The Earl Northumberland, and the Lord Bardolph,
With a great power of English and of Scots,
Are by the sheriff of Yorkshire overthrown.
The manner and true order of the fight 100
This packet, please it you, contains at large.
King. And wherefore should these good news make me sick?
Will Fortune never come with both hands full
But write her fair words still in foulest letters? 104
She either gives a stomach and no food;
Such are the poor, in health; or else a feast
And takes away the stomach; such are the rich,
That have abundance and enjoy it not. 108
I should rejoice now at this happy news,
And now my sight fails, and my brain is giddy.
O me! come near me, now I am much ill.
Glo. Comfort, your majesty!
Cla. O my royal father! 112
West. My sovereign lord, cheer up yourself: look up!
War. Be patient, princes: you do know these fits
Are with his highness very ordinary:
Stand from him, give him air; he'll straight be well. 116
Cla. No, no; he cannot long hold out these pangs:
The incessant care and labour of his mind
Hath wrought the mure that should confine it in
So thin, that life looks through and will break out. 120
Glo. The people fear me; for they do observe
Unfather'd heirs and loathly births of nature:
The seasons change their manners, as the year
105 stomach: appetite
119 wrought the mure: worn the wall
121 fear: frighten
122 (Such portents as) creatures born without parents and other monstrosities
123 as: as if
