Henry IV, Part 1 (Folger Shakespeare Library) Read online

  255 hearts fine companions

  257 extempore immediately, improvised without rehearsal 258 argument plot, theme

  260 an if

  267 royal plays on the sense of "coin of greater value than the 'noble' [another type of coin]"

  271 gravity aged respectability

  277 fie expression of reproach or disgust

  282 swear... England swear (falsely) with such conviction that truth fled the country 284 spear-grass tough, coarse grass

  285 beslubber daub, smear

  286 true valiant/honest

  that something

  287 monstrous devices outrageous tricks

  290 taken...manner caught red-handed with the evidence/got into the habit 291 extempore spontaneously (i.e. Bardolph has a permanently red face from drinking fire i.e. a fiery face

  294 meteors...exhalations i.e. red blotches on Bardolph's face; meteors were considered bad omens and thought to result from the sun sucking up poisonous vapors from the earth 297 portend foretell

  298 Hot...purses drunkenness and poverty

  299 Choler anger (choler was one of the four bodily "humors" governing the disposition rightly taken correctly understood (the prince shifts the sense to "justly arrested") 300 halter a noose (Hal puns on

  choler/collar)

  302 bombast padding/high-flown language

  305 an...in the width of an eagle's claw around

  306 alderman's thumb-ring seal ring often worn by wealthy citizens on the thumb 52 grief pain

  310 Percy i.e. Hotspur

  he of Wales i.e. Glendower

  Amamon name of a demon

  311 bastinado beating with a stick

  Lucifer the devil

  cuckold man with an unfaithful wife

  swore...liegeman made the devil swear to be his true servant

  312 Welsh hook hooked staff used as a weapon and lacking the cross shape of a sword (on which oaths were customarily sworn what a plague intensified form of "what"

  320 hit it got it right (the prince plays on the literal sense) 322 mettle spirit (plays on the sense of "metal," i.e. not fluid and liable to run) 323 run flee (plays on sense of "melt")

  325 running i.e. speeding

  326 cuckoo i.e. mindless repeater of words

  330 blue-caps Scottish soldiers, who wore blue hats

  332 you...mackerel i.e. for very little indeed--mackerel was a cheap fish even when fresh; perhaps land was being sold off to raise money for war or because of general economic anxiety about conflict mackerel plays on the sense of "pimp/whore")

  334 like likely

  hot plays on angry/lecherous

  335 buffeting hold strife continues

  maidenheads virginities

  as...hundreds i.e. as cheaply as nails for boots, suggesting that in troubled times women will be raped or forced to sell themselves 338 trading commerce/prostitution/sex

  341 spirit devil (though the word also has connotations of "courage") 342 thrill tremble/go cold

  344 chid scolded

  347 stand for stand in for, play the part of

  348 particulars details

  349 Content I'm content, very well

  351 state throne

  joint-stool low stool made by a joiner ("I took you for a joint stool" was a way of mockingly apologizing for ignoring someone) 353 crown head

  354 fire of grace effects of divine grace

  355 moved affected emotionally, stirred

  357 King Cambyses' vein ranting style; Cambyses was the tyrant in Thomas Preston's Life of Cambyses, King of Persia (1569) 360 Stand aside, nobility presumably those in the tavern are being asked to clear a space 362 Weep...vain Falstaff addresses Mistress Quickly, who is presumably weeping from merriment (puns on "quean," i.e. harlot, whore) 363 O, the father i.e. in God's name; or refers to Falstaff acting the part of the prince's father holds his countenance keeps a straight face, remains in character

  364 convey take away/escort (to a seat

  tristful sorrowful

  365 stop fill up

  366 rare marvelous

  harlotry players knavish actors

  368 pint-pot Falstaff addresses Mistress Quickly with a nickname for one who sells beer 369 tickle-brain potent liquor (here, one who sells it) 371 camomile daisy-like plant with medicinal qualities; it grows rapidly, proverbially more so when trodden on 375 trick habit, feature

  foolish...lip way of hanging your lower lip, regarded as a sign of loose living foolish affected/idiotic/lecherous 376 warrant assure

