1599 - Henry V - “O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention…”

1599 - Henry V - “O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention…”

For Shakespeare, 1599 was one of his greatest years. It is the year that he and the other shareholders of the Chamberlain’s Men built The Globe Theatre, the year he wrote Henry V, Julius Caesar and As You Like It. It is also the year that Shakespeare started and probably completed one of his greatest and perhaps his most complex play Hamlet. It is also the year that a collection of twenty poems appeared attributed to William Shakespeare and published by William Jaggard.

Modern commentators and academics tend to agree that only five of the twenty poems are written by Shakespeare. But let’s start with the beginning of 1599.

Shakespeare worked for the Chamberlain’s Men (later known as the King’s Men). He also become a shareholder in the company in 1594. The Chamberlain’s Men had been performing in the actor/manager James Burbage’s purpose built Shoreditch venue The Theatre since 1587 when it was built. The Theatre was a multi-sided structure with a central open yard and three tiers of covered seating was built. This gave The Theatre an amphitheater appearance. One side of the polygon extended out to form what was a thrust stage. The Theatre probably cost about £700 construct (a huge sum at the time). Standing room was a penny, covered standing two pennies and three pennies for a covered seating. The Theatre venue was a timber building with a tiled roof and probably held about 1500 to 2000 people.

In 1596, a dispute arose of the renewal of the leasing of the land The Theatre stood on. When James Burbage died in 1598, the issue became more complex. Believing that they owned The Theatre (especially the building materials), James Burbage’s sons Cuthbert and Richard offered some of the members of the company (including Shakespeare) shares in the building.

So on the rainy morning of December 28^th 1598, carpenter Peter Street along with the half a dozen laborers and the shareholders of the Lord Chamberlain’s men including Richard Burbage, Cuthbert Burbage, John Heminges, William Shakespeare, Augustine Phillips, Thomas Pope and William Kempe, began dismantling The Theatre to take the timber to a riverside warehouse Street had by the River Thames in Bridewell. This was in preparation for using the timber for a new theatre with a new design. This theatre was to be built on a new site at Maiden Lane Southwark when the weather was a bit drier. Early in spring of 1599 The Theatre’s beams were raised again to build the new theatre which could accommodate an audience of 2000 people. This theatre was to be called the Globe Theatre.

The Globe Theatre was a large open air theatre which would have appeared from the air as doughnut shaped or a polygon of 20 sides. The three-tiered seating area was covered and the stage had a front apron performance area and later a thrust stage was also added. It probably had an audience capacity of up to 3000.

Over January and February of 1599 as work was progressing on building The Globe, William Shakespeare was writing Henry V. He also had to deal with the illegal publication of a collection of poems under his name published by William Jaggard. It is now agreed that only about five of the poems were written by William Shakespeare. The collection included some poems from Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost. However, most of Shakespeare’s time would have been spent in early in 1599 on Henry V.

William Shakespeare had probably written speeches for the Henry V and scribbled plot ideas for a couple of years now, but with his 15 % ownership in the Lord Chamberlain’s Men and bills to pay on the new Globe Theatre and back in Stratford, he and the company needed a success. Elizabethan audiences had met the wild, undisciplined Prince Hal but now it was time for them to meet King Henry V as he embarked on a quest to reunite all of England on his conquests and trials on the battlefields of France.

“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!”

It is a stirring moment in theatre to hear The Chorus’ first words in the Prologue of ‘Henry V’. “O for a Muse of fire…” Unlike a Greek Chorus, The Chorus in this play is more like the medieval chorus of a single actor. The scene is set and The Chorus fires our “imaginary forces” asking us to see “within this wooden O” and imagine two mighty monarchs, thousands of soldiers, great battles, and the sound of thousands of “proud hoofs”. The stage is set for the actors and the audience to embark on a great journey through history and their own imaginations. The excitement of hearing these words is made more so when you consider they were perhaps the first words uttered on the stage at The Globe Theatre in late April 1599 when this famous theatre first opened.

You can imagine that day in April, when the red flag to indicate that a history play was going to be played was raised early in the morning. Around midday, crowds would start to arrive and by 1pm Henry V would have started. Just after 4pm, the crowds would leave the theatre having witnessed the premiere of one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays.

