King Henry IV, Part II

King Henry IV, Part II

ACT IV SCENE IV	Westminster. The Jerusalem Chamber.
	Enter KING HENRY IV, the Princes Thomas of CLARENCEand Humphrey of GLOUCESTER, WARWICK, and others
KING HENRY IV	Now, lords, if God doth give successful end
	To this debate that bleedeth at our doors,
	We will our youth lead on to higher fields
	And draw no swords but what are sanctified.	5
	Our navy is address'd, our power collected,
	Our substitutes in absence well invested,
	And every thing lies level to our wish:
	Only, we want a little personal strength;
	And pause us, till these rebels, now afoot,	10
	Come underneath the yoke of government.
WARWICK	Both which we doubt not but your majesty
	Shall soon enjoy.
KING HENRY IV	Humphrey, my son of Gloucester,
	Where is the prince your brother?	15
GLOUCESTER	I think he's gone to hunt, my lord, at Windsor.
KING HENRY IV	And how accompanied?
GLOUCESTER	I do not know, my lord.
KING HENRY IV	Is not his brother, Thomas of Clarence, with him?
GLOUCESTER	No, my good lord; he is in presence here.	20
CLARENCE	What would my lord and father?
KING HENRY IV	Nothing but well to thee, Thomas of Clarence.
	How chance thou art not with the prince thy brother?
	He loves thee, and thou dost neglect him, Thomas;
	Thou hast a better place in his affection	25
	Than all thy brothers: cherish it, my boy,
	And noble offices thou mayst effect
	Of mediation, after I am dead,
	Between his greatness and thy other brethren:
	Therefore omit him not; blunt not his love,	30
	Nor lose the good advantage of his grace
	By seeming cold or careless of his will;
	For he is gracious, if he be observed:
	He hath a tear for pity and a hand
	Open as day for melting charity:	35
	Yet notwithstanding, being incensed, he's flint,
	As humorous as winter and as sudden
	As flaws congealed in the spring of day.
	His temper, therefore, must be well observed:
	Chide him for faults, and do it reverently,	40
	When thou perceive his blood inclined to mirth;
	But, being moody, give him line and scope,
	Till that his passions, like a whale on ground,
	Confound themselves with working. Learn this, Thomas,
	And thou shalt prove a shelter to thy friends,	45
	A hoop of gold to bind thy brothers in,
	That the united vessel of their blood,
	Mingled with venom of suggestion--
	As, force perforce, the age will pour it in--
	Shall never leak, though it do work as strong	50
	As aconitum or rash gunpowder.
CLARENCE	I shall observe him with all care and love.
KING HENRY IV	Why art thou not at Windsor with him, Thomas?
CLARENCE	He is not there to-day; he dines in London.
KING HENRY IV	And how accompanied? canst thou tell that?	55
CLARENCE	With Poins, and other his continual followers.
KING HENRY IV	Most subject is the fattest soil to weeds;
	And he, the noble image of my youth,
	Is overspread with them: therefore my grief
	Stretches itself beyond the hour of death:	60
	The blood weeps from my heart when I do shape
	In forms imaginary the unguided days
	And rotten times that you shall look upon
	When I am sleeping with my ancestors.
	For when his headstrong riot hath no curb,	65
	When rage and hot blood are his counsellors,
	When means and lavish manners meet together,
	O, with what wings shall his affections fly
	Towards fronting peril and opposed decay!
WARWICK	My gracious lord, you look beyond him quite:	70
	The prince but studies his companions
	Like a strange tongue, wherein, to gain the language,
	'Tis needful that the most immodest word
	Be look'd upon and learn'd; which once attain'd,
	Your highness knows, comes to no further use	75
	But to be known and hated. So, like gross terms,
	The prince will in the perfectness of time
	Cast off his followers; and their memory
	Shall as a pattern or a measure live,
	By which his grace must mete the lives of others,	80
	Turning past evils to advantages.
KING HENRY IV	'Tis seldom when the bee doth leave her comb
	In the dead carrion.
	Enter WESTMORELAND
	Who's here? Westmoreland?
WESTMORELAND	Health to my sovereign, and new happiness	85
	Added to that that I am to deliver!
	Prince John your son doth kiss your grace's hand:
	Mowbray, the Bishop Scroop, Hastings and all
	Are brought to the correction of your law;
	There is not now a rebel's sword unsheath'd	90
	But peace puts forth her olive every where.
	The manner how this action hath been borne
	Here at more leisure may your highness read,
	With every course in his particular.
KING HENRY IV	O Westmoreland, thou art a summer bird,	95
	Which ever in the haunch of winter sings
	The lifting up of day.
	Enter HARCOURT
	Look, here's more news.
HARCOURT	From enemies heaven keep your majesty;
	And, when they stand against you, may they fall	100
	As those that I am come to tell you of!
	The Earl Northumberland and the Lord Bardolph,
	With a great power of English and of Scots
	Are by the sheriff of Yorkshire overthrown:
	The manner and true order of the fight	105
	This packet, please it you, contains at large.
KING HENRY IV	And wherefore should these good news make me sick?
	Will fortune never come with both hands full,
	But write her fair words still in foulest letters?
	She either gives a stomach and no food;	110
	Such are the poor, in health; or else a feast
	And takes away the stomach; such are the rich,
	That have abundance and enjoy it not.
	I should rejoice now at this happy news;
	And now my sight fails, and my brain is giddy:	115
	O me! come near me; now I am much ill.
GLOUCESTER	Comfort, your majesty!
CLARENCE	O my royal father!
WESTMORELAND	My sovereign lord, cheer up yourself, look up.
WARWICK	Be patient, princes; you do know, these fits	120
	Are with his highness very ordinary.
	Stand from him. Give him air; he'll straight be well.
CLARENCE	No, no, he cannot long hold out these pangs:
	The incessant care and labour of his mind
	Hath wrought the mure that should confine it in	125
	So thin that life looks through and will break out.
GLOUCESTER	The people fear me; for they do observe
	Unfather'd heirs and loathly births of nature:
	The seasons change their manners, as the year
	Had found some months asleep and leap'd them over.	130
CLARENCE	The river hath thrice flow'd, no ebb between;
	And the old folk, time's doting chronicles,
	Say it did so a little time before
	That our great-grandsire, Edward, sick'd and died.
WARWICK	Speak lower, princes, for the king recovers.	135
GLOUCESTER	This apoplexy will certain be his end.
KING HENRY IV	I pray you, take me up, and bear me hence
	Into some other chamber: softly, pray.