Thrust in between the paction of these kingdoms,
To make divorce of their incorporate league;
That English may as French, French Englishmen,
Receive each other! God speak this Amen! 396
All. Amen!
K. Hen. Prepare we for our marriage: on which day,
My Lord of Burgundy, we'll take your oath,
And all the peers', for surety of our leagues. 400
Then shall I swear to Kate, and you to me;
And may our oaths well kept and prosperous be!
EPILOGUE
Enter Chorus.
Thus far, with rough and all-unable pen,
Our bending author hath pursu'd the story;
In little room confining mighty men, 3
Mangling by starts the full course of their glory.
Small time, but in that small most greatly liv'd
This star of England: Fortune made his sword,
By which the world's best garden he achiev'd, 7
And of it left his son imperial lord.
Henry the Sixth, in infant bands crown'd King
Of France and England, did this king succeed;
Whose state so many had the managing, 11
That they lost France and made his England bleed:
Which oft our stage hath shown; and, for their sake,
In your fair minds let this acceptance take. 14
FINIS.
393 paction: alliance
402 S. d. Sennet: set of notes on a trumpet
2 bending: i.e., bending beneath the burden of his task
4 starts: a fragmentary representation
14 this: this play
