KING HENRY.
Stoop then and set your knee against my foot;
And in reguerdon of that duty done
I girt thee with the valiant sword of York.
Rise, Richard, like a true Plantagenet,
And rise created princely Duke of York.
PLANTAGENET.
And so thrive Richard as thy foes may fall!
And as my duty springs, so perish they
That grudge one thought against your Majesty!
ALL.
Welcome, high prince, the mighty Duke of York!
SOMERSET.
[Aside.] Perish, base prince, ignoble Duke of York!
GLOUCESTER.
Now will it best avail your Majesty
To cross the seas and to be crown’d in France.
The presence of a king engenders love
Amongst his subjects and his loyal friends,
As it disanimates his enemies.
KING HENRY.
When Gloucester says the word, King Henry goes;
For friendly counsel cuts off many foes.
GLOUCESTER.
Your ships already are in readiness.
[Sennet. Flourish. Exeunt all but Exeter.]
EXETER.
Ay, we may march in England or in France,
Not seeing what is likely to ensue.
This late dissension grown betwixt the peers
Burns under feigned ashes of forged love,
And will at last break out into a flame;
As festered members rot but by degree
Till bones and flesh and sinews fall away,
So will this base and envious discord breed.
And now I fear that fatal prophecy
Which in the time of Henry named the Fifth
Was in the mouth of every sucking babe:
That Henry born at Monmouth should win all,
And Henry born at Windsor lose all,
Which is so plain that Exeter doth wish
His days may finish ere that hapless time.
[Exit.]