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This facsimile reproduces an engraved portrait of King Henry VIII in the Elizabethan Club. It represents the king as he appeared in 1544, near the end of his life. The engraving illustrates the earliest period of the art in England and was executed by Cornelius Metzys (1511?-1550?), son of the Flemish painter Quentin Metzys.

KING HENRY THE EIGHTH.

CARDINAL WOLSEY.

CARDINAL CAMPEIUS.

CAPUCIUS, Ambassador from the Emperor Charles V.

CRANMER, Archbishop of Canterbury.

DUKE OF Norfolk.

DUKE OF SUFFOLK.

DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

EARL OF SURREY.

LORD CHANCELLOR.

LORD CHAMBERLAIN.

GARDINER, Bishop of Winchester.

BISHOP OF LINCOLN.
LORD ABERGAVENNY.
LORD SANDYS.

SIR THOMAS LOVELL.
SIR HENRY GUILFORD.
SIR ANTHONY DENNY.
SIR NICHOLAS Vaux.
CROMWELL, Servant to Wolsey.

GRIFFITH, Gentleman-Usher to Queen Katharine.
DOCTOR BUTTS, Physician to the King.

BRANDON, and a Sergeant-at-Arms.

QUEEN KATHARINE, Wife to King Henry.
ANNE BULLEN, her Maid of Honour; later Queen.
An Old Lady, Friend to Anne Bullen.
PATIENCE, Woman to Queen Katharine.
Secretaries to Wolsey; Three Gentlemen; Garter
King-at-Arms; Surveyor to the Duke of Bucking-
ham; Door-keeper of the Council Chamber; Por-
ter, and his Man; Page to Gardiner; A Crier;
Several Lords and Ladies in the Dumb Shows;
Women attending upon the Queen; Spirits which
appear to her; Scribes, Officers, Guards, etc.
SCENE: London and Westminster; once at Kimbolton.]

The Famous History of the Life of

King Henry the Eighth

THE PROLOGUE

I come no more to make you laugh: things now,
That bear a weighty and a serious brow,
Sad, high, and working, full of state and woe,
Such noble scenes as draw the eye to flow,
We now present. Those that can pity here
May, if they think it well, let fall a tear;
The subject will deserve it. Such as give
Their money out of hope they may believe,
May here find truth too. Those that come to see
Only a show or two, and so agree

The play may pass, if they be still and willing,
I'll undertake may see away their shilling
Richly in two short hours. Only they
That come to hear a merry, bawdy play,
A noise of targets, or to see a fellow

In a long motley coat guarded with yellow,
Will be deceiv'd; for, gentle hearers, know,
To rank our chosen truth with such a show
As fool and fight is, besides forfeiting

Our own brains, and the opinion that we bring,
To make that only true we now intend,

Will leave us never an understanding friend.
Therefore, for goodness' sake, and as you are known
The first and happiest hearers of the town,

The Prologue; cf. n.

3 Sad: serious

9 truth; cf. n.

working: full of pathos state: dignity

16 In... coat; cf. n. guarded: trimmed 19 As fool and fight is; cf. n.

21 intend: undertake

121

12

16

20

20

24

12 shilling; cf. n.

20 opinion: reputation, intention 22 Will leave us; cf. n.

ye:

think

ye see

Be sad, as we would make
The very persons of our noble story
As they were living; think you see them great,
And follow'd with the general throng and sweat
Of thousand friends; then in a moment see
How soon this mightiness meets misery:
And if you can be merry then, I'll say
A man may weep upon his wedding day.

ACT FIRST

Scene One

[London. An Antechamber in the Palace]

28

32

Enter the Duke of Norfolk at one door; at the other, the Duke of Buckingham and the Lord Abergavenny. Buck. Good morrow, and well met. How have you done,

Since last we saw in France?

Nor.

I thank your Grace, Healthful; and ever since a fresh admirer

Of what I saw there.

Buck.

An untimely ague

Stay'd me a prisoner in my chamber, when
Those suns of glory, those two lights of men,
Met in the vale of Andren.

Nor.

"Twixt Guynes and Arde:

I was then present, saw them salute on horseback; 8
Beheld them, when they lighted, how they clung
In their embracement, as they grew together;

25, 26 Cf. n.

Scene One S. d. Duke of Norfolk, Duke of Buckingham, Lord Abergavenny; cf. n.

6 Those suns of glory; cf. n.

2 saw: met 7 vale of Andren; cf. n.

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