Page:Henry V (1918) Yale.djvu/90

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
78
The Life of

Enter Erpingham.

Erp. My lord, your nobles, jealous of your absence,
Seek through your camp to find you.

K. Hen.Good old knight,
Collect them all together at my tent:
I'll be before thee.

Erp.I shall do 't, my lord. Exit.

K. Hen. O God of battles! steel my soldiers' hearts; 309
Possess them not with fear; take from them now
The sense of reckoning, if the opposed numbers
Pluck their hearts from them. Not to-day, O Lord, 312
O, not to-day, think not upon the fault
My father made in compassing the crown!
I Richard's body have interr'd anew,
And on it have bestow'd more contrite tears 316
Than from it issu'd forced drops of blood.
Five hundred poor I have in yearly pay,
Who twice a day their wither'd hands hold up
Toward heaven, to pardon blood; and I have built 320
Two chantries, where the sad and solemn priests
Sing still for Richard's soul. More will I do;
Though all that I can do is nothing worth,
Since that my penitence comes after all, 324
Imploring pardon.

Enter Gloucester.

Glo. My liege!

K. Hen. My brother Gloucester's voice! Ay;

312 hearts: courage
314 compassing: obtaining
321 chantries; cf. n.
323-325 Cf. n.