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

  1 give us leave please leave us alone

  6 doom judgment

  blood family, offspring

  7 scourge punishment of divine origin/punishing whip

  8 passages course through, way of

  9 only marked For solely designated to be

  10 rod i.e. of punishment

  11 mistreadings wrongful steps, sins

  else how else

  12 inordinate immoderate, disorderly

  13 bare wretched, paltry/undisguised

  lewd vulgar, low

  attempts undertakings

  14 rude society vulgar, uncivilized companionship

  15 withal with

  grafted united

  17 hold their level think themselves equal to

  19 Quit acquit myself of

  clear honest

  20 doubtless sure

  23 reproof refutation, disproof

  24 greatness the great, the high-ranking

  25 pick-thanks flatterers and informers

  news-mongers tellers of tales, gossips

  26 things true genuine misdemeanors

  27 faulty ... irregular gone astray off the proper path

  28 true submission honest admission

  29 wonder express surprise

  30 affections tastes, inclinations

  hold a wing fly

  32 rudely violently, in an uncivilized manner (according to an apocryphal tale, the prince was expelled from the King's Privy Council for hitting the Lord Chief Justice) 33 supplied filled

  34 alien stranger

  36 time youth, life

  38 forethink expect/prophesy

  40 common-hackneyed cheapened by habitual exposure (from "hackney," a horse for hire) 42 Opinion public opinion

  43 Had ... possession would have remained loyal to the holder of the crown (Richard II, deposed by Henry) 44 reputeless inglorious, shameful/anonymous, unacknowledged 45 mark significance

  likelihood prospect of success

  50 stole ... heaven adopted a manner of heavenly graciousness 56 pontifical belonging to a bishop

  57 state magnificence, kingship

  58 Seldom infrequently seen

  feast special occasion, celebration

  59 solemnity ceremonious dignity

  60 skipping frivolous

  up and down i.e. aimlessly

  61 rash bavin quickly burned up bavin brushwood or kindling soon ignited and burned 62 carded his state destroyed his dignity, kingly status (to "card" is either to mix or to comb impurities from wool) 63 carping chattering (Quarto has "capring," so most editors print "capering") 64 scorns foolishness, mockeries/contemptuous way of speaking 65 against his name to the detriment of his royal reputation 66 gibing mocking, taunting

  stand the push expose himself to the proximity/mockery of 67 beardless vain comparative immature, worthless maker of mocking comparisons 69 Enfeoffed committed, bound (literally, to vow loyalty to a lord in return for land) 71 surfeited grew overindulged and sick

  72 loathe ... sweetness i.e. they got sick of the sight of him 75 cuckoo ... June i.e. commonplace by midsummer, not noticed any longer 77 community familiarity

  78 extraordinary gaze special notice

  82 face i.e. presence

  rendered such aspect with such an expression

  83 cloudy sullen, gloomy

  use to habitually

  85 line category

  87 vile participation associating with commoners and base, vulgar people 88 common widespread, public/cheap, vulgar

  91 tenderness i.e. tears of affection

  93 Be more myself act in a manner more befitting my position 94 For ... world i.e. in every way

  99 He ... state He (Percy) has a more honorable claim to the crown 100 shadow of succession mere shadow of a proper heir

  101 of having

  colour like to semblance, pretext of

  102 harness armor, i.e. armed men

  103 Turns head directs his attention/leads his army

  lion's i.e. the king's (the lion is a traditional symbol of royalty) 104 in ... years older (historically Hotspur was actually twenty-three years older than the prince) 105 ancient long-established

  106 bruising damaging, crushing

  108 whose i.e. Hotspur's

  high illustrious, noble

  109 hot incursions fierce attacks

  110 chief ... capital military fame and preeminence

  113 Mars Roman god of war

  swaddling clothes wrappings for babies (refers to Hotspur's youth) 114 enterprises military undertakings

  115 Discomfited defeated

  ta'en him once captured him on one occasion

  116 Enlarged released

  117 fill ... up complete the num117a of opponents/add to the roar of opposition 121 Capitulate have formed a league, draw up agreements up i.e. in arms

