Kelles of

War

From glistering semblances of piety;

But he that temper'd thee bade thee stand up,
Gave thee no instance why thou shouldst do treason,
Unless to dub thee with the name of traitor.
If that same demon that hath gull'd thee thus
Should with his lion gait walk the whole world,
He might return to vasty Tartar back,

And tell the legions, 'I can never win

A soul so easy as that Englishman's.'

O! how hast thou with jealousy infected

The sweetness of affiance. Show men dutiful?

120

124

Why, so didst thou: seem they grave and learned? 128
Why, so didst thou: come they of noble family?
Why, so didst thou: seem they religious?

132

136

Why, so didst thou: or are they spare in diet, 31-
Free from gross passion or of mirth or anger,
Constant in spirit, not swerving with the blood,
Garnish'd and deck'd in modest complement,
Not working with the eye without the ear,
And but in purged judgment trusting neither?
Such and so finely bolted didst thou seem:
And thus thy fall hath left a kind of blot,
To mark the full-fraught man and best indu'd
With some suspicion. I will weep for thee;
For this revolt of thine, methinks, is like
Another fall of man. Their faults are open:
Arrest them to the answer of the law;
And God acquit them of their practices! 34'

117 glistering: glittering

118 temper'd: moulded (to his purpose).
119 instance: motive

126 jealousy: suspicion

133 blood: passion

stand up; cf. n.

140

144

123 Tartar: Tartarus (the classical hell)
127 affiance: trust Show: appear
134 complement: external appearance

136 but in purged judgment: except after careful scrutiny
137 bolted: sifted; i.e., tested

139 full-fraught: fully laden (with virtues)

endowed

best indu'd: most richly

Exe. I arrest thee of high treason, by the name of Richard Earl of Cambridge.

I arrest thee of high treason, by the name of Henry Lord Scroop of Masham.

148

I arrest thee of high treason, by the name of Thomas Grey, knight, of Northumberland. Scroop. Our purposes God justly hath discover'd, And I repent my fault more than my death; Which I beseech your highness to forgive,

Although my body pay the price of it.

Cam. For me, the gold of France did not seduce,

Although I did admit it as a motive

152

156

The sooner to effect what I intended:

But God be thanked for prevention;

Which I in sufferance heartily will rejoice,
Beseeching God and you to pardon me.

160

Grey. Never did faithful subject more rejoice

At the discovery of most dangerous treason
Than I do at this hour joy o'er myself,
Prevented from a damned enterprise.

My fault, but not my body, pardon, sovereign.

164

K. Hen. God quit you in his mercy! Hear your

sentence.

You have conspir'd against our royal person,

Join'd with an enemy proclaim'd, and from his coffers

Receiv'd the golden earnest of our death;

168

172

Wherein you would have sold your king to slaughter,
His princes and his peers to servitude,
His subjects to oppression and contempt,
And his whole kingdom into desolation.
Touching our person seek we no revenge;

151 discover'd: revealed

159 in sufferance: while suffering the penalty 166 quit: pardon

155-157 Cf. n.

169 earnest: pledge money

176

But we our kingdom's safety must so tender,
Whose ruin you have sought, that to her laws
We do deliver you. Get you therefore hence,
Poor miserable wretches, to your death;
The taste whereof, God of his mercy give
You patience to endure, and true repentance
Of all your dear offences! Bear them hence.
Exeunt [Cambridge, Scroop, and Grey, guarded].
Now, lords, for France! the enterprise whereof
Shall be to you, as us, like glorious.

We doubt not of a fair and lucky war,

Since God so graciously hath brought to light
This dangerous treason lurking in our way
To hinder our beginnings. We doubt not now
But every rub is smoothed on our way.
Then forth, dear countrymen: let us deliver
Our puissance into the hand of God,
Putting it straight in expedition.

Cheerly to sea! the signs of war advance:

180

184

188

192

No king of England, if not king of France.L Flourish. [Exeunt.]

Scene Three

[London. A street]

Enter Pistol, Nym, Bardolph, Boy, and Hostess.

Host. Prithee, honey-sweet husband, let me

bring thee to Staines.

Pist. No; for my manly heart doth yearn.

175 tender: cherish
183 like: in equal degree
191 straight: at once
192 signs: standards
2 bring: accompany
Southampton

expedition: motion
advance: raise

181 dear: grievous 188 rub: obstacle

Staines: first stage on the road from London to

3 yearn: grieve

Bardolph, be blithe; Nym, rouse thy vaunting

veins;

4

Boy, bristle thy courage up; for Falstaff he is dead, And we must yearn therefore.

Bard. Would I were with him, wheresome'er he is, either in heaven or in hell!

8

Host. Nay, sure, he's not in hell: he's in Arthur's bosom, if ever man went to Arthur's bosom. A' made a finer end and went away an it had been any christom child; a' parted even just 12 between twelve and one, even at the turning o' the tide: for after I saw him fumble with the sheets and play with flowers and smile upon his fingers' ends, I knew there was but one way; for 16 his nose was as sharp as a pen, and a' babbled of green fields. 'How now, Sir John!' quoth I: 'what, man! be of good cheer.' So a' cried out 'God, God, God!' three or four times: now I, 20 to comfort him, bid him a' should not think of God, I hoped there was no need to trouble himself with any such thoughts yet. So a' bade me lay more clothes on his feet: I put my hand 24 into the bed and felt them, and they were as cold as any stone; then I felt to his knees, and so upward, and upward, and all was as cold as any stone.

Nym. They say he cried out of sack.

Host. Ay, that a' did.

28

Boy. Yes, that a' did; and said they were devils incarnate.

Host. A' could never abide carnation; 'twas a colour he never liked.

Boy. A' said once, the devil would have him about women.

Host. A' did in some sort, indeed, handle women; but then he was rheumatic, and talked of the whore of Babylon.

a flea

Boy. Do you not remember a' saw stick upon Bardolph's nose, and a' said it was a black soul burning in hell-fire?

Bard. Well, the fuel is gone that maintained that fire: that's all the riches I got in his service.

Nym. Shall we shog? the king will be gone from Southampton.

36

41

44

49

Pist. Come, let's away. My love, give me thy lips. Look to my chattels and my moveables:

Let senses rule, the word is, 'Pitch and pay';
Trust none;

For oaths are straws, men's faiths are wafer-cakes,
And hold-fast is the only dog, my duck:
Therefore, 'caveto' be thy counsellor.

52

56

Go, clear thy crystals. Yoke-fellows in arms,

Let us to France; like horse-leeches, my boys,
To suck, to suck, the very blood to suck!
Boy. And that's but unwholesome food,

they say.

Pist. Touch her soft mouth, and march.
Bard. Farewell, hostess.

61

[Kissing her.]

40 rheumatic: error for 'lunatic' Pitch and pay: cash down 56 caveto: beware