ACT 2
Henry V Act 2, Scene 3: Retold in Modern English Verse
The Hostess tells of Falstaff’s death
Falstaff’s old companions gather before the tavern to mourn him. The Hostess describes his end – fumbling with the sheets, playing with flowers, babbling of green fields – in one of the most tender comic speeches Shakespeare ever wrote. Then Pistol rallies the survivors with brisk, mercenary maxims, and they set off for France to profit from the war.
Characters appearing: Pistol | Hostess | Nym | Bardolph | Boy
Key themes: Class and Brotherhood | Kingship and Leadership
LONDON. BEFORE A TAVERN.
[ENTER PISTOL, HOSTESS, NYM, BARDOLPH, AND BOY]
HOSTESS
Prithee, honey-sweet husband, let me bring thee to Staines.
Please, sweet husband, let me accompany you to Staines.
PISTOL
No; for my manly heart doth yearn.
No, for my manly heart is grieving.
Bardolph, be blithe: Nym, rouse thy vaunting veins:
Bardolph, be happy. Nym, arouse your blood.
Boy, bristle thy courage up; for Falstaff he is dead,
Boy, fire up your courage, for Falstaff now is dead,
And we must earn therefore.
And we must earn our keep without his help.
BARDOLPH
Would I were with him, wheresome'er he is, either in
I wish I was with him, wherever he is, either in
heaven or in hell!
heaven or in hell!
HOSTESS
Nay, sure, he's not in hell: he's in Arthur's
I’m sure he’s not in hell: he’s in Arthur’s – I mean Abraham’s –
bosom, if ever man went to Arthur's bosom.
bosom, if ever a man went to Arthur’s – Abraham’s – bosom.
A' made a finer end and went away an it had been any
He died peacefully and departed as if he was a
christom child; a' parted even just between twelve
newly baptised child. He died somewhere between twelve
and one, even at the turning o' the tide: for after
and one, just as the tide was turning. Then after
I saw him fumble with the sheets and play with
I saw him fumbling with the sheets, pretending he was playing
flowers and smile upon his fingers' ends, I knew
with flowers, smiling as he looked at his fingertips, I knew
there was but one way; for his nose was as sharp as
that he was dying; for his face was gaunt, his nose drawn out
a pen, and a' babbled of green fields. 'How now,
like a pen, and he mumbled about green fields. ‘How are you,
sir John!' quoth I. 'What, man! Be o' good
sir John!’ I said. ‘Come on, man! Cheer yourself
cheer.' So a' cried out 'God, God, God!' three or
up.’ Then he shouted, ‘God, God, God!’ three or
four times. Now I, to comfort him, bid him a'
four times. Then, to comfort him, I told him that he
should not think of God; I hoped there was no need
shouldn’t be thinking about God; I hoped there was no need
to trouble himself with any such thoughts yet. So
for him to bother himself by thinking of God. So
a' bade me lay more clothes on his feet: I put my
he asked me to lay more blankets over his feet: I put my
hand into the bed and felt them, and they were as
hand into his bed and felt them, and they were
cold as any stone; then I felt to his knees, and
stone cold; then I felt his knees, and
they were as cold as any stone, and so upward and
they were stone cold, and so I continued moving upwards
upward, and all was as cold as any stone.
and his whole body was stone cold.
NYM
They say he cried out of sack.
They say he lambasted sweet wine.
HOSTESS
Ay, that a' did.
Yes, that’s what he did.
BARDOLPH
And of women.
And women.
HOSTESS
Nay, that a' did not.
No, he didn’t do that.
BOY
Yes, that a' did; and said they were devils incarnate.
Yes, he did; and he said they were devils incarnate.
HOSTESS
A' could never abide carnation; 'twas a colour he
He always despised pink; it was a colour he
never liked.
never liked.
BOY
A' said once, the devil would have him about women.
He once said that his lechery would be his downfall.
HOSTESS
A' did in some sort, indeed, handle women; but then
He did in some ways act like a woman’s man; but then
he was rheumatic, and talked of the whore of Babylon.
he grew sick and started talking about the whore of Babylon.
BOY
Do you not remember, a' saw a flea stick upon
Don’t you remember, he saw a flea get stuck on
Bardolph's nose, and a' said it was a black soul
Bardolph’s nose, and he said it was a black soul
burning in hell-fire?
burning in hell?
BARDOLPH
Well, the fuel is gone that maintained that fire:
Well, the source of all those jokes is gone now:
that's all the riches I got in his service.
and that’s all I ever got out of serving him.
NYM
Shall we shog? The king will be gone from Southampton.
Shall we get going? The king will have left Southampton.
PISTOL
Come, let's away. My love, give me thy lips.
Come on, let’s go. My love, give me your lips.
Look to my chattels and my movables:
Look after my belongings and possessions.
Let senses rule; the word is 'Pitch and Pay:'
Let reason guide you; get paid before you work.
Trust none;
Trust no one,
For oaths are straws, men's faiths are wafer-cakes,
Commitment is as weak as straws or wafers,
And hold-fast is the only dog, my duck:
And only trust yourself, my dear.
Therefore, Caveto be thy counsellor.
And so let caution be the thing that guides you.
Go, clear thy crystals. Yoke-fellows in arms,
So, dry your eyes. My comrades, joined together,
Let us to France; like horse-leeches, my boys,
Let’s go to France, like parasitic leeches
To suck, to suck, the very blood to suck!
To suck their blood, to suck and suck their blood!
BOY
And that's but unwholesome food they say.
They say that food is not very nutritious.
PISTOL
Touch her soft mouth, and march.
Kiss her soft mouth, and let’s leave in a march.
BARDOLPH
Farewell, hostess.
Goodbye, hostess.
[Kissing her]
NYM
I cannot kiss, that is the humour of it; but, adieu.
I cannot kiss, that’s just how it is; but, goodbye.
PISTOL
Let housewifery appear: keep close, I thee command.
Go do your housework: stay inside, I tell you.
HOSTESS
Farewell; adieu.
So long, farewell.
[EXEUNT]
