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Henry IV, Part 1 - Act 3, scene 1
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Henry IV, Part 1 - Act 3, scene 1Act 3, scene 1
⌜Scene 1⌝
Synopsis:
Hotspur, Worcester, Mortimer, and the leader of the Welsh rebels, Glendower, meet in Wales to make final the terms of their plot against King Henry and to determine how they will divide up the conquered kingdom. Hotspur ridicules Glendower to his face and is criticized by Mortimer and Worcester for doing so. Glendower brings in the wives of Hotspur and Mortimer to take leave of their husbands.
Enter Hotspur, Worcester, Lord Mortimer, ⌜and⌝ OwenGlendower.
MORTIMER
1559 These promises are fair, the parties sure,
1560 And our induction full of prosperous hope.
HOTSPUR
1561 Lord Mortimer and cousin Glendower,
1562 Will you sit down? And uncle Worcester—
1563 5 A plague upon it, I have forgot the map.
GLENDOWER
1564 No, here it is. Sit, cousin Percy,
1565 Sit, good cousin Hotspur, for by that name
1566 As oft as Lancaster doth speak of you
1567 His cheek looks pale, and with a rising sigh
1568 10 He wisheth you in heaven.
HOTSPUR 1569 And you in hell,
1570 As oft as he hears Owen Glendower spoke of.
GLENDOWER
1571 I cannot blame him. At my nativity
1572 The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes,
1573 15 Of burning cressets, and at my birth
1574 The frame and huge foundation of the Earth
1575 Shaked like a coward.
HOTSPUR 1576 Why, so it would have done
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1577
At the same season if your mother’s cat1578 20 Had but kittened, though yourself had never been
1579 born.
GLENDOWER
1580 I say the Earth did shake when I was born.
HOTSPUR
1581 And I say the Earth was not of my mind,
1582 If you suppose as fearing you it shook.
GLENDOWER
1583 25 The heavens were all on fire; the Earth did tremble.
HOTSPUR
1584 O, then the Earth shook to see the heavens on fire,
1585 And not in fear of your nativity.
1586 Diseasèd nature oftentimes breaks forth
1587 In strange eruptions; oft the teeming Earth
1588 30 Is with a kind of colic pinched and vexed
1589 By the imprisoning of unruly wind
1590 Within her womb, which, for enlargement striving,
1591 Shakes the old beldam Earth and topples down
1592 Steeples and moss-grown towers. At your birth
1593 35 Our grandam Earth, having this distemp’rature,
1594 In passion shook.
GLENDOWER 1595 Cousin, of many men
1596 I do not bear these crossings. Give me leave
1597 To tell you once again that at my birth
1598 40 The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes,
1599 The goats ran from the mountains, and the herds
1600 Were strangely clamorous to the frighted fields.
1601 These signs have marked me extraordinary,
1602 And all the courses of my life do show
1603 45 I am not in the roll of common men.
1604 Where is he living, clipped in with the sea
1605 That chides the banks of England, Scotland, Wales,
1606 Which calls me pupil or hath read to me?
1607 And bring him out that is but woman’s son
1608 50 Can trace me in the tedious ways of art
1609 And hold me pace in deep experiments.
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HOTSPUR 1610 I think there’s no man speaks better Welsh.
1611 I’ll to dinner.
MORTIMER
1612 Peace, cousin Percy. You will make him mad.
GLENDOWER
1613 55 I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
HOTSPUR
1614 Why, so can I, or so can any man,
1615 But will they come when you do call for them?
GLENDOWER
1616 Why, I can teach you, cousin, to command the
1617 devil.
HOTSPUR
1618 60 And I can teach thee, coz, to shame the devil
1619 By telling truth. Tell truth and shame the devil.
1620 If thou have power to raise him, bring him hither,
1621 And I’ll be sworn I have power to shame him
1622 hence.
1623 65 O, while you live, tell truth and shame the devil!
MORTIMER
1624 Come, come, no more of this unprofitable chat.
GLENDOWER
1625 Three times hath Henry Bolingbroke made head
1626 Against my power; thrice from the banks of Wye
1627 And sandy-bottomed Severn have I sent him
1628 70 Bootless home and weather-beaten back.
HOTSPUR
1629 Home without boots, and in foul weather too!
1630 How ’scapes he agues, in the devil’s name?
GLENDOWER
1631 Come, here is the map. Shall we divide our right
1632 According to our threefold order ta’en?
MORTIMER
1633 75 The Archdeacon hath divided it
1634 Into three limits very equally:
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117
1635
England, from Trent and Severn hitherto,1636 By south and east is to my part assigned;
