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    Henry VIII
    Henry VIII
    Henry VIII
    Ebook202 pages1 hour

    Henry VIII

    By William Shakespeare

    3.5/5

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    The portrait of a monarchy in crisis, this historical drama concerns the famous king's efforts to secure a divorce from his dignified and popular queen in order to marry an enchanting courtesan and produce a male heir. The play ranks among Shakespeare's most sumptuous and spectacular works, offering a splendid pageant of masques and royal ceremony. Occasional lapses in historical accuracy are compensated for by keen psychological and political insights, vivid characterizations, and evocative language.
    Possibly the last of Shakespeare's dramas, Henry VIII was almost certainly co-written with John Fletcher. It is a play of farewells ― to the world, to life, to power ― in which major historical characters make memorable exits, including Cardinal Wolsey's rueful observation: "Had I but served my God with half the zeal/I served my king, he would not in mine age/Have left me naked to mine enemies." Nevertheless, the play ends in triumph and hopeful expectations with the prophecy of the coming Elizabethan age.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDover Publications
    Release dateAug 10, 2015
    ISBN9780486790138
    Author

    William Shakespeare

    William Shakespeare is the world's greatest ever playwright. Born in 1564, he split his time between Stratford-upon-Avon and London, where he worked as a playwright, poet and actor. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway. Shakespeare died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two, leaving three children—Susanna, Hamnet and Judith. The rest is silence.

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    Reviews for Henry VIII

    3.5/5

    159 ratings21 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Henry VIII is the final play in the histories series. Although it’s frequently challenged as being written solely by Shakespeare, I'm accepting it as part of the canon. The histories begin, chronologically, with Richard II and take us all the way through the Wars of the Roses. The plot covers the execution of Buckingham, the rise and fall of Cardinal Wolsey, the divorce of Henry VIII and Queen Katherine, his marriage to Anne Boleyn, the birth of Elizabeth, and more. The play itself is rarely produces and not well known, but pieces of it will be familiar to anyone who has read Wolf Hall or The Other Boleyn Girl. There's a lot crammed into this one, but a few of the characters truly shine. Your heart breaks for the neglected Katherine. She’s tossed aside by her husband of 20 years when someone younger catches his eye. She has some fantastic moments when she challenges Cardinal Wolsey.“Y’ are meek and humble-mouth’d,You sign your place and calling, in full seeming, with meekness and humility;but your heart is cramm’d with arrogance, spleen, and pride.”Buckingham is also a sympathetic character with some great speeches. Overall the play doesn't flow as well as many of his others. It's too scattered, too many moving pieces, but it's still got some beautiful language. “Yet I am richer than my base accusers,That never knew what truth meant.”“Heat not a furnace for your foe so hotThat it do singe yourself.”“Love thyself last: cherish those hearts that hate thee;Corruption wins not more than honesty.Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace,To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not:Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's,Thy God's, and truth's.”
    • 5/5
      The epitome of what an Arden edition should be. What a shame this came out so early, leaving so much for other editors to live up to!

      The dense (200 page) introduction covers everything you expect - production history, composition history, placing the play within a social, cultural, political context, and textual analysis - and includes the expected amount of academic frou-frou (but we forgive those in an Arden, surely). But what really makes it sing is the editor's wonderfully knowing sense of narrative voice. He has his own passionate beliefs, but is happy to situate those within the 400-year history of bardolatry and Shakespearean criticism, thus giving the amateur reader a great overall understanding of the issues editors and academics face in working with these texts. It's the kind of edition that breathes new life into a play that is often ignored.
    • 4/5
      Henry has decided to divorce his first wife, Katherine, after twenty years of marriage, in order to marry Anne Bullen. At his side is the manipulative Cardinal Wolsey, common born yet with the King wrapped around his finger. Though Katherine pleads with her husband, Wolsey is instrumental in her downfall, and in the execution of the Duke of Buckingham, accused of treasonous gossip. The whole court holds its breath waiting for the day the King will realize he's been Wolsey's puppet.Clearly written to be performed for Elizabeth I, Shakespeare is currying favor. Henry VIII is a man who was manipulated into treating Katherine badly, and who rejoiced that Anne had given birth to a daughter (ha!). Anne is a sweet maiden who worries about Katherine, and the play ends with a gushing speech about Elizabeth herself. This probably won't make anyone's list of the best of Shakespeare, but it is interesting and there are some good scenes, such as Katherine ripping into Wolsey.
    • 3/5
      Don't look for an educated review here, I've barely touched the surface having only read the play one time. I tried to watch two versions of this, but they did not catch my fancy. I enjoyed the reading of it though, and intend to read the second part very soon. Action, intrigue, a bit of comedy/farce. Good stuff.
    • 5/5
      Folger editions are my fave.
    • 5/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed reading part 1. Shakespeare has a way with words that few authors do. I loved his interpretation of Falstaff and the humor he assigned to this character. The war scenes were brilliantly done. By the end of the book, Prince Henry has done what he vowed he would - become a prince his father could be proud of. Fun, fun read.
    • 4/5
      I was a bit worried that I wouldn't get it, since I always have trouble with any books or movies which mix the funny and the serious. But I had no problems with this (unlike, say, The Tempest). Looking forward to part II and Henry V.