  377 pointed at i.e. gossiped about/mocked

  378 sun puns on "son"

  micher truant/loiterer/petty thief

  382 pitch black tar-like substance

  383 defile stain, corrupt; Falstaff paraphrases Ecclesiastes 13:1: "Whoso toucheth pitch shall be defiled"

  385 passion sincere emotion, distress

  388 an it like if it please

  389 portly dignified/fat

  corpulent solid, well-built/fat

  390 noble carriage dignified bearing

  392 threescore sixty

  393 lewdly given wickedly, lasciviously inclined

  395 peremptorily determinedly

  397 naughty wicked

  403 rabbit-sucker unweaned baby rabbit

  poulter's hare hare hanging up in a poulterer's shop (which sold fowl and game) 404 set seated (on the mock throne)

  405 Judge, my masters the tavern audience must decide who is the more kingly 409 tickle ye amuse you in the role of

  411 ungracious without grace, blasphemous

  414 tun large barrel especially for wine or beer/ton weight converse associate

  415 trunk container/body

  humours diseases/fluids that determine the disposition: blood, bile, choler, phlegm bolting-hutch large bin used for sifting grain

  416 dropsies diseases which made the body swell with an accumulation of fluid bombard a leather wine jug

  417 cloak-bag large bag for carrying clothes

  Manningtree Essex town with a well-known fair and cattle market

  418 pudding stuffing/sausage

  reverend worthy of respect

  Vice comic character in medieval morality plays who tempted the youthful hero grey gray-haired

  Iniquity sinfulness/allegorical name for morality play character

  419 father i.e. elderly

  Vanity vain, proud, foolish, worthless character

  in years i.e. advanced in years, aged

  Wherein...good what is he good for

  420 neat and cleanly refined and skillful

  421 cunning knowledgeable, skillful

  craft deceit

  422 crafty skillful

  424 take...you enable me to follow you, help me to understand 428 the...know i.e. I recognize the man but not the description 432 saving your reverence begging your pardon/if you will excuse my language 433 whoremaster user of whores, i.e. a wicked man 435 host innkeeper, pub landlord

  436 Pharaoh's lean kine biblical reference to Pharaoh's dream in which the seven lean kine (cattle) devour the seven fat kine, foretelling famine to come (Genesis 41:1-31) 445 monstrous unnaturally large

  watch group of citizens responsible for keeping order in the streets at night 449 The...fiddlestick i.e. here's a fine commotion (proverbial) 454 thou...so another obscure line; probably either "you are basically true essentially made) to your friends, even if some of your recent declarations seem to contradict this" or "you are fundamentally a deceptive playactor (made), despite seeming to be loyal"; some editors adopt a later reading, and substitute "mad" for "made"

  456 deny your major reject your main premise

  deny the refuse entrance to the

  so so be it

  457 become suit, befit

  cart wagon used to transport the condemned man to the gallows

  458 bringing up upbringing, breeding (which entitled him, as a knight, to death by beheading)/being brought before the authorities/being hanged soon willingly/quic
kly

  460 arras large tapestry wall hanging (hung so that there was space behind it to hide walk up above go upstairs

  461 true honest

  462 date is out lease has expired, i.e. it's too late for that 466 hue and cry the noise and shouting of citizens in pursuit of a felon 474 engage pledge

  475 dinnertime i.e. midday

  476 answer thee respond to your charges, account for himself to you 477 withal with

  482 answerable held responsible

  484 morrow morning

  486 oily greasy/cunning, slippery

  Paul's St. Paul's Cathedral, the tallest landmark in London at this time 495 2s 2d two shillings and two pence

  497 ob abbreviation of "obolus," i.e. halfpenny

  498 But merely

  499 intolerable deal excessive quantity

  close hidden, safe

  500 advantage a better opportunity

  503 charge of foot command of an infantry company

  504 twelvescore i.e. 240 yards

  money i.e. that was stolen

  505 advantage interest

  betimes early

  1 promises i.e. of support

  sure secure, reliable

  2 induction beginning

  prosperous hope hope of prospering

  9 Lancaster i.e. King Henry; Glendower deliberately refers to him by his former title (Duke of Lancaster) 15 front forehead, face

