Must have a 'stop. O, I could prophesy, But that the earthy and cold hand of 'Death Lies on my tongue : . . . No, Percy, thou art dust, [Dies. P. Hen. For worms, brave Percy! Fare thee well, great heart! Ill-weaved ambition, how much art thou shrunk! Is room enough:-This earth, that bears thee 'dead, Adieu! and take thy 'praise with thee to heaven! But not remembered in thy 'epitaph! He sees Falstaff on the ground. What! old acquaintance!... Could not all this flesh I could have better spared a better man. [Exit. The victorious Prince, suddenly struck with melancholy at the death of his old friend, proceeds to his camp.-Amid the slain, an apparently dead body begins to stir :-it is Falstaff! He carefully looks round, and makes several attempts to rise; but, on hearing the drums, he crouches under his shield again. At last he gets up with breathless difficulty: Fal. Embowelled? if thou embowel me 'to-day, I'll give you leave to powder* me, and 'eat me too, 'to-morrow. "T was time to counterfeit; or that hot termagant Scot had paid 'me, scot and lot too. Counterfeit? I lie; I am 'no counterfeit: To 'die is to be a counterfeit; for he is but the 'counterfeit of a man, who hath not the 'life of a man; but to counterfeit dying, when a man thereby 'liveth, is to be 'no counterfeit, but the true and perfect image of 'life indeed. The 'better part of valour is 'discretion; in the which better part I have saved my life. . . . Zounds, I am afraid of this gunpowder Percy, though he 'be dead. How, if 'he should counterfeit too, and rise? By my faith, I am afraid he would prove the 'better counterfeit. Therefore I'll make him 'sure; yea, and I'll swear 'I killed him. .. 20. R. stout. 3 Ignominy. * Preserve by pickling: to salt. Why may not 'he rise, as well as I? Nothing confutes me but eyes,-and nobody sees me :-therefore, sirrah, [stabbing him] with a 'new wound in your thigh, come you along with me. Falstaff vainly endeavors to take up the dead body. In the midst of his exertions, Prince Henry and Prince John enter. P. Hen. Come, brother John; full bravely hast thou fleshed Thy maiden sword. P. John. But, soft! whom have we here? . . . P. Hen. I did; I 'saw him dead, and breathless on the ground. Art thou 'alive? or is it 'fantasy That plays upon our eyesight? Pr'ythee, speak! Fal. No, that 's certain; I am not a 'double man; but if I be not Jack Falstaff, then am I Jack. 'There is Percy! If your father will do me any honour, so; if not, let him kill the 'next Percy himself. I look to be either Earl or Duke, I can assure you! P. Hen. Why, Percy I killed 'myself,—and saw thee dead! P. John. This is the strangest tale that e'er I heard. [Retreat heard. To see what friends are living, who are dead. [Exeunt Princes. Fal. I'll follow, as they say, for 'reward. He that rewards 'me, Heaven reward 'him! If I 'do grow great, I'll grow 'less; for I'll leave sack, and live cleanlyas a 'nobleman 'should do. [Exit, bearing off the body. We now accompany the young Princes to the King, who is giving directions concerning the prisoners: K. Hen. Thus ever did rebellion find rebuke. Worcester and Ve non are Bear Worcester to the death, and Vernon too; P. Hen. The noble Scot, Lord Douglas,-when he saw Upon the foot of fear,-fled with the rest; But his pursuers took him. I beseech your grace K. Hen. With all my heart. [Exeunt. END OF HENRY IV-PART I. KING HENRY IV. PART SECOND. The Second Part of King Henry the Fourth owes its origin—like the prevenient and subsequent plays-Henry the Fourth Part First, and Henry the Fifth,-partly to the "Chronicles " of Holinshed, and principally to an anonymous drama (performed several years before Shakespeare became a writer for the stage), entitled "The famous Victories of Henry the Fifth." The first edition of this play was registered in 1599, and published in 1600 it is remarkable for containing on its title page the first entry of Shakespeare's name as a dramatic author. Another edition, with considerable alterations, was printed in the same year. No subsequent edition appeared till the folio collection of 1623. The Second Part begins with news of the Battle at Shrewsbury in 1403, and is continued till the Death of Henry in 1413. The Time therefore extends over nine years. The Scenes of the action are in various parts of England. As a kind of Prologue, or, as it is called, an Induction, Shakespeare introduces the Second Part of King Henry the Fourth by a mythological personage called Rumour, painted over with tongues. The object is to connect this Part with the First one. This Induction is supposed to be spoken outside the Earl of Northumberland's residence at Warkworth. Rum. Open your ears: For which of you will 'stop I run 'before King Harry's victory; Hath beaten down young Hotspur and his troops; Even with the rebels' 'blood. My office is Than they have learned of 'me: from Rumour's tongues [Exit. The first Scene opens on the Earl of Northumberland's Castle at Warkworth. The Earl, pretending still to suffer from his feigned sickness, which had kept him away from the battle at Shrewsbury, does not yet know its result. Lord Bardolph, outside the Castle, calls: L. Bard. Who keeps the gate here? ho!— * O. R. peasant. † Stronghold. |