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Enter the KING and his train, the LORD CHIEF JUSTICE among them.

Fal. God save thy grace, King Hal! my royal Hal!
Pist. The heavens thee guard and keep, most royal imp

of fame!

Fal. God save thee, my sweet boy!

King. My lord chief justice, speak to that vain man.

Ch. Just. Have you your wits? know you what 'tis you

speak?

45

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Fal. My king! my Jove! I speak to thee, my heart!
King. I know thee not, old man: fall to thy prayers;
How ill white hairs become a fool and jester!
I have long dream'd of such a kind of man,
So surfeit-swell'd, so old, and so profane;
But, being awaked, I do despise my dream.
Make less thy body hence, and more thy grace;
Leave gormandizing; know the grave doth gape
For thee thrice wider than for other men.

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41. Enter...] Steevens (1793); The Trumpets sound. Enter King Henrie the Fift, Brothers, Lord Chiefe Iustice. Ff; Enter the King and his traine. Q. 41, 44. God] om. Ff. 46. Ch. Just.] Iust. Q (throughout). 46. Have speak?] as two lines in Ff. 49. hairs] heires Q. 49. become] becomes Q. 50. dream'd] dreampt Q. 52. awaked] awakt Q; awake Ff.

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42. royal...] See Peele, Battle of Alcazar, II. i: "the imp of royal race.' Imp, scion; cf. Lyly, Euphues, Anatomy of Wyt (Bond, i. 185): "thys younge Impe"; Dr. J. Fisher, Fuimus Troes, Prologue," a pair of martial imps"; and Glapthorne, Albertus Wallenstein, 1. iii: "we Imps of Mars." Holinshed refers to "Prince Edward, that goodlie impe," and Churchyard calls Edward VI.," that impe of grace." Fulwell, addressing Anne Boleyn, refers to Elizabeth as " thy royal impe " (Rolfe).

45. vain] foolish, as in 1 Henry IV. III. ii. 67, and Chapman, The Blind Beggar of Alexandria, sc. v: “what, o' God's name, would that vain man have?

47. heart] A term of good fellowship, as in Tempest, I. i. 6; and Wilkins, Miseries of Enforced Marriage, III. i: "This health, my hearts!... Drink round, my hearts!" Also Jonson, The Alchemist, I. i.

49. How ill .] So in Spenser,

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Faerie Queene, 1. viii. 32, 33: "Old

syre

...

How ill it fits with that same silver hed, In vaine to mocke"; and cf. Tomkis, Albumazar, v. vi: "How ill hot appetites of unbridled youth Become grey hairs."

51. surfeit-swell'd] Craig refers to Nashe, Pierce Pennilesse (McKerrow, I. 201): "If. surfit-swolne Churles might be constrained to carry their flesh budgets from place to place on foot." Cf. also Jonson, Catiline, v. i: "those city-beasts. swell'd up with meats.'

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53. hence] henceforward, as in Love's Labour's Lost, v. ii. 824. Grace,

virtue.

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For God doth know, so shall the world perceive,

That I have turn'd away my former self;

So will I those that kept me company.
When thou dost hear I am as I have been,
Approach me, and thou shalt be as thou wast,
The tutor and the feeder of my riots :
Till then, I banish thee, on pain of death,
As I have done the rest of my misleaders,
Not to come near our person by ten mile.
For competence of life I will allow you,
That lack of means enforce you not to evil;
And, as we hear you do reform yourselves,
We will, according to your strengths and qualities,
Give you advancement. Be it your charge, my lord,
To see perform'd the tenour of our word.
Set on.

60

65

70

[Exeunt King, etc. Fal. Master Shallow, I owe you a thousand pound.

Shal. Yea, marry, Sir John; which I beseech you to let 75

me have home with me.

Fal. That can hardly be, Master Shallow. Do not you grieve at this; I shall be sent for in private to him : look you, he must seem thus to the world: fear not

58. God] heauen Ff.

69.

61. been] bin Q, Ff. 68. evil] euills Q. reform] redeeme F 2; redeem Ff 3, 4. 70. strengths] strength Ff. 72, 73. Το on.] as in Pope; one line in Q, Ff. 72. tenour] Rowe (ed. 2); tenure Q, Ff. 72. our] my Q. 73. Exeunt. . .] Pope; Exit King. Ff; om. Q. 75. Yea] I Ff.

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64-66. I banish . . . mile.] A sentence of banishment to a certain distance from court pronounced upon a disgraced courtier is a frequent motive in Elizabethan drama. See As You Like It, 1. iii. 44-48, where Duke Frederick dismisses Rosalind from court: "Within these ten days if that thou be 'st found So near our public court as twenty miles, Thou diest for it." So in Ford, Love's Sacrifice, 1. i, Roseilli is banished from the court," not to live within thirty miles of it, until it be thought," etc., and in same play iv. i, Mauruccio is forbidden to be seen "within a dozen miles o' the court." 67. competence of life] adequate means of livelihood.

