Act 5, Scene 3

Windsor. A room in the Castle.

[Enter BOLINGBROKE as King, HENRY PERCY, and other LORDS.]
Henry Bolingbroke
2466 Can no man tell me of my unthrifty son?
2467 'Tis full three months since I did see him last.
2468 If any plague hang over us, 'tis he.
2469 I would to God, my lords, he might be found.
2470 Inquire at London, 'mongst the taverns there,
2471 For there, they say, he daily doth frequent
2472 With unrestrained loose companions,
2473 Even such, they say, as stand in narrow lanes
2474 And beat our watch and rob our passengers;
2475 Which he, young wanton and effeminate boy,
2476 Takes on the point of honour to support
2477 So dissolute a crew.
Henry Percy (Hotspur)
2478 My lord, some two days since I saw the prince,
2479 And told him of those triumphs held at Oxford.
Henry Bolingbroke
2480 And what said the gallant?
Henry Percy (Hotspur)
2481 His answer was: he would unto the stews,
2482 And from the common'st creature pluck a glove
2483 And wear it as a favour; and with that
2484 He would unhorse the lustiest challenger.
Henry Bolingbroke
2485 As dissolute as desperate; yet through both
2486 I see some sparks of better hope, which elder years
2487 May happily bring forth. But who comes here?
[Enter AUMERLE.]
Duke of Aumerle
2488 Where is the King?
Henry Bolingbroke
2489 What means our cousin that he stares and looks
2490 So wildly?
Duke of Aumerle
2491 God save your Grace! I do beseech your majesty,
2492 To have some conference with your Grace alone.
Henry Bolingbroke
2493 Withdraw yourselves, and leave us here alone.
[Exeunt HENRY PERCY and LORDS.]
Henry Bolingbroke
2494 What is the matter with our cousin now?
[Kneels.]
Duke of Aumerle
2495 For ever may my knees grow to the earth,
2496 My tongue cleave to my roof within my mouth,
2497 Unless a pardon ere I rise or speak.
Henry Bolingbroke
2498 Intended or committed was this fault?
2499 If on the first, how heinous e'er it be,
2500 To win thy after-love I pardon thee.
Duke of Aumerle
2501 Then give me leave that I may turn the key,
2502 That no man enter till my tale be done.
Henry Bolingbroke
2503 Have thy desire.
[AUMERLE locks the door.]
[Within.]
Duke of York
2504 My liege, beware! look to thyself;
2505 Thou hast a traitor in thy presence there.
[Drawing.]
Henry Bolingbroke
2506 Villain, I'll make thee safe.
Duke of Aumerle
2507 Stay thy revengeful hand; thou hast no cause to fear.
[Within.]
Duke of York
2508 Open the door, secure, foolhardy king:
2509 Shall I, for love, speak treason to thy face?
2510 Open the door, or I will break it open.
[BOLINGBROKE unlocks the door; and afterwards, relocks it.]
[Enter YORK.]
Henry Bolingbroke
2511 What is the matter, uncle? speak;
2512 Recover breath; tell us how near is danger,
2513 That we may arm us to encounter it.
Duke of York
2514 Peruse this writing here, and thou shalt know
2515 The treason that my haste forbids me show.
Duke of Aumerle
2516 Remember, as thou read'st, thy promise pass'd:
2517 I do repent me; read not my name there;
2518 My heart is not confederate with my hand.
Duke of York
2519 It was, villain, ere thy hand did set it down.
2520 I tore it from the traitor's bosom, king;
2521 Fear, and not love, begets his penitence.
2522 Forget to pity him, lest thy pity prove
2523 A serpent that will sting thee to the heart.
Henry Bolingbroke
2524 O heinous, strong, and bold conspiracy!
2525 O loyal father of a treacherous son!
2526 Thou sheer, immaculate, and silver fountain,
2527 From whence this stream through muddy passages
2528 Hath held his current and defil'd himself!
2529 Thy overflow of good converts to bad;
2530 And thy abundant goodness shall excuse
2531 This deadly blot in thy digressing son.
Duke of York
2532 So shall my virtue be his vice's bawd,
2533 And he shall spend mine honour with his shame,
2534 As thriftless sons their scraping fathers' gold.
2535 Mine honour lives when his dishonour dies,
2536 Or my sham'd life in his dishonour lies:
2537 Thou kill'st me in his life; giving him breath,
2538 The traitor lives, the true man's put to death.
[Within.]
Duchess of York
