Nobles and courtiers, bring the poets hither
For you can have your way: I that was man
With a man’s heart am now all king again,
Remembering that the seed I come of, although
A hundred kings have sown it and re-sown it,
Has neither trembled nor shrunk backward yet
Because of the hard business of a king.
[Princesses, Ladies, and Courtiers have come in with Pupils, who have halters round their necks.
Speak to your master, beg your life of him,
Show him the halters that are round your necks;