Dau. Some of them will fall to-morrow, I hope. Dau. That may be, for you bear a many superfluously; and 'twere more honour some were away. Con. Even as your horse bears your praises; who would trot as well, were some of your brags dismounted. Dau. 'Would I were able to load him with his desert! Will it never be day? I will trot to-morrow a mile, and my way shall be paved with English faces. Con. I will not say so, for fear I should be faced out of my way: But I would it were morning, for I would fain be about the ears of the English. Ram. Who will go to hazard with me for twenty English prisoners? Con. You must first go yourself to hazard, ere you have them. Dau. "Tis midnight, I'll go arm myself. Con. I think, he will eat all he kills. [Exit. Orl. By the white hand of my lady, he's a gallant prince. Con. Swear by her foot,that she may tread out the oath. Con. Nor will do none to-morrow; he will keep that good name still. Orl. I know him to be valiant. Con. I was told that, by one that knows him better than you. Orl. What's he? Con. Marry, he told me so himself; and, he said, he Gared not who knew it. Orl. He needs not, it is no hidden virtue in him. Con. By my faith, sir, but it is; never any body saw it, but his lackey :6 'tis a hooded valour; and, when it appears, it will bate.7 Orl. Ill-will never said well. Con. I will cap that proverb with-There is flattery in friendship. [6] He has beaten nobody but his footboy. JOHNS. [7] This is said with allusion to falcons which are kept hooded when they are not to fly at game, and, as soon as the hord is off, bait or flap the wing The meaning is, the dauphin's valour has never been let loose upon an enemy. JOHN. Orl. And I will take up that with-Give the devil his due. Con. Well placed, there stands your friend for the devil have at the very eye of that proverb, with-A pox of the devil. Orl. You are the better at proverbs, by how much— A fool's bolt is soon shot. Con. You have shot over. Orl. 'Tis not the first time you were overshot. Enter a Messenger. Mess. My lord high constable, the English lie within fifteen hundred paces of your tent. Con. Who hath measured the ground? Mess. The lord Grandpré. Con. A valiant and most expert gentleman.Would it were day !- -Alas, poor Harry of England! he longs not for the dawning, as we do. Orl. What a wretched and peevish9 fellow is this king of England, to mope with his fat-brained followers so far out of his knowledge! Con. If the English had any apprehension, they would run away. Orl. That they lack; for if their heads had any intellectual armour, they could never wear such heavy head-pieces. Ram. That island of England breeds very valiant creatures; their mastiffs are of unmatchable courage. Orl. Foolish curs! that run winking into the mouth of a Russian bear, and have their heads crushed like rotten apples: You may as well say,-that's a valiant flea, that dare eat his breakfast on the lip of a lion. Con. Just, just; and the men do sympathize with mastiffs, in robustious and rough coming on, leaving their wits with their wives; and then give them great meals of beef, and iron and steel, they will eat like wolves, and fight like devils. Orl. Ay, but these English are shrewdly out of beef. Con. Then we shall find to-morrow,-they have only stomachs to eat, and none to fight. Now is it time to arm; Come, shall we about it? Orl. It is now two o'clock; but, let me see,-by ten, We shall have each a hundred Englishmen. [Exeunt. [8] Alluding to the practice of capping verses. JOHNS. Peevish in ancient language, signified foolish, silly. STEEV. ACT IV. Enter CHORUS. Chor. NOW entertain conjecture of a time, When creeping murmur, and the poring dark, Fills the wide vessel of the universe. From camp to camp, through the foul womb of night, That the fix'd centinels almost receive The country cocks do crow, the clocks do toll, Sit patiently, and inly ruminate The morning's danger; and their gesture sad, So many horrid ghosts. O, now, who will behold Walking from watch to watch, from tent to tent, How dread an army hath enrounded him; [1] That is, gently, lowly. So in the sacred writings: "a still small voice.' " MAL. [2] Umber is a brown colour. The distant visages of the soldiers would appear of this hue, when beheld through the light of midnight fires. Umber'd, however may mean shaded STEEV. [3] That is, do play them away at dice, WARB. Nor doth he dedicate one jot of colour His liberal eye doth give to every one, A little touch of Harry in the night: SCENE I. The English Camp at Agincourt. Enter King HENry, BedFORD and GLOSTER. K.Hen. Gloster, 'tis true, that we are in great danger; For our bad neighbour makes us early stirrers, Enter ERPINGHAM. -Good-morrow, old sir Thomas Erpingham :6 Erp. Not so, my liege; this lodging likes me better, Since I may say-now lie I like a king. K.Hen. 'Tis good for men to love their present pain Upon example; so the spirit is eased; [5] To mind is the same as to call to remembrance. JOHNS. Sir Thos. Erpingham came over with Bolingbroke from Brentagne, and was one of the commissioners to receive Richard's abdication. EDWARDS. And, when the mind is quicken'd, out of doubt, Lend me thy cloak, sir Thomas.-Brothers both, [Ex. GLos. and BED. Erp. Shall I attend your grace? Go with my brothers to my lords of England: And then I would no other company. Erp. The Lord in heaven bless thee, noble Harry ! K.Hen. God-a-mercy, old heart! thou speakest cheer[Exit ERP. fully. Pist. Qui va la? K.Hen. A friend. Enter PISTOL. Pist. Discuss unto me; art thou officer ? Pist. As good a gentleman as the emperor. Pist. The king's a bawcock, and a heart of gold, A lad of life, an imp of fame ; Of parents good, of fist most valiant: I kiss his dirty shoe, and from my heart-strings I love the lovely bully. What's thy name ? K.Hen. Harry le Roy. Pist. Le Roy! a Cornish name: art thou of Cornish crew? K.Hen. No, I am a Welshman. Pist. Knowest thou Fluellen ? K.Hen. Yes. Pist. Tell him, I'll knock his leek about his pate, Upon Saint Davy's day. K.Hen. Do not you wear your dagger in your cap that day, lest he knock that about yours. [7] Slough is the skin which the serpent annually throws off, and by the change of which he is supposed to regain new vigour and fresh youth. Legerity is lightness, nimbleness. JOHNS. |