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Poins. Farewell, my lord. Exit POINS.
P. Hen. I know you all, and will a while
uphold

The unyok'd humour of your idleness :
Yet herein will I imitate the sun;
Who doth permit the base contagious clouds
To smother up his beauty from the world,
That, when he please again to be himself,
Being wanted, he may be more wonder'd at,
By breaking through the foul and ugly mists
Of vapours, that did seem to strangle him.
If all the year were playing holidays,
To sport would be as tedious as to work;
But, when they seldom come, they wish'd-for

come,

And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents.
So, when this loose behaviour I throw off,
And pay the debt I never promised,
By how much better than my word I am,
By so much shall I falsify men's hopes ;*
And, like bright metal on a sullent ground,
My reformation, glittering o'er my fault,
Shall show more goodly, and attract more eyes,
Than that which hath no foil to set it off.
I'll so offend, to make offence a skill;
Redeeming time, when men think least I will.
[Exit.
SCENE III.-The same.—Another Room in
the Palace.

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Enter King HENRY, NORTHUMBERLAND,
WORCESTER,
HOTSPUR, Sir WALTER

BLUNT, and others.

K. Hen. My blood hath been too cold and
Unapt to stir at these indignities, [temperate,
And you have found me; for accordingly,
You tread upon my patience: but, be sure,
I will from henceforth rather be myself,
Mighty, and to be fear'd, than my condition;‡
Which hath been smooth as oil, soft as young

down,

And therefore lost that title of respect,
Which the proud soul ne'er pays, but to the
proud.

Wor. Our house, my sovereign liege, little

deserves

The scourge of greatness to be used on it;
And that same greatness too which our own
Have holp to make so portly.

North. My lord,

[hands

[ly,

He was perfumed like a milliner;
Aud 'twixt his finger and his thumb he held
A pouncet-box,* which ever and anon
He gave his nose, and took't away again;—
Who, therewith angry, when it next came
there,
[talk'd;
Took it in snuff:-and still he smiled, and
And, as the soldiers bore dead bodies by,
He call'd them-untaught knaves, unmanner-
To bring a slovenly unhandsome corse
Betwixt the wind and his nobility.
With many holiday and lady terms
He question'd me; among the rest demanded
My prisoners, in your majesty's behalf.
I then, all smarting, with my wounds being
To be so pester'd with a popinjay,t [cold,
Out of my grieft and my impatience,
Answer'd neglectingly, I know not what;
He should, or he should not ;-for he made me
mad,

To see him shine so brisk, and smell so sweet,
And talk so like a waiting-gentlewoman,
Of guns, and drums, and wounds, (God save
the mark!)

And telling me, the sovereign'st thing on earth
Was parmaceti, for an inward bruise;
And that it was great pity, so it was,
That villanous saltpetre should be digg'd
Out of the bowels of the harmless earth,
Which many a good tall fellow had destroy'd
So cowardly; and, but for these vile guns,
He would himself have been a soldier.
This bald, unjointed chat of his, my lord,
answer'd indirectly, as I said;

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And, I beseech you, let not this report
Come current for an accusation,
Betwixt my love and your high majesty.
Blunt. The circumstance consider'd, good
my lord,

Whatever Harry Percy then hath said,
To such a person, and in such a place,
At such a time, with all the rest re-told,
May reasonably die, and never rise
To do him wrong, or any way impeach
What then he said, so he unsay it now.

K. Hen. Why, yet he doth deny his prison-
But with proviso, and exception,— [ers;
That we, at our own charge, shall ransom
straight
His brother-in-law, the foolish Mortimer;

K. Hen. Worcester, get thee gone, for Who, on my soul, hath wilfully betray'd

see danger

And disobedience in thine eye: O, Sir,
Your presence is too bold and peremptory,
And majesty might never yet endure
The moody frontiers of a servant brow. [need
You have good leavel to leave us; when we
Your use and counsel, we shall send for you.
[Exit WORCESTER.

You were about to speak.

[TO NORTH.
North. Yea, my good lord. [manded,
Those prisoners in your highness' name de-
Which Harry Percy here at Holmedon took,
Were, as he says, not with such strength de-
As is deliver'd to your majesty:
[nied
Either envy, therefore, or misprision
Is guilty of this fault, and not my son.

