Henry VIII by William Shakespeare
Act 1 - Scene 0
Prologue.
Chorus : I come no more to make you laugh: things now,
[p]That bear a weighty
and a serious brow,
[p]Sad, high, and working, full of state and
woe,
[p]Such noble scenes as draw the eye to flow,
[p]We now present.
Those that can pity, here
[p]May, if they think it well, let fall a
tear;
[p]The subject will deserve it. Such as give
[p]Their money out
of hope they may believe,
[p]May here find truth too. Those that come
to see
[p]Only a show or two, and so agree
[p]The play may pass, if
they be still and willing,
[p]I'll undertake may see away their
shilling
[p]Richly in two short hours. Only they
[p]That come to hear
a merry bawdy play,
[p]A noise of targets, or to see a fellow
[p]In a
long motley coat guarded with yellow,
[p]Will be deceived; for, gentle
hearers, know,
[p]To rank our chosen truth with such a show
[p]As fool
and fight is, beside forfeiting
[p]Our own brains, and the opinion
that we bring,
[p]To make that only true we now intend,
[p]Will leave
us never an understanding friend.
[p]Therefore, for goodness' sake,
and as you are known
[p]The first and happiest hearers of the
town,
[p]Be sad, as we would make ye: think ye see
[p]The very persons
of our noble story
[p]As they were living; think you see them
great,
[p]And follow'd with the general throng and sweat
[p]Of
thousand friends; then in a moment, see
[p]How soon this mightiness
meets misery:
[p]And, if you can be merry then, I'll say
[p]A man may
weep upon his wedding-day.
[p][Enter NORFOLK at one door; at the
other, BUCKINGHAM]
[p]and ABERGAVENNY]
Next: Act 1 - Scene 1
