The horsemen sit like fixed candlesticks,' Lob down their heads, dropping the hides and hips; Con. They have said their prayers, and they stay It yearns me not, if men my garments wear; Such outward things dwell not in my desires : But, if it be a sin to covet honour, I am the most offending soul alive. No, 'faith, my coz, wish not a man from England: God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour, As one man more, methinks, would share from me, For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more. Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host, That he, which hath no stomach to this fight, Let him depart; his passport shall be made, And crowns for convoy put into his purse: We would not die in that man's company That fears his fellowship to die with us. This day is call'd-the feast of Crispian He, that outlives this day, and comes safe home, Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd, And rouse him at the name of Crispian. Con. I stay but for my guard;3 On, to the field: He, that shall live this day, and see old age, I will the banner from a trumpet take, And use it for my haste. Come, come, away! Will yearly on the vigil feast his friends, And say-to morrow is Saint Crispian : The sun is high, and we outwear the day. [Exeunt. Then will he strip his sleeve, and show his scars, SCENE III. The English Camp. Enter the Eng-And say, these wounds I had on Crispin's day. lish Host; GLOSTER, BEDFORD, EXETER, SALISBURY, and WESTMOREland. Glo. Where is the king? Dau. Shall we go send them dinners, and fresh. And give their fasting horses provender, Bed. The king himself is rode to view their battle. West. Of fighting men they have full threescore thousand. Exe. There's five to one; besides, they all are fresh, Sal. God's arm strike with us! 'tis a fearful odds. Bed. Farewell, good Salisbury; and good luck Exe. Farewell, kind lord; fight valiantly to-day: West. O that we now had here But one ten thousand of those men in England, K. Hen. What's he, that wishes so? 1 Ancient candlesticks were often in the form of human figures, holding the socket for the lights, in their extended hands. Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter, here: me, And hold their manhoods cheap, while any speaks, Sal. My sovereign lord, bestow yourself wil The French are bravely11 in their battles set, K. Hen. All things are ready, if our minds be so. K. Hen. Thou dost not wish more help from Eng land, cousin? West. God's will, my liege, 'would you and I Without more help, might fight this battle out! sand men 13 Johnson has a natural forgetfulness of old age, shall remember their 8. With advantages.' Old men, notwithstanding the feats of this day, and remember to tell them with ad! 2 The gimmal bit was probably a bit in which two magnify past acts and past times. vantage. Age is commonly boastful and inclined parts or links were united, as in the gimmal ring, so 9 From this day to the ending,' & called because they were double linked, from gemel-note on this passage, which concluus by saying that lus, Lat. the civil wars have left in the nation scarcely any tra. 3I stay but for my gund. Dr. Johnson and Mr.dition of more ancient history.' Steevens were of opinion that guard here means rather 10 i. e. shall advance him to the rank of a gentleman something of ornament, than an attendant or attendants. King Henry V. inhibited any person but such as had a And my kind kinsman. This is addressed to rght by inheritance or grant, from bearing coats of arms, Westmoreland by the speaker, who was Thomas Mon-except those who fought with him at the battle of Agintacute, earl of Salisbury: he was not in point of fact related to Westmoreland, there was only a kind of connection by marriage between their families. feasts and public meetings. 11 i. e. in a braving manner. 12 i. e. expedition. By 5 In the quarto this speech is addressed to Warwick. look aloft; and to go gaily, desiring to have the preTo go bravely is to The incongruity of praying like a Christian and swear-eminence: Speciose ingredi; faire le brave.' ing like a heathen, which Johnson objects against, arose from the necessary conformation to the statute 3 James I. c xxi. against introducing the sacred name on the stage. The players omitted it where they could, and where the metre would not allow of the omission they substituted some other word in its place. 