Soon, rehearsals were underway for the opening of The Globe Theatre and Henry V.

Henry V – “The breath no sooner left his father’s body, but his wildness, mortified in him, seem’d to die too…”

Shakespeare had had great success with the trilogy of ‘Richard II’, ‘Henry IV Part 1’ and ‘Henry IV Part 2’ and now it was time to deliver on the finale of these history plays with the most anticipated and most well-known of these histories, ‘The Chronicle History of Henry the Fifth’. Shakespeare probably had written speeches for the play and scribbled plot ideas for a couple of years now, but with his 15 % ownership in the Lord Chamberlain’s Men and bills to pay on the new Globe Theatre and back in Stratford, he and the company needed a success. Elizabethan audiences had met the wild, undisciplined Prince Hal but now it was time for them to meet King Henry V as he embarked on a quest to reunite all of England on his conquests and trials on the battlefields of France.

“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!”

We start with political maneuverings. The Church big boys in the persons of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely seemed worried about a bill that the new king King Henry V has put forward which would see the government appropriate considerable church property and assets. The Church is portrayed as filled with greed and corruption. What’s more, these two heads of the Church in England seem to resent Henry V using money to fund almshouses, feed the poor and supplement his treasury for other projects. However, they do admire the new King Henry V and marvel at the great changes that have happened to him since his father’s death. Still, they are not willing to give up their riches. They come up with a plan to encourage the king to pursue a war against France and even advocate the Church contribute a considerable sum towards the army. They mention that King Henry V is about to meet with a French delegation and they hope that these dealings play right into their hands.

The audience now sees for the first time since his brief crowning at the end of ‘Henry IV Part 2’, the new King Henry V. Before meeting with the French delegation, King Henry V talks to the Archbishop of Canterbury and asks him to explain what claims he, King Henry V, might have to the throne of France. This speech is as much to remind the audience of the complicated arguments for the English throne’s claim on France. In short, Canterbury explains that through a French law, known as the Salic Law, a throne cannot be inherited through the maternal line. He explains that the law itself is ridiculous since Salique was originally part of Germany anyway. English kings can inherit the crown on the maternal side. Under English law, because King Henry V’s great-great-grandmother was the French princess and the daughter of the King of France, the Archbishop of Canterbury explains that King Henry V has a claim to parts of France but that he must fight for it.

Everyone seems to want King Henry to invade but he is worried that when he leaves for France, rebels in Scotland would then cross the border and England would be left defenseless. Canterbury uses religious analogies but finally puts forward that three quarters of the army should be left to defend England and only a quarter should go with Henry to invade France. King Henry V agrees.

The French ambassadors are invited in, to represent the concerns of and bring a gift from the Dauphin (the heir to the French throne and the son of the king of France). The Dauphin insults King Henry V and says, “…you savour too much of your youth…” inferring that Henry is too young to rule and act responsibly. The Dauphin compounds these insults through giving King Henry V a gift of a treasure box filled with tennis balls. Although deeply offended, King Henry V thanks the Dauphin for his gift and pleasantness and rises to the challenge and maintains that he will conquer France and “… strike the Dauphin blind to look on us.” King Henry V ends with his own message and warnings for the Dauphin:

“His jest will savour but of shallow wit,

When thousands weep more than did laugh at it.”

Henry V Act Two – “Now all the youth of England are on fire…”

Act Two of ‘Henry V’ starts with a stirring speech by The Chorus which informs the audience of King Henry V’s preparations for his invasion of France but also warns us of the corrupt traitors amongst the English noblemen including the Earl of Cambridge, the Lord Scrope of Masham and Sir Thomas Grey of Northumberland who plan to kill King Henry V before he leaves English soil.

