Of every beardless vain comparative; 15
Grew a companion to the common streets,
Enfeoff'd himself to popularity; 16

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,
Heard, not regarded; seen, but with such eyes
As, sick and blunted with community,17

Afford no extraordinary gaze,

Such as is bent on sun-like majesty

When it shines seldom in admiring eyes;

But rather drowsed, 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, gorged, and full.
And in that very line, Harry, stand'st thou ;
For thou hast lost thy princely privilege
With vile participation: 18 not an eye

But is a-weary of thy common sight,

Save mine, which hath desired to see thee more;
Which now doth that I would not have it do,'

Make blind itself with foolish tenderness.

Prince. I shall hereafter, my thrice-gracious lord,

15 That is, every beardless, vain young fellow who affected wit, or was a dealer in comparisons. See page 63, note 20.

16 Gave himself up, absolutely and entirely, to popularity. To enfeoff is a law term, signifying to give or grant any thing to another in fee-simple. Popularity here means vulgar intercourse, or promiscuousness.

17 Community for commonness, or cheap familiarity.

18 Vile participation for low, vulgar companionship.

As thou art to this hour, 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 19
Than thou, the shadow of succession;
For, of no right, nor colour like to right,
He doth fill fields with harness in the realm;
Turns head against the lion's armèd jaws ;
And, being no more in debt to years than thou,2
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 21

100

Through all the kingdoms that acknowledge Christ:
Thrice hath this Hotspur, Mars in swathing-clothes,
This infant warrior, in his enterprises

Discomfited great Douglas: ta'en him once,

19 We should now write in the state, but such was the usage of the Poet's time. So in The Winter's Tale, iv. 1: "He is less frequent to his princely exercises than formerly." - State for throne, as often.

20 The Poet with great dramatic propriety approximates the ages of the Prince and Hotspur, for the better kindling of a noble emulation between them. So that we need not suppose him ignorant that Hotspur was about twenty years the older. - Harness, two lines before, is armour. So in Macbeth, v. 5: "At least we'll die with harness on our back."

21 Majority for pre-eminence or priority; and capital for principal; the head man of the age in soldiership.

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,

Th' Archbishop's Grace of York, Douglas, and Mortimer
Capitulate 22 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 ?23
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 curtsy at his frowns,
To show how much thou art degenerate.

Prince. 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 favour 24 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-praisèd knight,
And your unthought-of Harry, chance to meet.

22 To capitulate formerly signified to make articles of agreement.

23 So in Hamlet, i. 2: “Would I had met my dearest foe in Heaven or ever I had seen that day, Horatio." For this use of dear see Twelfth Night, page 125, note 6.

24 The word mask ascertains favour to mean face here.

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,

T' engross up glorious deeds 25 on my behalf;
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 I perform, and do survive,
I do beseech your Majesty, may salve
The long-grown wounds of my intemperance :
If not, the end of life cancels all bands; 26
And I will die a hundred thousand deaths
Ere break the smallest parcel of this vow.

King. 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 is the business that I come to speak of.
Lord Mortimer of Scotland 27 hath sent word

That Douglas and the English rebels met
Th' eleventh of this month at Shrewsbury:

25 As capitalists or speculators sometimes send out factors, that is, agents, to buy up and monopolize wool, grain, or other products.

26 Bands and bonds were used indifferently for obligations. — Intemperance in the classical sense of lacking self-restraint or self-government.

27 There was no such person as Lord Mortimer of Scotland; but there was a Scottish Earl of March and an English Earl of March, and this same-›

A mighty and a fearful head they are,
If promises be kept on every hand,

As ever offer'd foul play in a State.

King. The Earl of Westmoreland set forth to-day;
With him my son, Lord John of Lancaster ;
For this advertisement 28 is five days old.

On Wednesday next you, Harry, 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,29 some twelve days hence
Our general forces at Bridgenorth shall meet.
Our hands are full of business: let's away;
Advantage feeds him fat, while men delay.

[Exeunt.

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.1 Well, I'll repent, and that suddenly,

ness of title probably led the Poet into a confusion of the names. The Scottish Earl of March was George Dunbar, who attached himself so warmly to the English that the Parliament petitioned the King to bestow some reward on him. He fought on the side of King Henry in this rebellion. See page 93, note 1.

28 Advertisement is intelligence, or information.

29 That is, an estimate being made of the business to be done.

1 The apple-john was by no means the same as the apple-jack of later times, though the two may be some kin. The former was a variety of the apple, which is said to have kept two years. Thus described by Phillips: "John-apple, whose wither'd rind, entrench'd by many a furrow, aptly rep