6 To yearn is to grieve or vex. 13- thou hast unwished five thousand men' wishing only thyself and me, thou hast wished five thou sand men away. The poet, inattentive to numbers, puts five thousand, but in the last scene the French are said to be full three score thousand, which Exeter declares to be five to one; the numbers of the English are vari 7 'The feast of Crispian.' The battle of Agincourt ously stated; Holinshed makes them fifteen thousand, was fought upon the 25th of October, 1415 others but nine thousand. Which likes me better, than to wish us one.- Tucket. Enter MONTJOY. Mont. Once more I come to know of thee, King If for thy ransom thou wilt now compound, Must lie and fester. K. Hen. Who hath sent thee now? Mont. The Constable of France. K. Hen. I pray thee, bear my former answer Bid them achieve me, and then sell my bones. thus ? The man, that once did sell the lion's skin And draw their honours reeking up to heaven; Let me speak proudly;-Tell the Constable, 2 i. e. in brazen plates, anciently let into tombstones. Which if they have, as I willave 'em to them, Thou never shalt hear herald any more. [Exu. Enter the Duke of York." K. Hen. Take it, brave York.-Now, soldiers, And how thou pleasest, God, dispose the day! Pist. Yield, cur. Fr. Sol. Je pense, que vous estes le gentilhomme de bonne qualité. Pist. Quality? Callino, castore me!" art thou a gentleman? What is thy name? discuss. Fr. Sol. O seigneur Dieu ! Pist. O, signieur Dew should be a gentleman :- Fr. Sol. O, prennez misericorde! ayez pitié de moy! In drops of crimson blood. Fr. Sol. Est-il impossible d' eschapper la force de ton bras? Pist. Brass, cur! Thou damned and luxurious mountain goat, Fr. Sol. O pardonnez moy! Pist. Say'st thou me so? is that a ton of Come hither, boy; Ask me this slave, in French, Boy. Escoutez; Comment estes-vous appellé ? Boy. He says, his name is-master Fer. Pist. Bid him prepare, for I will cut his throat. Boy. Il me commande de vous dire que vous faiten Boswell discovered that it was an old Irish song, which is printed in Playford's Musical Companion, 1667 or 1673: 'Callino, Callino, Callino, castore me, The words are said to mean 'Little girl of my heart for ever and ever.' They have, it is true (says Mr. Boswell,) no great connection with the poor Frenchman's supplications, nor were they meant to have any; Pistol, instead of attending to him, contemptuously hums a Theobald, with over busy zeal for emendation, changed 4 i. e. golden show, superficial gilding. 5 'The Duke of York. This Edward duke of York has already appeared in King Richard II. under the title of duke of Aumerle. He was the son of Edmond Langley, the duke of York of the same play, who was the ifth son of King Edward III. Richard, earl of Cambridge, who appears in the second act of this play, was younger brother to this Edward duke of York. 6 The vaward is the vanguard. 7 Callino, castore me! The jargon of the old copies where these words are printed Qualitie calmie custure me-was changed by former editors into 'Quality, call you me ? construe me.' Malone found Calen o custure me, mentioned as the burthen of a song In A Handful of Plesant Delites,' 1584 And Mr. 8 '-thou diest on point of fox. For is an old cant word for a sword. Generally old for; it was applied to the old English broadsword. 9' For I will fetch thy rim out at thy throat.' Pistol is not very scrupulous in the nicety of his language, he uses rim (rymme) for the intestines generally. It is no very clear what our ancestors meant by it; Bishop Wilkins defines it 'the membrane of the belly; Florio makes it the omentum, a fat pannicle, caule, sewet, rim, or kell, wherein the bowels are lapt.' Holmes, in his Acad. of Armory, calls the peritoneum 'the paunch or rim of the belly. Which is defined by others to be the inner rine of the belly. It was not therefore the diaphragm or midriff, as Steevens supposed. 