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Enter at one door KING HENRY , EXETER , BEDFORD , GLOUCESTER , WARWICK , WESTMORELAND , and other lords; at another, the FRENCH KING , QUEEN ISABEL, the princess KATHERINE , ALICE and other ladies; the Duke of BURGUNDY , and his train
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Enter at one door KING HENRY , EXETER , BEDFORD , GLOUCESTER , WARWICK , WESTMORELAND , and other lords; at another, the FRENCH KING , QUEEN ISABEL, the princess KATHERINE , ALICE and other ladies; the Duke of BURGUNDY , and his train
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KING HENRY Unto our brother France and to our sister,
Health and fair time of day.—Joy and good wishes
To our most fair and princely cousin Katherine.—
And, as a branch and member of this royalty,
5 By whom this great assembly is contrived,
We do salute you, Duke of Burgundy.—
And princes French, and peers, health to you all.
Peace to this meeting wherefore we are met.
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KING HENRY Unto our brother France and to our sister,
Health and fair time of day.—Joy and good wishes
To our most fair and princely cousin Katherine.—
And, as a branch and member of this royalty,
By whom this great assembly is contrived,
We do salute you, Duke of Burgundy.—
And princes French, and peers, health to you all.
Peace to this meeting wherefore we are met.
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KING OF FRANCE 10 Right joyous are we to behold your face,
Most worthy brother England. Fairly met.
—So are you, princes English, every one.
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KING OF FRANCE Right joyous are we to behold your face,
Most worthy brother England. Fairly met.
—So are you, princes English, every one.
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QUEEN ISABEL So happy be the issue, brother England,
Of this good day and of this gracious meeting,
15 As we are now glad to behold your eyes—
Your eyes which hitherto have borne in them
Against the French that met them in their bent
The fatal balls of murdering basilisks.
The venom of such looks, we fairly hope,
20 Have lost their quality, and that this day
Shall change all griefs and quarrels into love.
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QUEEN ISABEL So happy be the issue, brother England,
Of this good day and of this gracious meeting,
As we are now glad to behold your eyes—
Your eyes which hitherto have borne in them
Against the French that met them in their bent
The fatal balls of murdering basilisks.
The venom of such looks, we fairly hope,
Have lost their quality, and that this day
Shall change all griefs and quarrels into love.
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KING HENRY To cry “Amen” to that, thus we appear.
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KING HENRY To cry “Amen” to that, thus we appear.
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QUEEN ISABEL You English princes all, I do salute you.
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QUEEN ISABEL You English princes all, I do salute you.
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BURGUNDY My duty to you both, on equal love,
25 Great kings of France and England. That I have labored
With all my wits, my pains, and strong endeavors,
To bring your most imperial Majesties
Unto this bar and royal interview,
Your mightiness on both parts best can witness.
30 Since, then, my office hath so far prevailed
That face to face and royal eye to eye
You have congreeted. Let it not disgrace me
If I demand before this royal view
What rub or what impediment there is
35 Why that the naked, poor, and mangled peace,
Dear nurse of arts, plenties, and joyful births,
Should not in this best garden of the world,
Our fertile France, put up her lovely visage?
Alas, she hath from France too long been chased,
40 And all her husbandry doth lie on heaps,
Corrupting in its own fertility.
Her vine, the merry cheerer of the heart,
Unprunèd, dies. Her hedges, even-pleached,
Like prisoners wildly overgrown with hair,
45 Put forth disordered twigs. Her fallow leas
The darnel, hemlock, and rank fumitory
Doth root upon, while that the coulter rusts
That should deracinate such savagery.
The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth
50 The freckled cowslip, burnet, and green clover,
Wanting the scythe, withal uncorrected, rank,
Conceives by idleness, and nothing teems
But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burrs,
Losing both beauty and utility.
55 And as our vineyards, fallows, meads, and hedges,
Defective in their natures, grow to wildness,
Even so our houses and ourselves and children
Have lost, or do not learn for want of time,
The sciences that should become our country,
60 But grow like savages, as soldiers will
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BURGUNDY My duty to you both, on equal love,
Great kings of France and England. That I have labored
With all my wits, my pains, and strong endeavors,
To bring your most imperial Majesties
Unto this bar and royal interview,
Your mightiness on both parts best can witness.
Since, then, my office hath so far prevailed
That face to face and royal eye to eye
You have congreeted. Let it not disgrace me
If I demand before this royal view
What rub or what impediment there is
Why that the naked, poor, and mangled peace,
Dear nurse of arts, plenties, and joyful births,
Should not in this best garden of the world,
Our fertile France, put up her lovely visage?
Alas, she hath from France too long been chased,
And all her husbandry doth lie on heaps,
Corrupting in its own fertility.
Her vine, the merry cheerer of the heart,
Unprunèd, dies. Her hedges, even-pleached,
Like prisoners wildly overgrown with hair,
Put forth disordered twigs. Her fallow leas
The darnel, hemlock, and rank fumitory
Doth root upon, while that the coulter rusts
That should deracinate such savagery.
The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth
The freckled cowslip, burnet, and green clover,
Wanting the scythe, withal uncorrected, rank,
Conceives by idleness, and nothing teems
But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burrs,
Losing both beauty and utility.
And as our vineyards, fallows, meads, and hedges,
Defective in their natures, grow to wildness,
Even so our houses and ourselves and children
Have lost, or do not learn for want of time,
The sciences that should become our country,
But grow like savages, as soldiers will
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That nothing do but meditate on blood,
To swearing and stern looks, diffused attire,
And everything that seems unnatural.
Which to reduce into our former favor
65 You are assembled, and my speech entreats
That I may know the let why gentle peace
Should not expel these inconveniences
And bless us with her former qualities.
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That nothing do but meditate on blood,
To swearing and stern looks, diffused attire,
And everything that seems unnatural.
Which to reduce into our former favor
You are assembled, and my speech entreats
That I may know the let why gentle peace
Should not expel these inconveniences
And bless us with her former qualities.
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KING HENRY If, Duke of Burgundy, you would the peace,
70 Whose want gives growth to th' imperfections
Which you have cited, you must buy that peace
With full accord to all our just demands,
Whose tenors and particular effects
You have, enscheduled briefly, in your hands.
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KING HENRY If, Duke of Burgundy, you would the peace,
Whose want gives growth to th' imperfections
Which you have cited, you must buy that peace
With full accord to all our just demands,
Whose tenors and particular effects
You have, enscheduled briefly, in your hands.
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BURGUNDY 75 The king hath heard them, to the which as yet
There is no answer made.
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BURGUNDY The king hath heard them, to the which as yet
There is no answer made.
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KING HENRY Well then, the peace which you before so urged
Lies in his answer.
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KING HENRY Well then, the peace which you before so urged
Lies in his answer.
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KING OF FRANCE I have but with a cursitory eye
80 O'erglanced the articles. Pleaseth your Grace
To appoint some of your council presently
To sit with us once more with better heed
To resurvey them, we will suddenly
Pass our accept and peremptory answer.
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KING OF FRANCE I have but with a cursitory eye
O'erglanced the articles. Pleaseth your Grace
To appoint some of your council presently
To sit with us once more with better heed
To resurvey them, we will suddenly
Pass our accept and peremptory answer.
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KING HENRY 85 Brother, we shall.—Go, uncle Exeter,
And brother Clarence, and you, brother Gloucester,
Warwick and Huntingdon, go with the king
And take with you free power to ratify,
Augment, or alter, as your wisdoms best
90 Shall see advantageable for our dignity,
Anything in or out of our demands,
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KING HENRY Brother, we shall.—Go, uncle Exeter,
And brother Clarence, and you, brother Gloucester,
Warwick and Huntingdon, go with the king
And take with you free power to ratify,
Augment, or alter, as your wisdoms best
Shall see advantageable for our dignity,
Anything in or out of our demands,
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And we’ll consign thereto.—Will you, fair sister,
Go with the princes or stay here with us?
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And we’ll consign thereto.—Will you, fair sister,
Go with the princes or stay here with us?
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QUEEN ISABEL Our gracious brother, I will go with them.
95 Haply a woman’s voice may do some good,
When articles too nicely urged be stood on.
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QUEEN ISABEL Our gracious brother, I will go with them.
Haply a woman’s voice may do some good,
When articles too nicely urged be stood on.