1637 All westward, Wales beyond the Severn shore,
1638 80 And all the fertile land within that bound
1639 To Owen Glendower; and, dear coz, to you
1640 The remnant northward lying off from Trent.
1641 And our indentures tripartite are drawn,
1642 Which being sealèd interchangeably—
1643 85 A business that this night may execute—
1644 Tomorrow, cousin Percy, you and I
1645 And my good Lord of Worcester will set forth
1646 To meet your father and the Scottish power,
1647 As is appointed us, at Shrewsbury.
1648 90 My father Glendower is not ready yet,
1649 Nor shall we need his help these fourteen days.
1650 ⌜To Glendower.⌝ Within that space you may have
1651 drawn together
1652 Your tenants, friends, and neighboring gentlemen.
GLENDOWER
1653 95 A shorter time shall send me to you, lords,
1654 And in my conduct shall your ladies come,
1655 From whom you now must steal and take no leave,
1656 For there will be a world of water shed
1657 Upon the parting of your wives and you.
HOTSPUR, ⌜looking at the map⌝
1658 100 Methinks my moiety, north from Burton here,
1659 In quantity equals not one of yours.
1660 See how this river comes me cranking in
1661 And cuts me from the best of all my land
1662 A huge half-moon, a monstrous ⌜cantle⌝ out.
1663 105 I’ll have the current in this place dammed up,
1664 And here the smug and silver Trent shall run
1665 In a new channel, fair and evenly.
1666 It shall not wind with such a deep indent
1667 To rob me of so rich a bottom here.
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GLENDOWER 1668 110 Not wind? It shall, it must. You see it doth.
MORTIMER, ⌜to Hotspur⌝
1669 Yea, but mark how he bears his course, and runs
1670 me up
1671 With like advantage on the other side,
1672 Gelding the opposèd continent as much
1673 115 As on the other side it takes from you.
WORCESTER
1674 Yea, but a little charge will trench him here
1675 And on this north side win this cape of land,
1676 And then he runs straight and even.
HOTSPUR
1677 I’ll have it so. A little charge will do it.
GLENDOWER 1678 120I’ll not have it altered.
HOTSPUR 1679 Will not you?
GLENDOWER 1680 No, nor you shall not.
HOTSPUR 1681 Who shall say me nay?
GLENDOWER 1682 Why, that will I.
HOTSPUR
1683 125 Let me not understand you, then; speak it in Welsh.
GLENDOWER
1684 I can speak English, lord, as well as you,
1685 For I was trained up in the English court,
1686 Where being but young I framèd to the harp
1687 Many an English ditty lovely well
1688 130 And gave the tongue a helpful ornament—
1689 A virtue that was never seen in you.
HOTSPUR
1690 Marry, and I am glad of it with all my heart.
1691 I had rather be a kitten and cry “mew”
1692 Than one of these same ⌜meter⌝ balladmongers.
1693 135 I had rather hear a brazen can’stick turned,
1694 Or a dry wheel grate on the axletree,
1695 And that would set my teeth nothing an edge,
1696 Nothing so much as mincing poetry.
1697 ’Tis like the forced gait of a shuffling nag.
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GLENDOWER
1698
140Come, you shall have Trent turned.HOTSPUR
1699 I do not care. I’ll give thrice so much land
1700 To any well-deserving friend;
1701 But in the way of bargain, mark you me,
1702 I’ll cavil on the ninth part of a hair.
1703 145 Are the indentures drawn? Shall we be gone?
GLENDOWER
1704 The moon shines fair. You may away by night.
1705 I’ll haste the writer, and withal
1706 Break with your wives of your departure hence.
1707 I am afraid my daughter will run mad,
1708 150 So much she doteth on her Mortimer.He exits.
MORTIMER
1709 Fie, cousin Percy, how you cross my father!
HOTSPUR
1710 I cannot choose. Sometime he angers me
1711 With telling me of the moldwarp and the ant,
1712 Of the dreamer Merlin and his prophecies,
1713 155 And of a dragon and a finless fish,
1714 A clip-winged griffin and a moulten raven,
1715 A couching lion and a ramping cat,
1716 And such a deal of skimble-skamble stuff
1717 As puts me from my faith. I tell you what—
1718 160 He held me last night at least nine hours
1719 In reckoning up the several devils’ names
1720 That were his lackeys. I cried “Hum,” and “Well, go
1721 to,”
1722 But marked him not a word. O, he is as tedious
1723 165 As a tired horse, a railing wife,
1724 Worse than a smoky house. I had rather live
1725 With cheese and garlic in a windmill, far,
1726 Than feed on cates and have him talk to me
1727 In any summer house in Christendom.
MORTIMER
1728 170 In faith, he is a worthy gentleman,
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123
1729
Exceedingly well read and profited1730 In strange concealments, valiant as a lion,
1731 And wondrous affable, and as bountiful
1732 As mines of India. Shall I tell you, cousin?
1733 175 He holds your temper in a high respect
1734 And curbs himself even of his natural scope
1735 When you come cross his humor. Faith, he does.
1736 I warrant you that man is not alive
1737 Might so have tempted him as you have done
1738 180 Without the taste of danger and reproof.
1739 But do not use it oft, let me entreat you.
WORCESTER, ⌜to Hotspur⌝
1740 In faith, my lord, you are too willful-blame,
1741 And, since your coming hither, have done enough
1742 To put him quite besides his patience.
1743 185 You must needs learn, lord, to amend this fault.