70. strengths] capacities. Massinger, The Guardian, Prologue: "His strengths to please." Qualities, attainments.

ment.

71. advancement] promotion, preferThe word is used, in reference to the creation of knights and nobles, by Sir T. Smith, De Rep. Angl., i. 17: "The creation [of Dukes, etc.] I cal the first donation and condition of the honour (giuen by the prince, for good seruice done by him and aduancement that the prince will bestowe vpon him)," and ib. i. 18: “Knightes... be.. made. . . as aduancement for their hardinesse and manhood alreadie shewed." 71. charge] mandate.

your advancement; I will be the man yet that shall
make you great.

Shal. I cannot well perceive how, unless you should give
me your doublet, and stuff me out with straw. I
beseech you, good Sir John, let me have five
hundred of my thousand.

Fal. Sir, I will be as good as my word: this that you heard was but a colour.

80

85

Shal. A colour that I fear you will die in, Sir John.
Fal. Fear no colours: go with me to dinner: come,
Lieutenant Pistol; come, Bardolph: I shall be sent 90
for soon at night.

80. advancement] aduancements Q, Cambridge. should] om. Q. 88. that I fear] I feare, that Ff. as three lines ending dinner : Bardolfe, night. in Q, Ff.

80, 81. I... great] So in Greene, James the Fourth, 1. i: "Thou shalt haue gold, honor and wealth... I will make thee great," and again in the same play: "I haue found A meanes to make you great."

87. colour] pretence, as in 1 Henry VI. II. iv. 34.

88. colour

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die in] The same word-play on "die" and "dye" is found in 2 Henry VI. II. i. 235: "That he should die is worthy policy; And yet we want a colour for his death,' where Hart, in this edition, quotes Narcissus (ed. Miss Lee, p. 11): "Shall wee dye quickly both? I pray what colour." There is, perhaps, also a play on collar," halter, as Schmidt suggests (cf. Beaumont and Fletcher, The Woman-Hater, v. ii: "the Collar not the Halter ").

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89. Fear no colours] A proverbial say. ing, signifying "fear no enemy,' "fear nothing. Cf. Porter, The Two Angry Women of Abington (Haz. Dods., vii. 359): "Coomes. Are ye disposed [to fight]? Nicholas. Yes indeed, I fear no colours"; R. Yarrington, Two Lamentable Tragedies, 1. iv; and Middleton, The Family of Love, v. i. Colours, military ensigns; cf. Greene, George a Greene, 11. ii: "The field is ours their colours we Have seyzed"; and Jonson, The Magnetic Lady, v. vi. 91. soon at night Falstaff means that he will be sent for late at night when the Chief Justice and other grave

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82.

82. well] om. Q.
88-91. Fear...
.. night.]

counsellors are safely in bed. The ex-
pression "soon at night" is frequently
used in reference to a late period of the
night, e.g. in Merry Wives, 1. iv. 7,
where Mrs. Quickly invites John Rugby
to a posset soon at night, in faith, at
the latter end of a sea-coal fire." In
Jonson's The Devil is an Ass, 1. i, Pug,
it is arranged, is to return from Earth
to Hell to make his "soon at night's
relation," yet he is not to leave earth
"until the midnight's cock do crow."
Cf. Dekker, Satiro-mastix (Pearson, 1.
187): “Sir Quint. Shee's an early
sturrer, ah sirra. Flash. Shee 'l be a
late sturrer soone at night sir"
ir "; W.
Haughton, Englishmen for my Money
(Haz. Dods., x), p. 514:"late at night
... soon at midnight," ib. p. 515:

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soon at night... at the hour of eleven soon at night"; Davenport, The City Nightcap, i: "soon at night" [the hour actually between eleven and twelve at night]. We meet elsewhere,

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soon at five o'clock" (Comedy of Errors, 1. ii. 26), “soon at supper-time (ib. III. ii. 181), soon at after supper (Richard III. IV. iii. 31), "soon in the evening" (R. Tailor, The Hog Hath Lost His Pearl, III, where the hour proves to be "just at midnight"). In these and similar phrases "soon appears to indicate some period of time, perhaps that between noon and the following morrow. Wright, Eng. Dialect Dict., gives as a sense (obs.) of "soon," "in the evening, towards night." In Look

Re-enter PRINCE JOHN, and the LORD CHIEF JUSTICE; Officers with them.

Ch. Just. Go, carry Sir John Falstaff to the Fleet:

Take all his company along with him.

Fal. My lord, my lord,—

Ch. Just. I cannot now speak: I will hear you soon.
Take them away.

Pist. Si fortuna me tormenta, spero contenta.

95

[Exeunt all but Prince John and the Chief Justice.

