No Fear Shakespeare: Henry IV Part 2: Act 2, scene iii

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Enter NORTHUMBERLAND, LADY NORTHUMBERLAND, and LADY PERCY

NORTHUMBERLAND, LADY NORTHUMBERLAND, and LADY PERCY enter.

	NORTHUMBERLAND
	I pray thee, loving wife and gentle daughter,
	Give even way unto my rough affairs.
	Put not you on the visage of the times
	And be, like them, to Percy troublesome.

NORTHUMBERLAND

Please, my loving wife and sweet daughter-in-law, support me in my difficult tasks. Don't let the grimness of these days be reflected in your faces; don't add to Percy's troubles.

	LADY NORTHUMBERLAND
5	I have given over. I will speak no more.
	Do what you will; your wisdom be your guide.

LADY NORTHUMBERLAND

I give up; I won't say any more. Do what you want. Let your wisdom guide you.

	NORTHUMBERLAND
	Alas, sweet wife, my honor is at pawn,
	And, but my going, nothing can redeem it.

NORTHUMBERLAND

For goodness sake, sweet wife, my honor is at stake. Nothing can redeem it except my going.

	LADY PERCY
	O yet, for God's sake, go not to these wars.
10	The time was, father, that you broke your word,
	When you were more endeared to it than now,
	When your own Percy, when my heart's dear Harry,
	Threw many a northward look to see his father
	Bring up his powers; but he did long in vain.
15	Who then persuaded you to stay at home?
	There were two honors lost, yours and your son's.
	For yours, the God of heaven brighten it.
	For his, it stuck upon him as the sun
	In the gray vault of heaven, and by his light
20	Did all the chivalry of England move
	To do brave acts. He was indeed the glass
	Wherein the noble youth did dress themselves.
	He had no legs that practiced not his gait;
	And speaking thick, which nature made his blemish,
25	Became the accents of the valiant;
	For those that could speak low and tardily
	Would turn their own perfection to abuse

LADY PERCY

For God's sake, don't go to these wars! Father-in-law, you once broke your word when you had better reason to keep it than you do now. Your own son Percy—my heart's beloved Harry—looked northward again and again, hoping to see his father coming with an army. But he hoped in vain. Who persuaded you to stay home that time? Two honors were lost in that battle: yours, and your son's. As for yours, I hope God will make it shine again. As for Harry's honor, it clung to him like the sun in a pale blue sky, and by its light every knight in England was moved to act bravely. He was the mirror in which noble youths dressed themselves. All men copied his way of walking, except those who had no legs.

And talking loudly and quickly—the one flaw nature had given him—became the speech pattern for all brave men. Those who spoke softly and slowly would corrupt their proper speech, just to seem more like


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