Greetings all!
Here is a PDF of the Henry V script for Let's Make a Scene,
(Click the tiny blue link below the text)
and here is a Word doc
Here is a link to the Facebook event:
And here is Zoom Link for Tuesday 2/27/24 at 7:30
Bishop oF Canterbury Powerful and wealthy
Bishop of Ely
English clergymen
King Henry V: The young, recently crowned king of England
Duke of Exeter: Uncle to the King
Earl of Westmoreland: Cousin to the king
Ambassador of France
Bardolph,
Pistol,
Nym: Former companions to Henry, now in his army
Boy
Captain Fluellen: Officer in the king’s army
Katherine of France: Young princess of France
Alice: A gentlewoman waiting on Katherine
Sir Thomas Erpingham: Soldier in the king’s army
Michael Williams: Soldier in the king’s army
King of France: King Charles VI
Act I, prologue | Act 1, Scene I
London. The king’s palace.
Chorus
O, for a muse of fire that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention!
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act,
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!
Then should the warlike Harry, like himself,
Assume the port of Mars, and at his heels,
Leashed in like hounds, should famine, sword, and fire crouch for employment.
Suppose within the girdle of these walls
Are now confined two mighty monarchies,
Whose high uprearèd and abutting fronts
The perilous narrow ocean parts asunder.
Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them
Printing their proud hoofs i’ th’ receiving earth,
For ’tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings.
Act I Scene II
Bishop of Canterbury
The King is full of grace and fair regard.
Bishop of Ely
And a true lover of the holy Church.
Bishop of Canterbury
List his discourse of war, and you shall hear
A fearful battle rendered you in music;
(whispering) I have made an offer to his Majesty
As touching France—to give a greater sum
Than ever at one time the clergy yet
Did to his predecessors part withal.
The French ambassador is come to give him hearing.
King Henry
Where is my gracious Lord of Canterbury?
(addressing Canterbury)
My learnèd lord, we pray you to proceed
And justly and religiously unfold
Why the law Salic that they have in France
Or should or should not bar us in our claim.
Therefore take heed How you awake our sleeping sword of war.
For never two such kingdoms did contend
Without much fall of blood, whose guiltless drops
Are every one a woe.
Bishop of Canterbury
There is no bar To make against your Highness’ claim to France.
Stand for your own, unwind your bloody flag,
Go, my dread lord, to your great-grandsire’s tomb,
From whom you claim; invoke his warlike spirit.
Bishop of Ely
Awake remembrance of these valiant dead.
The blood and courage that renownèd them
Runs in your veins.
Exeter
Your brother kings and monarchs of the earth
Do all expect that you should rouse yourself
As did the former lions of your blood.
Westmoreland
Never king of England Had nobles richer, and more loyal subjects,
Whose hearts have left their bodies here in England
And lie pavilioned in the fields of France.
King Henry
Now are we well resolved, and by God’s help
And yours, the noble sinews of our power,
France being ours, we’ll bend it to our awe
Or break it all to pieces.
Now are we well prepared to know the pleasure
Of our fair cousin Dauphin.
Ambassador
Your Highness, lately sending into France,
Did claim some certain dukedoms,
In answer of which claim, the Prince our master
Bids you be advised there’s naught in France
That can be with a nimble galliard won;
He therefore sends you, meeter for your spirit, This tun of treasure.
King Henry (to Exeter)
What treasure, uncle?
Exeter
Tennis balls, my liege.
King Henry (with a quiet intensity)
We are glad the Dauphin is so pleasant with us.
And tell the pleasant prince this mock of his
Hath turned his balls to gun-stones.
For many a thousand widows
Shall this his mock mock out of their dear husbands,
Mock mothers from their sons, mock castles down;
Fare you well.
Exeter
This was a merry message.
King Henry
Then forth, dear countrymen.
Let us deliver Our puissance into the hand of God.
The signs of war advance.
No king of England if not king of France.
Act III, prologue | Act III, Scene I
France. Before Harfleur.
Chorus
Thus with imagined wing our swift scene flies
Holding due course to Harfleur. Follow, follow! To France!
Work, work your thoughts, and therein see a siege;
Suppose th’ Ambassador from the French comes back,
Tells Harry that the King doth offer him
Katherine his daughter and with her, to dowry,
Some petty and unprofitable dukedoms.
The offer likes not,
And the nimble gunner
With linstock now the devilish cannon touches,
And down goes all before them.
Still be kind,
And eke out our performance with your mind.
King Henry
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the wall up with our English dead!
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favored rage.
Now set the teeth, and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath, and bend up every spirit
To his full height.
On, on, you noblest English, Dishonor not your mothers.
The game’s afoot.
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry “God for Harry, England, and Saint George!”
Chorus
God for Harry, England, and Saint George!
Act III, Scene II
Bardolph
On, on, on, on, on! To the breach, to the breach!
