: DOUGLAS flies. K. Hen. Stay, and breathe a while. Thou hast redeem'd thy lost opinion; P. Hen. O God! they did me too much injury, The insulting hand of Douglas over you; K. Hen. Make up to Clifton: I'll to sir Nicholas Gawsey. [Exit King HENRY. Enter HOTSPUR. Hot. If I mistake not, thou art Harry Monmouth. P. Hen. Thou speak'st as if I would deny my name. Hot. My name is Harry Percy. P. Hen. A very valiant rebel of that name. Why, then I see I am the prince of Wales; and think not, Percy, Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere; Hot. Nor shall it, Harry, for the hour is come I'll crop, to make a garland for my head. Enter FALSTAFF. [They fight. Fal. Well said, Hals! to it, Hal!-Nay, you shall find no boy's play here, I can tell you. 4 NOR shall it, Harry,] So the folio, 1623: all the quarto editions read, corruptly no doubt, "Now shall it, Harry." By a collation of this play, made by the late J. P. Kemble, now before me, it should appear that he had seen a copy of the quarto, 1598, in which the passage ran "Nor shall it, Harry." If so, it must have been a correction made as the first edition of the drama went through the press. 5 Well SAID, Hal!] i. e. "Well done, Hal!" See "As You Like It," Vol. iii. p. 39, note 8. Enter DOUGLAS; he fights with FALSTAFF, who falls down as if he were dead, and exit DOUGLAS. HOTSPUR is wounded, and falls. Hot. O, Harry! thou hast robb'd me of my youth. I better brook the loss of brittle life, Than those proud titles thou hast won of me; They wound my thoughts worse than thy sword my flesh : But thought's the slave of life, and life time's fool; [Dies. P. Hen. For worms, brave Percy. Fare thee well, great heart!— Ill-weav'd ambition, how much art thou shrunk! A kingdom for it was too small a bound; Is room enough :-this earth that bears thee dead', If thou wert sensible of courtesy, I should not make so dear a show of zeal': 6 - worse than THY sword my flesh :] So every quarto, excepting that of 1613, which has the for "thy," and is followed by the folio, 1623. 7 But that the EARTHY and cold hand of death] Here again the folio, 1623, adopted a corruption of the text from the quartos of 1608 and 1613, where the line runs, "But that the earth and cold hand of death :" to amend the defective metre, the folio, however, inserted the before "cold," without referring to any previous edition. Fare thee well,] The folio, contrary to all authority, omits "thee.” This earth that bears THEE dead,] This is doubtless the true reading, by which the antithesis is preserved. All the copies, quarto and folio, anterior to the quarto of 1639, read, "bears the dead," but in old MSS. "thee" was often written the, and hence the original and long existing error. 1 I should not make so DEAR a show of zeal :-] So the quarto, 1598: other editions poorly substitute great for "dear." But let my favours hide thy mangled face, Adieu, and take thy praise with thee to heaven: But not remember'd in thy epitaph!— [He sees FALSTAFF on the ground. What! old acquaintance! could not all this flesh. [Exit. Fal. [Rising.] Embowelled! if thou embowel me to-day, I'll give you leave to powder me', and eat me too, to-morrow. 'Sblood! 'twas time to counterfeit, or that hot termagant Scot had paid me scot and lot too. Counterfeit? I lie; I am no counterfeit*: to die, is to be a counterfeit; for he is but the counterfeit of a man, who hath not the life of a man; but to counterfeit dying, when a man thereby liveth, is to be no counterfeit, but the true and perfect image of life indeed. The better part of valour is discretion, in the which better part, I have saved my life. 'Zounds! I am afraid of this gunpowder Percy, though he be dead. 2 Thy IGNOMY] The word "ignomy" (of course abridged from ignominy for the sake of the verse) has occurred in "Measure for Measure," Vol. ii. p. 45. It is also found in Troilus and Cressida, as pointed out in a note on the passage. The quartos of 1598, 1599, and 1639, have "ignominy," and those of 1608 and 1613, as well as the folio, "ignomy." 3 I'll give you leave to POWDER me,] To "powder" was the old word for to salt, and is not yet entirely out of use in some parts of the kingdom. The country people in the lower part of Surrey still speak of "powdered beef,” as well as of" corned beef." 4 I LIE ; I am no counterfeit :] The quarto, 1613, and the folio, 1623, omit "I lie." It is found in all the previous editions, but the folio took its text from that of 1613. |