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KING HENRY Yet leave our cousin Katherine here with us.
She is our capital demand, comprised
Within the forerank of our articles.
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KING HENRY Yet leave our cousin Katherine here with us.
She is our capital demand, comprised
Within the forerank of our articles.
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QUEEN ISABEL 100 She hath good leave.
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QUEEN ISABEL She hath good leave.
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Exeunt all except KING HENRY , KATHERINE , and ALICE
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Exeunt all except KING HENRY , KATHERINE , and ALICE
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KING HENRY Fair Katherine, and most fair,
Will you vouchsafe to teach a soldier terms
Such as will enter at a lady’s ear
And plead his love suit to her gentle heart?
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KING HENRY Fair Katherine, and most fair,
Will you vouchsafe to teach a soldier terms
Such as will enter at a lady’s ear
And plead his love suit to her gentle heart?
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KATHERINE 105 Your Majesty shall mock at me. I cannot speak your
England.
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KATHERINE Your Majesty shall mock at me. I cannot speak your
England.
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KING HENRY O fair Katherine, if you will love me soundly with your French heart, I will be glad to hear you confess it brokenly with your English tongue. Do you like me, Kate?
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KING HENRY O fair Katherine, if you will love me soundly with your French heart, I will be glad to hear you confess it brokenly with your English tongue. Do you like me, Kate?
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KATHERINE |
KATHERINE |
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KING HENRY An angel is like you, Kate, and you are like an angel.
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KING HENRY An angel is like you, Kate, and you are like an angel.
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KATHERINE (to ALICE) Que dit-il? Que je suis semblable à les anges?
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KATHERINE (to ALICE) Que dit-il? Que je suis semblable à les anges?
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ALICE Oui, vraiment, sauf votre Grâce, ainsi dit-il.
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ALICE Oui, vraiment, sauf votre Grâce, ainsi dit-il.
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KING HENRY I said so, dear Katherine; and I must not blush to affirm it.
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KING HENRY I said so, dear Katherine; and I must not blush to affirm it.
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KATHERINE |
KATHERINE |
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KING HENRY What says she, fair one? That the tongues of men are full of deceits?
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KING HENRY What says she, fair one? That the tongues of men are full of deceits?
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ALICE Oui, dat de tongues of de mans is be full of deceits; dat is de princess.
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ALICE Oui, dat de tongues of de mans is be full of deceits; dat is de princess.
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KING HENRY The princess is the better Englishwoman.—I' faith, Kate, my wooing is fit for thy understanding. I am glad thou canst speak no better English, for if thou couldst, thou wouldst find me such a plain king that thou wouldst think I had sold my farm to buy my crown. I know no ways to mince it in love, but directly to say, “I love you.” Then if you urge me farther than to say, “Do you, in faith?” I wear out my suit. Give me your answer, i' faith, do; and so clap hands and a bargain. How say you, lady?
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KING HENRY The princess is the better Englishwoman.—I' faith, Kate, my wooing is fit for thy understanding. I am glad thou canst speak no better English, for if thou couldst, thou wouldst find me such a plain king that thou wouldst think I had sold my farm to buy my crown. I know no ways to mince it in love, but directly to say, “I love you.” Then if you urge me farther than to say, “Do you, in faith?” I wear out my suit. Give me your answer, i' faith, do; and so clap hands and a bargain. How say you, lady?
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KATHERINE |
KATHERINE |
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KING HENRY Marry, if you would put me to verses or to dance for your sake, Kate, why you undid me. For the one, I have neither words nor measure; and for the other, I have no strength in measure, yet a reasonable measure in strength. If I could win a lady at leapfrog or by vaulting into my saddle with my armor on my back, under the correction of bragging be it spoken, I should quickly leap into a wife. Or if I might buffet for my love or bound my horse for her favors, I could lay on like a butcher and sit like a jackanapes, never off. But, before God, Kate, I cannot look greenly nor gasp out my eloquence, nor I have no cunning in protestation, only
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KING HENRY Marry, if you would put me to verses or to dance for your sake, Kate, why you undid me. For the one, I have neither words nor measure; and for the other, I have no strength in measure, yet a reasonable measure in strength. If I could win a lady at leapfrog or by vaulting into my saddle with my armor on my back, under the correction of bragging be it spoken, I should quickly leap into a wife. Or if I might buffet for my love or bound my horse for her favors, I could lay on like a butcher and sit like a jackanapes, never off. But, before God, Kate, I cannot look greenly nor gasp out my eloquence, nor I have no cunning in protestation, only
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downright oaths, which I never use till urged, nor never break for urging. If thou canst love a fellow of this temper, Kate, whose face is not worth sunburning, that never looks in his glass for love of anything he sees there, let thine eye be thy cook. I speak to thee plain soldier. If thou canst love me for this, take me. If not, to say to thee that I shall die is true, but for thy love, by the Lord, no. Yet I love thee too. And while thou liv’st, dear Kate, take a fellow of plain and uncoined constancy, for he perforce must do thee right because he hath not the gift to woo in other places. For these fellows of infinite tongue, that can rhyme themselves into ladies' favors, they do always reason themselves out again. What? A speaker is but a prater, a rhyme is but a ballad, a good leg will fall, a straight back will stoop, a black beard will turn white, a curled pate will grow bald, a fair face will wither, a full eye will wax hollow, but a good heart, Kate, is the sun and the moon, or rather the sun and not the moon, for it shines bright and never changes but keeps his course truly. If thou would have such a one, take me. And take me, take a soldier. Take a soldier, take a king. And what say’st thou then to my love? Speak, my fair, and fairly, I pray thee.
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downright oaths, which I never use till urged, nor never break for urging. If thou canst love a fellow of this temper, Kate, whose face is not worth sunburning, that never looks in his glass for love of anything he sees there, let thine eye be thy cook. I speak to thee plain soldier. If thou canst love me for this, take me. If not, to say to thee that I shall die is true, but for thy love, by the Lord, no. Yet I love thee too. And while thou liv’st, dear Kate, take a fellow of plain and uncoined constancy, for he perforce must do thee right because he hath not the gift to woo in other places. For these fellows of infinite tongue, that can rhyme themselves into ladies' favors, they do always reason themselves out again. What? A speaker is but a prater, a rhyme is but a ballad, a good leg will fall, a straight back will stoop, a black beard will turn white, a curled pate will grow bald, a fair face will wither, a full eye will wax hollow, but a good heart, Kate, is the sun and the moon, or rather the sun and not the moon, for it shines bright and never changes but keeps his course truly. If thou would have such a one, take me. And take me, take a soldier. Take a soldier, take a king. And what say’st thou then to my love? Speak, my fair, and fairly, I pray thee.
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KATHERINE Is it possible dat I sould love de enemy of France?
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KATHERINE Is it possible dat I sould love de enemy of France?
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KING HENRY No, it is not possible you should love the enemy of France, Kate. But, in loving me, you should love the friend of France, for I love France so well that I will not part with a village of it. I will have it all mine. And, Kate, when France is mine and I am yours, then yours is France and you are mine.
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KING HENRY No, it is not possible you should love the enemy of France, Kate. But, in loving me, you should love the friend of France, for I love France so well that I will not part with a village of it. I will have it all mine. And, Kate, when France is mine and I am yours, then yours is France and you are mine.
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KATHERINE 170 I cannot tell wat is dat.
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KATHERINE I cannot tell wat is dat.
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KING HENRY No, Kate? I will tell thee in French, which I am sure will hang upon my tongue like a new-married wife about her husband’s neck, hardly to be shook off. Je quand sur le possession de France, et quand vous avez le possession de moi—let me see, what then? Saint Denis be my speed!— donc vôtre est France et vous êtes mienne. It is as easy for me, Kate, to conquer the kingdom as to speak so much more French. I shall never move thee in French, unless it be to laugh at me.
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KING HENRY No, Kate? I will tell thee in French, which I am sure will hang upon my tongue like a new-married wife about her husband’s neck, hardly to be shook off. Je quand sur le possession de France, et quand vous avez le possession de moi—let me see, what then? Saint Denis be my speed!— donc vôtre est France et vous êtes mienne. It is as easy for me, Kate, to conquer the kingdom as to speak so much more French. I shall never move thee in French, unless it be to laugh at me.