We leave The Chorus and the world of devious and shifty nobles and head to a tavern in Eastcheap where Lieutenant Bardolph and Corporal Nim, who were once low-life crooks prepare to leave for France. They get into an argument with Pistol who has married the Hostess of the Boar Head Tavern, Mistress Quickly. Suddenly, news arrives that their old friend, Falstaff, is sick and presumed to be dying in bed. Elizabethan audiences would remember Falstaff with fondness from ‘Henry IV Part 1’, ‘Henry IV Part 2’ and 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' as the incorrigible low life companion of the wayward Prince Hal (later to become King Henry V). The audience would have been waiting for him to appear, so when they hear that he is sick and the Hostess goes off to tend to him, the audience would feel anticipation. But Shakespeare knows to hold onto this anticipation a little longer and we only hear that these men believe that King Henry V is the cause of Falstaff’s demise into a near death state and the audience is left anxiously wondering whether the legendary Falstaff will appear in this play after all.

Back in Southampton, King Henry V has, unbeknown to Cambridge, Scrope, and Grey, discovered their treacherous plans. The King cleverly tells the traitors that he is thinking of releasing a drunkard who he has had arrested the previous day for speaking ill of him the King and asks their advice. They advise that the man should be fully punished. Henry frees the man and reveals to the traitors that he knows their plans and has written evidence. They ask for his regal mercy but Henry points out that they had moments before said that he should show no mercy for the drunkard. Henry can barely believe that they would sell his life for money—especially Scrope, who has been a close friend—and orders the trio to be executed. Taking the discovery of the traitors as a sign that God is on the side of the English, Henry orders his fleet to sail for France at last. But before, we leave for France, we switch once more back to Pistol, Bardolph, Nim, and the Hostess back in London where the Hostess reports on the last moments of Falstaff before his death. The audience would sigh at this point. Falstaff will not appear in this play. His end is revealed where he cursed the two loves (or indulgences) of his life, wine and women. These men then bid the Mistress goodbye as they leave to war in France.

We move onto France, where the King of France, King Charles VI, meets with the Dauphin and his advisers to contemplate his next move. The Dauphin derides King Henry V as youthful and unfocused but some in the French camp have more convinced of the power and determination of Henry.

A message arrives from King Henry V (who has newly arrived in France) with Exeter and King Henry V is offering no concessions and forcefully demands that the French crown and all lands and titles be given to him or he and his English army will take it by force. Charles is confronted by this and announces that he will give his answer to King Henry V in the morning:

“A night is but small breath and little pause

To answer matters of this consequence.”

Henry V Act Three – “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead.”

If we were in any doubt of the genius that Shakespeare is by 1599, then the beginning of Act 3 of ‘Henry V’ should put all doubts to rest. The wonderfully poetic descriptions of the English sailing to France are contrasted well with the descriptions of battles by The Chorus. We hear that King Henry V will accept no compromise or offers including the King of France’s off of his own daughter Catherine in marriage.

In the sea of the siege, at the foot of the walls of Harfleur, King Henry V ties to rally his troops:

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;

Or close the wall up with our English dead.

In peace there's nothing so becomes a man

As modest stillness and humility:

But when the blast of war blows in our ears,

Then imitate the action of the tiger…”

This speech is famous and well-known and when I read it again after a number of years, it still has a striking impact. It is a rallying speech to soldiers and also a plea. Yes, it does glorify war and is terrifying because even a pacifist like me feels something primordial rise within the heart. It is invested with imagery, aided by alliteration and mangled with metaphors of war’s wild animals fueled with ferocity of firey feeling:

“Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,

Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;

Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;

Let pry through the portage of the head

Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it

As fearfully as doth a galled rock

O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,

Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean…”

Patriotism paints with a broad brush as it is exploited through the mention of long gone battles, yet a neo-egalitarianism is also alluded to as King Henry rallies his underdogs on to greater heights, “For there is none of you so mean and base / That hath not noble lustre in your eyes…” (III.i.29–30).

It is ironic that this stirring speech is followed by the reaction of the common soldiers who are under-whelmed by the speech and hanker after the confines of a warm and safe alehouse in London. A Welsh officer, Fluellen declares the cowards and they go off. The Boy stays and sees that to become a man he must leave the company of such lowlifes and he decides that he must look for a better job and better company.

Tunnels are being dug under the walls and we begin a wonderful scene where an Englishman, A Scotsman, An Irishman and a Welshman discuss the tactics of war, Accents ascend and lingo lingers and they show unusual admiration for one another and their cultural traits.