  124 dearest most precious, loved/worst, most bitter

  125 like likely

  vassal base, servile

  126 Base inclination taste for the inferior/acceding to base motives start of spleen rush of anger

  128 curtsy bow, show respect

  133 redeem ... head atone for my sins with Percy's head/make Percy pay for all this 134 in ... day at the end of some victorious battle

  137 favours facial features/chivalric tokens worn to symbolize pledges or great feats bloody mask face made unrecognizable because covered in blood/mass, covering of blood 138 scour cleanse, get rid of

  139 lights arrives/dawns

  142 unthought-of ignored, associated with no great expectations 143 helm helmet

  148 factor agent, commercial broker

  149 engross up accumulate, buy up

  152 worship ... time honor gained in his lifetime

  153 reckoning account, bill

  156 salve apply healing ointment to

  157 intemperature intemperance, lack of restraint/diseased body, disordered health 160 parcel part

  162 charge command (of troops)

  sovereign supreme, royal (perhaps continuing the disease imagery with play on the sense of "healing") 163 speed urgency

  168 head military force

  169 If ... hand if all who have promised to join them do so 173 advertisement announcement, news

  176 Bridgnorth small Shropshire town on the River Severn, south of Shrewsbury 178 Our business valued according to this reckoning

  181 Advantage ... fat opportunity (for rebellion) increases 1 fallen away vilely horribly shrunken

  2 action engagement, battle (i.e. the robbery on Gad's Hill) bate decrease

  4 apple-john type of apple said to be in best eating condition when shriveled suddenly immediately

  5 in some liking in the mood/in good physical condition

  out of heart disheartened/out of condition

  6 strength i.e. physical or spiritual

  7 peppercorn i.e. small and shriveled

  8 brewer's horse i.e. old and worn out

  10 fretful restless, anxious/frayed, worn

  11 there is it i.e. exactly, that's the situation 12 given inclined

  14 bawdy-house brothel

  16 compass measure, moderation/circumference (referring to his wide girth), belt 21 admiral flagship with a lantern to guide the rest of the fleet poop stern or rear of a ship

  22 nose i.e. because it is red from drinking

  Knight ... Lamp mock-chivalric title parodying heroic names in tales of romance 26 death's-head skull (i.e. emblem of mortality, often carved into a stone set in a ring) memento mori object used to symbolize death (Latin: "reminder of death") 27 Dives ... purple refers to Christ's parable of Dives, the rich man clothed in purple who goes to hell for allowing the pauper, Lazarus, to starve (Luke 16:19-31) 30 given over lost to virtue, committed to sin

  34 ignis fatuus will-o'-the-wisp, marsh gas which gives off phosphorescent light and misleads night wanderers ball of wildfire will-o'-the-wisp/ball of lightning/skin disease characterized by vivid eruptions purchase value

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sp; 35 bonfire-light Folio spells "Bone-fire-Light," suggesting both etymology and original pronunciation 36 links torches

  38 drunk me drunk (me is emphatic)

  39 good cheap cheap

  chandler's candlemaker's

  40 salamander lizard-like creature supposed to live in fire 42 I ... belly! proverbial retort (compares to modern "Get stuffed!") 43 be heart-burned have indigestion/my heart would be literally on fire 44 Dame Partlet traditional name for a hen

  49 tithe tenth part

  51 was shaved had his beard cut/went bald through syphilis/had his head shaved to get rid of lice/was robbed; hair may play on "whore"

  53 woman i.e. inadequate/deceitful/promiscuous

  56 know am acquainted with/have sexual knowledge of

  59 beguile cheat

  60 to your back for you to wear

  61 Dowlas coarse linen (from Doulas in Brittany)

  62 bolters cloths used for sifting flour

  63 holland fine linen (originally from Holland)

  64 ell a measure of length (forty-five inches)

  65 diet and by-drinkings meals and drinks in between meals 71 denier small coin worth one tenth of a penny

  younker fashionable and gullible young man, easily duped 72 take mine ease relax

  73 seal-ring engraved ring used for sealing documents with wax, frequently an heirloom forty mark a substantial sum of money; a mark was worth two thirds of a pound 76 jack knave, rascal

  sneak-cup sneaky person, knave/one who sneaks drinks from others' cups truncheon cudgel (symbol of his new military office) 78 Is ... door? i.e. is that the situation door direction 79 two ... fashion prisoners were shackled together and led in pairs to Newgate, the City prison 88 pick pockets plays on the sense of "plunder vaginas"