Hot. My liege, I did deny no prisoners.
But, I remember, when the fight was done,

When I was dry with rage, and extreme toil,
Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword,
Came there a certain lord, neat, trimly dress'd,
Fresh as a bridegroom; and his chin, new reap'd,
Show'd like a stubble-land at harvest home;

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The lives of those that he did lead to fight
Against the great magician, damn'd Glen-
dower;
[March
Whose daughter, as we hear, the earl of
Hath lately married. Shall our coffers then
Be emptied, to redeem a traitor home?
Shall we buy treason? and indent with fears,
When they have lost and forfeited themselves?
No, on the barren mountains let him starve;
For I shall never hold that man my friend,
Whose tongue shall ask me for one penny cost
To ransom home revolted Mortimer.

Hot. Revolted Mortimer!

He never did fall off, my sovereign liege,
But by the chance of war;-To prove that true,
Needs no more but one tongue for all those

wounds,
[took,
Those mouthed wounds, which valiantly be
When on the gentle Severn's sedgy bank,
In single opposition, hand to hand,

He did confound the best part of an hour
In changing hardiment** with great Glen-
dower:

*A small box for musk or other perfumes.
Brave.
i Pain.
† Parrot.
Sign an indenture. Expend. ** Hardiness.

Three times they breath'd, and three times did they drink,

Upon agreement, of swift Severn's flood; Who then, affrighted with their bloody looks, Ran fearfully among the trembling reeds, And hid his crisp head in the hollow bank, Blood-stained with these valiant combatants. Never did bare and rotten policy

- Colour her working with such deadly wounds;
Nor never could the noble Mortimer'
Receive so many, and all willingly:
Then let him not be slander'd with revolt.
K. Hen. Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou
dost belie him,

He never did encounter with Glendower;
I tell thee,

He durst as well have met the devil alone,
As Owen Glendower for an enemy.
Art not ashamed? But, sirrah, henceforth
Let me not hear you speak of Mortimer :
Send me your prisoners with the speediest

means,

Or you shall hear in such a kind from me As will displease you.-My lord Northumberland,

We license your departure with your son:-
Send us your pris'ners, or you'll hear of it.
[Exeunt King HENRY, BLUNT, and Train.
Hot. And if the devil come and roar for
them,

I will not send them :--I will after straight,
And tell him so; for I will ease my heart,
Although it be with hazard of my head.
North. What, drunk with choler? stay, and
pause awhile;
Here comes your uncle.

Re-enter WORCESTER.

Hot. Speak of Mortimer? 'Zounds, I will speak of him; and let my soul Want mercy, if I do not join with him: Yea, on his part, I'll empty all these veins, And shed my dear blood drop by drop i'the But I will lift the down-trod Mortimer [dust, As high 'the air as this unthankful king, As this ingrate and canker'd Bolingbroke. North. Brother, the king hath made your nephew mad. [To WORCESTER. Wor. Who struck this heat up, after I was gone? [ers; Hot. He will, forsooth, have all my prisonAnd when I urg'd the ransom once again Of my wife's brother, then his cheek look'd pale ;

And on my face he turn'd an eye of death,
Trembling even at the name of Mortimer.

Wor. I cannot blame him: Was he not pro

claim'd,

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That wish'd him on the barren mountains starv'd.

But shall it be, that you,-that set the crown
Upon the head of this forgetful man;
And, for his sake, wear the detested blot
Of murd'rous subordination,-shall it be,
That you a world of curses undergo;
Being the agents, or base second means,
The cords, the ladder, or the hangman rather?--
O, pardon me, that I descend so low,
To show the line, and the predicament,
Wherein you range under this subtle king.-
Shall it, for shame, be spoken in these days,
Or fill up chronicles in time to come,
That men of your nobility and power,
Did gage them both in an unjust behalf,-
As both of you, God pardon it! have done,-
To put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose,
And plant this thorn, this canker,* Boling-
broke?