      "But thoughts, the slaves of life, and life, time's fool
      And time, that takes survey of all the world,
      Must have a stop." Hotspur, V 4 80-82.

      "Why? She's neither fish nor flesh; a man knows not where to have her."
      "Thou art an unjust man in saying so. Thou or any man knows where to have me, thou knave thou." Falstaff & Mrs Quickly, III 3 126-129.
    • 5/5
      It doesn't have the famous speeches of Henry V, but it has the action, the humor, Hotspur, and... FALSTAFF. I can only imagine some Elizabethan Chris Farley got rich off this part. It would only make sense.
    • 3/5
      Much more interesting than Richard II. The love of Henry IV for Hotspur over his own son seems to foreshadow the King Lear tragedy. Shakespeare depicts HIV as a fairly weak king, in my opinion, but I suppose this is meant to boost HV's status.The Hal/Falstaff robbery scene was quite amusing and set up the drama of the Hal/Hotspur confrontation with Falstaff taking credit for Hotspur's death.
    • 3/5
      Not bad. Not excellent. Happy birthday to it this year.
    • 3/5
      I feel like there's diminishing returns in these last few "Shakespeare and friends" works. This one was an awful lot of politics (the boring kind), a whole lotta telling, and almost everything important happening off-stage.

      That said, the scene where Cardinal Wosley's scheming is revealed and he realizes he's lost the favour of King Henry, and ultimately sends Cromwell away? Brilliantly done.

      Overall, however, not my favourite. Nope, not by a long shot.
    • 4/5
      This play was the second in a series of 8 which together formed Shakespeare’s masterful saga of 'History' plays chronicling the turbulent final century of the Plantagenet Dynasty from the deposition of Richard II in 1399 to the death of Richard III at Bosworth field in 1485.

      Altogether, they have all the high drama of an epic saga with their vivid accounts of treachery, ambition, power, betrayal, feuding and war in an age of bloody upheaval.
      If all this sounds gloomy and depressing, there are also colourful well-developed and memorable characters including the 'man mountain' plump and usually tipsy John Falstaff and the heroic Henry V as well as plenty of courage, chivalry and deeds of daring-do with a smattering of romance and humour.

      Whoever said Shakespeare was boring? It should be said, however, that I could not fully appreciate these plays by simply reading them- they had to be seen as well. They are not, after all, novels, and reading through them in the way one would a book can be a tedious experience.

      In this play King Henry IV struggles to maintain his position and power in the face of rebellion from the influential, passionate, impetuous and headstrong Henry Hotspur young son of the powerful Earl of Northumberland who joins with the King's enemies.
      Alongside the threat of rebellion and civil war King Henry strives with his own wayward son Prince Hal (the future Henry V) who spends most of his time in seedy taverns and the company of ne'er-do- wells such as John Falstaff.