Trumpets sound and before the gates of Harfleur, King Henry V tires to shock and reason the inhabitants of Harfleur into surrender. The imagery and threats are brutal, “… [t]he blind and bloody soldier with foul hand / Defil the locks of your still-shrieking daughters…[y]our naked infants spitted upon pikes…” Henry reminds the Governor of Harfleur that his men are now savage killing machines. The Governor of Harfleur opens the gates and surrenders. Henry then announces his intention to march on the very next day to Calais.

I have often thought that the character of the French Princess Catherine, daughter of King Charles was very tokenistic in this play but now reading the play within the sequence of the canon, I get the sense of her pivotal function in the rhythm of the whole piece. She acts not only as a counterpoint to the battles of the play but also as a rhythmic counterpoint to Henry himself. We hear her speaking almost entirely in French in this scene, where she tries to get Alice, her maid who has spent some time in England, to teach her the English language. This scene is comic but ironic, since it is Catherine who realizes that she must learn to communicate to the English king to save her country. They start by learning the body parts. The scene and the language lesson reach a climax when Catherine mispronounces English words such that they sound like French swear words. She frustratedly concludes that English is a poor, corrupt, fat and shameful or obscene language:

“…de son mauvais, corruptible, gros, et impudique…”

Meanwhile, the arrogance and self-assuredness of the Dauphin and many men of the French court is disappearing. They cannot fathom where the tenacity and ferocity has come from in Henry V and his forces. A Constable asks and declaims what the nobles cannot:

“Dieu de batailles! where have they this mettle?

Is not their climate foggy, raw and dull…

And shall our quick blood, spirited with wine,

Seem frosty?”

The nobles even are derided by their own wives. They are shown to be petty and contemptuousness of the English only serves to ironically mock the French themselves and make the audience more intent on seeing an English victory. Ever the pragmatist, King Charles says that he will meet this English force with even greater numbers and he names twenty noblemen and asks them to conscript the numbers needed to defeat the English quickly:

“Now forth, lord constable and princes all,

And quickly bring us word of England's fall.”

We switch back to the English, but not initially to the King and nobles but to Old Pistol the Welsh Captain Fluellen who is with the English Captain Gower. Pistol begs for Fluellen to plea to the Duke of Exeter for the life of Bardolph who has been caught looting a local French town in direct contravention of King Henry V’s order. This crime carries the death penalty. Fluellen refuses seeing that discipline and order is what is most needed at these times. Gower says that he recognizes Pistol from back in England and that he pretends more to be the true soldier when he is back at home than on a real battlefield. Fluellen says that he will keep an eye out for Pistol in future.

King Henry V arrives and asks Fluellen how the battle went and how many men were lost. Fluellen replies that thanks to the Duke of Exeter, the bridge was taken with no loss of British lives except for the looter Bardolph who has been sentenced to death for his crime. We know that King Henry recognizes Bardolph’s name from his earlier misdirected youth yet his approval for the death sentence for Bardolph shows that discipline and the honourable conduct of his troops is more important than old friendships.

A message arrives from the French telling King Henry V that King Charles and the French are coming to punish Henry and his forces and the messenger Montjoy asks for King Henry’s reply and his ransom. Henry replies:

“My people are with sickness much enfeebled,

My numbers lessened…

Go therefore, tell thy master here I am;

My ransom is this frail and worthless trunk,

My army but a weak and sickly guard…

We shall your tawny ground with your red blood

Discolour: and so Montjoy, fare you well.

The sum of all our answer is but this:

We would not seek a battle, as we are;

Nor, as we are, we say we will not shun it:

So tell your master.”

Act Three ends by switching back to the French nobles on the night before the battle. They discuss horses and the upcoming battle. A messenger enters telling them that the English are camped close, within fifteen hundred paces. As the night grows so does their bravado and mockery of the English and King Henry V himself.

