William Shakespeare - The Complete Works/William Shakespeare - The Complete Works on CD-ROM.iso/library/line/1h4/1h43.txt

Text File | 1994-05-22 | 10.4 KB | 318 lines

Act 1 Scene 3

King Henry confronts the rebels. He argues chiefly
with his nephew, Henry Percy (Hotspur), who has
refused to surrender his prisoners to the King.
Hotspur explains the reason for his refusal: he will
give up his prisoners if King Henry will pay the
ransom money for Mortimer, whom Henry hates.
After the King, in great anger, has left the stage,
we are told why he hates Mortimer so much:
Mortimer has a stronger claim than Henry to be
King of England. Now Hotspur is angry; he urges
his father and his uncle to revolt, reminding them
of King HenryÆs ingratitude. The scene ends with a
decision to fight against the King.
1    blood: nature.
2     ôUnwilling to be excited about these
insultsö.
3     found me: realized this.
4     tread upon: take advantage of.
5     be myself: be the King I am.
6     condition: natural disposition.
7     down: the small feathers on a bird.
8     title of respect: claim to be respected.
10    house: family (the Percy family, who were
HenryÆs first supporters).
11     scourge: whip (i.e. HenryÆs threat to show
his power).
13     holp: helped.
portly: powerful.
16     presence: appearance.
peremptory: insolent.
17     majesty: a king (he means himself).
18     moody: bad-tempered.
frontier: forehead.
servant brow: the frown of a subject.
19     good leave: permission.
20     use and counsel: help and advice.
23     took: captured.
24     denied: refused.
25     delivered: reported.
26     misprision: misunderstanding.
30     dry: thirsty.
33     his chin new-reaped: his freshly-trimmed
beard.
34     ôLooked like a corn-field after the corn
has been harvestedö.
35     milliner: the goods sold by milliners (e.g.
gloves) were always highly scented.
36     Ætwixt: between.
37     pouncet-box: snuff-box ù a small box
containing perfumed powder.
ever and anon: from time to time.
39     Who: i.e. the lordÆs nose; the perfumed
snuff was intended to take away the smell of the
dead bodies on the battlefield.
40     Took it in snuff: sniffed it up; the phrase
ôto take in snuffö also meant ôto be angryö.
still: always.
44     his nobility: his noble self (Hotspur is
ironic).
45     ôUsing a lot of fancy, lady-like languageö.
46     amongst the rest: among other things.
48     all . . . cold: very sore because my
wounds were feeling cold.
49     popinjay: parrot.
50     grief: pain.
51     neglectingly: without thinking, carelessly.
53     shine so brisk: look so smart.
54     waiting-gentlewoman: lady-in-waiting (a
lady of noble birth attending one of even higher
rank).
55     God . . . mark: God preserve us (an
exclamation of contempt).
56     sovereignest thing: most healing
medicine.
57     parmacity: an ointment or liniment.
58, 59, 60, 61, 62     Hotspur tries to imitate
the lordÆs effeminate speech.
59     saltpetre: a mineral used for making
gunpowder.
61     tall: brave.
64     bald unjointed: empty and disconnected.
65     indirectly: without thinking.
67     Come current for: be accepted as money.
72     retold: recounted.
73     die: be forgotten.
74     wrong: harm.
74     impeach . . . said: prove that he was
disloyal in what he said.
75     so: provided that.
unsay: contradict.
76     yet: still.
77     with . . . exception: on condition.
78     charge: expense.
straight: immediately.
79     his brother-in-law: S
80     on my soul: an oath.
82     magician: GlyndwrÆs belief in his magic
powers is described in Act 3, Scene 1.
84     coffers: treasury.
86     indent with: make a bargain with.
fears: cowards and causes for fear.
87     ôWhen they (the cowards) have given
themselves upö.
89     hold: consider.
93     fall off: lose his allegiance to the King.
95     no more but one: only.
96     mouthed wounds: wounds which speak
for him.
took: received.
97     sedgy: grassy (sedge is a small, grass-like
plant).
98     Only these two men were fighting, at
close quarters.
99     confound . . . hour: spend almost an hour.
100     changing hardiment: matching strength.
101     breathed: paused for breath.
101     three . . . flood: they agreed to drink three
times from the river.
102     flood: waters.
103    Who: i.e. the river.
affrighted: frightened.
105     crisp: rippled (with small waves).
107    bare: miserable.
108     Colour: justify, make excuses for (also
stain).
111    with revolt: with the accusation of
rebellion.
112    belie: tell lies about.
113    encounter with: fight.
114    durst: dare.
118     with the speediest means: as quickly as
possible.
119    kind: way
121    license: permit.
123    An if: even if.
124    will: will follow.
straight: at once.
125    ease my heart: set my heart at rest (by
expressing his feelings).
126     ôAlthough I risk having my head cut offö.
127     choler: anger.
129    let . . . mercy: damn me.
131    In his behalf: for his sake.
133    downfall: dejected.
135    ingrate: ungrateful.
cankered: thoroughly rotten.
137     struck . . . up: excited this passion.
138     forsooth: indeed.
139     urged: argued for.
141     an eye of death: a look which threatened
death; or a look which showed the king in fear of
death.
144    that dead is: who is dead.
the next of blood: i.e. the heir to the throne.
147    Whose . . . pardon: may God forgive the
wrong we did to Richard.
149    intercepted: interrupted.
151     in . . . spoken of: throughout the whole