Nym
Pray thee, corporal, stay. The knocks are too hot, and, for mine own part, I have not a case of lives.
Pistol
God’s vassals drop and die
Pistol, Bardolph and Nym (singing)
“And sword and shield, In bloody field, Doth win immortal fame.”
Boy
Would that I were in an alehouse in London!
Pistol
And I
Fluellin (to Bardolph, Pistol, and Nym, who are trying to sneak away)
Up to the breach, you dogs! Avaunt, you cullions!
Pistol
Be merciful, great duke, to men of mold.
Nym
These be good humors. Your Honor wins bad humors.
Boy
As young as I am, I have observed these three swashers. I am boy to them all three, but all they three could not be man to me. For indeed three such antics do not amount to a man: For Bardolph, he is white-livered and red-faced,
for Pistol, he breaks words and keeps whole weapons;
for Nym, his few bad words are matched with as few good deeds,
for he never broke any man’s head but his own, and that was against a post when he was drunk.
They will steal anything and call it purchase.
I must leave them and seek some better service.
Their villainy goes against my weak stomach,
and therefore I must cast it up.
Act III, Scene IV
The French king’s palace.
Katherine
Alice, tu as été en Angleterre, et tu parles bien le langage.
Alice
Un peu, madame.
Katherine
Je te prie, m’enseignez. Il faut que j’apprenne à parler. Comment appelez-vous “la main” en anglais?
Alice
La main? Elle est appelée “de hand.”
Katherine
De hand.
Chorus (repeats):
“De hand.”
Katherine:
Et “les doigts”?
Alice
Les doigts?
Je pense qu’ils sont appelés “de fingres”
La main, de hand. Les doigts, le fingres.
Chorus (repeats):
“Le fang-gruss”
Katherine:
Comment appelez-vous “les ongles”?
Alice
“De niles.”
Katherine
Écoutez. Dites-moi si je parle bien: de hand, de fingres, et de niles
Chorus (repeats) “De hand, de fang-gruss, et de niles.”
Alice
C’est bien dit, madame. Il est fort bon anglais.
Katherine
Dites-moi l’anglais pour “le bras.”
Alice
“De arme,” madame
Katherine
Et “le coude”?
Alice
“D’ elbow.”
Katherine
D’ elbow. D’ hand, de fingre, de nailes, d’ arma, de bilbow.
Chorus (repeats): “D’ hand, de fang-gruss, de niles, d’arma, de bilbow.”
Alice
“D’elbow”, madame.
Katherine
Ô Seigneur Dieu! D’ elbow.
Chorus
Ah, D’elbow
Chorus repeats, with understanding: “ah... d’elbow.” d’hand, de fingre, de mailes—
Katherine
De nailes, de arme, de ilbow— d’ elbow.
Alice
D’elbow
Katherine
D’elbow
Comment appelez-vous “le pied?”
Alice
“Le foot,”
Katherine:
“Le foot!”
Chorus
“Le foot!” (all laugh and giggle)
Katherine
Le foot.D’ hand, de fingre, de nailes, d’arme, d’ elbow, de foot
C’est assez pour une fois. Allons-nous à dîner.
Act IV, prologue | Act IV, Scene I
Chorus
From camp to camp, through the foul womb of night,
The hum of either army stilly sounds.
The armorers, accomplishing the knights,
With busy hammers closing rivets up,
Give dreadful note of preparation.
The country cocks do crow,the clocks do toll,
The confident and overlusty French
Do the low-rated English play at dice.
The poor condemnèd English,
Like sacrifices, by their watchful fires
Sit patiently and inly ruminate
The morning’s danger;
O now, who will behold The royal captain of this ruined band
Walking from watch to watch, from tent to tent,
King Henry
Bids them good morrow with a modest smile, And calls them brothers, friends, and countrymen.
Chorus
A largesse universal, like the sun, His liberal eye doth give to everyone,
King Henry
A little touch of Harry in the night.
Chorus
And so our scene must to the battle fly, to Agincourt.
King Henry
’Tis true that we are in great danger.
The greater therefore should our courage be.
There is some soul of goodness in things evil,
Would men observingly distill it out.
Thus may we gather honey from the weed
And make a moral of the devil himself.
Good morrow, old Sir Thomas Erpingham.
A good soft pillow for that good white head
Were better than a churlish turf of France.
Erpingham
Not so, my liege, this lodging likes me better, Since I may say “Now lie I like a king.”
King Henry
’Tis good for men to love their present pains Upon example.
So the spirit is eased; Lend me thy cloak, Sir Thomas.
(Henry puts on Erpingham’s cloak.)
Commend me to the princes in our camp.
Erpingham
The Lord in heaven bless thee, noble Harry.
Pistol
Qui vous là?
King Henry
I am a gentleman of a company. What are you
Pistol
As good a gentleman as the Emperor.
King Henry
Then you are a better than the King.
Pistol
The King’s a bawcock and a heart of gold,
of fist most valiant.