And shall it, in more shame, he further spoken,
That you are fool'd, discarded, and shook off
By him, for whom these shames ye underwent?
No; yet time serves, wherein you may redeem
Your banish'd honours, and restore yourselves
Into the good thoughts of the world again :
Revenge the jeering, and disdain'dt contempt,
Of this proud king; who studies, day and
To answer all the debt be owes to you, [night,
Even with the bloody payment of your deaths.
Therefore, I say,-

Wor. Peace, cousin, say no more:
And now I will unclasp a secret book,
And to your quick-conceiving discontents
I'll read you matter deep and dangerous ;
As full of peril, and advent'rous spirit,
As to o'er-walk a current, roaring loud,
On the unsteadfast footing of a spear.

Hot. If he fall in, good night :-or sink or

swim:

Send danger from the east unto the west,
So honour cross it from the north to south,
And let them grapple;-O! the blood more
To rouse a lion, than to start a hare. [stirs,
North. Imagination of some great exploit
Drives him beyond the bounds of patience.
Hot. By heaven, methinks, it were an easy
leap
[moon;
To pluck bright honour from the pale-fac'd
Or dive unto the bottom of the deep,
Where fathom-line could never touch the
ground,

And pluck up drowned honour by the locks;
So he, that doth redeem her thence, might
Without corrival, all her dignities: [wear,
But out upon this half-fac'd fellowship!!

But not the form of what he should attend,Wor. He apprehends a world of figures|| here, Good cousin, give me audience for a while. Hot. I cry you mercy.

Wor. Those same noble Scots, That are your prisoners,

Hot. I'll keep them all;

By heaven he shall not have a Scot of them:
No, if a Scot would save his soul, he shall not:
I'll keep them, by this hand.

Wor. You start away,
And lend no ear unto my purposes,~~
Those prisoners you shall keep.

Hot. Nay, I will; that's flat:-
He said, he would not ransom Mortimer;
Forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer;
But I will find him when he lies asleep,
And in his ear I'll holla-Mortimer!

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Hot. All studies here I solemnly defy,* Save how to gall and pinch this Bolingbroke; And that same sword-and-bucklert Prince of Wales.

But that I think his father loves him not, And would be glad he met with some mischance,

I'd have him poison'd with a pot of ale.

Wor. Farewell, kinsman! I will talk to you, When you are better temper'd to attend. North. Why, what a wasp-stung and impatient fool

Art thou, to break into this woman's mood;
Tying thine ear to no tongue but thine own?
Hot. Why, look you, I'm whipp'd and
Scourg'd with rods,

Nettled, and stung with pismires, when I hear
Of this vile politician, Bolingbroke.
In Richard's time,-What do you call the
place?-

A plague upon't!-it is in Gloustershire ;-
'Twas where the mad-cap duke his uncle kept;
His uncle York;-where I first bow'd my knee
Unto this king of smiles, this Bolingbroke,
When you and he came back from Ravenspurg.
North. At Berkley castle.

Hot. You say true:

Why, what a candy! deal of courtesy
This fawning greyhound then did proffer me!
Look,-when his infant fortune came to age,
And,-gentle Harry Percy,-and, kind cou-
sin,-

O, the devil take such cozeners!-
give me!

-God for

Good uncle, tell your tale, for I have done. Wor. Nay, if you have not, to't again; We'll stay your leisure.

Hot. I have done, i'faith.

[soners. Wor. Then once more to your Scottish priDeliver them up without their ransom straight, And make the Douglas' son your only mean For powers in Scotland; which, for divers

reasons,

.

Which I shall send you written,-be assur'd, Will easily be granted.-You, my lord,

[To NORTHUMBERLAND. Your son in Scotland being thus employ'd,― Shall secretly into the bosom creep Of that same noble prelate, well belov'd, The archbishop.

Hot. Of York, is't not?

Wor. True; who bears hard

His brother's death at Bristol the lord Scroop.
I speak not this in estimation,||

As what I think might be, but what I know
Is ruminated, plotted, and set down;
And only stays but to behold the face
Of that occasion that shall bring it on.
Hot. I smell it; upon my life, it will do well.
North. Before the game's a-foot, thou still
let'st slip.

Hot. Why, it cannot choose but be a noble
plot :-

And then the power of Scotland, and of York,To join with Mortimer, ha?

Wor. And so they shall.

Hot. In faith, it is exceedingly well aim'd.

