King Henry IV, Part I
ACT IV SCENE IV | York. The Archbishop’s palace. | |
[Enter the ARCHBISHOP OF YORK and SIR MICHAEL] | ||
ARCHBISHOP OF YORK | Hie, good Sir Michael; bear this sealed brief | |
With winged haste to the lord marshal; | ||
This to my cousin Scroop, and all the rest | ||
To whom they are directed. If you knew | ||
How much they do to import, you would make haste. | 5 | |
SIR MICHAEL | My good lord, | |
I guess their tenor. | ||
ARCHBISHOP OF YORK | Like enough you do. | |
To-morrow, good Sir Michael, is a day | ||
Wherein the fortune of ten thousand men | 10 | |
Must bide the touch; for, sir, at Shrewsbury, | ||
As I am truly given to understand, | ||
The king with mighty and quick-raised power | ||
Meets with Lord Harry: and, I fear, Sir Michael, | ||
What with the sickness of Northumberland, | 15 | |
Whose power was in the first proportion, | ||
And what with Owen Glendower’s absence thence, | ||
Who with them was a rated sinew too | ||
And comes not in, o’er-ruled by prophecies, | ||
I fear the power of Percy is too weak | 20 | |
To wage an instant trial with the king. | ||
SIR MICHAEL | Why, my good lord, you need not fear; | |
There is Douglas and Lord Mortimer. | ||
ARCHBISHOP OF YORK | No, Mortimer is not there. | |
SIR MICHAEL | But there is Mordake, Vernon, Lord Harry Percy, | 25 |
And there is my Lord of Worcester and a head | ||
Of gallant warriors, noble gentlemen. | ||
ARCHBISHOP OF YORK | And so there is: but yet the king hath drawn | |
The special head of all the land together: | ||
The Prince of Wales, Lord John of Lancaster, | 30 | |
The noble Westmoreland and warlike Blunt; | ||
And moe corrivals and dear men | ||
Of estimation and command in arms. | ||
SIR MICHAEL | Doubt not, my lord, they shall be well opposed. | |
ARCHBISHOP OF YORK | I hope no less, yet needful ’tis to fear; | 35 |
And, to prevent the worst, Sir Michael, speed: | ||
For if Lord Percy thrive not, ere the king | ||
Dismiss his power, he means to visit us, | ||
For he hath heard of our confederacy, | ||
And ’tis but wisdom to make strong against him: | 40 | |
Therefore make haste. I must go write again | ||
To other friends; and so farewell, Sir Michael. | ||
[Exeunt] |
Continue to Henry IV, Part I, Act 5, Scene 1