Henry V Act Four - “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers…”

The calm before the storm of the battle is described by The Chorus in the opening of Act 4 of ‘Henry V’:

“From camp to camp through the foul womb of night

The hum of either army stilly sounds,

That the fixed sentinels almost receive

The secret whispers of each other's watch…”

After talking to his brothers Gloucester and Clarence, King Henry V borrows a dirty coat off Sir Thomas Erpingham and he asks to be left alone. In his borrowed cloak, Henry sits around a campfire with the common everyday soldiers. No-one recognizes him and Pistol expounds views on King Henry V and other matters. Then Fluellen and Gower, enter and when the noise gets too loud, Fluellen chatises everyone including the King (whom he doesn’t recognize) for making so much noise so close to enemy lines. Then more common soldiers in the form of John Bates, Alexander Court, and Michael Williams come to the fire and a discussion on the motives and bravery of King Henry V arises. When Henry defends King Henry V (himself even though Williams doesn’t know it), Williams challenges him to a quarrel after the next day's battle and they exchange gloves and decide to meet to fight if they survive the battle in the morning against the French. As the soldiers leave King Henry V contemplates the loneliness of power and responsibility. We can imagine the moment when the actor who first played Henry V (probably Richard Burbage) walks right down the thrust stage (perhaps for the first time) to deliver the inner thoughts and burdens of the great King Henry V:

“Upon the king! let us our lives, our souls,

Our debts, our careful wives,

Our children 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! What infinite heart's-ease

Must kings neglect, that private men enjoy!”

Shakespeare then crosses to the French Camp, where The Constable, Lord Rambures and the Earl of Grandpré, prepare their heavy armour and beautiful horses for battle. They know they have the numbers and the armour to easily win and they deride the decrepit appearance of the small and exhausted English forces. The audience's hearts and hope grow for the English underdogs.

The morning of the Battle of Agincourt dawns and a group of English noblemen realize that they are greatly outnumbered by the French army by five to one. Then King Henry V enters and addresses them all claiming that because they are part of such a small band of men, they will all get a greater share of the honour in the coming battle:

“If we are mark'd to die, we are enow

To do our country loss; and if to live,

The fewer men, the greater share of honour.”

King Henry V then states that any man who does not want to fight should leave. He starts to inspire his men with his final claim that any man who fights beside his king today will be counted today as his brother.

“From this day to the ending of the world,

But we in it shall be remember'd;

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother…”

A final message from the French comes with Montjoy stating that since King Henry V and his troops face certain death in battle that he should surrender and offer a ransom. King Henry V refuses.

It is interesting that after such rousing speeches that the first scenes on the battlefield are comic and involve Pistol attempting to capture a French prisoner. The scene involves Pistol, who cannot speak any French, trying to talk to a Frenchman who doesn’t speak English. The Frenchman who is named Monsieur le Fer is from a noble family and he is convinced that Pistol is a fierce soldier of noble birth. Eventually, The Boy comes along and translates for both of these men. Monsieur le Fer offers money to Pistol if he lets him live. The scene ends with The Boy revealing that even Nim and Bardolph who were hung for stealing had ten times the bravery and courage of Pistol and le Fer.

We hear that the English have won the day (even though they don’t know it yet). The remaining French nobles are finally portrayed as noble soldiers as they decide to fight on rather than face the shame of suicide or surrender.

On the battlefields of Agincourt, the English do not know that they have won since many of the French are fighting to the death. King Henry V is still on the battlefield when he receives reports from Exeter that the Duke of York and the Earl of Suffolk, have died nobly in battle. King Henry V sheds tears for his comrades in arms. Battle cries rise up and Henry, thinking that the French are rallying, orders all his men to kill their prisoners. The gravity of this moment fills an audience with mixed feelings of horror and admiration for Henry’s boldness.

“The French have reinforced their scatter'd men:

Then every soldier kill his prisoners:

Give the word through.”

Horror is answered by horror and we hear that some French soldiers have struck the English encampment, looted and mercilessly slaughtered all the young boys and pages left in the camp. Fluellen and Gower are outraged and see King Henry’s killing of prisoners as validated as the atrocities build. King Henry V enters and once again commands that all the French prisoners be killed. Then the French messenger Montjoy arrives and brings a request from the king of France that the defeated French be allowed to bury their dead. King Henry V praises God for the English’s victory on the fields of Agincourt.