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KATHERINE |
KATHERINE |
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KING HENRY No, faith, is ’t not, Kate, but thy speaking of my tongue, and I thine, most truly-falsely must needs be granted to be much at one. But, Kate, dost thou understand thus much English? Canst thou love me?
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KING HENRY No, faith, is ’t not, Kate, but thy speaking of my tongue, and I thine, most truly-falsely must needs be granted to be much at one. But, Kate, dost thou understand thus much English? Canst thou love me?
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KATHERINE I cannot tell.
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KATHERINE I cannot tell.
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KING HENRY Can any of your neighbors tell, Kate? I’ll ask them. Come, I know thou lovest me; and at night, when you come into your closet, you’ll question this gentlewoman about me, and, I know, Kate, you will to her dispraise those parts in me that you love with your heart. But, good Kate, mock me mercifully, the rather, gentle princess, because I love thee cruelly. If ever thou beest mine, Kate, as I have a saving faith within me tells me thou shalt, I get thee with scambling, and thou must therefore needs prove a good soldier-breeder. Shall not thou and I, between Saint Denis
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KING HENRY Can any of your neighbors tell, Kate? I’ll ask them. Come, I know thou lovest me; and at night, when you come into your closet, you’ll question this gentlewoman about me, and, I know, Kate, you will to her dispraise those parts in me that you love with your heart. But, good Kate, mock me mercifully, the rather, gentle princess, because I love thee cruelly. If ever thou beest mine, Kate, as I have a saving faith within me tells me thou shalt, I get thee with scambling, and thou must therefore needs prove a good soldier-breeder. Shall not thou and I, between Saint Denis
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and Saint George, compound a boy, half French, half English, that shall go to Constantinople and take the Turk by the beard? Shall we not? What say’st thou, my fair flower de luce?
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and Saint George, compound a boy, half French, half English, that shall go to Constantinople and take the Turk by the beard? Shall we not? What say’st thou, my fair flower de luce?
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KATHERINE I do not know dat.
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KATHERINE I do not know dat.
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KING HENRY No, ’tis hereafter to know, but now to promise. Do but now promise, Kate, you will endeavor for your French part of such a boy; and for my English moiety take the word of a king and a bachelor. How answer you, la plus belle Katherine du monde, mon très cher et divin déesse?
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KING HENRY No, ’tis hereafter to know, but now to promise. Do but now promise, Kate, you will endeavor for your French part of such a boy; and for my English moiety take the word of a king and a bachelor. How answer you, la plus belle Katherine du monde, mon très cher et divin déesse?
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KATHERINE Your Majestée ave fausse French enough to deceive de most sage demoiselle dat is en France.
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KATHERINE Your Majestée ave fausse French enough to deceive de most sage demoiselle dat is en France.
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KING HENRY Now fie upon my false French. By mine honor, in true English, I love thee, Kate. By which honor I dare not swear thou lovest me, yet my blood begins to flatter me that thou dost, notwithstanding the poor and untempering effect of my visage. Now, beshrew my father’s ambition! He was thinking of civil wars when he got me; therefore was I created with a stubborn outside, with an aspect of iron, that when I come to woo ladies, I fright them. But, in faith, Kate, the elder I wax, the better I shall appear. My comfort is that old age, that ill layer-up of beauty, can do no more spoil upon my face. Thou hast me, if thou hast me, at the worst, and thou shalt wear me, if thou wear me, better and better. And therefore tell me, most fair Katherine, will you have me? Put off your maiden blushes, avouch the thoughts of your heart with the looks of an empress, take me by the hand, and say “Harry of England, I am thine,” which word thou shalt no sooner bless mine ear withal, but I will tell
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KING HENRY Now fie upon my false French. By mine honor, in true English, I love thee, Kate. By which honor I dare not swear thou lovest me, yet my blood begins to flatter me that thou dost, notwithstanding the poor and untempering effect of my visage. Now, beshrew my father’s ambition! He was thinking of civil wars when he got me; therefore was I created with a stubborn outside, with an aspect of iron, that when I come to woo ladies, I fright them. But, in faith, Kate, the elder I wax, the better I shall appear. My comfort is that old age, that ill layer-up of beauty, can do no more spoil upon my face. Thou hast me, if thou hast me, at the worst, and thou shalt wear me, if thou wear me, better and better. And therefore tell me, most fair Katherine, will you have me? Put off your maiden blushes, avouch the thoughts of your heart with the looks of an empress, take me by the hand, and say “Harry of England, I am thine,” which word thou shalt no sooner bless mine ear withal, but I will tell
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thee aloud “England is thine, Ireland is thine, France is thine, and Harry Plantagenet is thine,” who, though I speak it before his face, if he be not fellow with the best king, thou shalt find the best king of good fellows. Come, your answer in broken music, for thy voice is music and thy English broken. Therefore, queen of all, Katherine, break thy mind to me in broken English. Wilt thou have me?
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thee aloud “England is thine, Ireland is thine, France is thine, and Harry Plantagenet is thine,” who, though I speak it before his face, if he be not fellow with the best king, thou shalt find the best king of good fellows. Come, your answer in broken music, for thy voice is music and thy English broken. Therefore, queen of all, Katherine, break thy mind to me in broken English. Wilt thou have me?
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KATHERINE Dat is as it sall please de roi mon père.
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KATHERINE Dat is as it sall please de roi mon père.
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KING HENRY Nay, it will please him well, Kate; it shall please him, Kate.
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KING HENRY Nay, it will please him well, Kate; it shall please him, Kate.
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KATHERINE 235 Den it sall also content me.
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KATHERINE Den it sall also content me.
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KING HENRY Upon that I kiss your hand, and I call you my queen.
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KING HENRY Upon that I kiss your hand, and I call you my queen.
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KATHERINE Laissez, mon seigneur, laissez, laissez! Ma foi, je ne veux point que vous abaissiez votre grandeur en baisant la main d'une—Notre Seigneur!—indigne serviteur. Excusez-moi, je vous supplie, mon très puissant eigneur.
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KATHERINE Laissez, mon seigneur, laissez, laissez! Ma foi, je ne veux point que vous abaissiez votre grandeur en baisant la main d'une—Notre Seigneur!—indigne serviteur. Excusez-moi, je vous supplie, mon très puissant eigneur.
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KING HENRY Then I will kiss your lips, Kate.
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KING HENRY Then I will kiss your lips, Kate.
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KATHERINE Les dames et demoiselles pour être baisées devant leur noces, il n'est pas la coutume de France.
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KATHERINE Les dames et demoiselles pour être baisées devant leur noces, il n'est pas la coutume de France.
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KING HENRY Madam my interpreter, what says she?
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KING HENRY Madam my interpreter, what says she?
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ALICE |
ALICE |
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KING HENRY To kiss.
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KING HENRY To kiss.
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ALICE Your Majesté entendre bettre que moi.
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ALICE Your Majesté entendre bettre que moi.
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KING HENRY It is not a fashion for the maids in France to kiss before they are married, would she say?
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KING HENRY It is not a fashion for the maids in France to kiss before they are married, would she say?
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ALICE Oui, vraiment.
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ALICE Oui, vraiment.
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KING HENRY O Kate, nice customs curtsy to great kings. Dear Kate, you and I cannot be confined within the weak list of a country’s fashion. We are the makers of manners, Kate, and the liberty that follows our places stops the mouth of all find- faults, as I will do yours for upholding the nice fashion of your country in denying me a kiss. Therefore, patiently and yielding. (kissing her) You have witchcraft in your lips, Kate. There is more eloquence in a sugar touch of them than in the tongues of the French council, and they should sooner persuade Harry of England than a general petition of monarchs. Here comes your father.
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KING HENRY O Kate, nice customs curtsy to great kings. Dear Kate, you and I cannot be confined within the weak list of a country’s fashion. We are the makers of manners, Kate, and the liberty that follows our places stops the mouth of all find- faults, as I will do yours for upholding the nice fashion of your country in denying me a kiss. Therefore, patiently and yielding. (kissing her) You have witchcraft in your lips, Kate. There is more eloquence in a sugar touch of them than in the tongues of the French council, and they should sooner persuade Harry of England than a general petition of monarchs. Here comes your father.
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Enter the FRENCH KING , QUEEN ISABEL, BURGUNDY , and other LORDS
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Enter the FRENCH KING , QUEEN ISABEL, BURGUNDY , and other LORDS
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BURGUNDY God save your Majesty. My royal cousin, teach you our princess English?
