DRAMATIS PERSONE

KING HENRY the Eighth.

CARDINAL WOLSEY.

CARDINAL CAMPEIUS.

CAPUCIUS, Ambassador from Charles V.
CRANMER, Archbishop of Canterbury.
DUKE OF NORFOLK.

DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM,

DUKE OF SUFFOLK.

EARL OF SURREY.
Lord Chamberlain.

Lord Chancellor.

GARDINER, Bishop of Winchester.

Bishop of Lincoln.

LORD ABERGAVENNY.

LORD SANDS.

Sir HENRY GUILDFORD.

Sir THOMAS LOVELL.
Sir ANTHONY DENNY.
Sir NICHOLAS VAUX.
Secretaries to Wolsey.

CROMWELL, Servant to Wolsey.

GRIFFITH, Gentleman Usher to Queen Katharine.

Three other Gentlemen.

Garter King at Arms.

Doctor BUTTS, Physician to the King.

Surveyor to the Duke of Buckingham.

BRANDON, and a Sergeant at Arms.

Door-Keeper of the Council Chamber.
Porter, and his Man.

Page to Gardiner. A Crier.

QUEEN KATHARINE, Wife to King Henry.

ANNE BULLEN, her Maid of Honor, afterwards Queen.

An old Lady, Friend to Anne Bullen.

PATIENCE, Woman to Queen Katharine.

Several Lords and Ladies in the Dumb Shows; Women attending upon the Queen; Spirits, which appear to her; Scribes, Officers, Guards, and other Attendants.

SCENE: Chiefly in London and Westminster; once at Kimbolton.

King Henry the Eighth

PROLOGUE

I

COME no more to make you laugh: things now

That bear a weighty and a serious brow,

Sad, high, and working, full of state and woe,
Such noble scenes as draw the eye to flow,
We now present. Those that can pity, here
May, if they think it well, let fall a tear;
The subject will deserve it: such as give
Their money out of hope they may believe,

May here find truth too: those that come to see
Only a shew or two, and so agree

The play may pass, if they be still and willing,
I'll undertake, may see away their shilling
Richly in two short hours. Only they
That come to hear a merry, bawdy play,
A noise of targets, or to see a fellow
In a long motley coat, guarded with yellow,
Will be deceiv'd; for, gentle hearers, know
To rank our chosen truth with such a shew
As fool and fight is, beside forfeiting

8 Sad, grave. working, moving. (R)

9 May here find truth too. Some see a reference to the alternative title of Henry VIII., viz., All is True. Cf. also ll. 18, 21. (R)

12 shilling. The customary charge for entrance to the best seats. (R)

10

14-16 Seemingly a description of Samuel Rowley's play on the subject of Henry VIII., When you see me, you know me, published in 1605. (R)

16 guarded, trimmed. Cf. Merchant of Venice, II. ii. 164, "a livery, More guarded than his fellows'." (R)

Our own brains, and the opinion that we bring,
To make that only true we now intend,
Will leave us never an understanding friend.
Therefore, for goodness' sake, and as you are known
The first and happiest hearers of the town,
Be sad as we would make ye: think ye see
The very persons of our noble story

As they were living; think you see them great,
And follow'd with the general throng and sweat ·
Of thousand friends; then, in a moment, see
How soon this mightiness meets misery:
And if you can be merry then, I'll say
A man may weep upon his wedding day.

ACT ONE.

SCENE I. London. An Ante-chamber in the Palace.

Enter the Duke of NORFOLK at one door; at the other, the Duke of BUCKINGHAM and the Lord ABERGA

20

30

... the Duke of BUCKINGHAM and the Lord ABERGAVENNY.] This Duke of Norfolk is Thomas Howard, son of the "Jockey of Norfolk" of the last play, who was slain at Bosworth Field, and whose blood was attainted. His honours were however restored in his son, who became Lord Treasurer, Earl Marshal, and Knight of the Garter. This Duke of Buckingham is also the son and heir of the Duke of the last play, whose forfeited honours were of course

Stay'd me a prisoner in my chamber, when
Those suns of glory, those two lights of men,
Met in the vale of Andren.

Nor.

"Twixt Guynes and Arde:

I was then present, saw them salute on horseback;
Beheld them when they lighted, how they clung
In their embracement, as they grew together;
Which had they, what four thron'd ones could have
weigh'd

Such a compounded one?

Buck.

All the whole time

I was my chamber's prisoner.

restored in his son by Henry VII. He was Lord High Constable and a Knight of the Garter. Lord Abergavenny is George Neville, third Baron of that name, (the title and the castle of Abergavenny having been successively held by the Cantelupe, the Hastings, and the Beauchamp families,) and one of the very few noblemen of his time who was neither beheaded himself, nor the son of a beheaded father, nor the father of a beheaded son. His brother, Sir Thomas, however, was compelled to follow the fashion. (w)

(R)

2 saw, i. e. saw each other.

5 Stay'd me. Historically this Duke of Buckingham was present and played an important part,

10

Nor.

Then you lost

The view of earthly glory: men might say

Till this time, pomp was single; but now married
To one above itself. Each following day
Became the next day's master, till the last
Made former wonders it's: to-day the French
All clinquant, all in gold, like heathen gods,
Shone down the English; and to-morrow they
Made Britain, India: every man that stood
Shew'd like a mine. Their dwarfish pages were
As cherubins, all gilt: the madams, too,
Not us'd to toil, did almost sweat to bear
The pride upon them, that their very labour
Was to them as a painting: now this mask
Was cri'd incomparable; and th' ensuing night
Made it a fool and beggar. The two kings,
Equal in lustre, were now best, now worst,
As presence did present them; him in eye,
Still him in praise; and, being present both,
"T was said they saw but one: and no discerner
Durst wag his tongue in censure.

16-18 Each following day, &c. : "Dies diem docet. Every day learned something from the preceding, till the concluding day collected all the splendour of the former shows."-Johnson cited by Rolfe. (R)

The

18 it's. So the folio. meaning is "its own." The use of its is rare in Shakespeare and is not found in the early plays, the older his, both neuter and masculine genitive, taking its place. (R)

19 clinquant [glittering], a descriptive word, derived from the

When these suns

tinkle or gentle clash of metal ornaments.

25 pride, fine clothes. that, so that. Cf. ll. 36 and 38. (R)

26 Was to them as a painting, flushed them with colour. mask, i. e. masque. (R)

30-1 him in eye, Still him in praise. "Johnson quotes Dryden's Two chiefs. So match'd, as each seem'd worthiest when alone."" - Rolfe. (R)

82 saw but one, i. e. both seemed equally magnificent. (R)

83 in censure, in venturing to make a comparison. (R)