KING HENRY V. DRAMATIS PERSONÆ. BOY, Servant to them. A Herald. CHARLES THE SIXTH, King of LEWIS, the Dauphin. MONTJOY, A French Herald. ISABEL, Queen of France. and Isabel. ALICE, a Lady attending on the Princess. MRS. QUICKLY, a Hostess. Lords, Ladies, Officers, French and English Soldiers, Messengers, and Attendants. The SCENE in England, and in France. ACT I. SCENE I. London. An Ante-chamber in the King's Palace. Enter the Archbishop of CANTERBURY, and Bishop of ELY. Cant. My lord, I'll tell you, that self bill is urg'd,' Which in th' eleventh year of the last king's reign Was like, and had indeed against us pass'd, But that the scambling and unquiet time Did push it out of farther question. Ely. But how, my lord, shall we resist it now? Cant. It must be thought on. If it pass against us, For all the temporal lands, which men devout Would they strip from us; being valued thus, A thousand pounds by the year. Thus runs the bill. Cant. Ely. But what prevention? 'T would drink the cup and all. Cant. The king is full of grace, and fair regard. Cant. The courses of his youth promis'd it not. And whipp'd th' offending Adam out of him, T'envelop and contain celestial spirits. With such a heady current scouring faults; So soon did lose his seat, and all at once, As in this king. Ely. And, all-admiring, with an inward wish You would desire the king were made a prelate: You would say, it hath been all-in-all his study: The Gordian knot of it he will unloose, Must be the mistress to this theoric: Which is a wonder, how his grace should glean it, His companies unletter'd, rude, and shallow; Any retirement, and sequestration Ely. The strawberry grows underneath the nettle, And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best, Neighbour'd by fruit of baser quality: And so the prince obscur'd his contemplation Cant. It must be so; for miracles are ceas'd, Than cherishing th' exhibiters against us; And in regard of causes now in hand, Did to his predecessors part withal. Ely. How did this offer seem receiv'd, my lord? Of this true titles to some certain dukedoms, Ely. What was th' impediment that broke this off? Ely. It is. Cant. Then go we in, to know his embassy, Which I could with a ready guess declare, Before the Frenchman speak a word of it. Ely. I'll wait upon you, and I long to hear it. [Exeunt. SCENE II. The Same. A Room of State in the Same. Enter King Henry, Glostfr, Bedford, ExKTER, WARWICK, WESTMORELAND, and Attendants. K. Hen. Where is my gracious lord of Canterbury? Exe. Not here in presence. K. Hen. Send for him, good uncle. West. Shall we call in th' ambassador, my liege? K. Hen. Not yet, my cousin: we would be resolv'd, Before we hear him, of some things of weight, That task our thoughts, concerning us and France. |