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Wor. And 'tis no little reason bids us speed, To save our heads by raising of a head :* For, bear ourselves as even as we can, The king we always think him in our debt; And think we think ourselves unsatisfied, Till he bath found a time to pay us home. And see already, how he doth begin To make us strangers to his looks of love. Hot. He does, he does; we'll be reveng'd on him.

Wor. Cousin, farewell :-No further go in this,

Than I by letters shall direct your course. When time is ripe, (which will be suddenly,) I'll steal to Glendower, and lord Mortimer; Where you and Douglas, and our powers at

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SCENE I-Rochester.-An Inn Yard. Enter a CARRIER, with a lantern in his hand.

1 Car. Heigh ho! An't be not four by the day, I'll be hanged: Charles' waint is over the new chimney, and yet our horse not packed. What, ostler!

Ost. [Within] Anon, anon.

1 Car. I pry thee Tom, beat Cut's saddle, put a few flocks in the point; the poor jade is wrung in the withers out of all cess.!

Enter another CARRIER.

2 Car. Pease and beans are as dank|| here as a dog, and that is the next way to give poor down, since Robin ostler died. jades the bots: this house is turned upside

1 Car. Poor fellow? never joyed since the price of oats rose; it was the death of him.

2 Car. I think, this be the most villanous like a tench.** house in all London road for fleas : I am stung

1 Car. Like a tench? by the mass, there is ne'er a king in Christendom could be better bit than I have been since the first cock.

2 Car. Why, they will allow us ne'er a jorden, and then we leak in your chimney; and your chamber-lie breeds fleas like a loach.tt

1 Car. What, ostler! come away and be hanged, come away.

2 Car. I have a gammon of bacon, and two razes of ginger, to be delivered as far as Charingcross.

1 Car. 'Odsbody! the turkies in my pannier are quite starved.-What, ostler!-A plague canst not hear? An 'twere not as good a deed on thee! hast thou never an eye in thy head? as drink, to break the pate of thee, I am a very villain.-Come, and be hanged:-Hast no faith in thee?

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1 Car. I think it be two o'clock. Gads. I pr'ythee, lend me thy lantern, to see my gelding in the stable.

1 Car. Nay, soft, I pray ye; I know a trick worth two of that, i'faith.

Gads. I pr'ythee, lend me thine.

2 Car. Ay, when? canst tell?-Lend me thy lantern, quoth a!-marry, I'll see thee hanged first.

Gads. Sirrah carrier, what time do you

mean to come to London?

2 Car. Time enough to go to bed with a candle, I warrant thee.-Come, neighbour Mugs, we'll call up the gentlemen; they will along with company, for they have great charge. [Exeunt CARRIERS.

Gads. What ho! chamberlain ! Cham. [Within.] At hand, quoth pickpurse.*

Gads. That's even as fair as-at hand, quoth the chamberlain: for thou variest no more from picking of purses, than giving direction doth from labouring; thou lay'st the plot how.

Enter CHAMBERLAIN.

Cham. Good morrow, master Gadshill. It holds current, that I told you yesternight: There's a franklint in the wild of Kent, hath brought three hundred marks with him in gold: I heard him tell it to one of his company, last night at supper; a kind of auditor; one that hath abundance of charge too, God knows what. They are up already, and call for eggs and butter: They will away presently. Gads. Sirrah, if they meet not with saint Nicholas' clerks, I'll give thee this neck.

Cham. No, I'll none of it: I pr'ythee, keep that for the hangman; for, I know, thou worship'st saint Nicholas as truly as a man of falsehood may.

Gads. What talkest thou to me of the hangman? if I hang, I'll make a fat pair of gallows: for, if I hang, old Sir John hangs with me; and, thou knowest, he's no starveling. Tut! there are other Trojans that thou dreamest not of, the which, for sport sake, are content to do the profession some grace; that would, if| matters should be looked into, for their own credit sake, make all whole. I am joined with no foot land-rakers, no long-staff, sixpenny strikers; none of these mad, mustachio purplehued malt-worms: but with nobility, and tranquillity; burgomasters, and great oneyers;|| such as can hold in; such as will strike sooner than speak, and speak sooner than drink, and drink sooner than pray: And yet I lie; for they pray continually to their saint, the commonwealth; or, rather, not pray to her, but prey on her; for they ride up and down on her, and make her their boots.T

Gads. Goto; Homo is a common name to all men. Bid the ostler bring my gelding out of the stable. Farewell, you muddy knave. [Exeunt.

