ACT III.
Scene I. Westminster. The palace.
Enter the King in his nightgown, with a Page.[3811]
King. Go call the Earls of Surrey and of Warwick;
But, ere they come, bid them o'er-read these letters,
And well consider of them: make good speed. [Exit Page.[3812]
How many thousand of my poorest subjects[3813]
Are at this hour asleep! O sleep, O gentle sleep,[3814]5
Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee,
That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down,
And steep my senses in forgetfulness?
Why rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs,
Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee,[3815]10
And hush'd with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber,[3816]
Than in the perfumed chambers of the great,
Under the canopies of costly state,[3817]
And lull'd with sound of sweetest melody?[3818]
O thou dull god, why liest thou with the vile15
In loathsome beds, and leavest the kingly couch
A watch-case or a common 'larum-bell?[3819]
Wilt thou upon the high and giddy mast[3820]
Seal up the ship-boy's eyes, and rock his brains
In cradle of the rude imperious surge,20
And in the visitation of the winds,
Who take the ruffian billows by the top,[3821]
Curling their monstrous heads and hanging them
With deafening clamour in the slippery clouds,[3822]
That, with the hurly, death itself awakes?25
Canst thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose[3823]
To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude;[3824]
And in the calmest and most stillest night,[3825]
With all appliances and means to boot,
Deny it to a king? Then happy low, lie down![3826]30
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.
Enter Warwick and Surrey.[3827]
War. Many good morrows to your majesty![3828]
King. Is it good morrow, lords?[3829]
War. 'Tis one o'clock, and past.
King. Why, then, good morrow to you all, my lords.[3830]35
Have you read o'er the letters that I sent you?[3831]
War. We have, my liege.