2539 What ho! my liege, for God's sake, let me in.
Henry Bolingbroke
2540 What shrill-voic'd suppliant makes this eager cry?
[Within.]
Duchess of York
2541 A woman, and thine aunt, great king; 'tis I.
2542 Speak with me, pity me, open the door:
2543 A beggar begs that never begg'd before.
Henry Bolingbroke
2544 Our scene is alter'd from a serious thing,
2545 And now chang'd to 'The Beggar and the King.'
2546 My dangerous cousin, let your mother in:
2547 I know she's come to pray for your foul sin.
Duke of York
2548 If thou do pardon, whosoever pray,
2549 More sins for this forgiveness prosper may.
2550 This fester'd joint cut off, the rest rest sound;
2551 This let alone will all the rest confound.
[Enter DUCHESS.]
Duchess of York
2552 O King, believe not this hard-hearted man:
2553 Love, loving not itself, none other can.
Duke of York
2554 Thou frantic woman, what dost thou make here?
2555 Shall thy old dugs once more a traitor rear?
Duchess of York
2556 Sweet York, be patient.
[Kneels.]
Duchess of York
2557 Hear me, gentle liege.
Henry Bolingbroke
2558 Rise up, good aunt.
Duchess of York
2559 Not yet, I thee beseech.
2560 For ever will I walk upon my knees,
2561 And never see day that the happy sees,
2562 Till thou give joy: until thou bid me joy
2563 By pardoning Rutland, my transgressing boy.
Duke of Aumerle
2564 Unto my mother's prayers I bend my knee.
[Kneels.]
Duke of York
2565 Against them both, my true joints bended be.
[Kneels.]
Duke of York
2566 Ill mayst thou thrive, if thou grant any grace!
Duchess of York
2567 Pleads he in earnest? Look upon his face;
2568 His eyes do drop no tears, his prayers are in jest;
2569 His words come from his mouth, ours from our breast;
2570 He prays but faintly and would be denied;
2571 We pray with heart and soul, and all beside:
2572 His weary joints would gladly rise, I know;
2573 Our knees still kneel till to the ground they grow:
2574 His prayers are full of false hypocrisy;
2575 Ours of true zeal and deep integrity.
2576 Our prayers do out-pray his; then let them have
2577 That mercy which true prayer ought to have.
Henry Bolingbroke
2578 Good aunt, stand up.
Duchess of York
2579 Nay, do not say 'stand up';
2580 Say 'pardon' first, and afterwards 'stand up'.
2581 An if I were thy nurse, thy tongue to teach,
2582 'Pardon' should be the first word of thy speech.
2583 I never long'd to hear a word till now;
2584 Say 'pardon,' king; let pity teach thee how:
2585 The word is short, but not so short as sweet;
2586 No word like 'pardon' for kings' mouths so meet.
Duke of York
2587 Speak it in French, King, say 'pardonne moy.'
Duchess of York
2588 Dost thou teach pardon pardon to destroy?
2589 Ah! my sour husband, my hard-hearted lord,,
2590 That sett'st the word itself against the word.
2591 Speak 'pardon' as 'tis current in our land;
2592 The chopping French we do not understand.
2593 Thine eye begins to speak, set thy tongue there,
2594 Or in thy piteous heart plant thou thine ear,
2595 That hearing how our plaints and prayers do pierce,
2596 Pity may move thee pardon to rehearse.
Henry Bolingbroke
2597 Good aunt, stand up.
Duchess of York
2598 I do not sue to stand;
2599 Pardon is all the suit I have in hand.
Henry Bolingbroke
2600 I pardon him, as God shall pardon me.
Duchess of York
2601 O happy vantage of a kneeling knee!
2602 Yet am I sick for fear: speak it again;
2603 Twice saying 'pardon' doth not pardon twain,
Duchess of York
2604 But makes one pardon strong.
Henry Bolingbroke
2605 With all my heart
2606 I pardon him.
Duchess of York
2607 A god on earth thou art.
Henry Bolingbroke
2608 But for our trusty brother-in-law and the abbot,
2609 With all the rest of that consorted crew,
2610 Destruction straight shall dog them at the heels.
2611 Good uncle, help to order several powers
2612 To Oxford, or where'er these traitors are:
2613 They shall not live within this world, I swear,
2614 But I will have them, if I once know where.
2615 Uncle, farewell: and, cousin, adieu:
2616 Your mother well hath pray'd, and prove you true.
Duchess of York
2617 Come, my old son: I pray God make thee new.
[Exeunt.]

