Page 1623 - Shakespeare - Vol. 2

ACT II IT

Flourish. Enter Chorus.

CHORUS
Now all the youth of England are on fire,

And silken dalliance in the wardrobe lies.
Now thrive the armourers, and honour’s thought
Reigns solely in the breast of every man.

They sell the pasture now to buy the horse, [5]
Following the mirror of all Christian kings,
With wingèd heels, as English Mercuries.
For now sits Expectation in the air,
And hides a sword from hilts unto the point

With crowns imperial, crowns and coronets, [10]
Promised to Harry and his followers.
The French, advis’d by good intelligence

Of this most dreadful preparation,
Shake in their fear, and with pale policy
Seek to divert the English purposes. [15]
O England! model to thy inward greatness,
Like little body with a mighty heart,

What might’st thou do, that honour would thee do,
Were all thy children kind and natural!
But see, thy fault France hath in thee found out, [20]

A nest of hollow bosoms, which he fills
With treacherous crowns; and three corrupted men −
One, Richard Earl of Cambridge, and the second,
Henry Lord Scrope of Masham, and the third,
Sir Thomas Grey, knight, of Northumberland − [25]

Have, for the gilt of France − O guilt indeed!
Confirm’d conspiracy with fearful France;
And by their hands this grace of kings must die,

If hell and treason hold their promises,
Ere he take ship for France, and in Southampton. [30]