      As events come to a head, Hal promises to prove himself worthy of his father's respect, and ultimately the position and authority of his future Kingship on the battlefield.
    • 2/5
      Shakespeare's "Henry VIII" is best remembered as the play that was on stage when the Globe Theater burned down. There's a reason that's what it's known for.... the play itself really doesn't hold up well to the bard's more famous works.Rife with historical inaccuracies, most of the action takes place off stage, so you just hear characters talking about it. (Yeah, I didn't like it when Hilary Mantel did this either.) It was the Elizabethan age, so of course Shakespeare makes the birth of Queen Elizabeth something like the second coming and is mostly laudatory about her mother Anne Boleyn. There really isn't much that's great about this one.
    • 2/5
      Well here we are in the ugly competition. "Worst plays by William Shakespeare". Wisely the first line is "I come no more to make you laugh:... And you won't. It seems to me, that a sort of historical pageant was required, perhaps to get some people to put their money down at the box-office, and this was cobbled up. It is a chore to read, and only the queen Catherine of Argon scenes have much fire. We have records that the theatre caught fire during one of the performances and the audience must have left the theatre early with some relief. The theatre burned down , this was WS's last history play, and he soon retired. the play was written or revised, in1613.
    • 3/5
      34 William Shakespeare, John Fletcher Henry VIIIFORMATOTHERSGENRERATINGE-BOOKLewis Theobald, editorLiterature***I read this late collaboration because I knew it had great speeches and because I wanted to see how the Bard and his fellows would have treated England's Stalin. I liked the great speeches, i.e., Katherine of Aragon's defense of herself and Wolsey's farewell to his greatness, and would like to think that Shakespeare wrote them. But I had to shake my head sadly at how the playwrights had to treat the Anne Boleyn story with kid gloves and eulogize the baby Elizabeth.
    • 4/5
      I only have to read part one for my class, but I think I'll read part two, too, in due course. Falstaff is amusing, and I rather enjoy Hal, too. I preferred it to Richard II, I think.

      No need to say that I loved the language and thought it'd be even better on the stage. That's just Shakespeare for you.