10 Pistol's moy is probably a vulgar corruption of moydore (itself a corruption of moeda d'oro,) at least we have no better solution to offer. The moydore was current in England for about 27s 11 To firk is to beat or scourge ; fouetter, to yerk and to jerk are words of the same import. vous prest; car ce soldat icy est disposé tout à cette Pist. Ouy, couper gorge, par ma foy, pesant, Orl. We are enough, yet living in the field, Bour. The devil take order now! I'll to the throng; Fr. Sol. O, je vous supplie pour l'amour de Dieu, me pardonner! Je suis gentilhomme de bonne maison :\SCENE VI. gardez ma vie, et je vous donneray deux cents escus. Pist. What are his words? Boy. He prays you to save his life: he is a gentleman of a good house; and, for his ransom, he will give you two hundred crowns. Pist. Tell him--my fury shall abate, and I The crowns will take. Fr. Sol. Petit monsieur, que dit-il ? Boy. Encore qu'il est contre son jurement, de pardonner aucun prisonnier; neantmoins, pour les escus que vous l'avez promis, il est content de vous donner la liberté, le franchisement. [Exeunt. Another Part of the Field. Alarums. Enter KING HENRY and Forces; EXETER, and others. K. Hen. Well have we done, thrice-valiant countrymen : But all's not done, yet keep the French the field. Exe. The duke of York commends him to your majesty. K. Hen. Lives he, good uncle? thrice, within this hour, saw him down; thrice up again, and fighting; From helmet to the spur, all blood he was. Fr. Sol. Sur mes genoux, je vous donne mille remerciemens et je m'estime heureux que je suis tombé entre les mains d'un chevalier, je pense, le plus brave, valiant, et très distingué seigneur d'Angle-The noble earl of Suffolk also lies. terre. Pist. Expound unto me, boy. Boy. He gives you, upon his knees, a thousand thanks: and he esteems himself happy that he hath fallen into the hands of (as he thinks) the most brave, valorous, and thrice worthy signieur of England. Pist. As I suck blood, I will some mercy show. Follow me, cur. [Exit PISTOL. Boy. Suivez-vous le grand capitaine. [Exit French Soldier. I did never know so full a voice issue from so empty a heart: but the saying is true,-The empty vessel makes the greatest sound. Bardolph, and Nym, had ten times more valour than this roaring devil i' the old play, that every one may pare his nails with a wooden dagger; and they are both hanged; and so would this be, if he durst steal any thing adventurously. I must stay with the lackeys, with the luggage of our camp: the French might have a good prey of us, if he knew of it; for there is none to guard it but boys. [Exit. SCENE V. Another Part of the Field of Battle. Alarums. Enter Dauphin, ORLEANS, BOURBON, Constable, RAMBURES, and others. Con. O diable ! Orl. O seigneur !—le jour est perdu, tout est perdu shame! Let us die in fight:2 Once more back again; Exe. In which array (brave soldier) doth he lie, my service to my sovereign, I blame you not; For, hearing this, I must perforce compound Alarum ! But, hark! what new alarum is this same? [Exeunt SCENE VII. Another Part of the Field. Alar- Gow. "Tis certain, there's not a boy left alive; and the cowardly rascals, that ran from the battle, have done this slaughter: besides, they have burned and carried away all that was in the king's tent; wherefore the king, most worthily, hath caused every soldier to cut his prisoner's throat." O, 'tis a Con. Disorder, that hath spoil'd us, friend us now! gallant king! 1-this roaring devil i' the old play, that every one may pare his nails with a wooden dagger.' See note on Twelfth Night, Act iv. Sc. 2. In the old play of The Taming of a Shrew, one of the players says, 'My lord, we must have a little vinegar to make our devil roar. Ho! ho! and Ah! ha! seem to have been the exclamations constantly given to the devil, who is, in the old mysteries, as turbulent and vainglorious as Pistol. The Vice or fool, among other indignities, used to threaten to pare his nails with his dagger of lath; the devil being supposed from choice to keep his claws long and sharp. 2 The old copy wants the word fight, which was supplied by Malone. Theobald proposed let us die in stant, which Stevans adopted Flu. Ay, he was porn at Monmouth, captain Gower: What call you the town's name, where Alexander the pig was born? 3 i. e. who has no more gentility. 4 This line is from the quartos. 5 i. e. reached. 6' But all my mother came into my eyes, And gave me up to tears.' Thus the quarto. The folio reads 'And all,' &c. Bui has here the force of but that. 7 Caused every soldier to cut his prisoner's throat. The king killed his prisoners (says Johnson) because he expected another battle, and he had not sufficient men to guard one army and fight another. Gower's reason is, as we see, different. Shakspeare followed Holinshed, who gives both reasons for Henry's conduct. but has chosen to make the king mention one of them and Gower the other. |