Page:Henry IV Part 2 (1921) Yale.djvu/33

King Henry the Fourth, I. iii

Arch. 'Tis very true, Lord Bardolph; for, indeed

It was young Hotspur's case at Shrewsbury.

L. Bard. It was, my lord; who lin'd himself with hope,

Eating the air on promise of supply,

Flattering himself with project of a power

Much smaller than the smallest of his thoughts;

And so, with great imagination

Proper to madmen, led his powers to death,

And winking leap'd into destruction.

Hast. But, by your leave, it never yet did hurt

To lay down likelihoods and forms of hope.

L. Bard. Yes, if this present quality of war,—

Indeed the instant action,—a cause on foot,

Lives so in hope, as in an early spring

We see the appearing buds; which, to prove fruit,

Hope gives not so much warrant as despair

That frosts will bite them. When we mean to build,

We first survey the plot, then draw the model;

And when we see the figure of the house,

Then must we rate the cost of the erection;

Which if we find outweighs ability,

What do we then but draw anew the model

In fewer offices, or at last desist

To build at all? Much more, in this great work,—

Which is almost to pluck a kingdom down

And set another up,—should we survey

The plot of situation and the model,

Consent upon a sure foundation,

Question surveyors, know our own estate,

How able such a work to undergo,

To weigh against his opposite; or else,

 27 lin'd: strengthened

29, 30 project smaller: anticipation of an army actually much smaller

33 winking: with eyes closed

36-41 Cf. n.

43 figure: plan

47 offices: domestic quarters

53-55 Cf. n. 