  16 cressets torches (literally fires burning in iron baskets), hence meteors (signs of ill omen) 24 as fearing you because it feared you

  29 eruptions outbreaks of disease/natural or meteorological disturbances teeming fertile, breeding

  30 colic severe stomach pains

  32 womb bowels/stomach

  enlargement release

  33 beldam old woman, grandmother

  34 moss-grown overgrown with moss, old

  35 grandam grandmother

  distemperature bodily disturbance

  36 passion suffering, bodily affliction

  38 crossings contradictions

  42 clamorous noisy

  frighted fields fields full of fear

  43 marked me marked me out as

  44 courses events

  45 roll list

  46 the living any person living

  clipped in with surrounded by

  47 chides beats, contends with

  48 read to i.e. instructed, educated

  50 trace follow

  tedious time-consuming, lengthy, complex

  art scholarship/magic, occult arts

  51 hold me pace keep up with me

  deep experiments profound, learned investigations

  52 Welsh i.e. nonsense, gibberish

  55 call summon, invoke (Hotspur shifts the sense to "call out to") vasty deep immense abyss

  60 tell ... devil proverbial

  65 made head advanced

  66 power army

  Wye river on the Welsh-English border

  68 Bootless unsuccessful, without gain (Hotspur plays on the literal sense) 70 agues violent fevers characterized by shaking

  71 right just claim (to land)

  72 threefold order ta'en three-way agreement

  73 archdeacon not identified; chronicle sources suggest Archdeacon of Bangor 74 limits regions

  75 Trent ... hitherto the rivers Trent and Severn up to this point (presumably Mortimer indicates the map) 81 indentures tripartite contracts drawn up in triplicate drawn drawn up

  82 sealed interchangeably each party has a copy signed and sealed by all 83 this ... execute can be done tonight

  87 appointed agreed by

  Shrewsbury town on the Welsh-English border

  88 father father-in-law

  90 space period of time

  93 in my conduct escorted by me

  94 steal slip away

  95 a ... water i.e. many tears

  97 moiety share, portion

  Burton Derbyshire town of Burton-upon-Trent

  99 comes ... in twists sharply into my section; Hotspur objects that the river turns north from Burton and deprives him of the fertile lands of Lincolnshire and part of Nottinghamshire 101 cantle out corner or portion cut off

  103 smug smooth

  105 deep indent sharp angled section, indentation

  106 bottom river valley

  109 he it (the river Trent)

  runs me runs

  110 like advantage the same effect

  111 Gelding depriving, cutting (land) off from

  opposed continent land on the opposite side

  113 charge cost/gunpowder used in blasting

  trench create a trench or channel

  114 cape spur, projecting piece

  122 Let ... Welsh i.e. say it in Welsh (which I don't understand) so that I won't understand (and take offense) 125 being but young since I was young at the time

  framed to composed for

  126 ditty poem, ballad

  lovely beautifully

  127 gave ... ornament adorned the English language with music and poetry/decorated the words with the music/improved the sound of the language with my Welsh accent 128 virtue accomplishment, skill

  132 metre ballad-mongers sellers of predictably rhymed popular ballads 133 brazen brass

  turned i.e. on a lathe (which made an unpleasant grating noise) 134 dry unoiled

  axle-tree axle

  136 Nothing ... as nothing like as much as

  mincing affectedly dainty

  137 nag feeble old horse

  141 in ... bargain when it comes to bargaining

  142 cavil on dispute insistently over

  143 drawn drawn up

  145 haste the writer hurry the writer of the indentures withal at the same time

  146 Break with speak to, inform

  148 doteth on loves very dearly, is infatuated with

  149 cross antagonize

  150 choose help it

  151 mouldwarp mole; according to Holinshed's Chronicles the division of the map was arranged in accordance with a prophecy that imaged Henry IV as a mole and the others as dragon, lion, and wolf 152 dreamer visionary

  Merlin wizard and prophet at the legendary court of King Arthur 154 clip-winged with its wings clipped, i.e. prevented from flying griffin mythical beast, half lion, half eagle

  moulten having moulted, lost its feathers

  155 couching lying down (form of "couchant," a heraldic term) ramping rearing, standing on its hind legs (form of "rampant," a heraldic term) 156 skimble-skamble incoherent, nonsensical