SCENE II.-The Road by Gadshill. Enter Prince HENRY, and POINS; BARDOLK and PETO, at some distance.

Poins. Come, shelter, shelter; I have removed Falstaff's horse, and he frets like a gummed velvet.

P. Hen. Stand close.

Enter FALSTAFF.

Fal. Poins! Poins, and be hanged! Poins! P. Hen. Peace, ye fat-kidneyed rascal; What a brawling dost thou keep?

Fal. Where's Poins, Hal?

P. Hen. He is walked up to the top of the hill ;.I'll go seek him. [Pretends to seek POINS. Fal. I am accursed to rob in that thief's company; the rascal hath removed my horse, and tied him I know not where. If I travel but four foot by the squire further afoot, I shall break my wind. Well, I doubt not but to die a fair death for all this, if I 'scape hanging for killing that rogue. I have forsworn his company hourly any time this two-andtwenty years, and yet I am bewitched with the rogue's company. If the rascal have not given me medicinest to make me love him, I'll be hanged; it could not be else; I have drunk medicines.-Poins!-Hal!-a plague upon you both!-Bardolph!-Peto!-I'll starve, ere I'll rob a foot further. An 'twere not as good a deed as drink, to turn true‡ man, and leave \ these rogues, I am the veriest varlet that ever chewed with a tooth. Eight yards of uneven ground, is threescore and ten miles a foot with me; and the stony-hearted villains know it well enough: A plague upon't, when thieves cannot be true to one another! [They whistle.] Whew!-A plague upon you all! Give me my horse, you rogues; give me my horse, and be hanged.

P. Hen. Peace, ye fat-guts! lie down; lay thine ear close to the ground, and list if thou canst hear the tread of travellers.

Fal. Have you any levers to lift me up again, being down? 'Sblood, I'll not bear mine own flesh so far afoot again, for all the coin in thy father's exchequer. What a plague mean ye to colt me thus?

P. Hen. Thou liest, thou art not colted, thou art uncolted.

Fal. I pr'ythee, good prince Hal, help me to my horse; good king's son.

P. Hen. Out, you rogue! shall I be your ostler!

Cham. What, the commonwealth their Fal. Go, hang thyself in thy own heir-appaboots? will she hold out water in foul way? rent garters! If I be ta'en, I'll peach for this. Gads. She will, she will; justice hath li- An I have not ballads made on you all, and quored her.** We steal us in a castle, cock-sung to filthy tunes, let a cup of sack be my sure; we have the receipt of fern-seed, we poison: When a jest is so forward, and afoot walk invisible. too,--I hate it.

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there's money of the king's coming down the hill; 'tis going to the king's exchequer.

Fal. You lie, you rogue; 'tis going to the king's tavern.

Gads. There's enough to make us all.
Fal. To be hanged.

P. Hen. Sirs, you four shall front them in the narrow lane; Ned Poins, and I, will walk lower: if they 'scape from your encounter, then they light on us.

Peto. How many be there of them?
Gads. Some eight, or ten.

Fal. 'Zounds! will they not rob us?
P. Hen. What, a coward, Sir John Paunch?
Fal. Indeed, I am not John of Gaunt, your
grandfather; but yet no coward, Hal.

P. Hen. Well, we leave that to the proof.
Poins. Sirrah Jack, thy horse stands behind
the hedge; when thou needest him, there thou
shalt find him. Farewell, and stand fast.
Fal. Now cannot I strike him, if I should be
hanged.

P. Hen. Ned, where are our disguises?
Poins. Here, hard by; stand close.

[Exeunt P. HENRY and POINS. Fal. Now, my masters, happy man be his dole,* say I; every man to his business.

Enter TRAVELLERS.

1 Trav. Come, neighbour; the boy shall lead our horses down the hill: we'll walk afoot a while, and ease our legs. Thieves. Stand.

Trav. Jesu bless us!