Lan. I like this fair proceeding of the king's:

He hath intent his wonted followers

Shall all be very well provided for;

But all are banish'd till their conversations

Appear more wise and modest to the world.

Ch. Just. And so they are.

Lan. The king hath call'd his parliament, my lord.
Ch. Just. He hath.

Lan. I will lay odds that, ere this year expire,

We bear our civil swords and native fire

As far as France: I heard a bird so sing,

Whose music, to my thinking, pleased the king.
Come, will you hence?

92. Re-enter. . .] Capell (subst.);
94. lord,-] Theobald; lord. Q, Ff.
spera me contento Ff. 97. Exeunt
Iustice. Ff; exeunt. Q (after line 96).
in Ff 2-4.
108. heard] heare F 1.

About You, vi, a speech," God be w-with you till s-soo-soon," has reference to a meeting which is to take place "tomorrow morning at Gravesend." And cf. Jonson, Every Man in His Humour, III. i: "We'll spy some fitter time, soon, or to-morrow."

92. the Fleet] the Fleet Prison, situated on the eastern side of what is now Farringdon Street. The prison received its name from the Fleet River, which flowed by the prison on its way down from Holborn Bridge to the Thames.

97. Si... contenta] See note to II. iv. 177 ante. Herford suggests that the use of the motto by Pistol in his present situation, may have been suggested by the anecdote of Hannibal Gonzalo, who vaunted on yielding himself a prisoner :

[Exeunt.

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Enter Iustice and prince Iohn. Q; om. Ff. 97. tormenta, spero contenta] tormento, .] Exit. Manet Lancaster and Chiefe 100, 101. all] om. Ff 2-4. 102. to] 110. Exeunt.] om. Q.

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"Si Fortuna me tormenta

Il speranza me contenta."
Galatians, i. 13.
IOI. conversations] mode of life, as in

107. civil] as in Richard II. III. iii. 102: "civil... arms," i.e. the arms of citizens.

108. I... sing] An allusion to the proverbial prophetic bird that sings or whispers secrets in discreet ears. See Beaumont and Fletcher, The Loyal Subject, IV. ii: "I heard a bird sing, they mean him no good office"; Webster and Rowley, A Cure for a Cuckold, v. i: "I heard A bird sing lately, you are the only cause Works the division"; and Chapman, The Widow's Tears, 1. i, and ib. II. iii: "My bird. . . sings me good news, and makes hopeful signs to me."

EPILOGUE.

Spoken by a Dancer.

5

First my fear; then my curtsy; last my speech. My fear is, your displeasure; my curtsy, my duty; and my speech, to beg your pardons. If you look for a good speech now, you undo me: for what I have to say is of mine own making; and what indeed. I should say will, I doubt, prove mine own marring. But to the purpose, and so to the venture. Be it known to you, as it is very well, I was lately here in the end of a displeasing play, to pray your patience for it and to promise you a better. I meant indeed ΙΟ

EPILOGUE.

Spoken...] Pope. 1. curtsy] Curtsie F 1; 2. curtsy] Curtsie F 1; Curtesie Ff 2-4; cursy Q.

EPILOGUE.

1. Spoken ... Dancer] So Pope. The epilogue was usually spoken by a man, the prologue by a woman. See As You Like It, Epilogue, 1-3, and Everie Woman in her Humor, Prol.

1. my curtsy] The speaker of the epilogue customarily saluted the audience with an obeisance at the end of the play. In some instances the Prologue seems to have welcomed the spectators with a curtsy. Thus Flavia, as Prologue, in Everie Woman in her Humor, concludes her address: "As a lowely earnest, I give this curtesie before." I have followed Q (cursie) and Ff (Curtsie) in reading curtsy, the accepted modern variant of the form courtesy" in the restricted sense of an obeisance or bow; the form in three syllables, "courtesy" or "curtesy," is, however, the more usual in early texts.

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5, 6. what... should say] The alteration of "should" to shall, suggested by S. Walker and adopted by

Curtesie Ff 2-4; cursie Q. 10. meant] did meane Ff.

Hudson, is unnecessary; what = whatever, anything.

6. doubt] fear; cf. Timon of Athens, 1. ii. 161.

7. purpose] matter in question. Venture, the hazard.

...

9, 10. to pray it] It was usual at the end of a play or in the epilogue to apologise for the imperfections of the piece. See Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy, IV. iv: "I am Hieronimo

Whose tongue is tun'd to tell his latest tale, Not to excuse grosse errors in the play" [Epilogue to Tragedy of Soliman]. See next note.

10. to... a better] It was customary, in the epilogue, to attempt to placate an audience by promising, on behalf of the author, a better play on a future occasion. Thus we read at the end of Porter's Two Angry Women of Abington (Haz. Dods., vii. 383) : “ If anything be in the pen to blame, Then here stand I to blush the writer's shame: If this be bad, he promises a better; Trust him, and he will prove a

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