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BURGUNDY God save your Majesty. My royal cousin, teach you our princess English?
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KING HENRY |
KING HENRY |
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BURGUNDY Is she not apt?
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BURGUNDY Is she not apt?
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KING HENRY Our tongue is rough, coz, and my condition is not smooth, so that, having neither the voice nor the heart of flattery about me, I cannot so conjure up the spirit of love in her that he will appear in his true likeness.
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KING HENRY Our tongue is rough, coz, and my condition is not smooth, so that, having neither the voice nor the heart of flattery about me, I cannot so conjure up the spirit of love in her that he will appear in his true likeness.
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BURGUNDY Pardon the frankness of my mirth if I answer you for that. If you would conjure in her, you must make a circle; if conjure up Love in her in his true likeness, he must appear naked and blind. Can you blame her then, being a maid yet rosed over with the virgin crimson of modesty, if she deny the appearance of a naked blind boy in her naked seeing self? It were, my lord, a hard condition for a maid to consign to.
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BURGUNDY Pardon the frankness of my mirth if I answer you for that. If you would conjure in her, you must make a circle; if conjure up Love in her in his true likeness, he must appear naked and blind. Can you blame her then, being a maid yet rosed over with the virgin crimson of modesty, if she deny the appearance of a naked blind boy in her naked seeing self? It were, my lord, a hard condition for a maid to consign to.
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KING HENRY Yet they do wink and yield, as love is blind and enforces.
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KING HENRY Yet they do wink and yield, as love is blind and enforces.
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BURGUNDY |
BURGUNDY |
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KING HENRY Then, good my lord, teach your cousin to consent winking.
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KING HENRY Then, good my lord, teach your cousin to consent winking.
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BURGUNDY I will wink on her to consent, my lord, if you will teach her to know my meaning, for maids, well summered and warm kept, are like flies at Bartholomew-tide: blind, though they have their eyes; and then they will endure handling, which before would not abide looking on.
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BURGUNDY I will wink on her to consent, my lord, if you will teach her to know my meaning, for maids, well summered and warm kept, are like flies at Bartholomew-tide: blind, though they have their eyes; and then they will endure handling, which before would not abide looking on.
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KING HENRY This moral ties me over to time and a hot summer. And so I shall catch the fly, your cousin, in the latter end and she must be blind too.
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KING HENRY This moral ties me over to time and a hot summer. And so I shall catch the fly, your cousin, in the latter end and she must be blind too.
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BURGUNDY As love is, my lord, before it loves.
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BURGUNDY As love is, my lord, before it loves.
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KING HENRY It is so. And you may, some of you, thank love for my blindness, who cannot see many a fair French city for one fair French maid that stands in my way.
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KING HENRY It is so. And you may, some of you, thank love for my blindness, who cannot see many a fair French city for one fair French maid that stands in my way.
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FRENCH KING |
FRENCH KING |
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KING HENRY Shall Kate be my wife?
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KING HENRY Shall Kate be my wife?
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FRENCH KING So please you.
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FRENCH KING So please you.
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KING HENRY |
KING HENRY |
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FRENCH KING We have consented to all terms of reason.
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FRENCH KING We have consented to all terms of reason.
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KING HENRY Is ’t so, my lords of England?
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KING HENRY Is ’t so, my lords of England?
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WESTMORELAND 305 The king hath granted every article,
His daughter first, and, in sequel, all,
According to their firm proposed natures.
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WESTMORELAND The king hath granted every article,
His daughter first, and, in sequel, all,
According to their firm proposed natures.
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EXETER Only he hath not yet subscribèd this:
Where your Majesty demands that the king of France, having any occasion to write for matter of grant, shall name your Highness in this form and with this addition, in French: Notre très cher fils Henri, roi d'Angleterre, héritier de France; and thus in Latin: Praeclarissimus filius noster Henricus, rex Angliae, et haeres Franciae.
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EXETER Only he hath not yet subscribèd this:
Where your Majesty demands that the king of France, having any occasion to write for matter of grant, shall name your Highness in this form and with this addition, in French: Notre très cher fils Henri, roi d'Angleterre, héritier de France; and thus in Latin: Praeclarissimus filius noster Henricus, rex Angliae, et haeres Franciae.
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FRENCH KING 315 Nor this I have not, brother, so denied
But your request shall make me let it pass.
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FRENCH KING Nor this I have not, brother, so denied
But your request shall make me let it pass.
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KING HENRY I pray you, then, in love and dear alliance,
Let that one article rank with the rest,
And thereupon give me your daughter.
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KING HENRY I pray you, then, in love and dear alliance,
Let that one article rank with the rest,
And thereupon give me your daughter.
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FRENCH KING 320 Take her, fair son, and from her blood raise up
Issue to me, that the contending kingdoms
Of France and England, whose very shores look pale
With envy of each other’s happiness,
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FRENCH KING Take her, fair son, and from her blood raise up
Issue to me, that the contending kingdoms
Of France and England, whose very shores look pale
With envy of each other’s happiness,
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May cease their hatred, and this dear conjunction
325 Plant neighborhood and Christian-like accord
In their sweet bosoms, that never war advance
His bleeding sword ’twixt England and fair France.
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May cease their hatred, and this dear conjunction
Plant neighborhood and Christian-like accord
In their sweet bosoms, that never war advance
His bleeding sword ’twixt England and fair France.
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LORDS Amen.
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LORDS Amen.
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KING HENRY Now welcome, Kate, and bear me witness all
330 That here I kiss her as my sovereign queen.
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KING HENRY Now welcome, Kate, and bear me witness all
That here I kiss her as my sovereign queen.
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Flourish
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Flourish
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QUEEN ISABEL God, the best maker of all marriages,
Combine your hearts in one, your realms in one.
As man and wife, being two, are one in love,
So be there ’twixt your kingdoms such a spousal
335 That never may ill office or fell jealousy,
Which troubles oft the bed of blessèd marriage,
Thrust in between the paction of these kingdoms
To make divorce of their incorporate league,
That English may as French, French Englishmen,
340 Receive each other. God speak this “amen”!
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QUEEN ISABEL God, the best maker of all marriages,
Combine your hearts in one, your realms in one.
As man and wife, being two, are one in love,
So be there ’twixt your kingdoms such a spousal
That never may ill office or fell jealousy,
Which troubles oft the bed of blessèd marriage,
Thrust in between the paction of these kingdoms
To make divorce of their incorporate league,
That English may as French, French Englishmen,
Receive each other. God speak this “amen”!
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ALL Amen.
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ALL Amen.
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KING HENRY Prepare we for our marriage; on which day,
My Lord of Burgundy, we’ll take your oath,
And all the peers', for surety of our leagues.
345 Then shall I swear to Kate, and you to me,
And may our oaths well kept and prosp'rous be.
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KING HENRY Prepare we for our marriage; on which day,
My Lord of Burgundy, we’ll take your oath,
And all the peers', for surety of our leagues.
Then shall I swear to Kate, and you to me,
And may our oaths well kept and prosp'rous be.
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Sennet
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Sennet
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Exeunt
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Exeunt
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Enter CHORUS
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Enter CHORUS
|
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CHORUS Thus far with rough and all-unable pen
Our bending author hath pursued the story,
In little room confining mighty men,
350 Mangling by starts the full course of their glory.
Small time, but in that small most greatly lived
This star of England. Fortune made his sword,
By which the world’s best garden be achieved
And of it left his son imperial lord.
355 Henry the Sixth, in infant bands crowned king
Of France and England, did this king succeed,
Whose state so many had the managing
That they lost France and made his England bleed,
Which oft our stage hath shown. And for their sake,
360 In your fair minds let this acceptance take.
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CHORUS Thus far with rough and all-unable pen
Our bending author hath pursued the story,
In little room confining mighty men,
Mangling by starts the full course of their glory.
Small time, but in that small most greatly lived
This star of England. Fortune made his sword,
By which the world’s best garden be achieved
And of it left his son imperial lord.
Henry the Sixth, in infant bands crowned king
Of France and England, did this king succeed,
Whose state so many had the managing
That they lost France and made his England bleed,
Which oft our stage hath shown. And for their sake,
In your fair minds let this acceptance take.