wide world we are abused and slandered.
153    soft: wait a minute.
159    forgetful: Hotspur accuses the King of
having forgotten how he was supported by the
Percy family.
160    wear . . . subornation: suffer the terrible
disgrace of having aided and abetted murder.
163     base second means: inferior instruments.
165     Hotspur asks pardon for speaking so
plainly when he told Worcester and
Northumberland that they had been only the
instruments used in murder ù they are of the same
rank and category (ôthe line and the predicamentö)
as the ropes (ôcordsö) and ladder needed to hang a
man.
167     range: rank.
subtle: cunning.
168     in these days: at the present time.
169     ôBe written in the history books
(ôchroniclesö) of the futureö. 171    gage
them both: pawn both the nobility and their power.
behalf: cause.
173    rose: Richard II belonged to the house of
Lancaster, whose emblem was a red rose.
174    canker: wild rose (or even ôcanker-
wormö, the disease which kills roses).
175    in more shame: to your even greater
shame.
be further spoken: be said in addition.
176     fooled: deceived.
178     time serves: there is time.
180     thoughts: opinions.
181     disdained: disdainful.
183     To answer: how he can repay.
185     Peace: be quiet.
186     unclasp: unfasten, open (some very
precious books were kept shut with locks and
keys).
187     quick-conceiving discontents:
discontented minds, which are quick to
understand).
190    WorcesterÆs example of a dangerous
exploit is taken from medieval tales where a knight
had to cross (ôoÆer-walkö) a river (ôcurrentö),
using a spear for a bridge.
191    unsteadfast: insecure.
192    ôIf he falls in the river, that is the end ù
whether he sinks or swimsö. Even if he can swim,
the man has failed the trial.
194    So: provided that.
195     ôIt is more exciting (ôthe blood more
stirsö) to begin a lion-hunt than to chase a hareö.
Hotspur uses the correct hunting terms ù ôrouseö
and ôstartö ù for the different animals.
199    methinks: I think.
were: would be.
201     deep: ocean.
202     fathom-line: a line which sailors dropped
into the sea to find how deep it was.
203     locks: hair; Hotspur now imagines
ôhonourö in the person of a woman.
204     redeem: rescue.
205     corrival: partner.
dignities: trophies.
206     ôBut I have no patience (ôout uponö) with
this practice of sharing honourö.
207     Worcester comments that Hotspur has a
rich imagination but he will not pay attention to the
real business.
apprehends: catches (imaginatively).
a world: a great many.
figures: fancies, rhetorical devices of speech.
form: substance.
211     I cry you mercy: I am sorry.
213     a Scot: Hotspur makes a pun with ôscotö
= a very small payment.
215     start: jump.
216     lend . . . purposes: do not listen to my
plans.
217     thatÆs flat: that is certain.
221     holla: shout.
222     starling: many Elizabethan texts refer to
starlings (wild brown birds) which had been
taught to speak.
224     still in motion: always alive.
226     defy: reject.
227     gall and pinch: irritate (as a tight saddle
rubs and pinches a horse).
228     sword-and-buckler: swashbuckling,
playboy.
230     mischance: accident.
233     better tempered: more controlled.
234     wasp-stung: irritable (as though stung by
a wasp).
235     to break . . . mood: to burst into these
feminine tantrums.
236    Tying thine ear: listening.
238     pismires: ants.
239     politician: scheming villain.
242     kept: lived.
243     bowÆd my knee: affirmed my loyalty.
245     ÆSblood: an oath (by GodÆs blood).
Ravenspurgh: in Yorkshire, where Bolingbroke
landed when he returned from exile in 1399.
247     candy deal: sugary load.
248     proffer: hold out (as though offering
sweets to a child).
249     Look when: as soon as.
his infant fortune: BolingbrokeÆs kingship was
newly-born.
came to age: matured.
251     cozeners: cheats (with a pun on ôcousinö).
253     to it again: go on with it.
254     stay: wait.
255     once more: let us return to the subject of.
256     Deliver them up: let them go free.
straight: at once.
257     the DouglasÆ son: the son of the Earl of
Douglas. It is correct to speak of the head of a
Scottish family by using the definite article;
Shakespeare is, however, mistaken about the
parentage of Mordake, who is the prisoner referred
to (see 1, 1, 94).
257     your . . . Scotland: your only way of
raising an army (ôpowersö) in Scotland.
258     divers: various.
262     bosom: confidence.
263     prelate: important man in the church
hierarchy.
269    ôAnd only waits to see an opportunity for
actionö.
271     I smell it: ôI can guess what you are
talking aboutö.
272     ôYou always (ôstillö) release the hounds
(ôletÆst slipö) before the hare (ôgameö) is running
(ôafootö).
273     choose but be: be anything other than.
276     aimed: directed, planned.
277     Ætis . . . reason: i.e. it is a very good
reason.
speed: hurry.
278     ôTo save our own lives (ôheadsö) by
calling up an army (ôheadö)ö.
279     ôHowever well we behave (ôbear
ourselvesö)ö.
284     strangers to: unfamiliar with.
288     ripe: ready.
suddenly: very soon.
289     steal: go secretly.
291     fashion: arrange.
happily: with luck.
292     They will themselves have control over
what happens to them (their ôfortunesö) instead of
being insecure (ôat much uncertaintyö) because
they are dependent on the King.
294     thrive: do well.
296     sport: performance on the battlefield.
φ