So common-hackney'd in the eyes of men,
So stale and cheap to vulgar company,―
Opinion, that did help me to the crown,
Had still kept loyal to possession,
And left me in reputeless banishment,
A fellow of no mark nor likelihood.
By being seldom seen, I could not stir,
But, like a comet, I was wonder'd at;
That men would tell their children, "This is he;"
Others would say, "Where? which is Bolingbroke?"
And then I stole all courtesy from Heaven,57
And dress'd myself in such humility,

That I did pluck allegiance from men's hearts,
Loud shouts and salutations from their mouths,
Even in the presence of the crowned king.
Thus did I keep my person fresh and new;
My presence, like a robe pontifical,
Ne'er seen but wonder'd at: and so my state,
Seldom, but sumptuous, showèd like a feast,
And won by rareness such solemnity.

62

The skipping 58 king, he ambled up and down
With shallow jesters and rash bavin wits,59
Soon kindled and soon burn'd; carded his state;60
Mingled his royalty with carping fools;
Had his great name profanèd with their scorns;
And gave his countenance, against his name,6
To laugh at gibing boys, and stand the push
Of every beardless vain comparative ;63
Grew a companion to the common streets,
Enfeoff'd himself to popularity;64
That, being daily swallow'd by men's eyes,
They surfeited with honey, and began

To loathe the taste of sweetness, whereof a little
More than a little is by much too much.
So, when he had occasion to be seen,
He was but as the cuckoo is in June,

57. I stole all courtesy from Heaven. I rendered my courtesy more gracious by imbuing it with perpetual references to Heaven.' This is fully illustrated by the style in which Shakespeare makes Bolingbroke speak at the outset of his career, as we see him in the poet's page. See Note 9, Act i., Richard II." 58. Skipping. Shakespeare elsewhere uses this word to express 'frivolous,' 'trivial,' 'light' (see Note 48, Act ii., "Merchant of Venice "); and here it includes the sense of indecorously nimble, unbefittingly frequent in motion.

59. Rash bavin wits. "Rash" is often used by Shakespeare for hasty, speedy (see Note 82, Act i., "Winter's Tale"); and here he uses it for speedily burnt out or exhausted. "Bavins were small faggots used for lighting fires. In Florio's "Second Frutes," we find :-" There is no fire. Make a little blaze with a baven." And in Lyly's "Mother Bombie," 1594:-"Bavins will have their flashes, and youth their fancies, the one as soon quenched as the other burnt."

60. Carded his state. 'Debased his state, by mixing too freely with inferiors. To "card" is used by Lord Bacon, Andrewes, Greene, and Beaumont and Fletcher, in the sense of 'mix' or 'adulterate:' and the word "mingle" in the context appears to us to afford conclusive testimony that Shakespeare here used "carded" in the sense of 'debased by mixing. 61. Carping. 'Jesting,' 'bantering,' rallying,' catching.' Chaucer uses the word in this sense:

"In fellowship well could she laugh and carp."

'word

Heard, not regarded,—seen, but with such eyes
As, sick and blunted with community,65
Afford no extraordinary gaze,

Such as is bent on sun-like majesty
When it shines seldom in admiring eyes;

But rather drows'd, and hung their eyelids down,
Slept in his face, and render'd such aspéct
As cloudy men use to their adversaries,
Being with his presence glutted, gorg'd, and fulì.
And in that very line, Harry, stand'st thou;
For thou hast lost thy princely privilege
With vile participation: not an eye
But is a-weary of thy common sight,

Save mine, which hath desir'd to see thee more;
Which now doth that I would not have it do,-
Make blind itself with foolish tenderness.
P. Hen. I shall hereafter, my thrice-gracious lord,
Be more myself.

As thou art to this hour,66 was Richard then,
When I from France set foot at Ravenspurg;
And even as I was then, is Percy now.
Now, by my sceptre, and my soul to boot,
He hath more worthy interest to the state
Than thou, the shadow of succession;
For, of no right, nor colour like to right,
He doth fill fields with harness 68 in the realm;

Turns head against the lion's armèd jaws;
And, being no more in debt to years than thou,69
Leads ancient lords and reverend bishops on
To bloody battles and to bruising arms.
What never-dying honour hath he got
Against renowned Douglas! whose high deeds,
Whose hot incursions, and great name in arms,
Holds from all soldiers chief majority
And military title capital

Through all the kingdoms that acknowledge Christ:

'Gave his

62. Gave his countenance, against his name. sanction, contrary to the dignity of his royal name.' 63. Comparative. One given to make idle sallies of comparison; a dealer in jesting similes. See Note 35, Act i.