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Exit
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Exit
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Original Text |
Modern Text |
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Enter at one door KING HENRY , EXETER , BEDFORD , GLOUCESTER , WARWICK , WESTMORELAND , and other lords; at another, the FRENCH KING , QUEEN ISABEL, the princess KATHERINE , ALICE and other ladies; the Duke of BURGUNDY , and his train
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Enter at one door KING HENRY , EXETER , BEDFORD , GLOUCESTER , WARWICK , WESTMORELAND , and other lords; at another, the FRENCH KING , QUEEN ISABEL, the princess KATHERINE , ALICE and other ladies; the Duke of BURGUNDY , and his train
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KING HENRY Unto our brother France and to our sister,
Health and fair time of day.—Joy and good wishes
To our most fair and princely cousin Katherine.—
And, as a branch and member of this royalty,
5 By whom this great assembly is contrived,
We do salute you, Duke of Burgundy.—
And princes French, and peers, health to you all.
Peace to this meeting wherefore we are met.
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KING HENRY Unto our brother France and to our sister,
Health and fair time of day.—Joy and good wishes
To our most fair and princely cousin Katherine.—
And, as a branch and member of this royalty,
By whom this great assembly is contrived,
We do salute you, Duke of Burgundy.—
And princes French, and peers, health to you all.
Peace to this meeting wherefore we are met.
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KING OF FRANCE 10 Right joyous are we to behold your face,
Most worthy brother England. Fairly met.
—So are you, princes English, every one.
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KING OF FRANCE Right joyous are we to behold your face,
Most worthy brother England. Fairly met.
—So are you, princes English, every one.
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QUEEN ISABEL So happy be the issue, brother England,
Of this good day and of this gracious meeting,
15 As we are now glad to behold your eyes—
Your eyes which hitherto have borne in them
Against the French that met them in their bent
The fatal balls of murdering basilisks.
The venom of such looks, we fairly hope,
20 Have lost their quality, and that this day
Shall change all griefs and quarrels into love.
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QUEEN ISABEL So happy be the issue, brother England,
Of this good day and of this gracious meeting,
As we are now glad to behold your eyes—
Your eyes which hitherto have borne in them
Against the French that met them in their bent
The fatal balls of murdering basilisks.
The venom of such looks, we fairly hope,
Have lost their quality, and that this day
Shall change all griefs and quarrels into love.
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KING HENRY To cry “Amen” to that, thus we appear.
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KING HENRY To cry “Amen” to that, thus we appear.
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QUEEN ISABEL You English princes all, I do salute you.
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QUEEN ISABEL You English princes all, I do salute you.
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BURGUNDY My duty to you both, on equal love,
25 Great kings of France and England. That I have labored
With all my wits, my pains, and strong endeavors,
To bring your most imperial Majesties
Unto this bar and royal interview,
Your mightiness on both parts best can witness.
30 Since, then, my office hath so far prevailed
That face to face and royal eye to eye
You have congreeted. Let it not disgrace me
If I demand before this royal view
What rub or what impediment there is
35 Why that the naked, poor, and mangled peace,
Dear nurse of arts, plenties, and joyful births,
Should not in this best garden of the world,
Our fertile France, put up her lovely visage?
Alas, she hath from France too long been chased,
40 And all her husbandry doth lie on heaps,
Corrupting in its own fertility.
Her vine, the merry cheerer of the heart,
Unprunèd, dies. Her hedges, even-pleached,
Like prisoners wildly overgrown with hair,
45 Put forth disordered twigs. Her fallow leas
The darnel, hemlock, and rank fumitory
Doth root upon, while that the coulter rusts
That should deracinate such savagery.
The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth
50 The freckled cowslip, burnet, and green clover,
Wanting the scythe, withal uncorrected, rank,
Conceives by idleness, and nothing teems
But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burrs,
Losing both beauty and utility.
55 And as our vineyards, fallows, meads, and hedges,
Defective in their natures, grow to wildness,
Even so our houses and ourselves and children
Have lost, or do not learn for want of time,
The sciences that should become our country,
60 But grow like savages, as soldiers will
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BURGUNDY My duty to you both, on equal love,
Great kings of France and England. That I have labored
With all my wits, my pains, and strong endeavors,
To bring your most imperial Majesties
Unto this bar and royal interview,
Your mightiness on both parts best can witness.
Since, then, my office hath so far prevailed
That face to face and royal eye to eye
You have congreeted. Let it not disgrace me
If I demand before this royal view
What rub or what impediment there is
Why that the naked, poor, and mangled peace,
Dear nurse of arts, plenties, and joyful births,
Should not in this best garden of the world,
Our fertile France, put up her lovely visage?
Alas, she hath from France too long been chased,
And all her husbandry doth lie on heaps,
Corrupting in its own fertility.
Her vine, the merry cheerer of the heart,
Unprunèd, dies. Her hedges, even-pleached,
Like prisoners wildly overgrown with hair,
Put forth disordered twigs. Her fallow leas
The darnel, hemlock, and rank fumitory
Doth root upon, while that the coulter rusts
That should deracinate such savagery.
The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth
The freckled cowslip, burnet, and green clover,
Wanting the scythe, withal uncorrected, rank,
Conceives by idleness, and nothing teems
But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burrs,
Losing both beauty and utility.
And as our vineyards, fallows, meads, and hedges,
Defective in their natures, grow to wildness,
Even so our houses and ourselves and children
Have lost, or do not learn for want of time,
The sciences that should become our country,
But grow like savages, as soldiers will
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That nothing do but meditate on blood,
To swearing and stern looks, diffused attire,
And everything that seems unnatural.
Which to reduce into our former favor
65 You are assembled, and my speech entreats
That I may know the let why gentle peace
Should not expel these inconveniences
And bless us with her former qualities.
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That nothing do but meditate on blood,
To swearing and stern looks, diffused attire,
And everything that seems unnatural.
Which to reduce into our former favor
You are assembled, and my speech entreats
That I may know the let why gentle peace
Should not expel these inconveniences
And bless us with her former qualities.
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KING HENRY If, Duke of Burgundy, you would the peace,
70 Whose want gives growth to th' imperfections
Which you have cited, you must buy that peace
With full accord to all our just demands,
Whose tenors and particular effects
You have, enscheduled briefly, in your hands.
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KING HENRY If, Duke of Burgundy, you would the peace,
Whose want gives growth to th' imperfections
Which you have cited, you must buy that peace
With full accord to all our just demands,
Whose tenors and particular effects
You have, enscheduled briefly, in your hands.
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BURGUNDY 75 The king hath heard them, to the which as yet
There is no answer made.
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BURGUNDY The king hath heard them, to the which as yet
There is no answer made.
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KING HENRY Well then, the peace which you before so urged
Lies in his answer.
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KING HENRY Well then, the peace which you before so urged
Lies in his answer.
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KING OF FRANCE I have but with a cursitory eye
80 O'erglanced the articles. Pleaseth your Grace
To appoint some of your council presently
To sit with us once more with better heed
To resurvey them, we will suddenly
Pass our accept and peremptory answer.
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KING OF FRANCE I have but with a cursitory eye
O'erglanced the articles. Pleaseth your Grace
To appoint some of your council presently
To sit with us once more with better heed
To resurvey them, we will suddenly
Pass our accept and peremptory answer.
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KING HENRY 85 Brother, we shall.—Go, uncle Exeter,
And brother Clarence, and you, brother Gloucester,
Warwick and Huntingdon, go with the king
And take with you free power to ratify,
Augment, or alter, as your wisdoms best
90 Shall see advantageable for our dignity,
Anything in or out of our demands,
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KING HENRY Brother, we shall.—Go, uncle Exeter,
And brother Clarence, and you, brother Gloucester,
Warwick and Huntingdon, go with the king
And take with you free power to ratify,
Augment, or alter, as your wisdoms best
Shall see advantageable for our dignity,
Anything in or out of our demands,
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And we’ll consign thereto.—Will you, fair sister,
Go with the princes or stay here with us?
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And we’ll consign thereto.—Will you, fair sister,
Go with the princes or stay here with us?
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QUEEN ISABEL Our gracious brother, I will go with them.
95 Haply a woman’s voice may do some good,
When articles too nicely urged be stood on.
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QUEEN ISABEL Our gracious brother, I will go with them.
Haply a woman’s voice may do some good,
When articles too nicely urged be stood on.