  90 bonds deeds promising the bearer payment

  99 stewed prune commonly available in brothels, hence "whore/pimp"

  100 drawn fox hunted fox (drawn from cover and dependent on its cunning for safety) 101 Maid Marian a disreputable character in morris dances and May games, played by a boy in female clothing deputy's ... ward wife of the deputy of the ward (an administrative district), i.e. a respectable woman 102 to compared to

  nothing thing of no significance/vagina ("no thing") 104 thing whore/vagina

  on for

  107 thy knighthood the respect usually due to one who is a knight 111 otter an aquatic mammal whose exact nature and type was a subject of debate 114 have place, categorize/have sex with

  133 whelp cub, offspring

  136 let ... break the breaking of one's belt (girdle) proverbially signified bad luck 142 embossed swollen/foaming at the mouth with exhaustion like a hunted animal rascal rogue/young, inferior deer

  144 memorandums bills, invoices

  145 sugar-candy ... long-winded sugar was used to improve stamina 146 injuries items whose loss you claim has caused you injury 147 stand to it insist, maintain your grievance

  pocket up accept (plays on literal sense of "pocket") 151 flesh ... frailty Falstaff plays with the biblical saying "the flesh is frail" (Matthew 26:41 and elsewhere) 158 still always

  160 answered accounted for

  161 sweet beef plump, fresh, unsalted beef

  good angel guardian angel

  163 double labour i.e. first taking it, then returning it 166 exchequer royal treasury

  167 with unwashed hands straightaway/without scruple

  169 charge of foot command of an infantry company

  172 unprovided ill-equipped (for villainous exploits)

  173 they ... virtuous i.e. by causing war, which provides opportunities for theft and profiteering 174 laud celebrate, praise

  181 Temple hall the Inner Temple at one of the London Inns of Court (where young men studied law) 183 charge company, regiment

  184 furniture equipment

  187 Rare marvelous

  Brave splendid

  188 tavern ... drum Falstaff wishes he might remain at the inn; a drum summoned soldiers to battle (possible pun on tavern/"taborin," a type of drum) 2 fine overrefined

  3 attribution honor, praise

  4 As not a that no other

  season's stamp year's design or mint (coinage term)

  5 general current generally accepted (continues coining imagery) 6 defy reject, challenge

  7 soothers flatterers

  braver more honorable

  9 task hold

  approve me prove, test

  11 breathes ... ground lives

  12 beard i.e. challenge, defy (literally, pull insultingly by the beard) 14 but only

  19 jostling clashing, contentious

  power army

  20 government leadership

  21 bears contain/reveal

  I his mind this Folio reading makes sense, though it is cheeky for the messenger to answer back in this way; most modern editors emend to "not I, my lord."

  22 keep keep to

  25 He ... by his health was much feared for

  26 would wish

  state of time present situation

  whole sound, healthy

  28 better worth more important

  31 catching hither contagious even here

  32 He ... sickness possibly an incomplete line, or one that expresses Hotspur's hasty manner of speaking 33 by deputation through those acting on his behalf

  34 drawn drawn together, assembled

  meet fitting, appropriate

  35 dear important

  37 bold advertisement resolute advice/advice to be resolute 38 conjunction combined forces

  on proceed

  41 possessed informed

  43 maim serious injury

  45 present want absence now

  46 more ... it worse than it will actually prove to be

  47 set hazard, stake

  48 cast throw of the dice

  main army/gambling stake

  49 nice hazard delicate risk/precarious game of dice

  doubtful uncertain

  50 read discern

  51 very bottom full extent

  52 list limit

  bound extent, boundary

  55 reversion backup, something to be relied on (literally, future inheritance) 58 retirement something to fall back on/peace, seclusion 59 rendezvous retreat, refuge

  60 big threateningly, menacingly

  61 maidenhead beginning, first trial (literally, virginity) 63 hair nature

  64 Brooks tolerates

  66 loyalty i.e. to the king

  mere absolute

  68 apprehension thought, perception

  69 fearful faction (rebel) alliances that generate fear/frightened groups (of rebel sympathizers) 70 question doubt, mistrust