  157 puts ... faith makes me forget or disbelieve my religion 159 reck'ning up listing, recounting

  several various

  160 lackeys servants, followers

  'Hum' noncommittal sound expressing agreement

  'Well, go to' i.e. you don't say, well I never 161 marked him took no notice of

  162 railing complaining, scolding

  164 cheese ... windmill i.e. poor food in uncomfortable, noisy accommodation 165 cates delicacies

  166 summer-house rich man's country house

  167 In faith truly

  168 profited ... concealments proficient in secret arts 171 India i.e. the West Indies

  172 temper temperament, character

  173 scope freedom of expression

  174 do ... humour antagonize him

  176 tempted provoked

  177 taste ... reproof experiencing harm and rebuke

  178 use it oft do it often

  179 wilful-blame blameworthy for being obstinately self-willed 181 besides out of

  182 must needs must

  183 show is evidence of

  blood spirit

  184 dearest grace most valuable advantage

  renders offers

  185 present represent, demonstrate

  186 want of government lack of self-control

  187 opinion arrogance, conceit

  188 haunting being associated with

  189 Loseth causes him to lose
/>   190 parts besides other qualities

  191 Beguiling depriving

  192 schooled instructed/admonished

  be your speed bring you good fortune

  194 spite vexation, regret

  198 aunt Percy more confusion between the two Edmund Mortimers: Lady Percy (Hotspur's wife) was in fact the sister of the Mortimer married to Glendower's daughter and aunt of the younger man 199 in your conduct under your escort

  200 desperate here recklessly determined on this point (her decision not to leave Mortimer) peevish self-willed harlotry obstinate headstrong hussy 202 pretty Welsh i.e. her eloquent tears

  203 swelling heavens i.e. her eyes filled with tears 204 too perfect only too accomplished, fluent

  205 parley language, conversation (perhaps, picking up on soldier, with a sense of "military negotiation") 207 feeling disputation moving, heartfelt discussion/conversation conducted through touch 208 truant negligent student

  210 highly penned elaborately composed

  212 division ornamentation, variation (specifically, passage in which a series of short notes elaborates on a longer passage) 213 melt give way to your feelings, weep

  214 this i.e. Welsh

  215 wanton rushes luxuriant floor covering of reeds

  218 crown give power to

  219 heaviness drowsiness

  222 heavenly-harnessed team horses that drew the sun god's chariot 223 progress course/royal journey

  225 book indentures, legal contracts

  drawn drawn up

  228 Hang ... air i.e. they're spirits

  thousand leagues three thousand miles

  229 straight straightaway

  230 perfect in expert at, practiced at

  lying down with sexual connotations (continued in lap) 233 devil understands Welsh i.e. because the supposed spirits have answered Glendower's call and music is playing 234 humorous capricious, whimsical

  236 humours moods, whims (thought to be generated by bodily fluids or "humors") 238 brach bitch, female dog (called Lady) Irish designed as insult here; may possibly suggest his bitch's breed 239 broken beaten, grazed

  241 still quiet, calm

  242 Neither i.e. I won't do that either

  woman's fault i.e. being silent (or sexually passive) is a woman's trait; may play on "broken head" as "broken maidenhead" (lost virginity), perhaps with fault quibbling on its sense of "vagina/sinful sexual yielding"

  248 sooth truth

  250 comfit-maker's confectioner's; Hotspur makes fun of a genteel oath and offers several more 253 sarcenet surety flimsy assurance sarcenet fine silken cloth 254 Finsbury Finsbury Fields, popular place of recreation just outside the city of London 255 Swear me swear/swear for me

  257 protest of pepper-gingerbread i.e. mild oaths pepper-gingerbread in which pepper was partly substituted for ginger, making the gingerbread less spicy and pungent 258 velvet-guards velvet trimmings on clothes, or those who wore them Sunday-citizens those keeping their best clothes for Sunday 261 tailor tailors were supposed to be enthusiastic singers be red-breast teacher teach singing to robins (small red-breasted birds) 266 this this time

  but seal just put our seals on the documents