Henry IV, Part I by William Shakespeare
Act 5 - Scene 1
KING HENRY IV’s camp near Shrewsbury.
Earl of Worcester : Hear me, my liege:
[p]For mine own part, I could be well content
[p]To
entertain the lag-end of my life
[p]With quiet hours; for I do
protest,
[p]I have not sought the day of this dislike.
Earl of Worcester : It pleased your majesty to turn your looks
[p]Of favour from myself
and all our house;
[p]And yet I must remember you, my lord,
[p]We were
the first and dearest of your friends.
[p]For you my staff of office
did I break
[p]In Richard's time; and posted day and night
[p]to meet
you on the way, and kiss your hand,
[p]When yet you were in place and
in account
[p]Nothing so strong and fortunate as I.
[p]It was myself,
my brother and his son,
[p]That brought you home and boldly did
outdare
[p]The dangers of the time. You swore to us,
[p]And you did
swear that oath at Doncaster,
[p]That you did nothing purpose 'gainst
the state;
[p]Nor claim no further than your new-fall'n right,
[p]The
seat of Gaunt, dukedom of Lancaster:
[p]To this we swore our aid. But
in short space
[p]It rain'd down fortune showering on your
head;
[p]And such a flood of greatness fell on you,
[p]What with our
help, what with the absent king,
[p]What with the injuries of a wanton
time,
[p]The seeming sufferances that you had borne,
[p]And the
contrarious winds that held the king
[p]So long in his unlucky Irish
wars
[p]That all in England did repute him dead:
[p]And from this
swarm of fair advantages
[p]You took occasion to be quickly
woo'd
[p]To gripe the general sway into your hand;
[p]Forget your oath
to us at Doncaster;
[p]And being fed by us you used us so
[p]As that
ungentle hull, the cuckoo's bird,
[p]Useth the sparrow; did oppress
our nest;
[p]Grew by our feeding to so great a bulk
[p]That even our
love durst not come near your sight
[p]For fear of swallowing; but
with nimble wing
[p]We were enforced, for safety sake, to fly
[p]Out
of sight and raise this present head;
[p]Whereby we stand opposed by
such means
[p]As you yourself have forged against yourself
[p]By
unkind usage, dangerous countenance,
[p]And violation of all faith and
troth
[p]Sworn to us in your younger enterprise.
Previous: Act 4 - Scene 4
Next: Act 5 - Scene 2
