NOTE ON THE FRONTISPIECE

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The bust of Shakespeare stands above his tomb, on the north wall of the chancel of the Parish Church of Stratford-on-Avon. It is the work of Gerard Janssen, or Johnson, a • tomb-maker' of Amsterdam, who had settled in Southwark; and is known to have been in position before 1623. It was originally coloured, but was painted white in 1793. In 1861 the white paint was removed, and the original colouring restored. The hair and beard are auburn, and the eyes light brown.

PERSONS REPRESENTED

KING HENRY THE FIFTH.
DUKE OF GLOUCESTER :) BROTHERS TO KING HENRY
DUKE OF BEDFORD:

THE FIFTH.
DUKE OF EXETER: UNCLE TO KING HENRY THE FIFTH.
DUKE OF YORK: KING HENRY THE FIFTH HIS COUSIN.
EARLS OF SALISBURY, WESTMORELAND, AND

WARWICK. ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. BISHOP OF ELY. EARL OF CAMBRIDGE : CONSPIRATORS AGAINST KING LORD SCROOP:

HENRY THE FIFTH. SIR THOMAS GREY: SIR THOMAS ERPINGHAM, OFFICERS in King HENRY

IN GOWER, FLUELLEN,

THE FIFTH HIS ARMY, MACMORRIS, AND JAMY: BATES, COURT, WILLIAMS : SOLDIERS IN THE SAME. PISTOL, NYM, BARDOLPH, Boy. A HERALD.

CHARLES THE SIXTH: KING OF FRANCE.
LEWIS: THE DOLPHIN.
DUKES OF BURGUNDY, ORLEANS, AND BOURBON.
THE CONSTABLE OF FRANCE.
RAMBURES AND GRANDPRÉ: FRENCH LORDS.
THE GOVERNOR OF HARFLEUR.
MONTJOY: A FRENCH HERALD.
AMBASSADORS TO KING HENRY THE FIFTH IN ENGLAND.

ISABEL: QUEEN OF FRANCE.
KATHARINE: DAUGHTER TO CHARLES AND ISABEL.
ALICE: HER LADY-IN-WAITING.
QUICKLY: NOW MARRIED TO PISTOL.

LORDS, LADIES, OFFICERS, SOLDIERS, CITIZENS, MESSENGERS,

AND ATTENDANTS.

CHORUS.

SCENE-England and France.

THE LIFE OF

KING HENRY THE FIFTH

PROLOGUE

Enter Chorus.

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CHOR. O for a Muse of Fire, that would ascend

The brightest Heaven of Invention,
A Kingdom for a stage, Princes to act,
And Monarchs to behold the swelling Scene!
Then should the warlike Harry, like himself,
Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels,
Leash'd in like hounds, should Famine, Sword, and

Fire
Crouch for employment! But pardon, Gentles all,
The flat unraised Spirits that have dar'd
On this unworthy Scaffold to bring forth
So great an object! Can this Cockpit hold
The vasty fields of France ? or may we cram
Within this wooden O the very Casques
That did affright the air at Agincourt ?
O, pardon! since a crooked figure may
Attest in little place a million;
And let us, ciphers to this great accompt,
On your imaginary forces’ work.
Suppose within the girdle of these walls
Are now confin'd two mighty Monarchies,
Whose high-upreared and abutting fronts
The perilous narrow Ocean parts asunder :
Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts;
Into a thousand parts divide one man,
And make imaginary puissance ;*
Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them
Printing their proud hoofs i’ the receiving earth;
lie. Imagination. capacities of visioning and realising.
unreal, but visible and sufficient. • trisyllabic: ='powers i.e. armies. 3

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