EXERCISE LXVIII.-HOTSPUR'S REPLY TO SIR WALTER BLUNT.
From the First Part of King Henry IV.
Scene,-The rebel camp near Shrewsbury.-Speakers,-Hotspur, Worcester, Douglas, Vernon, and Sir Walter Blunt.
[See remarks on previous examples of dramatic dialogue.]
Hot. We'll fight with him to-night.
Doug. You give him then advantage.
Ver.
Hot. Why say you so? looks he not for supply?
Ver. So do we.
His is certain,-ours is doubtful. Wor. Good cousin, be advised: stir not to-night. Ver. Do not, my lord.
Doug. You do not counsel well:
You speak it out of fear and cold heart.
Ver. Do me no slander, Douglas: by my life,
(And I dare well maintain it with my
If well-respected honour bid me on,
I hold as little counsel with weak fear,
As you, my lord, or any Scot that lives:
Let it be seen to-morrow in the battle,
Which of us fears.
Come, come, it may not be.
I wonder much, being men of such great leading,
That you foresee not what impediments
Drag back our expedition: certain horse
Of my cousin Vernon's, are not yet come up;
Your uncle Worcester's horse came but to-day;
And now their pride and mettle is asleep,
Their courage, with hard labour tame and dull,
That not a horse is half the half of himself.
Hot. So are the horses of the enemy;
In general, journey-bated, and brought low;
The better part of ours is full of rest.
Wor. The number of the king exceedeth ours:
For Heaven's sake, cousin, stay till all come in!
[Enter Sir Walter Blunt.]
Blunt. I come with gracious offers from the king,
If you vouchsafe me hearing, and respect.
Hot. Welcome, Sir Walter Blunt; and would to Heaven
You were of our determination!
Some of us love you well; and even some
Envy your great deserving and good name,
Because you are not of our quality,
But stand against us like an enemy.
Blunt. And Heaven defend, but still I should stand so,
So long as, out of limit, and true rule,
You stand against anointed majesty!
But to my charge :-The king hath sent to know
The nature of your griefs, and whereupon
You conjure from the breast of civil peace
Such bold hostility, teaching this duteous land
Audacious cruelty. If that the king
Have any way your good deserts forgot,-
Which he confesseth to be manifold,—
He bids you name your griefs; and, with all speed,
You shall have your desires, with interest,
And pardon absolute yourself, and these,
Herein misled by your suggestion.
Hot. The king is kind; and, well we know the king
Knows at what time to promise, when to pay.
My father, and my uncle, and myself,
Did give him that same royalty he wears;
And, when he was not six and twenty strong,—
Sick in the world's regard, wretched, and low,
A poor unminded outlaw, sneaking home,-
My father gave him welcome to the shore;
And,-when he heard him swear, and vow to God
He came but to be duke of Lancaster,
To sue his livery, and beg his
With tears of innocency, and terms of zeal,—
My father, in kind heart and pity moved,
Swore his assistance, and performed it too.
Now, when the lords and barons of the realm
Perceived Northumberland did lean to him,
They, more and less, came in with cap and knee;
Met him in boroughs, cities, villages,
Attended him on bridges, stood in lanes,
Laid gifts before him, proffered him their oaths,
Gave him their heirs as pages, followed him,
Even at the heels, in golden multitudes.
He presently, as greatness shows itself,—
Steps me a little higher than his vow,
Made to my father, while his blood was poor,
Upon the naked shore at Ravenspurg;
And now, forsooth, takes on him to reform
Some certain edicts, and some strait decrees,
That lie too heavy on the commonwealth,-
Cries out upon abuses, seems to weep
Over his country's wrongs; and by this face,
This seeming brow of justice, did he win
The hearts of all that he did angle for,-
Proceeded further; cut me off the heads
Of all the favourites, that the absent king
In deputations left behind him here,
When he was personal in the Irish war
Blunt. Tut! I came not to hear this.
Then, to the point.-
In short time after, he deposed the king;
Soon after that deprived him of his life;
And, in the neck of that, tasked the whole state
To make that worse; suffered his kinsman Marco,
(Who is, if every owner were well placed,
Indeed his king,) to be engaged in Wales,
There without ransom to lie forfeited;
Disgraced me in my happy victories;
Sought to entrap me by intelligence;
Rated my uncle from the council-board;
rage dismissed my father from the court;
Broke oath on oath, committed wrong on wrong;
And, in conclusion, drove us to seek out
This head of safety; and, withal, to pry
Into his title, the which we find
Too indirect for long continuance.
Blunt. Shall I return this answer to the king?
Hot. Not so, Sir Walter: we 'll withdraw awhile.
Go to the king; and let there be impawned
Some surety for a safe return again;
And in the morning early shall mine uncle
Bring him our purposes; and so farewell!
EXERCISE LXIX.-CUPID'S WARNING.-H. F. Gould.
[This piece is intended as a lesson in modulation. It illustrates those sudden and easy changes of voice, which belong to the tones of sportive and sly humour.]
"TAKE heed! take heed!
They will go with speed,
For I've just new strung my bow:
My quiver is full; and, if oft I pull,
Some arrow may hit, you know."
"Oh! pull away,"
Did the maiden say,
"For who is the coward to mind
A shaft that's flung by a boy so young,-
When both of his eyes are blind?"
His bow he drew,
And the shafts they flew,
Till the maiden was heard to cry,
"Oh! take this dart from my aching heart,
Dear Cupid, or else I die!"
He said, and smiled,
"I'm but a child,
And should have no skill to find,
E 'en with both my eyes, where the dart now lies; know, fair maid, I'm blind!
But pray, be calm,
And I ’lÎ name a balm
That's brought by an older hand,
And I'm told is sure these wounds to cure:
'Tis Hymen applies the band.
Now I must not stay,—
I must haste away,
For my mother has bid me try
These fluttering things, my glistening wings,
Which she tells me were made to fly!"
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