64. Enfeoff'd himself to popularity. Gave himself up entirely to popularity.' To enfeoff' is a law term, signifying to give up to absolute possession.

65. Community. Here used in the sense of 'commonness,' 'usualness,' 'frequency.' 66. As thou art to this hour. Shakespeare uses "6 to" peculiarly. Here it is either used as we should now use 'at' in this sentence; or the meaning is, 'As thou hast been unto, up to, or until this hour.'

་

67. He hath more worthy interest to the state. Here again Shakespeare employs the word "to" in accordance with a peculiar idiom. See Note 21, Act v., King John." 68. Harness. An old word for armour:' it has been derived from the Welsh and Erse word hiairn, "iron." The French word is harnois; and many of our knightly terms were derived from those of the Norman chivalry.

69. Being no more in debt to years than thou. The dramatist has judiciously made Harry of England and Harry Percy both of an age, as giving better effect to their being brought in competition with each other in this play; although, in reality, Hotspur was Prince Hal's senior by twenty years.

Thrice hath this Hotspur, Mars in swathing-clothes,
This infant warrior, in his enterprises
Discornfited great Douglas; ta'en him once,
Enlarged him, and made a friend of him,
To fill the mouth of deep defiance up,

And shake the peace and safety of our throne.
And what say you to this? Percy, Northumberland,
The Archbishop's Grace of York, Douglas, Mor-

timer,

Capitulate 70 against us, and are up.

But wherefore do I tell these news to thee?
Why, Harry, do I tell thee of my foes,
Which art my near'st and dearest enemy ?71
Thou that art like enough,-through vassal fear,
Base inclination, and the start of spleen,-
To fight against me under Percy's pay,
To dog his heels, and court'sy at his frowns,
To show how much thou art degenerate.

P. Hen. Do not think so; you shall not find it so :
And God forgive them that so much have sway'd
Your majesty's good thoughts away from me!
I will redeem all this on Percy's head,
And, in the closing of some glorious day,
Be bold to tell you that I am your son;
When I will wear a garment all of blood,
And stain my favours 72 in a bloody mask,
Which, wash'd away, shall scour my shame with it;
And that shall be the day, whene'er it lights,
That this same child of honour and renown,
This gallant Hotspur, this all-praised knight,
And your unthought-of Harry, chance to meet.
For every honour sitting on his helm,
Would they were multitudes, and on my head
My shames redoubled! for the time will come,
That I shall make this northern youth exchange
His glorious deeds for my indignities.
Percy is but my factor, good my lord,
To engross up glorious deeds on my behalf;

70. Capitulate. Here used in the sense it bears as derived from the Latin word, capitula, a head or chapter; so as to mean 'treated by agreement drawn up into heads or chapters.'

71. Which art my near'st and dearest enemy. "Which" is here used for 'who;' and "dearest," having here the double sense of intensity (pointed out in Note 61, Act i., "As You Like It") and of fondness, is employed with happiest effect. 72. Favours.

Here used for 'features,' 'lines of the countenance,' 'looks,'' collective aspect.'

73- Bands. Bonds. See Note 3, Act i., "Richard II." 74 Parcel. Portion, part.

75 Lord Mortimer of Scotland. It has been pointed out by the commentators that there was no such person as "Lord Mortimer of Scotland," although there was a Lord March of Scotland, who, quitting his country in disgust, attached himself to the English, and fought on King Henry's side in this rebellion

The similarity of the titles between the English Earl of March and the Scottish Earl of March probably induced the poet to give the analogous effect of similarity between "Lo d Mortimer of Scotland," and " Lord Edmund Mortimer," Glendower's son-in-law,

76 A mighty and a fearful head they are. Acti.

See Note 92,

And I will call him to so strict account,
That he shall render every glory up,
Yea, even the slightest worship of his time,
Or I will tear the reckoning from his heart.
This, in the name of God, I promise here:
The which if he be pleas'd I shall perform,
I do beseech your majesty, may salve
The long-grown wounds of my intemperance:
If not, the end of life cancels all bands;73
And I will die a hundred thousand deaths
Ere break the smallest parcel74 of this vow.