Away, good Ned. Falstaff sweats to death,
And lards the lean earth as he walks along:
Wer't not for laughing, I should pity him.
Poins. How the rogue roar'd! [Exeuni.
SCENE III.-Warkworth.-A Room in the
Castle.

Enter HOTSPUR, reading a Letter.

But, for mine own part, my lord, I could be well contented to be there, in respect of the love I bear your house.-He could be contented,

Why is he not then! In respect of the love his own baru better than he loves our house. he bears our house :-he shows in this, he loves Let me see some more. dertake, is dangerous;-Why, that's certain; The purpose you un'tis dangerous to take a cold, to sleep, to drink: but I tell you, my lord fool, out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety. The purpose you undertake, is dangerous; the friends you have named, uncertain; the time itself unsorted; and your whole plot too light, for the Counterpoise of so great an opposition.-Say you so, say you so I say unto you again, you are a shallow, cowardly hind, and you lie. What a lack-brain is this? By the Lord, our plot is a good plot as ever was laid; our friends true and constant: a good plot, good friends, and full of expectation: an excellent plot, very good friends. What a frosty-spirited rogue is this? Why, my lord of York commends the plot, and the general course of the action.

Fal. Strike; down with them; cut the vil-Zounds, an I were now by this rascal, I could lains' throats: Ah! whoreson caterpillars! bacon-fed knaves! they hate us youth: down with them; fleece them.

1 Trav. O, we are undone, both we and

ours, for ever.

brain him with his lady's fan. Is there not my father, my uncle, and myself? lord Edward Mortimer, my lord of York, and Owen Glendower? Is there not, besides, the Douglas? Have I not all their letters, to meet me in they not, some of them, set forward already? arms by the ninth of the next mouth? and are What a pagan rascal is this! an infidel! Ha! you shall see now, in very sincerity of fear and cold heart, will he to the king, and lay open

Fal. Hang ye, gorbelliedt knaves; Are ye undone? No, yet fat chuffs; I would, your store were here! On, bacons, on! What, ye knaves? young men must live: You are grand-jurors are ye? We'll jure ye, i'faith. [Exeunt FALSTAFF, &c. driving the TRA-all our proceedings. O, I could divide myself,

VELLERS out.

Re-enter Prince HENRY and POINS.

P. Hen. The thieves have bound the true men: Now could thou and I rob the thieves, and go merrily to London, it would be argument for a week, laughter for a month, and a good jest for ever.

Poins. Stand close, I hear them coming.

Re-enter THIEVES.

Fal. Come, my masters, let us share, and then to horse before day. An the prince and Poins be not two arrant cowards, there's no equity stirring? there's no more valour in that Poins, than in a wild duck.

P. Hen. Your money. [Rushing out upon

them.

Poins. Villains.

and go to buffets, for moving such a dish of skimmed milk with so honourable an action! Hang him! let him tell the king: We are prepared: I will set forward to-night.

Enter Lady PERCY.

How now, Kate? I must leave you within these two hours.

Lady. O my good lord, why are you thus
alone?

For what offence have I, this fortnight, been
A banish'd woman from my Harry's bed?
Tell me, sweet lord, what is't that takes from
thee

Thy stomach, pleasure, and thy golden sleep?
Why dost thou bend thine eyes upon the earth;
And start so often when thou sit'st alone?
Why hast thou lost the fresh blood in thy
cheeks;

[As they are sharing, the PRINCE and And given my treasures, and my rights of thes,
POINS set upon them. FALSTAFF, after To thick-ey'd musing, and curs'd melancholy?
a blow or two, and the rest, run away, In thy faint slumbers, I by thee have watch'd,
leaving their booty behind them.]
And heard thee murmur tales of iron wars:

P. Hen. Got with much ease. Now mer-Speak terms of manage to thy bounding steed; Cry, Courage!-to the field! And thou hast talk'd

rily to horse:

The thieves are scatter'd, and possess'd with
fear

So strongly, that they dare not meet each other;
Each takes his fellow for an officer.

* Portion. † Fat, corpulent. Clowns. A subject.

Of sallies, and retires; of trenches, tents,
Of palisadoes, frontiers, parapets;
Of basilisks, of cannon, culverin;

* Drops his fat.

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