Fr. King. I have but with a curforary cye K. Henry. Brother, we fhall. Go, uncle Exeter, And brother Clarence, and you, brother Gloucester, Warwick and Huntington, go with the King; And take with you free Pow'r to ratify, Augment, or alter, as your wifdoms beft Shall fee advantageable for our dignity, Any thing in, or out of, our Demands; And we'll confign thereto. Will you, fair fifter, Go with the Princes, or stay here with us? Q. Ifa. Our gracious brother, I will go with them; Haply, a woman's voice may do fome good, When Articles, too nicely urg'd, be ftood on. K. Henry. Yet leave our coufin Catharine here with us. She is our capital demand, compris'd [Exeunt. Manent King Henry, Catharine, and a Lady. K. Henry. FAIR Catharine, most fair. Will you vouchfafe to teach a foldier terms,/ Such as will enter at a lady's ear, And plead his love-fuit to her gentle heart? Cath. Your Majefty fhall mock at me, I cannot fpeak your England. K. Henry. O fair Catharine, if you will love me foundly with your French heart, I will be glad to hear you confefs it brokenly with your English tongue. Do you like me, Kate? 05 Cath. Cath. Pardonnez moy, I cannot tell vhat is like me. K. Henry. An angel is like you, Kate, and you are like an Angel. Cath. Que dit-il, que je fuis femblable à les Anges? K. Henry. I faid fo, dear Catharine, and I must not blush to affirm it. Cath. O bon Dieu! les langues des hommes font pleines de tromperies. K. Henry. What fays fhe, fair one? that tongues of men are full of deceits? Lady. Oui. dat de tongues of de mans is be full of deceits dat is de Princes. K. Henry. The Princess is the better English Woman. I'faith, Kate, my wooing is fit for thy understanding; I am glad thou canft fpeak no better English, for if thou could'ft, thou would't find me fuch a plain King, that thou would't think I had fold my farm to buy my Crown. I know no ways to mince it in love, but directly to fay, I love you; then if you urge me further than to fay, do you in faith? I wear out my fuit. Give me your anfwer; i'faith, do; and fo clap hands and a bargain; how fay you, lady? Cath. Sauf votre honneur, me understand well. K. Henry. Marry, if you would put me to verses, or to dance for your fake, Kate, why, you undid me; for the one I have neither words nor measure; and for the other I have no ftrength in measure, yet a reafonable measure in firength. If I could win a lady at leap frog, or by vaulting into my faddle with my armour on my back; under the correction of bragging be it fpoken, I fhould quickly leap into a wife: Or if I might buffet for my love, or bound my horfe for her favours, I could lay on like a butcher, and fit like a jack-a-napes, never off. But, before God, Kate, I cannot look greenly, nor gafp out my eloquence, nor have I cunning in proteftation: only downright oaths, which I never ufe 'till urg'd, and never break for for urging. If thou canst love a fellow of this temper, Kate, whofe face is not worth fun-burning; that never looks in his glafs for love of any thing he fees there; let thine eye be thy cook. I fpeak plain foldier; if thou canst love me for this, take me; if not, to say to thee that I fhall die, 'tis true; but for thy love, by the lord, no: yet I love thee too. And while thou liv'ft, Kate, take a fellow of plain and uncoined conftancy, for he perforce must do thee right, because he hath not the gift to woo in other places: for these fellows of infinite tongue, that can rhyme themselves into ladies' favours, they do always reafon themselves out again. What? a fpeaker is but a prater; a rhyme is but a ballad; a good leg will fall, a straight back will stoop, a black beard will turn white, a curl'd pate will grow bald, a fair face will wither, a full eye will wax hollow; but a good heart, Kate, is the fun and the moon; or rather the fun, and not the moon; for it shines bright and never changes, but keeps his courfe truly. If thou would't have fuch a one, take me; take a foldier; take a King and what fay'ft thou then to my love? fpeak, my fair, and fairly, I pray thee. Cath. Is it pofiible dat I fhould love de enemy of France? K. Henry. No, it is not poffible that you should love the enemy of France, Kate; but in loving me you fhould