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KING HENRY Yet leave our cousin Katherine here with us.
She is our capital demand, comprised
Within the forerank of our articles.
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KING HENRY Yet leave our cousin Katherine here with us.
She is our capital demand, comprised
Within the forerank of our articles.
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QUEEN ISABEL 100 She hath good leave.
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QUEEN ISABEL She hath good leave.
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Exeunt all except KING HENRY , KATHERINE , and ALICE
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Exeunt all except KING HENRY , KATHERINE , and ALICE
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KING HENRY Fair Katherine, and most fair,
Will you vouchsafe to teach a soldier terms
Such as will enter at a lady’s ear
And plead his love suit to her gentle heart?
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KING HENRY Fair Katherine, and most fair,
Will you vouchsafe to teach a soldier terms
Such as will enter at a lady’s ear
And plead his love suit to her gentle heart?
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KATHERINE 105 Your Majesty shall mock at me. I cannot speak your
England.
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KATHERINE Your Majesty shall mock at me. I cannot speak your
England.
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KING HENRY O fair Katherine, if you will love me soundly with your French heart, I will be glad to hear you confess it brokenly with your English tongue. Do you like me, Kate?
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KING HENRY O fair Katherine, if you will love me soundly with your French heart, I will be glad to hear you confess it brokenly with your English tongue. Do you like me, Kate?
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KATHERINE |
KATHERINE |
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KING HENRY An angel is like you, Kate, and you are like an angel.
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KING HENRY An angel is like you, Kate, and you are like an angel.
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KATHERINE (to ALICE) Que dit-il? Que je suis semblable à les anges?
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KATHERINE (to ALICE) Que dit-il? Que je suis semblable à les anges?
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ALICE Oui, vraiment, sauf votre Grâce, ainsi dit-il.
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ALICE Oui, vraiment, sauf votre Grâce, ainsi dit-il.
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KING HENRY I said so, dear Katherine; and I must not blush to affirm it.
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KING HENRY I said so, dear Katherine; and I must not blush to affirm it.
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KATHERINE |
KATHERINE |
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KING HENRY What says she, fair one? That the tongues of men are full of deceits?
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KING HENRY What says she, fair one? That the tongues of men are full of deceits?
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ALICE Oui, dat de tongues of de mans is be full of deceits; dat is de princess.
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ALICE Oui, dat de tongues of de mans is be full of deceits; dat is de princess.
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KING HENRY The princess is the better Englishwoman.—I' faith, Kate, my wooing is fit for thy understanding. I am glad thou canst speak no better English, for if thou couldst, thou wouldst find me such a plain king that thou wouldst think I had sold my farm to buy my crown. I know no ways to mince it in love, but directly to say, “I love you.” Then if you urge me farther than to say, “Do you, in faith?” I wear out my suit. Give me your answer, i' faith, do; and so clap hands and a bargain. How say you, lady?
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KING HENRY The princess is the better Englishwoman.—I' faith, Kate, my wooing is fit for thy understanding. I am glad thou canst speak no better English, for if thou couldst, thou wouldst find me such a plain king that thou wouldst think I had sold my farm to buy my crown. I know no ways to mince it in love, but directly to say, “I love you.” Then if you urge me farther than to say, “Do you, in faith?” I wear out my suit. Give me your answer, i' faith, do; and so clap hands and a bargain. How say you, lady?
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KATHERINE |
KATHERINE |
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KING HENRY Marry, if you would put me to verses or to dance for your sake, Kate, why you undid me. For the one, I have neither words nor measure; and for the other, I have no strength in measure, yet a reasonable measure in strength. If I could win a lady at leapfrog or by vaulting into my saddle with my armor on my back, under the correction of bragging be it spoken, I should quickly leap into a wife. Or if I might buffet for my love or bound my horse for her favors, I could lay on like a butcher and sit like a jackanapes, never off. But, before God, Kate, I cannot look greenly nor gasp out my eloquence, nor I have no cunning in protestation, only
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KING HENRY Marry, if you would put me to verses or to dance for your sake, Kate, why you undid me. For the one, I have neither words nor measure; and for the other, I have no strength in measure, yet a reasonable measure in strength. If I could win a lady at leapfrog or by vaulting into my saddle with my armor on my back, under the correction of bragging be it spoken, I should quickly leap into a wife. Or if I might buffet for my love or bound my horse for her favors, I could lay on like a butcher and sit like a jackanapes, never off. But, before God, Kate, I cannot look greenly nor gasp out my eloquence, nor I have no cunning in protestation, only
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downright oaths, which I never use till urged, nor never break for urging. If thou canst love a fellow of this temper, Kate, whose face is not worth sunburning, that never looks in his glass for love of anything he sees there, let thine eye be thy cook. I speak to thee plain soldier. If thou canst love me for this, take me. If not, to say to thee that I shall die is true, but for thy love, by the Lord, no. Yet I love thee too. And while thou liv’st, dear Kate, take a fellow of plain and uncoined constancy, for he perforce must do thee right because he hath not the gift to woo in other places. For these fellows of infinite tongue, that can rhyme themselves into ladies' favors, they do always reason themselves out again. What? A speaker is but a prater, a rhyme is but a ballad, a good leg will fall, a straight back will stoop, a black beard will turn white, a curled pate will grow bald, a fair face will wither, a full eye will wax hollow, but a good heart, Kate, is the sun and the moon, or rather the sun and not the moon, for it shines bright and never changes but keeps his course truly. If thou would have such a one, take me. And take me, take a soldier. Take a soldier, take a king. And what say’st thou then to my love? Speak, my fair, and fairly, I pray thee.
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downright oaths, which I never use till urged, nor never break for urging. If thou canst love a fellow of this temper, Kate, whose face is not worth sunburning, that never looks in his glass for love of anything he sees there, let thine eye be thy cook. I speak to thee plain soldier. If thou canst love me for this, take me. If not, to say to thee that I shall die is true, but for thy love, by the Lord, no. Yet I love thee too. And while thou liv’st, dear Kate, take a fellow of plain and uncoined constancy, for he perforce must do thee right because he hath not the gift to woo in other places. For these fellows of infinite tongue, that can rhyme themselves into ladies' favors, they do always reason themselves out again. What? A speaker is but a prater, a rhyme is but a ballad, a good leg will fall, a straight back will stoop, a black beard will turn white, a curled pate will grow bald, a fair face will wither, a full eye will wax hollow, but a good heart, Kate, is the sun and the moon, or rather the sun and not the moon, for it shines bright and never changes but keeps his course truly. If thou would have such a one, take me. And take me, take a soldier. Take a soldier, take a king. And what say’st thou then to my love? Speak, my fair, and fairly, I pray thee.
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KATHERINE Is it possible dat I sould love de enemy of France?
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KATHERINE Is it possible dat I sould love de enemy of France?
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KING HENRY No, it is not possible you should love the enemy of France, Kate. But, in loving me, you should love the friend of France, for I love France so well that I will not part with a village of it. I will have it all mine. And, Kate, when France is mine and I am yours, then yours is France and you are mine.
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KING HENRY No, it is not possible you should love the enemy of France, Kate. But, in loving me, you should love the friend of France, for I love France so well that I will not part with a village of it. I will have it all mine. And, Kate, when France is mine and I am yours, then yours is France and you are mine.
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KATHERINE 170 I cannot tell wat is dat.
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KATHERINE I cannot tell wat is dat.
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KING HENRY No, Kate? I will tell thee in French, which I am sure will hang upon my tongue like a new-married wife about her husband’s neck, hardly to be shook off. Je quand sur le possession de France, et quand vous avez le possession de moi—let me see, what then? Saint Denis be my speed!— donc vôtre est France et vous êtes mienne. It is as easy for me, Kate, to conquer the kingdom as to speak so much more French. I shall never move thee in French, unless it be to laugh at me.
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KING HENRY No, Kate? I will tell thee in French, which I am sure will hang upon my tongue like a new-married wife about her husband’s neck, hardly to be shook off. Je quand sur le possession de France, et quand vous avez le possession de moi—let me see, what then? Saint Denis be my speed!— donc vôtre est France et vous êtes mienne. It is as easy for me, Kate, to conquer the kingdom as to speak so much more French. I shall never move thee in French, unless it be to laugh at me.
