That tyranny, which never quaffed but blood,
Would, by beholding him, have washed his knife
With gentle eye-drops. He is coming hither.
K. Hen. But wherefore did he take away the
. crown P
Lo, where he comes.—Come hither to me, Harry.—
Depart the chamber ; leave us here alone. --
[Eveunt CLARENCE, PRINCE HUMPHREY,
. Lords, &c.
P. Hen. I never thought to hear you speak again.
K. Hen. Thy wish was father, Harry, to that
thought ;
I stay too long by thee; I weary thee.
Dost thou so hunger for my empty chair,
That thou wilt needs invest thee with mine honors
Before thy hour be ripe P O, foolish youth !
Thou seek’st the greatness that will overwhelm thee.
Stay but a little; for my cloud of dignity
Is held from falling with so weak a wind,
That it will quickly drop; my day is dim.
Thou hast stolen that, which, after some few hours,
Were thine without offence; and, at my death,
Thou hast sealed up my expectation;"
Thy life did manifest, thou lov’dst me not,
And thou wilt have me die assured of it. ~
Thou hid'st a thousand daggers in thy thoughts,
Which thou hast whetted on thy stony heart,
To stab at half an hour of my life.
What! canst thou not forbear me half an hour P
Then get thee gone, and dig my grave thyself;
And bid the merry bells ring to thine ear,
That thou art crowned, not that I am dead.
Let all the tears that should bedev my hearse,
Be drops of balm, to sanctify thy head;
Only compound me with forgotten dust;
Give that, which gave thee life, unto the worms.
Pluck down my officers, break my decrees;
For now a time is come to mock at form;
Harry the fifth is crowned.—Up, vanity
Down, royal state all you sage counsellors, hence
And to the English court assemble now,
From every region, apes of idleness!
Now, neighbor confines, purge you of your scum.
Have you a ruffian, that will swear, drink, dance,
Revel the night; rob, murder, and commit
The oldest sins the newest kind of ways P
Be happy; he will trouble you no more.
England shall double gild his treble gilt;
England shall give him office, honor, might;
For the fifth Harry from curbed license plucks
The muzzle of restraint, and the wild dog
Shall flesh his tooth in every innocent.
O, my poor kingdom, sick with civil blows
When that my care could not withhold thy riots,
What wilt thou do, when riot is thy care P z
O, thou wilt be a wilderness again,
Peopled with wolves, thy old inhabitants! -
P. Hen. O, pardon me, my liege but for my tears,
- [Kneeling.
The moist impediments unto my speech,
I had forestalled this dear and deep rebuke,
Ere you with grief had spoke, and I had heard
The course of it so far. There is your crown;
And he that wears the crown immortally,
Long guard it yours! If I affect it more,
Than as your honor, and as your renown,
Let me no more from this obedience rise,
Which my most true and inward-duteous spirit
Teacheth this prostrate and exterior bending !'
Heaven witness with me, when I here came in,
And found no course of breath within your majesty,
How cold it struck my heart! If I do feign,
O, let me in my present wildness die;
And never live to show the incredulous world
The noble change that I have purposed
Coming to look on you, thinking you dead,
(* dead almost, my liege, to think you were,)
I spake unto the crown as having sense, .--
And thus upbraided it:—The care on thee depending,
Hath fed upon the body of my father; -
Therefore, thou, best of gold, art worst of gold.
Other, less fine in carat, is more precious,
Preserving life in med'cine potable; " .
But thou, most fine, most honored, most renowned,
Hast eat thy bearer up. Thus, my most royal liege,
Accusing it, I put it on my head;
To try with it, as with an enemy,
That had before my face murdered my father,
The quarrel of a true inheritor.
But if it did infect my blood with joy,
Or swell my thoughts to any strain of pride;
If any rebel or vain spirit of mine
Did, with the least affection of a welcome,
Give entertainment to the might of it,
Let God forever keep it from my head
And make me as the poorest vassal is,
That doth with awe and terror kneel to it!
R. Hen. O, my son
Heaven put it in thy mind to take it hence,
That thou mightst win the more thy father's love,
Pleading so wisely in excuse of it. .
Come hither, Harry; sit thou by my bed;
And hear, I think, the very latest counsel
That ever I shall breathe. Heaven knows, my son,
By what by-paths, and indirect, crook’d ways,
I met this crown; and I myself know well,
How troublesome it sat upon my head :
To thee it shall descend with better quiet,
Better opinion, better confirmation;
For all the soil of the achievement goes
With me into the earth. It seemed in me,
But as an honor snatched with boisterous hand;
And I had many living, to upbraid
My gain of it by their assistances; -
Which daily grew to quarrel and to bloodshed,
Wounding supposed peace." All these bold fears,”
Thou see'st, with peril I have answered;
For all my reign hath been but as a scene
Acting that argument; and now my death *
Changes the mode ; * for what in me was purchased,
Falls upon thee in a more fairer sort;
So thou the garland wear'st successively."
Yet, though thou stand'st more sure than I could do,
Thou art not firm enough, since griefs are green;
And all thy friends, which thou must make thy friends,
Have but their stings and teeth newly ta'en out;
By whose fell working I was first advanced,
And by whose power I well might lodge a fear
To be again displaced; which to avoid,
I cut them * off; and had a purpose now
To lead out many to the Holy Land;
Lest rest, and lying still, might make them look
Too near unto my state. Therefore, my Harry,
Be it thy course, to busy giddy minds
With foreign quarrels; that action, hence borne out,
May waste the memory of the former days.
More would I, but my lungs are wasted so,
That strength of speech is utterly denied me.
How I came by the crown, O God, forgive 1
And grant it may with thee in true peace live!
P. Hen. My gracious liege,
You won it, wore it, kept it, gave it me:
Then plain, and right, must my possession be ;
Which I, with more than with a common pain,
'Gainst all the world will rightfully maintain.
Enter PRINCE JoHN of Lancaster, WARwick, Lords, and others.
K. Hen. Look, look, here comes my John of LanCaSter. P. John. Health, peace, and happiness, to my royal father K. Hen. Thou bring'st me happiness, and peace, son John ; But health, alack, with youthful wings is flown From this bare, withered trunk: upon thy sight, My worldly business makes a period. Where is my lord of Warwick P P. Hem. My lord of Warwick! K. Hen. Doth any name particular belong Unto the lodging where I first did swoon f War. 'Tis called Jerusalem, my noble lord. K. Hen. Laud be to God!—even there my life must end." It hath been prophesied to me many years, I should not die but in Jerusalem ; Which vainly I supposed the Holy Land.— But bear me to that chamber; there I’ll lie; In that Jerusalem shall Harry die. [Eveunt.
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