love the friend of France; for I love France fo well, that I will not part with a village of it: I will have it all mine; and Kate, when France is mine and I am yours, then yours is 'France, and you are mine. Cath. I cannot tell vhat is dat. K. Henry. No, Kate? I will tell thee in French, (which I am fure, will hang upon my tongue like a married wife about her husband's neck, hardly to be fhook off) quand j'ay le poffeffion de France, & quand vous aves le poffeffion de moi (let me fee, what then? St. Den 0 6 nis nis be my speed!) donc votre eft France, & vous étes mienne. It is as eafy for me, Kate, to conquer the kingdom, as to speak fo much more French: I fhall never move thee in French, unless it be to laugh at me. Cath. Sauf votre honneur, le Francois que vous parlez, ef meilleur que l'Anglois lequel je parle, K. Henry. No, faith, is't not, Kate; but thy, fpeaking of my tongue and I thine, moft truly falfely, muft needs be granted to be much at one, But, Kate, doft thou understand thus much English? canft thou love me? Cath. I cannot tell. K. Henry. Can any of your neighbours tell, Kate? I'll afk them. Come, I know thou loveft me; and at night when you come into your clofet,, you'll queftion this gentlewoman about me; and I know, Kate, you will to her difpraife thofe parts in me, that you love with your heart; but, good Kaie, mock me mercifully, the rather, gentle Princefs, becaufe I love thee cruelly. If eyer thou beeft mine, Kate, (as I have faving faith within me tells me, thou fhalt) I get thee with fcambling, and thou must therefore needs prove a good foldier-breeder: fhall not thou and I, between St. Dennis and St. George, compound a boy half French, half English, that fall go to Conftantinople and take the Turk by the beard? fhall we not? what fay'st thou, my fair Flower-de-luce? Cath. I do not know dat ་་ K. Henry. No, 'tis hereafter to know, but now to promife; do but now promife, Kate, you will endeavour for your French part of fuch a boy; and for my English moiety, take the word of a King and a bachelor. How anfwer you, La plus belle Catharine du monde, mon tres chere & divine deeffe. Cath. Your Majeflee ave faufe French enough to deceive de moft fage damoifel dat is en France. K. Henry. Now, fie upon my falfe French; by mine honour, in true English I love thee Kate; by which honour honour, I dare not fwear thou loveft me, yet iy blood begins to flatter me that thou doft, notwithftanding the poor and untempting effect of my vifage. Now befhrew my father's ambition, he was thinking of civil wars when he got me; therefore was I created with a tubborn outfide, with an aspect of iron, that when I come to woo ladies I fright them: but in faith, Kate, the elder I wax, the better I fhall appear. My comfort is, that old age (that ill layer up of beauty) can do no more spoil upon my face. Thou haft me, if thou haft me, at the worft; and thou fhalt wear me, if thou wear me, better and better; and therefore tell me, moft fair Catharine, will you have me? Put off your maiden blushes, avouch the thoughts of your heart with the looks of an Emprefs. take me by the hand and fay, Harry of England, I am thine; which word thou shalt no fooner blefs mine ear withal, but I will tell thee aloud, England is thine, Ireland is thine, France is thine, and Henry Plantagenet is thine; who, tho' I fpeak it before his face, if he be not fellow with the beft King, thou fhalt find the best King. of good fellows. Come, your anfwer in broken mufic for thy voice is mufic, and thy English broken: therefore Queen of all, Catharine, break thy mind to me in broken English, wilt thou have me? Cath. Dat is, as it fhall pleafe le roy mon pere. K. Henry. Nay, it will pleafe him well, Kate; it shall pleafe him, Kate. Cath. Den it fhall alfo content me. K. Henry. Upon that I kifs your hand, and I call you my Queen. Cath. Laiffez, mon feigneur, laiffez, laiffez: ma foy, je ne veux point que vous abbaiffez votre grandeur, en baifant la main d'une votre indigne ferviteure; excufez moy, je vous Supplie, mon tres puiffant Seigneur. K. Henry. Then I will kifs your lips, Kate. Cath. Les dames & damoifels pour étre baifées devant leur nopces, il n'est pas le coutume de France. K. Henry. |