Henry V – Act 3 Scene 3

KING HENRY V

How yet resolves the governor of the town?

What has the governor of the town decided?

This is the latest parle we will admit;

This is the final truce we will allow;

Therefore to our best mercy give yourselves;

So therefore give yourselves up and surrender;

Or like to men proud of destruction

Or if you are hell-bent on your destruction,

Defy us to our worst: for, as I am a soldier,

Then challenge us to do our worst. This soldier,

A name that in my thoughts becomes me best,

A name that I think suits me very well,

If I begin the battery once again,

If I begin this onslaught once again,

I will not leave the half-achieved Harfleur

I will not leave half-conquered Harfleur till

Till in her ashes she lie buried.

This town lies under ashes of itself.

The gates of mercy shall be all shut up,

The mercy that I’m offering will vanish,

And the fleshed soldier, rough and hard of heart,

And then my soldiers – blooded in, hard-hearted –

In liberty of bloody hand shall range

Will freely let their bloodied hands run rampage

With conscience wide as hell, mowing like grass

Without a conscience, cutting down like grass

Your fresh-fair virgins and your flowering infants.

Your lovely virgins and your budding children.

What is it then to me, if impious war,

Why should I care if this ungodly war

Arrayed in flames like to the prince of fiends,

Comes dressed in flames, appearing like the devil,

Do, with his smirched complexion, all fell feats

And, with a blackened face, commits cruel actions

Enlinked to waste and desolation?

That lead to your destruction and despair?

What is't to me, when you yourselves are cause,

Why should I care when you’ve caused this yourselves

If your pure maidens fall into the hand

And you have let your virgins be mishandled

Of hot and forcing violation?

By angry men, then violently raped?

What rein can hold licentious wickedness

Who can rein in mad, lustful men, unleashed

When down the hill he holds his fierce career?

And charging down a hill, like rampant horses?

We may as bootless spend our vain command

We’d have as much success issuing orders

Upon the enraged soldiers in their spoil

To angry soldiers ransacking the town

As send precepts to the Leviathan

As asking for the monster of the deep

To come ashore. Therefore, you men of Harfleur,

To come ashore. And so, you men of Harfleur,

Take pity of your town and of your people,

Take pity on your town and on your people,

Whiles yet my soldiers are in my command;

While I’ve still got my troops in my command;

Whiles yet the cool and temperate wind of grace

While mercy that I’m offering, like calm wind,

O'erblows the filthy and contagious clouds

Is blowing darkened, dangerous clouds away

Of heady murder, spoil and villany.

That would unleash their violence and murder.

If not, why, in a moment look to see

But if you don’t, soon you are going to see

The blind and bloody soldier with foul hand

The filthy hands of blind and blooded soldiers

Defile the locks of your shrill-shrieking daughters;

Grab all your screaming daughters by the hair;

Your fathers taken by the silver beards,

Your fathers grabbed and dragged by their grey beards

And their most reverend heads dashed to the walls,

And their respected heads smashed on the walls;

Your naked infants spitted upon pikes,

Your naked babies skewered on a spike,

Whiles the mad mothers with their howls confused

While mothers howl in fury and in heartbreak

Do break the clouds, as did the wives of Jewry

And cry to heaven, like the Jewish wives did

At Herod's bloody-hunting slaughtermen.

When Herod ordered all male children killed.

What say you? Will you yield, and this avoid,

So, tell me: will you give in to avoid this,

Or, guilty in defence, be thus destroyed?

Or be the guilty ones who have destroyed this?

GOVERNOR

Our expectation hath this day an end:

Our hope of rescue has today been ended:

The Dauphin, whom of succours we entreated,

The Dauphin, whom we begged to come to help us,

Returns us that his powers are yet not ready

Replied his army isn’t yet prepared

To raise so great a siege. Therefore, great king,

To fight a siege this large. And so, great king,

We yield our town and lives to thy soft mercy.

We hand our town and lives to your kind mercy.

Enter our gates; dispose of us and ours;

Enter our gates, and treat us as you wish,

For we no longer are defensible.

For we cannot defend ourselves hereafter.

KING HENRY V

Open your gates. Come, uncle Exeter,

Open your gates. Come, Uncle Exeter,

Go you and enter Harfleur; there remain,

Go enter Harfleur, where you shall remain

And fortify it strongly 'gainst the French:

And fortify it, keeping out the French.

Use mercy to them all. For us, dear uncle,

Be merciful to these folk. As for us,

The winter coming on and sickness growing

The winter’s coming, bringing with it sickness

Upon our soldiers, we will retire to Calais.

Affecting soldiers, so we’ll go to Calais.

To-night in Harfleur we will be your guest;

In Harfleur, as your guests, tonight we’ll stay,

To-morrow for the march are we addrest.

Then start our marching at the break of day.