K. Hen. A hundred thousand rebels die in this!Thou shalt have charge and sovereign trust herein.

Enter Sir WALTER BLUNT.

How now, good Blunt! thy looks are full of speed. Blunt. So hath the business that I come to

speak of.

Lord Mortimer of Scotland 75 hath sent word,
That Douglas and the English rebels met,
The eleventh of this month, at Shrewsbury:
A mighty and a fearful head they are76
(If promises be kept on every hand),
As ever offer'd foul play in a state.

K. Hen. The Earl of Westmoreland set forth to-day;

With him my son, Lord John of Lancaster;
For this advertisement 77 is five days old :—
On Wednesday next, Harry, you shall set forward;
On Thursday we ourselves will march:
Our meeting is Bridgenorth: and, Harry, you
Shall march through Glostershire; by which
account,

Our business valued, some twelve days hence 78
Our general forces at Bridgenorth shall meet.
Our hands are full of business: let's away;
Advantage feeds him fat,79 while men delay.
[Exeunt.

78. Some twelve days hence. In this speech Shakespeare has marked time with his usual ingenuity in this particular; for although his historical dramas extend over a long period, and embrace the incidents of an eventful reign, yet he so arranges dramatic time, and so advantageously employs his peculiar system in its disposal, that we at one and the same time behold immediately passing scenes that occur on particular days and nights, and view rebellions plotted, matured, and put into action, without any violation of credibility, or felt excessive demand upon our powers of belief. The imaginative portion of our minds is so fed and convinced, that the reasoning portion is held suspended in a willing witchery of satisfied faith. The prince is summoned to his father's presence on the day after his carousing night-morning immediately following upon the Gad's Hill exploit; but, by the generalising tone of the king's rebukes for his son's evil courses, they are thrown into shadowy effect of past and gone distance, while the words "five days old," towards the close of this scene of reproof, serve to confirm the impression of lapsed time, which is completed by the concluding words, "twelve days hence."

79. Advantage feeds him fat. "Him" is here used for himself. See Note 32, Induction, "Taming of the Shrew."

SCENE III.-EASTCHEAP. A Room in the
Boar's Head Tavern.

Enter FALSTAFF and BARDOLPH.

Fal. Bardolph, am I not fallen away vilely since this last action? do I not bate? do I not dwindle? Why, my skin hangs about me like an old lady's loose gown; I am withered like an old apple-john.80 Well, I'll repent, and that suddenly, while I am in some liking; I shall be out of heart shortly, and then I shall have no strength to repent. An I have not forgotten what the inside of a church is made of, I am a peppercorn, a brewer's horse: 82

Act III. Scene III.

the inside of a church! Company, villainous company, hath been the spoil of me.

Bard. Sir John, you are so fretful, you cannot live long.

Fal. Why, there is it: come, sing me a jovial song; make me merry. I was as virtuously given as a gentleman need to be; virtuous enough; swore little; diced not above seven times a week; went to an ale-house not above once in a quarter-of an hour; paid money that I borrowed-three or four times; lived well, and in good compass: and now I live out of all order, out of all compass.

Bard. Why, you are so fat, Sir John, that you must needs be out of all compass, -out of all reasonable compass, Sir John.

82. A brewer's horse. The dissimilitude between this animal and Falstaff is, that the one drags liquor about outside of him, the other drags it about inside of him.