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KATHERINE |
KATHERINE |
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KING HENRY No, faith, is ’t not, Kate, but thy speaking of my tongue, and I thine, most truly-falsely must needs be granted to be much at one. But, Kate, dost thou understand thus much English? Canst thou love me?
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KING HENRY No, faith, is ’t not, Kate, but thy speaking of my tongue, and I thine, most truly-falsely must needs be granted to be much at one. But, Kate, dost thou understand thus much English? Canst thou love me?
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KATHERINE I cannot tell.
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KATHERINE I cannot tell.
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KING HENRY Can any of your neighbors tell, Kate? I’ll ask them. Come, I know thou lovest me; and at night, when you come into your closet, you’ll question this gentlewoman about me, and, I know, Kate, you will to her dispraise those parts in me that you love with your heart. But, good Kate, mock me mercifully, the rather, gentle princess, because I love thee cruelly. If ever thou beest mine, Kate, as I have a saving faith within me tells me thou shalt, I get thee with scambling, and thou must therefore needs prove a good soldier-breeder. Shall not thou and I, between Saint Denis
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KING HENRY Can any of your neighbors tell, Kate? I’ll ask them. Come, I know thou lovest me; and at night, when you come into your closet, you’ll question this gentlewoman about me, and, I know, Kate, you will to her dispraise those parts in me that you love with your heart. But, good Kate, mock me mercifully, the rather, gentle princess, because I love thee cruelly. If ever thou beest mine, Kate, as I have a saving faith within me tells me thou shalt, I get thee with scambling, and thou must therefore needs prove a good soldier-breeder. Shall not thou and I, between Saint Denis
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and Saint George, compound a boy, half French, half English, that shall go to Constantinople and take the Turk by the beard? Shall we not? What say’st thou, my fair flower de luce?
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and Saint George, compound a boy, half French, half English, that shall go to Constantinople and take the Turk by the beard? Shall we not? What say’st thou, my fair flower de luce?
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KATHERINE I do not know dat.
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KATHERINE I do not know dat.
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KING HENRY No, ’tis hereafter to know, but now to promise. Do but now promise, Kate, you will endeavor for your French part of such a boy; and for my English moiety take the word of a king and a bachelor. How answer you, la plus belle Katherine du monde, mon très cher et divin déesse?
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KING HENRY No, ’tis hereafter to know, but now to promise. Do but now promise, Kate, you will endeavor for your French part of such a boy; and for my English moiety take the word of a king and a bachelor. How answer you, la plus belle Katherine du monde, mon très cher et divin déesse?
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KATHERINE Your Majestée ave fausse French enough to deceive de most sage demoiselle dat is en France.
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KATHERINE Your Majestée ave fausse French enough to deceive de most sage demoiselle dat is en France.
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KING HENRY Now fie upon my false French. By mine honor, in true English, I love thee, Kate. By which honor I dare not swear thou lovest me, yet my blood begins to flatter me that thou dost, notwithstanding the poor and untempering effect of my visage. Now, beshrew my father’s ambition! He was thinking of civil wars when he got me; therefore was I created with a stubborn outside, with an aspect of iron, that when I come to woo ladies, I fright them. But, in faith, Kate, the elder I wax, the better I shall appear. My comfort is that old age, that ill layer-up of beauty, can do no more spoil upon my face. Thou hast me, if thou hast me, at the worst, and thou shalt wear me, if thou wear me, better and better. And therefore tell me, most fair Katherine, will you have me? Put off your maiden blushes, avouch the thoughts of your heart with the looks of an empress, take me by the hand, and say “Harry of England, I am thine,” which word thou shalt no sooner bless mine ear withal, but I will tell
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KING HENRY Now fie upon my false French. By mine honor, in true English, I love thee, Kate. By which honor I dare not swear thou lovest me, yet my blood begins to flatter me that thou dost, notwithstanding the poor and untempering effect of my visage. Now, beshrew my father’s ambition! He was thinking of civil wars when he got me; therefore was I created with a stubborn outside, with an aspect of iron, that when I come to woo ladies, I fright them. But, in faith, Kate, the elder I wax, the better I shall appear. My comfort is that old age, that ill layer-up of beauty, can do no more spoil upon my face. Thou hast me, if thou hast me, at the worst, and thou shalt wear me, if thou wear me, better and better. And therefore tell me, most fair Katherine, will you have me? Put off your maiden blushes, avouch the thoughts of your heart with the looks of an empress, take me by the hand, and say “Harry of England, I am thine,” which word thou shalt no sooner bless mine ear withal, but I will tell
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thee aloud “England is thine, Ireland is thine, France is thine, and Harry Plantagenet is thine,” who, though I speak it before his face, if he be not fellow with the best king, thou shalt find the best king of good fellows. Come, your answer in broken music, for thy voice is music and thy English broken. Therefore, queen of all, Katherine, break thy mind to me in broken English. Wilt thou have me?
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thee aloud “England is thine, Ireland is thine, France is thine, and Harry Plantagenet is thine,” who, though I speak it before his face, if he be not fellow with the best king, thou shalt find the best king of good fellows. Come, your answer in broken music, for thy voice is music and thy English broken. Therefore, queen of all, Katherine, break thy mind to me in broken English. Wilt thou have me?
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KATHERINE Dat is as it sall please de roi mon père.
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KATHERINE Dat is as it sall please de roi mon père.
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KING HENRY Nay, it will please him well, Kate; it shall please him, Kate.
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KING HENRY Nay, it will please him well, Kate; it shall please him, Kate.
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KATHERINE 235 Den it sall also content me.
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KATHERINE Den it sall also content me.
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KING HENRY Upon that I kiss your hand, and I call you my queen.
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KING HENRY Upon that I kiss your hand, and I call you my queen.
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KATHERINE Laissez, mon seigneur, laissez, laissez! Ma foi, je ne veux point que vous abaissiez votre grandeur en baisant la main d'une—Notre Seigneur!—indigne serviteur. Excusez-moi, je vous supplie, mon très puissant eigneur.
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KATHERINE Laissez, mon seigneur, laissez, laissez! Ma foi, je ne veux point que vous abaissiez votre grandeur en baisant la main d'une—Notre Seigneur!—indigne serviteur. Excusez-moi, je vous supplie, mon très puissant eigneur.
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KING HENRY Then I will kiss your lips, Kate.
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KING HENRY Then I will kiss your lips, Kate.
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KATHERINE Les dames et demoiselles pour être baisées devant leur noces, il n'est pas la coutume de France.
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KATHERINE Les dames et demoiselles pour être baisées devant leur noces, il n'est pas la coutume de France.
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KING HENRY Madam my interpreter, what says she?
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KING HENRY Madam my interpreter, what says she?
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ALICE |
ALICE |
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KING HENRY To kiss.
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KING HENRY To kiss.
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ALICE Your Majesté entendre bettre que moi.
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ALICE Your Majesté entendre bettre que moi.
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KING HENRY It is not a fashion for the maids in France to kiss before they are married, would she say?
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KING HENRY It is not a fashion for the maids in France to kiss before they are married, would she say?
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ALICE Oui, vraiment.
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ALICE Oui, vraiment.
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KING HENRY O Kate, nice customs curtsy to great kings. Dear Kate, you and I cannot be confined within the weak list of a country’s fashion. We are the makers of manners, Kate, and the liberty that follows our places stops the mouth of all find- faults, as I will do yours for upholding the nice fashion of your country in denying me a kiss. Therefore, patiently and yielding. (kissing her) You have witchcraft in your lips, Kate. There is more eloquence in a sugar touch of them than in the tongues of the French council, and they should sooner persuade Harry of England than a general petition of monarchs. Here comes your father.
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KING HENRY O Kate, nice customs curtsy to great kings. Dear Kate, you and I cannot be confined within the weak list of a country’s fashion. We are the makers of manners, Kate, and the liberty that follows our places stops the mouth of all find- faults, as I will do yours for upholding the nice fashion of your country in denying me a kiss. Therefore, patiently and yielding. (kissing her) You have witchcraft in your lips, Kate. There is more eloquence in a sugar touch of them than in the tongues of the French council, and they should sooner persuade Harry of England than a general petition of monarchs. Here comes your father.
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Enter the FRENCH KING , QUEEN ISABEL, BURGUNDY , and other LORDS
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Enter the FRENCH KING , QUEEN ISABEL, BURGUNDY , and other LORDS
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BURGUNDY God save your Majesty. My royal cousin, teach you our princess English?