1744 Though sometimes it show greatness, courage,
1745 blood—
1746 And that’s the dearest grace it renders you—
1747 Yet oftentimes it doth present harsh rage,
1748 190 Defect of manners, want of government,
1749 Pride, haughtiness, opinion, and disdain,
1750 The least of which, haunting a nobleman,
1751 Loseth men’s hearts and leaves behind a stain
1752 Upon the beauty of all parts besides,
1753 195 Beguiling them of commendation.
HOTSPUR
1754 Well, I am schooled. Good manners be your speed!
1755 Here come our wives, and let us take our leave.
Enter Glendower with the Ladies.
MORTIMER
1756 This is the deadly spite that angers me:
1757 My wife can speak no English, I no Welsh.
GLENDOWER
1758 200 My daughter weeps; she’ll not part with you.
1759 She’ll be a soldier too, she’ll to the wars.
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125
MORTIMER 1760 Good father, tell her that she and my aunt Percy
1761 Shall follow in your conduct speedily.
Glendower speaks to her in Welsh,
and she answers him in the same.
GLENDOWER
1762 She is desperate here, a peevish self-willed harlotry,
1763 205 One that no persuasion can do good upon.
The Lady speaks in Welsh.
MORTIMER
1764 I understand thy looks. That pretty Welsh
1765 Which thou pourest down from these swelling
1766 heavens
1767 I am too perfect in, and but for shame
1768 210 In such a parley should I answer thee.
The Lady ⌜speaks⌝ again in Welsh. ⌜They kiss.⌝
1769 I understand thy kisses, and thou mine,
1770 And that’s a feeling disputation;
1771 But I will never be a truant, love,
1772 Till I have learned thy language; for thy tongue
1773 215 Makes Welsh as sweet as ditties highly penned,
1774 Sung by a fair queen in a summer’s bower,
1775 With ravishing division, to her lute.
GLENDOWER
1776 Nay, if you melt, then will she run mad.
The Lady speaks again in Welsh.
MORTIMER
1777 O, I am ignorance itself in this!
GLENDOWER
1778 220 She bids you on the wanton rushes lay you down
1779 And rest your gentle head upon her lap,
1780 And she will sing the song that pleaseth you,
1781 And on your eyelids crown the god of sleep,
1782 Charming your blood with pleasing heaviness,
1783 225 Making such difference ’twixt wake and sleep
1784 As is the difference betwixt day and night
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1785
The hour before the heavenly harnessed team1786 Begins his golden progress in the east.
MORTIMER
1787 With all my heart I’ll sit and hear her sing.
1788 230 By that time will our book, I think, be drawn.
GLENDOWER
1789 Do so, and those musicians that shall play to you
1790 Hang in the air a thousand leagues from hence,
1791 And straight they shall be here. Sit and attend.
HOTSPUR
1792 Come, Kate, thou art perfect in lying down.
1793 235 Come, quick, quick, that I may lay my head in thy
1794 lap.
LADY PERCY 1795 Go, you giddy goose.
The music plays.
HOTSPUR
1796 Now I perceive the devil understands Welsh,
1797 And ’tis no marvel he is so humorous.
1798 240 By ’r Lady, he is a good musician.
LADY PERCY 1799 Then should you be nothing but musical,
1800 for you are altogether governed by humors. Lie
1801 still, you thief, and hear the lady sing in Welsh.
HOTSPUR 1802 I had rather hear Lady, my brach, howl in
1803 245 Irish.
LADY PERCY 1804 Wouldst thou have thy head broken?
HOTSPUR 1805 No.
LADY PERCY 1806 Then be still.
HOTSPUR 1807 Neither; ’tis a woman’s fault.
LADY PERCY 1808 250Now God help thee!
HOTSPUR 1809 To the Welsh lady’s bed.
LADY PERCY 1810 What’s that?
HOTSPUR 1811 Peace, she sings.
Here the Lady sings a Welsh song.
HOTSPUR 1812 Come, Kate, I’ll have your song too.
LADY PERCY 1813 255Not mine, in good sooth.
HOTSPUR 1814 Not yours, in good sooth! Heart, you swear
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1815
like a comfit-maker’s wife! “Not you, in good1816 sooth,” and “as true as I live,” and “as God shall
1817 mend me,” and “as sure as day”—
1818 260 And givest such sarcenet surety for thy oaths
1819 As if thou never walk’st further than Finsbury.
1820 Swear me, Kate, like a lady as thou art,
1821 A good mouth-filling oath, and leave “in sooth,”
1822 And such protest of pepper-gingerbread
1823 265 To velvet-guards and Sunday citizens.
1824 Come, sing.
LADY PERCY 1825 I will not sing.
HOTSPUR 1826 ’Tis the next way to turn tailor, or be redbreast
1827 teacher. An the indentures be drawn, I’ll
1828 270 away within these two hours, and so come in when
1829 you will.He exits.
GLENDOWER
1830 Come, come, Lord Mortimer, you are as slow
1831 As hot Lord Percy is on fire to go.
1832 By this our book is drawn. We’ll but seal,
1833 275 And then to horse immediately.
MORTIMER 1834 With all my heart.
They exit.