      (Why didn't I used to like Shakespeare? Probably because I repeatedly got Romeo & Juliet shoved down my throat, and his comedies aren't to my taste.)
    • 2/5
      Read this as a companion piece after I finished Wolf Hall. I didn't even know he wrote a play about Henry VIII, and now I know why: it pretty much sucks. And a total whitewash, which makes sense in retrospect. Where's the fucking beheadings, Will?
    • 4/5
      After a bad experience with Richard II, I was starting to worry that Shakespeare’s history plays weren’t for me, when Henry IV, Part I came along to save me from that delusion. This is a wonderful play, perhaps one of my favorites of Shakespeare's now. It balances so many different elements—the court, the tavern, the rebel camp, the pathos, the humor, the discourse on honor. And it presented me with characters I could truly care about.Faltstaff is often put forward as one of Shakespeare’s greatest creations, and understandably so. The old, fat, roguish knight has a towering presence even on the page, and I could sympathize with his fatherly love for Prince Hal and his fear that the boy will eventually turn on him. Henry IV, who was emotionally distant in Richard II (like most everyone), has some wonderful moments of vulnerability, even breaking into tears in Act III scene 2. And despite the fact that he’s the antagonist, I found Hotspur oddly likable. He’s brazen and impetuous—there must be Scots blood in there somewhere—and in spite of his constant avowals that he does not have “the gift of tongue,” he’s quite eloquent:“But I tell you, my lord fool, out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.”Methinks the noble lord doth protest too much.Actually, the only character who I had trouble liking was Hal himself, the protagonist. I learned this story through an old Wishbone episode, which whitewashed the character somewhat, so I was surprised to pick up the play and discover just how cunning and scheming he is. His dissoluteness and eventual redemption are not genuine, but staged to bring about a certain end; in the meantime, he manipulates the people around him with Machiavellian dexterity. I find that more and more I am placing a premium on honesty, both in books and in real life, and that may be why I prefer some of the other characters over the prince. Falstaff’s attempts at fibbing and playacting are generally unconvincing to those around him—he is inexpert—and I don’t think Hotspur could every bring himself to tell a barefaced lie, which may be one of the reasons I find him so lovable.This is where we ended our perusal of the history plays in my Shakespeare class, but I plan to continue with this particular tetralogy before PBS airs new adaptations of all four plays later this year. Because I enjoyed Henry IV, Part I so much, I’m looking forward to reading more about these characters.
    • 4/5
      Henry IV is not the most accessible of Shakespeare's plays. The histories do require at least a brief background in, well, history, to make them comprehensible. So I would recommend reading, at the very least, some encyclopedia articles on the historical Henry IV (and Richard II, the ruler he overthrew) before tackling this play. With a bit of background information in hand, the play becomes easier to understand.This is the story of Henry IV dealing with the tumultuous mess of a kingdom that he made when he overthrew the previous ruler, Richard II. Even more importantly, it is the story of his son, the prince, coming of age and coming into his role as future ruler of a not-quite unified land. The plot shifts focus between three central groups of characters: The king (Henry IV) is troubled by guilt because he overthrew Richard II, rather than inheriting the throne from him legitimately. He thinks a pilgrimage/crusade to the Holy Land would help him feel better, but alas there's no time for that with all the rebellions he needs to quash in his own kingdom. His unresolved feelings of guilt also lead him to react angrily and defensively against the nobles who sided with him when he overthrew the old king, so he's quickly running out of friends. The king is also troubled because his son seems like a useless punk, and not a valiant knight.Prince Henry (nicknamed Hal) is the king's son. Hal likes drinking and partying and hangs out with a bunch of guys who enjoy robbing people after dark (mostly for the LOLs.) Chief among Hal's disreputable friends is a fat, ridiculous, old knight named Falstaff. Falstaff's over-the-top behavior provides the comic relief for the play. Unfortunately, a lot of the humor is meant to derive from puns that play with words no longer in common usage. It's hardly Shakespeare's fault that we don't use phrases like "trunk of humors" or words like "bolting-hutch" anymore, but that doesn't stop the "funny" parts from getting a bit torturous. Anyways, the point is that Hal needs to grow up, distance himself from the drunken pranks of Falstaff and his ilk, and take on the mantle of knighthood.The third group of characters are, of course, the rebels trying to overthrow King Henry IV. Their leader is Worcester (Thomas Percy) and their ranks include Mortimer, (the guy who would have been next in line for the throne under Richard II's reign), Glendower (leader of the Welsh, rumored to be a sorcerer), Douglas (leader of the Scots), Northumberland (who had been a friend and ally of Henry IV, originally) and Northumberland's son, Hotspur. Hotspur is the same age as Hal (in the play, not in reality) and Shakespeare sets him up as Hal's arch nemesis and a mirror of what Hal might become.Everything heads to a climax at the dramatic Battle of Shrewsbury. King Henry offers peace, but Worcester, who fears he will take all the blame for the rebellion, neglects to pass this information on. In the ensuing battle many die, especially all of the poor, starving beggars Falstaff recruited, and loyal knights who disguise themselves as the king to serve as decoys. At one point, Hal saves his father's life, thus convincing the king that his son isn't so worthless, after all. The play opens with Henry IV wishing that Hal could be more like Hotspur, and fittingly concludes with Hal killing Hotspur and thus taking on his role as warrior and knight. Annoyingly, Falstaff (who has been playing dead for the duration of the battle) tries to take the credit for slaying the enemies' most powerful knight, and Hal, out of kindness, allows him the lie. Since this is only Part 1 of a two part story, there remain some unresolved conflicts at the end of the play, mostly the fact that Glendower failed to materialize at the battle and thus Henry's supporters still have another villain to face.
    • 4/5
      Blah, blah, blah, John Falstaff, what a laugh. Blah, blah, blah, the meaning of valor and honor. The prodigal brat son repairs his ways and leads the country to implied future greatness. These are all themes that seem a bit tired in our day, but Shakespeare probably played some role in putting them together in the first place.Henry IVi is the second of the Bard's (imposing) historical tetralogy following the ascent of Lancastrian dynasty, which first grapple into power in Richard II and carry it through the series. Then there's the Henry VI plays (a different set). Then things devolve into chaos in full-on War of the Roses mode through dastardly Richard III before everyone gets vanquished by the glorious Tudors (one must pause and consider the historical source here a bit—Shakespeare as propaganda mouthpiece for the Tudors? Hells yeah, for sure). OK, OK, so the Shakespeare history plays. Hard. I won't gloss over that. And by hard I mean keeping one's head around the characters. The (wayward) future Henry V is referenced in the play as: Prince, Henry, Harry, Hal, Lancaster, the Prince of Wales. Most people are named Henry and most have more than one title, which also serves as a moniker. Here's my advice. Remember these names: Percy, Neville, Northumberland. Those are the names and ducal territories of the dastardly northerners who rebel against Henry Bolingbroke (that is, the former Duke of Lancaster, aka Henry IV) in the play. To this day, the Percys and Nevilles are northerners with oomph (the current head of the Neville clan is Christopher George Charles Nevill, 6th Marquess of Abergavenny, born 1955; the current Duke of Northumberland is a Percy). The fractious Percys and Nevilles, fronted by exquisite hothead Henry Percy—sigh, another Percy, another Henry, but rest easy: he's called Hotspur throughout the play and lives up to the title—aren't happy with the hand they've been dealt since Henry IV's deposition of wimpy old Richard II. Promises, promises, Henry IV made, but apparently isn't delivering. The specific reasons for the revolt are not that clear, nor do they appear to be that important to Shakespeare.At the same time, wastrel/quintessential prodigal brat, the young King Hal, is frolicking around with the farcical John Falstaff, who resembles nothing more than a 16th-century Homer Simpson: fat, dumb, greedy, pathetic comic relief. His bawdy dipshittery is a stand-in for Hal's real father (the king). The king would like nothing more than for Hal to act like Hotspur (this before the revolt), who, in his mind, is the ideal valiant son. Throughout the play, Falstaff plays the opposite tack in terms of honor, through several speeches decrying its perceived value. Interesting stuff. The play's tavern antics are balanced with standard Shakespeare high-falutin' battle scenes. Everything ends well enough, with Hotspur dying grandly and honorably, and the succession less threatened. The plays vernacular, prose (i.e. not in meter) sections are some of the hardest Shakespeare to get through, and require glossing for all but the most middle/early-modern English expert. Get a good edition with lots of footnotes. I use the Folger Library series, not because of their physical quality—they have rough paper and the reek of coloring books or newsprint—but because their facing-page notes are the easiest reference I've found for getting through the plays. Not by a sight my favorite Shakespeare play, but, hey, I'm making it through the histories.
    • 4/5
      I'm not as fond of Shakespeare's histories as I am some of his other plays, but Falstaff is a great and memorable character.

