Henry IV, Part I by William Shakespeare
Act 3 - Scene 1
Bangor. The Archdeacon’s house.
Mortimer : These promises are fair, the parties sure,
[p]And our induction full
of prosperous hope.
Glendower : No, here it is.
[p]Sit, cousin Percy; sit, good cousin Hotspur,
[p]For
by that name as oft as Lancaster
[p]Doth speak of you, his cheek looks
pale and with
[p]A rising sigh he wisheth you in heaven.
Glendower : I cannot blame him: at my nativity
[p]The front of heaven was full of
fiery shapes,
[p]Of burning cressets; and at my birth
[p]The frame and
huge foundation of the earth
[p]Shaked like a coward.
Glendower : I say the earth did shake when I was born.
Glendower : The heavens were all on fire, the earth did tremble.
Glendower : Cousin, of many men
[p]I do not bear these crossings. Give me
leave
[p]To tell you once again that at my birth
[p]The front of
heaven was full of fiery shapes,
[p]The goats ran from the mountains,
and the herds
[p]Were strangely clamorous to the frighted
fields.
[p]These signs have mark'd me extraordinary;
[p]And all the
courses of my life do show
[p]I am not in the roll of common
men.
[p]Where is he living, clipp'd in with the sea
[p]That chides the
banks of England, Scotland, Wales,
[p]Which calls me pupil, or hath
read to me?
[p]And bring him out that is but woman's son
[p]Can trace
me in the tedious ways of art
[p]And hold me pace in deep
experiments.
Mortimer : Peace, cousin Percy; you will make him mad.
Glendower : I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
Glendower : Why, I can teach you, cousin, to command
[p]The devil.
Mortimer : Come, come, no more of this unprofitable chat.
Glendower : Three times hath Henry Bolingbroke made head
[p]Against my power;
thrice from the banks of Wye
[p]And sandy-bottom'd Severn have I sent
him
[p]Bootless home and weather-beaten back.
Glendower : Come, here's the map: shall we divide our right
[p]According to our
threefold order ta'en?
Mortimer : The archdeacon hath divided it
[p]Into three limits very
equally:
[p]England, from Trent and Severn hitherto,
[p]By south and
east is to my part assign'd:
[p]All westward, Wales beyond the Severn
shore,
[p]And all the fertile land within that bound,
[p]To Owen
Glendower: and, dear coz, to you
[p]The remnant northward, lying off
from Trent.
[p]And our indentures tripartite are drawn;
[p]Which being
sealed interchangeably,
[p]A business that this night may
execute,
[p]To-morrow, cousin Percy, you and I
[p]And my good Lord of
Worcester will set forth
[p]To meet your father and the Scottish
power,
[p]As is appointed us, at Shrewsbury.
[p]My father Glendower is
not ready yet,
[p]Not shall we need his help these fourteen
days.
[p]Within that space you may have drawn together
[p]Your
tenants, friends and neighbouring gentlemen.
Glendower : A shorter time shall send me to you, lords:
[p]And in my conduct shall
your ladies come;
[p]From whom you now must steal and take no
leave,
[p]For there will be a world of water shed
[p]Upon the parting
of your wives and you.
Glendower : Not wind? it shall, it must; you see it doth.
Mortimer : Yea, but
[p]Mark how he bears his course, and runs me up
[p]With like
advantage on the other side;
[p]Gelding the opposed continent as
much
[p]As on the other side it takes from you.
Earl of Worcester : Yea, but a little charge will trench him here
[p]And on this north
side win this cape of land;
[p]And then he runs straight and even.
Glendower : I'll not have it alter'd.
Glendower : No, nor you shall not.
Glendower : Why, that will I.
Glendower : I can speak English, lord, as well as you;
[p]For I was train'd up in
the English court;
[p]Where, being but young, I framed to the
harp
[p]Many an English ditty lovely well
[p]And gave the tongue a
helpful ornament,
[p]A virtue that was never seen in you.
Glendower : Come, you shall have Trent turn'd.
Glendower : The moon shines fair; you may away by night:
[p]I'll haste the writer
and withal
[p]Break with your wives of your departure hence:
[p]I am
afraid my daughter will run mad,
[p]So much she doteth on her
Mortimer.
Mortimer : Fie, cousin Percy! how you cross my father!
Mortimer : In faith, he is a worthy gentleman,
[p]Exceedingly well read, and
profited
[p]In strange concealments, valiant as a lion
[p]And as
wondrous affable and as bountiful
[p]As mines of India. Shall I tell
you, cousin?
[p]He holds your temper in a high respect
[p]And curbs
himself even of his natural scope
[p]When you come 'cross his humour;
faith, he does:
[p]I warrant you, that man is not alive
[p]Might so
have tempted him as you have done,
[p]Without the taste of danger and
reproof:
[p]But do not use it oft, let me entreat you.
Earl of Worcester : In faith, my lord, you are too wilful-blame;
[p]And since your coming
hither have done enough
[p]To put him quite beside his
patience.
[p]You must needs learn, lord, to amend this
fault:
[p]Though sometimes it show greatness, courage, blood,--
[p]And
that's the dearest grace it renders you,--
[p]Yet oftentimes it doth
present harsh rage,
[p]Defect of manners, want of
government,
[p]Pride, haughtiness, opinion and disdain:
[p]The least
of which haunting a nobleman
[p]Loseth men's hearts and leaves behind
a stain
[p]Upon the beauty of all parts besides,
[p]Beguiling them of
commendation.
Mortimer : This is the deadly spite that angers me;
[p]My wife can speak no
English, I no Welsh.
Glendower : My daughter weeps: she will not part with you;
[p]She'll be a soldier
too, she'll to the wars.
Mortimer : Good father, tell her that she and my aunt Percy
[p]Shall follow in
your conduct speedily.
Glendower : She is desperate here; a peevish self-wind harlotry,
[p]one that no
persuasion can do good upon.
Mortimer : I understand thy looks: that pretty Welsh
[p]Which thou pour'st down
from these swelling heavens
[p]I am too perfect in; and, but for
shame,
[p]In such a parley should I answer thee.
[p][The lady speaks
again in Welsh]
[p]I understand thy kisses and thou mine,
[p]And
that's a feeling disputation:
[p]But I will never be a truant,
love,
[p]Till I have learned thy language; for thy tongue
[p]Makes
Welsh as sweet as ditties highly penn'd,
[p]Sung by a fair queen in a
summer's bower,
[p]With ravishing division, to her lute.
Glendower : Nay, if you melt, then will she run mad.
Mortimer : O, I am ignorance itself in this!
Glendower : She bids you on the wanton rushes lay you down
[p]And rest your gentle
head upon her lap,
[p]And she will sing the song that pleaseth
you
[p]And on your eyelids crown the god of sleep.
[p]Charming your
blood with pleasing heaviness,
[p]Making such difference 'twixt wake
and sleep
[p]As is the difference betwixt day and night
[p]The hour
before the heavenly-harness'd team
[p]Begins his golden progress in
the east.
Mortimer : With all my heart I'll sit and hear her sing:
[p]By that time will our
book, I think, be drawn
Glendower : Do so;
[p]And those musicians that shall play to you
[p]Hang in the
air a thousand leagues from hence,
[p]And straight they shall be here:
sit, and attend.
Glendower : Come, come, Lord Mortimer; you are as slow
[p]As hot Lord Percy is on
fire to go.
[p]By this our book is drawn; we'll but seal,
[p]And then
to horse immediately.
Mortimer : With all my heart.
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Next: Act 3 - Scene 2