Then Shakespeare shifts the action to a lighter note when Henry seeing the soldier Williams, with whom he argued the night before and exchanged gloves to signal a challenge, and Henry decides to play a practical joke on Williams. King Henry V gives Williams’s glove of challenge to Fluellen telling him to openly display it claiming that it came from a French nobleman. When Williams sees his own glove on Fluellen, he believes that Fluellen is the man who he challenged and verbally battled with the night before. Fluellen thinks that Williams is a French nobleman and a traitor and tries to arrest him. Then King Henry V enters and reveals that it was he who argued with Williams the night before and accepted his challenge and his glove. Williams apologizes and says that he would never have picked a quarrel with the king if he hadn’t been in disguise. King Henry V fills Williams’ glove with coins to reward his bravery and tenacity.

A Herald and Exeter enter to announce the battle casualties. Although it seems astounding, Shakespeare reveals what seems to been officially reported as the casualties of the Battle of Agincourt - ten thousand Frenchmen killed and only twenty-nine Englishmen. King Henry V praises God again for their victory and directs his men to proceed with humility into the local village. Recognizing their extraordinary good luck, the Englishmen give praise to God. Henry orders his men to proceed to the captured village, but without any bragging.

“Come, go we in procession to the village.

And be it death proclaimed through our host

To boast of this or take the praise from God

Which is his only.”

Henry V Act Five and Epilogue- “This star of England: Fortune made his sword…”

The Chorus re-enters and tells about the journey home for King Henry V and the triumphant welcome he gets on his return to London. King Henry V is shown to be truly humble and he dispenses with the usual tradition of a victory parade.

Meanwhile, Fluellen and Gower are still at the French base of the English forces. Fluellen still wears a leek in his hat because:

“Pistol... come to me and prings me pread and salt yesterday,

look you, and bid me eat my leek: it was in place

where I could not breed no contention with him; but

I will be so bold as to wear it in my cap till I see

him once again, and then I will tell him a little

piece of my desires.”

Soon after that, Pistol enters and Fluellen beats him until Pistol concedes and agrees to eat Fluellen’s leek himself. When Fluellen leaves, Pistol proclaims that he will get Fluellen back but Gower states that Pistol should not have mocked Fluellen in the first place. After Gower leaves, we hear that Pistol’s wife has died of syphilis and that Pistol has no home and will turn back to a life of crime when he returns to England. “

“To England will I steal, and there I'll steal:

And patches will I get unto these cudgell'd scars,

And swear I got them in the Gallia wars.”

As Pistol prepares to go back to England, King Henry V arrives back in France. He comes to Charles VI of France and his queen, Isabel’s palace to negotiate his demands which start with his marriage to Charles VI daughter princess Catherine. While the French royalty and the English noblemen go off to negotiate the peace settlement, King Henry V and Princess Catherine are left alone (well almost alone with the exception of Catherine’s maid Alice who acts as the occasional translator). After the high verse of the Agincourt battle scenes, Henry appears awkward in attempting to court Catherine and this awkwardness along with the language barriers makes the scene touching but comic. The scene ends in limbo when Catherine finally points out that although she would agree, the decision is finally up to her father.

When the others return, it seems like all conditions have been agreed upon and King Henry finally asks King Charles VI:

“I pray you then, in love and dear alliance,

Let that one article rank with the rest;

And thereupon give me your daughter.”

The French king agrees and the scene ends with exaltation and the start of preparations for the royal wedding.

This play ends with an Epilogue, which is forthright but not as somber as the Epilogue audiences encountered a few years before with Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. It is essentially a post-script which tells of the success of the marriage and the birth of King Henry V and Queen Catherine’s son Henry, who later becomes King Henry VI of England. The final words are a humble stage apology id offered, which undoubtedly was answered in the thunder of the applause of the two thousand strong audience in the Globe:

“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: Fortune made his sword;

By which the world's best garden be achieved,

And of it left his son imperial lord.

Henry the Sixth, in infant bands crown'd King

Of France and England, did this king succeed;

Whose state so many had the managing,

That they lost France and made his England bleed:

Which oft our stage hath shown; and, for their sake,

In your fair minds let this acceptance take.”

Shakespeare returns next in 'Julius Caesar'...

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