    Book preview

    Henry VIII - William Shakespeare

    Henry VIII

    William Shakespeare

    DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC.

    Mineola, New York

    DOVER THRIFT EDITIONS

    GENERAL EDITOR: MARY CAROLYN WALDREP

    EDITOR OF THIS VOLUME: ALISON DAURIO

    Copyright

    Copyright © 2015 by Dover Publications, Inc.

    All rights reserved.

    Theatrical Rights

    This Dover Thrift Edition may be used in its entirety, in adaptation, or in any other way for theatrical productions, professional and amateur, in the United States, without fee, permission, or acknowledgment. (This may not apply outside of the United States, as copyright conditions may vary.)

    Bibliographical Note

    This Dover edition, first published in 2015, contains the unabridged text of Henry VIII, as published in Volume V of The Macmillan & Co. Edition of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Macmillan & Co., London, 1892. The introductory Note was prepared specially for this edition, and the footnotes from the Macmillan edition have been removed.

    International Standard Book Number

    eISBN-13: 978-0-486-79013-8

    www. doverpublications.com

    Note

    W

    ILLIAM

    S

    HAKESPEARE

    (1564–1616) was born in Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, England. Although much of his early life remains sketchy, it is known that he moved to London around 1589 to earn his way as an actor and playwright. He joined an acting company known as Lord Chamberlain’s Men in 1594, a decision that finally enabled him to share in the financial success of his plays. Only eighteen of his thirty-seven plays were published during his lifetime, and these were usually sold directly to theater companies and printed in quartos, or single-play editions, without his approval.

    Written sometime between 1603 and 1613, Henry VIII was likely a collaboration between Shakespeare and his contemporary John Fletcher. It imparts the story of the notorious early reign of the ill-famed monarch, and his efforts to secure a divorce from Katharine of Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn.

    DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

    K

    ING

    H

    ENRY

    the Eighth.

    C

    ARDINAL

    W

    OLSEY.

    C

    ARDINAL

    C

    AMPEIUS.

    C

    APUCIUS,

    Ambassador from the Emperor Charles V.

    C

    RANMER,

    Archbishop of Canterbury.

    D

    UKE OF

    N

    ORFOLK.

    D

    UKE OF

    B

    UCKINGHAM.

    D

    UKE OF

    S

    UFFOLK.

    E

    ARL OF

    S

    URREY.

    Lord Chamberlain.

    Lord Chancellor.

    G

    ARDINER,

    Bishop of Winchester.

    Bishop of Lincoln.

    L

    ORD

    A

    BERGAVENNY.

    L

    ORD

    S

    ANDS.

    S

    IR

    H

    ENRY

    G

    UILDFORD.

    S

    IR

    T

    HOMAS

    L

    OVELL.

    S

    IR

    A

    NTHONY

    D

    ENNY.

    S

    IR

    N

    ICHOLAS

    V

    AUX.

    Secretaries to Wolsey.

    C

    ROMWELL,

    Servant to Wolsey.

    G

    RIFFITH,

    Gentleman-usher to Queen Katharine.

    Three Gentlemen.

    D

    OCTOR

    B

    UTTS,

    Physician to the King.

    Garter King-at-Arms.

    Surveyor to the Duke of Buckingham.

    B

    RANDON,

    and a Sergeant-at-Arms.

    Door-keeper of the Council-chamber. Porter, and his Man.