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BURGUNDY God save your Majesty. My royal cousin, teach you our princess English?
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KING HENRY |
KING HENRY |
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BURGUNDY Is she not apt?
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BURGUNDY Is she not apt?
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KING HENRY Our tongue is rough, coz, and my condition is not smooth, so that, having neither the voice nor the heart of flattery about me, I cannot so conjure up the spirit of love in her that he will appear in his true likeness.
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KING HENRY Our tongue is rough, coz, and my condition is not smooth, so that, having neither the voice nor the heart of flattery about me, I cannot so conjure up the spirit of love in her that he will appear in his true likeness.
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BURGUNDY Pardon the frankness of my mirth if I answer you for that. If you would conjure in her, you must make a circle; if conjure up Love in her in his true likeness, he must appear naked and blind. Can you blame her then, being a maid yet rosed over with the virgin crimson of modesty, if she deny the appearance of a naked blind boy in her naked seeing self? It were, my lord, a hard condition for a maid to consign to.
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BURGUNDY Pardon the frankness of my mirth if I answer you for that. If you would conjure in her, you must make a circle; if conjure up Love in her in his true likeness, he must appear naked and blind. Can you blame her then, being a maid yet rosed over with the virgin crimson of modesty, if she deny the appearance of a naked blind boy in her naked seeing self? It were, my lord, a hard condition for a maid to consign to.
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KING HENRY Yet they do wink and yield, as love is blind and enforces.
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KING HENRY Yet they do wink and yield, as love is blind and enforces.
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BURGUNDY |
BURGUNDY |
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KING HENRY Then, good my lord, teach your cousin to consent winking.
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KING HENRY Then, good my lord, teach your cousin to consent winking.
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BURGUNDY I will wink on her to consent, my lord, if you will teach her to know my meaning, for maids, well summered and warm kept, are like flies at Bartholomew-tide: blind, though they have their eyes; and then they will endure handling, which before would not abide looking on.
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BURGUNDY I will wink on her to consent, my lord, if you will teach her to know my meaning, for maids, well summered and warm kept, are like flies at Bartholomew-tide: blind, though they have their eyes; and then they will endure handling, which before would not abide looking on.
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KING HENRY This moral ties me over to time and a hot summer. And so I shall catch the fly, your cousin, in the latter end and she must be blind too.
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KING HENRY This moral ties me over to time and a hot summer. And so I shall catch the fly, your cousin, in the latter end and she must be blind too.
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BURGUNDY As love is, my lord, before it loves.
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BURGUNDY As love is, my lord, before it loves.
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KING HENRY It is so. And you may, some of you, thank love for my blindness, who cannot see many a fair French city for one fair French maid that stands in my way.
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KING HENRY It is so. And you may, some of you, thank love for my blindness, who cannot see many a fair French city for one fair French maid that stands in my way.
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FRENCH KING |
FRENCH KING |
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KING HENRY Shall Kate be my wife?
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KING HENRY Shall Kate be my wife?
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FRENCH KING So please you.
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FRENCH KING So please you.
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KING HENRY |
KING HENRY |
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FRENCH KING We have consented to all terms of reason.
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FRENCH KING We have consented to all terms of reason.
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KING HENRY Is ’t so, my lords of England?
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KING HENRY Is ’t so, my lords of England?
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WESTMORELAND 305 The king hath granted every article,
His daughter first, and, in sequel, all,
According to their firm proposed natures.
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WESTMORELAND The king hath granted every article,
His daughter first, and, in sequel, all,
According to their firm proposed natures.
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EXETER Only he hath not yet subscribèd this:
Where your Majesty demands that the king of France, having any occasion to write for matter of grant, shall name your Highness in this form and with this addition, in French: Notre très cher fils Henri, roi d'Angleterre, héritier de France; and thus in Latin: Praeclarissimus filius noster Henricus, rex Angliae, et haeres Franciae.
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EXETER Only he hath not yet subscribèd this:
Where your Majesty demands that the king of France, having any occasion to write for matter of grant, shall name your Highness in this form and with this addition, in French: Notre très cher fils Henri, roi d'Angleterre, héritier de France; and thus in Latin: Praeclarissimus filius noster Henricus, rex Angliae, et haeres Franciae.
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FRENCH KING 315 Nor this I have not, brother, so denied
But your request shall make me let it pass.
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FRENCH KING Nor this I have not, brother, so denied
But your request shall make me let it pass.
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KING HENRY I pray you, then, in love and dear alliance,
Let that one article rank with the rest,
And thereupon give me your daughter.
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KING HENRY I pray you, then, in love and dear alliance,
Let that one article rank with the rest,
And thereupon give me your daughter.
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FRENCH KING 320 Take her, fair son, and from her blood raise up
Issue to me, that the contending kingdoms
Of France and England, whose very shores look pale
With envy of each other’s happiness,
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FRENCH KING Take her, fair son, and from her blood raise up
Issue to me, that the contending kingdoms
Of France and England, whose very shores look pale
With envy of each other’s happiness,
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May cease their hatred, and this dear conjunction
325 Plant neighborhood and Christian-like accord
In their sweet bosoms, that never war advance
His bleeding sword ’twixt England and fair France.
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May cease their hatred, and this dear conjunction
Plant neighborhood and Christian-like accord
In their sweet bosoms, that never war advance
His bleeding sword ’twixt England and fair France.
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LORDS Amen.
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LORDS Amen.
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KING HENRY Now welcome, Kate, and bear me witness all
330 That here I kiss her as my sovereign queen.
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KING HENRY Now welcome, Kate, and bear me witness all
That here I kiss her as my sovereign queen.
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Flourish
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Flourish
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QUEEN ISABEL God, the best maker of all marriages,
Combine your hearts in one, your realms in one.
As man and wife, being two, are one in love,
So be there ’twixt your kingdoms such a spousal
335 That never may ill office or fell jealousy,
Which troubles oft the bed of blessèd marriage,
Thrust in between the paction of these kingdoms
To make divorce of their incorporate league,
That English may as French, French Englishmen,
340 Receive each other. God speak this “amen”!
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QUEEN ISABEL God, the best maker of all marriages,
Combine your hearts in one, your realms in one.
As man and wife, being two, are one in love,
So be there ’twixt your kingdoms such a spousal
That never may ill office or fell jealousy,
Which troubles oft the bed of blessèd marriage,
Thrust in between the paction of these kingdoms
To make divorce of their incorporate league,
That English may as French, French Englishmen,
Receive each other. God speak this “amen”!
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ALL Amen.
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ALL Amen.
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KING HENRY Prepare we for our marriage; on which day,
My Lord of Burgundy, we’ll take your oath,
And all the peers', for surety of our leagues.
345 Then shall I swear to Kate, and you to me,
And may our oaths well kept and prosp'rous be.
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KING HENRY Prepare we for our marriage; on which day,
My Lord of Burgundy, we’ll take your oath,
And all the peers', for surety of our leagues.
Then shall I swear to Kate, and you to me,
And may our oaths well kept and prosp'rous be.
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Sennet
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Sennet
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Exeunt
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Exeunt
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Enter CHORUS
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Enter CHORUS
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CHORUS Thus far with rough and all-unable pen
Our bending author hath pursued the story,
In little room confining mighty men,
350 Mangling by starts the full course of their glory.
Small time, but in that small most greatly lived
This star of England. Fortune made his sword,
By which the world’s best garden be achieved
And of it left his son imperial lord.
355 Henry the Sixth, in infant bands crowned king
Of France and England, did this king succeed,
Whose state so many had the managing
That they lost France and made his England bleed,
Which oft our stage hath shown. And for their sake,
360 In your fair minds let this acceptance take.
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CHORUS Thus far with rough and all-unable pen
Our bending author hath pursued the story,
In little room confining mighty men,
Mangling by starts the full course of their glory.
Small time, but in that small most greatly lived
This star of England. Fortune made his sword,
By which the world’s best garden be achieved
And of it left his son imperial lord.
Henry the Sixth, in infant bands crowned king
Of France and England, did this king succeed,
Whose state so many had the managing
That they lost France and made his England bleed,
Which oft our stage hath shown. And for their sake,
In your fair minds let this acceptance take.
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Exit
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Exit
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