Reading mode

Word definitions on hover

Notes

TLN 2466historical topical
“Can no man tell me of my unthrifty son”
The 'unthrifty son' Bolingbroke — now King Henry IV — cannot find is Prince Hal, the future Henry V. The play anticipates what the Henry IV plays dramatize in full: Hal's deliberate self-exile among London tavern companions before his sudden reformation at the throne.
historical Holinshed's Chronicles
TLN 2473archaic vocab
“stand in narrow lanes And beat our watch”
'The watch' was the city's night patrol — men appointed to walk the streets after dark, keep order, and detain troublemakers. 'Beating the watch' meant assaulting these officers, a common offense in the tavern districts and a serious crime.
TLN 2479historical topical
“those triumphs held at Oxford”
'Triumphs' here means jousting tournaments or festive tilts -- celebratory combats held for royal and noble entertainment. In the play this tournament is the cover the conspirators plan to use to assassinate Henry IV at Epiphany 1400, the very plot Aumerle's letter reveals in this scene.
historical Holinshed's Chronicles
TLN 2481archaic vocab
“he would unto the stews, And from the common'st creature pluck a glove”
'The stews' were licensed brothels, originally located in Southwark (just south of the Thames) in a district long notorious for prostitution. A 'common creature' means a prostitute — 'common' in the sense of available to all paying customers. Hal's joke is that he would get his jousting favor not from a noblewoman but from a sex worker.
TLN 2496biblical allusion
“My tongue cleave to my roof within my mouth, Unless a pardon ere I rise or speak”
Aumerle's words echo Psalm 137, the great lament of Israel in exile: 'let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember thee' (Psalm 137:6, Geneva 1599). The psalmist swears an oath by the most terrible imaginable forfeit — loss of speech; Aumerle inverts it to beg pardon before he rises.
TLN 2521rhetorical device
“Fear, and not love, begets his penitence”
York's line is a pithy aphorism -- a sententia -- that functions as a moral verdict: Aumerle is not genuinely sorry; he repents only because he has been caught and fears punishment. The contrast between fear and love as motives for obedience was a familiar ethical distinction in Renaissance political and religious thought.
TLN 2522biblical allusion
“lest thy pity prove A serpent that will sting thee to the heart”
York warns Bolingbroke that pardoning Aumerle will be like nurturing a serpent -- the proverbial creature that conceals deadly malice beneath a trustworthy exterior and turns on the one who shelters it. For Shakespeare's audience the serpent also carried the force of the deceiver of Eden (Genesis 3), the archetypal betrayer working from within a position of trust.
biblical The serpent in the Garden of Eden
TLN 2526rhetorical device
“Thou sheer, immaculate, and silver fountain, From whence this stream through muddy passages Hath held his current and defil'd himself”
Bolingbroke extends a metaphor of a pure spring and a polluted stream across six lines to separate York's honour from Aumerle's treachery: the father is the clear fountain-head; the son is water that has run through filth and been dirtied. The sustained comparison is an example of sustained metaphor or conceit.
TLN 2544cultural context
“Our scene is alter'd from a serious thing, And now chang'd to 'The Beggar and the King.'”
'The Beggar and the King' refers to the popular ballad tradition of King Cophetua and the beggar maid, well known in Shakespeare's England. By naming it, Bolingbroke acknowledges that the Duchess's kneeling entrance has shifted the scene from high political crisis to something more like a comic folk-tale -- a humble supplicant winning a king's mercy through persistence.
TLN 2555archaic vocab
“Shall thy old dugs once more a traitor rear”
'Dugs' are teats or nipples, the word used for the udders of animals or, in contemptuous or frank usage, a woman's breasts in their nursing function. York is brutally asking his wife whether she wants her nursing — her very motherhood — to be the thing that has raised a traitor.
TLN 2587wordplay
“Speak it in French, King, say 'pardonne moy.'”
York is sabotaging his wife's plea with a legal pun. 'Pardonne moy' is the French phrase meaning 'pardon me / excuse me,' but in Elizabethan English law courts it was specifically the stock phrase by which a king's officer declined to comply with a writ — a polite formula of refusal, not a grant. To 'say pardonne moy' was idiomatically to say 'no.'
TLN 2600biblical allusion
“I pardon him, as God shall pardon me”
Bolingbroke's grant of pardon echoes the fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer: 'Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors' (Matthew 6:12, Geneva 1599). The formula makes his own hope of divine forgiveness contingent on the mercy he extends to Aumerle — a quietly charged admission, since Bolingbroke became king through usurpation and Richard's murder will follow.