    Page to Gardiner. A Crier.

    Q

    UEEN

    K

    ATHARINE,

    wife to King Henry, afterwards divorced.

    A

    NNE

    B

    ULLEN,

    her Maid of Honour, afterwards Queen.

    An old Lady, friend to Anne Bullen.

    P

    ATIENCE,

    woman to Queen Katharine.

    Several Lords and Ladies in the Dumb Shows; Women attending upon the Queen; Scribes, Officers, Guards, and other Attendants.

    Spirits.

    S

    CENE:

    London; Westminster; Kimbolton.

    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 [10]

    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 deceived; for, gentle hearers, know, [17]

    To rank our chosen truth with such a show

    As fool and fight is, beside forfeiting

    Our own brains and the opinion that we bring [20]

    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,

    Be sad, as we would make ye: think ye see

    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: [30]

    And if you can be merry then, I’ll say

    A man may weep upon his wedding-day.

    CONTENTS

    Act I

    Scene I. London. An Ante-Chamber in the Palace

    Scene II. The Same. The Council-Chamber

    Scene III. An Ante-Chamber in the Palace

    Scene IV. A Hall in York Place

    Act II

    Scene I. Westminster. A Street

    Scene II. An Ante-Chamber in the Palace

    Scene III. An Ante-Chamber of the Queen’s Apartments

    Scene IV. A Hall in Black-Friars

    Act III

    Scene I. London. The Queen’s Apartments

    Scene II. Ante-Chamber to the King’s Apartment

    Act IV

    Scene I. A Street in Westminster

    Scene II. Kimbolton

    Act V

    Scene I. London. A Gallery in the Palace

    Scene II. Before the Council-Chamber

    Scene III. The Council-Chamber

    Scene IV. The Palace Yard

    Scene V. The Palace

    ACT I.

    SCENE I. London. An Ante-Chamber in the Palace.

    Enter the D

    UKE OF NORFOLK

    at one door; at the other, the D

    UKE OF BUCKINGHAM

    and the LO

    RD ABERGAVENNY.

    B

    UCK.

    Good morrow, and well met. How have ye done

    Since last we saw in France?

    N

    OR.

    I thank your grace,

    Healthful, and ever since a fresh admirer

    Of what I saw there.

    B

    UCK.

    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.

    N

    OR.

    ’Twixt Guynes and Arde:

    I was then present, saw them salute on horseback;

    Beheld them, when they ’lighted, how they clung

    In their embracement, as they grew together; [10]

    Which had they, what four throned ones could have weigh’d

    Such a compounded one?

    B

    UCK.

    All the whole time

    I was my chamber’s prisoner.

    N

    OR.

    Then you lost

    The view of earthly glory: men might say,

    Till this time pomp was single, but now married

    To one above itself. Each following day

    Became the next day’s master, till the last

    Made former wonders its. To-day the French,

    All clinquant, all in gold, like heathen gods,

    Shone down the English; and to-morrow they [20]

    Made Britain India: every man that stood

    Show’d like a mine. Their dwarfish pages were

    As cherubins, all gilt: the madams too,

    Not used to toil, did almost sweat to bear

    The pride upon them, that their very labour

    Was to them as a painting: now this masque

    Was cried incomparable; and the ensuing night

    Made it a fool and beggar. The two kings,

    Equal in lustre, were now best, now worst,

    As presence did present them; him in eye [30]

    Still him in praise; and being present both,

    ’Twas said they saw but one, and no discerner

    Durst wag his tongue in censure. When these suns—

    For so they phrase ’em—by their heralds challenged

    The noble spirits to arms, they did perform

    Beyond thought’s compass; that former fabulous story,

    Being now seen possible enough, got credit,

    That Bevis was believed.

    B

    UCK.

    O, you go far.

    N

    OR.

    As I belong to worship, and affect

    In honour honesty, the tract of every thing [40]

    Would by a good discourser lose some life,

    Which action’s self was tongue to. All was royal;

    To the disposing of it nought rebell’d;

    Order gave each thing view; the office did

    Distinctly his full function.

    B

    UCK.

    Who did guide,

    I mean, who set the body and the limbs

    Of this great sport together, as you guess?

    N

    OR.

    One, certes, that promises no element

    In such a business.

    B

    UCK.

    I pray you, who, my lord?

    N

    OR.

    All this was order’d by the good discretion [50]

    Of the right reverend Cardinal of York.

    B

    UCK.

    The devil speed him! no man’s pie is freed

    From his ambitious finger.

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