I kiss his dirty shoe. What is thy name?
King Henry
Harry LeRoy
Pistol
Le Roy
My name is Pistol called
King Henry
It sorts well with your fierceness.
Williams
Who goes there?
King Henry
A friend.
Williams
Under what captain serve you?
King Henry
Under Sir Thomas Erpingham
Williams
I pray you, what thinks he of our estate?
King Henry
Even as men wracked upon a sand, that look to be washed off the next tide.
Williams
He hath not told his thought to the King?
King Henry
I think the King is but a man as I am. I think he would not wish himself anywhere but where he is.
Williams
Then I would he were here alone; so should he be sure
to be ransomed, and a many poor men’s lives saved.
King Henry
Methinks I could not die anywhere so contented
as in the King’s company, his cause being just and his
quarrel honorable.
Williams
But if the cause be not good, the King himself hath
a heavy reckoning to make, when all those legs and arms and
heads, chopped off in a battle, shall join
together and cry all “We died at such a place.”
King Henry
And in him that escapes, let him outlive that day to see
His greatness and to teach others how they should prepare.
Williams
The King is not to answer it. And yet I determine to
fight lustily for him. Fare thee well.
King Henry
Upon the King!
Let us our lives, our souls, our and our sins lay on the King!
We must bear all.
O hard condition,
Twin-born with greatness, subject to the breath
Of every fool whose sense no more can feel
But his own wringing.
(next reader)
What infinite heart’s ease
Must kings neglect that private men enjoy?
And what have kings that privates have not too,
Save ceremony, save general ceremony?
And what art thou, thou idol ceremony?
O ceremony, show me but thy worth!
O, be sick, great greatness,
And bid thy ceremony give thee cure!
(next reader)
The wretched slave
Who, with a body filled and vacant mind,
Gets him to rest, crammed with distressful bread;
Never sees horrid night, the child of hell.
What watch the King keeps to maintain the peace,
O God of battles, steel my soldiers’
Possess them not with fear.
(next reader)
O, not today, think not upon the fault
My father made in compassing the crown.
Though all that I can do is nothing worth,
Since that my penitence comes after all,
Imploring pardon
Act IV, Scene III
The English camp.
Westmoreland
O, that we now had here But one ten thousand of those men in England That do no work today.
King Henry
What’s he that wishes so? My cousin Westmoreland?
No, my fair cousin.
If we are marked to die, we are enough
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honor.
God’s will, I pray thee wish not one man more.
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart.
(next reader):
This day is called the feast of
Crispian.
He that outlives this day and comes safe home
Will stand o’ tiptoe when this day is named
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall see this day, and live old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbors
And say “Tomorrow is Saint Crispian.”
(next reader)
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words,
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.
(next reader)
This story shall the good man teach his son,
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
(next reader)
And gentlemen in England now abed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
Act V, Scene II
France. A royal palace.
Narrator
The English and French sign a peace treaty. King Henry woos Princess Katherine of France, who agrees to marry him, despite a language barrier. The French accept the English terms, including Henry’s right to succeed to the throne.
King Henry
O fair Katherine, if you will love me soundly with
your French heart, I will be glad to hear you confess
it brokenly with your English tongue. Do you like
me, Kate?
Katherine
Pardonnez moi, I cannot tell what is “like me.”
King Henry
An angel is like you, Kate, and you are like an Angel.
“I love you.” And what say’st thou then to my love
Katherine
Is it possible dat I sould love de enemy of France?
King Henry
Kate, in loving me you should love the friend
Of France. And Kate, when France is mine and I am
Yours, then yours is France and you are mine.
Katherine
I cannot tell wat is dat.
King Henry
Come, I know thou lovest me;
What say’st thou, my fair flower de luce?
Katherine
I do not know dat
King Henry
Most fair Katherine, will you have me? Come, your
answer in broken music, for thy voice is music,
and thy English broken. Therefore, queen of all,
Katherine, break thy mind to me in broken English.
Wilt thou have me?
Katherine
Dat is as it shall please de roi mon père.
King Henry
Nay, it will please him well, Kate; it shall please him, Kate.
Katherine
Den it sall also content me.
King Henry
Upon that I kiss your hand, and I call you my queen .Here comes your father.
King of France
God save your Majesty. My royal cousin, teach you our princess English?
King Henry
I love her, and that is good English. Shall Kate be my wife?
King of France
So please you.
Take her, fair son, and from her blood raise up
Issue to me, that the contending kingdoms
Of France and England, that never war advance His bleeding sword ’twixt England and fair France.
King Henry
Amen. Then shall I swear to Kate, and you to me,
And may our oaths well kept and prosp’rous be.
All
(Readers take one line each)
Thus far with rough and all-unable pen
Our bending author hath pursued the story,
In little room confining mighty men,
Mangling by starts the full course of their glory. Small time, but in that small most greatly lived
This star of England.
(All raise hands and take a bow)
Curtain
Standing ovation!