Fal. Do thou amend thy face, and I'll amend my life; thou art our admiral, thou bearest the lantern in the poop,-but 'tis in the nose of thee; thou art the Knight of the Burning Lamp. Bard. Why, Sir John, my face does you no harm. Fal. No, I'll be sworn; I make as good use of it as many a man doth of a Death's-head or a memento mori:83 I never see thy face but I think upon Dives that lived in purple; for there he is in his robes, burning, burning. If thou wert any way given to virtue, I would swear by thy face; my oath should be, “By this fire :" but thou art altogether given over; and wert indeed, but for the light in thy face, the son of utter darkness. When thou rannest up Gad's Hill in the night to catch my horse, if I did not think thou hadst been an ignis fatuus 84 or a ball of wildfire, there's no purchase in money. Oh, thou art a perpetual triumph, an everlasting bonfire-light! Thou hast saved me a thousand marks in links and torches, walking with thee in the night betwixt tavern and tavern: 85 but the sack that thou hast drunk me would have bought me lights as good cheap 86 at the dearest chandler's in Europe. I have maintained that salamander of yours with fire any time this two-and-thirty years; Heaven reward me for it!

Bard. 'Sblood, I would my face were in your belly! Fal. Heaven ha' mercy! so should I be sure to be heart-burned.

Enter Hostess.

Fal. Ye lie, hostess: Bardolph was shaved, and lost many a hair; and I'll be sworn my pocket was picked. Go to, you are a woman, go.

Host. Who, I? no; I defy thee: I was never called so in mine own house before.

Fal. Go to; I know you well enough.

Host. No, Sir John; you do not know me, Sır John. I know you, Sir John: you owe me money, Sir John; and now you pick a quarrel to beguile me of it: I bought you a dozen of shirts to your back.

Fal. Dowlas, filthy dowlas :88 I have given them away to bakers' wives, and they have made bolters $9 of them.

Host. Now, as I am a true woman, holland of eight shillings an ell.90 You owe money here besides, Sir John, for your diet and by-drinkings, and money lent you, four-and-twenty pound. Fal. He had his part of it; let him pay. Host. He? alas! he is poor; he hath nothing. Fal. How! poor? look upon his face; what call you rich? let them coin his nose, let them coin his cheeks: I'll not pay a denier.91 What! will you make a younker 92 of me ? shall I not take mine ease in mine inn,93 but I shall have my pocket picked? I have lost a seal-ring of my grandfather's worth forty mark.94

Host. Oh, mercy! I have heard the prince tell him, I know not how oft, that that ring was copper!

Host. Why, Sir John, what do you think, Sir John? do you think I keep thieves in my house? I have searched, I have inquired, so has my husband, man by man, boy by boy, servant by servant: the tithe of a hair was never lost in my house before.

83. A memento mori. Latin; a memorial of death. It was customary to wear trinkets ornamented with painted or engraved skulls as reminders of the close of life.

84 Ignis fatuus. Latin; delusive fire. The name given to the luminous vapour called "Will with the wisp.❞

85. In the night betwixt tavern and tavern. Before London was lighted, "lanterns to let" were cried about the streets at night.

86. As good cheap. "Good cheap" and 'better cheap' were used formerly as 'cheap' and 'cheaper' are now. "Cheap" was the name for a market; therefore we used "good cheap" as the Italians use buon mercato; and Florio, in his dictionary, renders the phrase thus :-" Buon mercato, good-cheape, a good bargain.". In his "Second Frutes" we also find a dialogue where hiring a horse is spoken of :-" T. What must I paie a daie? P. What can I tell? about a shilling. T. It is good cheape."

87. Dame Partlet the hen. See Note 44, Act ii., Tale."

88. Dowlas. A coarse kind of linen.

66 Winter's

89. Bolters. Sieves; used for sifting or bolting meal. 90. Holland of eight shillings an ell The price of fine linen was so high, that we find from Stubbes' "Anatomie of

3.

Act v.,

93. Take mine ease in mine inn. A proverbial phrase, signifying to make oneself at home; to be perfectly free and comfortable, as if in one's own house. "Inn" originally meant dwelling-place (see Note "Richard II."); but when it came to mean a house of public entertainment, the proverb still remained in use. 94. Forty mark. "Mark" is a colloquial slip-shodism for 'marks,' as careless speakers still say 'shilling' for 'shillings,' 'pound' for 'pounds,' &c. A "mark" was a coin worth 135. 4d. See Note 20, Act v., "Taming of the Shrew."

95. A Jack, a sneak-cup. A Jack was a term of contempt and reproach. See Note 63, Act ii. "A sneak-cup" meant a sneaker from his cup, a shirker from drink. 96. Two and two, Newgate-fashion. Walking in couples, as prisoners were conveyed to Newgate.