  71 off'ring challenging, aggressing

  72 strict arbitrement close scrutiny, rigorous judgment

  73 loop loophole, aperture

  75 draws opens

  78 strain too far exaggerate

  79 make this use find this advantage

  80 opinion renown, prestige

  81 dare boldness

  83 make a head raise an army

  86 Yet still

  joints limbs

  87 As ... think i.e. as can possibly be wished

  93 No harm i.e. that doesn't matter

  96 intended is about to leave

  97 preparation equipped military force

  100 daffed tossed carelessly

  102 furnished equipped

  103 estridges ostriches (presumably the men's helmets are adorned with feathers) 104 Bated fluttered

  105 golden coats sleeveless outer garments richly adorned with heraldic arms, worn over armor images gilded statues/emblems

  107 gorgeous brightly colored, magnificent

  108 Wanton wild, frolicsome, carefree

  109 beaver helmet (technically, the visor)

  110 cuisses thigh armor

  111 feathered Mercury Roman messenger of the gods, usually depicted with wings on cap and sandals 112 seat i.e. saddle

 
; 114 wind wheel about, turn

  Pegasus winged horse in Greek mythology

  115 witch bewitch

  117 agues violent fevers thought to be bred or worsened by the early spring sun

  118 trim finery, adornment (like animals garlanded for sacrifice) 119 maid ... war Bellona, the Roman goddess of war

  121 mailed Mars Roman god of war, clad in armor

  123 reprisal prize

  131 Worcester English town on the River Severn

  132 draw ... days gather his forces for a fortnight

  135 What ... unto? What is the total num96a of the king's troops?

  139 powers of us forces we have

  serve suffice for

  140 muster roll call

  141 Doomsday Judgment Day

  142 out of free from

  143 this one-half year six months; Douglas does not expect to die within this period 1 get thee before you go on ahead

  3 Sutton Coldfield Warwickshire town twenty miles northwest of Coventry 5 Lay out pay for it yourself

  6 makes brings the amount you owe me to (Falstaff responds to the sense of "creates"

  angel a gold coin variously worth between 6s 8d and 10s

  8 answer the coinage be responsible for the validity of the coins 11 soused gurnet type of pickled fish/drunkard

  12 press power of conscription

  I...pounds Falstaff has allowed those who can afford it to buy their way out of being soldiers 13 of for

  14 good substantial, wealthy

  15 yeoman's sons the sons of freeholders of small landed estates inquire me out ask for, seek

  contracted engaged (to be married)

  16 banns public notice of the intention to marry, announced in church on three successive Sundays; the bachelors here are to be married soon

  commodity portion, quantity

  17 warm comfortably off/sexually eager

  lieve soon

  drum i.e. customarily sounded to enlist recruits or call men to battle 18 caliver musket, lightweight firearm

  19 toasts-and-butter milksops, pampered fellows

  20 hearts...heads i.e. those with little appetite for fighting 22 charge command, unit

  ancients ensigns, i.e. soldiers who carried military banners (plays on the sense of "elderly people") 23 gentlemen of companies gentlemen soldiers without formal rank Lazarus...sores refers to the biblical story of the beggar Lazarus and the contemptuous rich man (Luke 16:19-21) 24 painted cloth cheap wall hanging depicting the biblical tale 25 discarded unjust servingmen dismissed dishonest servants 26 younger...brothers i.e. those with no hope of a substantial inheritance revolted tapsters apprentice barmen who have run away from their masters 27 ostlers trade-fallen out-of-work stablemen

  cankers ulcers/parasites

  29 ancient military banner

  rooms places

  31 prodigals in the biblical parable, the prodigal (extravagant) son wasted his inheritance and was reduced to feeding with the pigs 32 draff and husks pigswill and corn husks

  34 gibbets gallows

  37 gyves leg-irons, shackles

  40 herald's...sleeves the tabard was a sleeveless outer garment open down the sides 42 Saint Albans town along Watling Street about twenty-five miles north of London Daventry Northamptonshire town southeast of Coventry