Henry V

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Henry V Page 28

by William Shakespeare


  59 thrice-worthy most worthy

  60 suck blood kill/am a leech

  61 Suivez-vous ... capitaine! "Follow the great captain!"

  62 full loud

  65 devil i'th'old play i.e. one like the character of the devil in an old morality play 65 pare trim

  66 wooden dagger the traditional prop of a morality-play devil 67 this this man, Pistol

  67 adventurously in a manner involving genuine risk

  69 prey plunder

  Act 4 Scene 5

  1 O diable! "O the devil!"

  2 O ... perdu! "O Lord! The day is lost, all is lost!"

  3 Mort ... vie! "Death of my life!"

  3 confounded ruined

  5 in our plumes i.e. over us (in their feathered helmets) 5 O mechante fortune! "O wicked fortune!"

  7 broke broken, scattered

  8 perdurable everlasting

  12 In i.e. into battle

  15 pander go-between, pimp

  15 hold ... door guard the bedroom door

  16 gentler nobler/kinder

  18 spoiled ruined/plundered

  18 friend befriend

  19 on in

  22 upon of

  Act 4 Scene 6

  4.6 train followers

  2 keep remain (on)

  8 Larding enriching

  9 honour-owing i.e. honorable

  11 all haggled over hacked all over

  12 insteeped drenched

  15 Tarry linger, wait

  17 abreast side by side

  18 well-foughten field well-fought battle

  19 chivalry knightly prowess/bravery in war

  20 cheered him up spoke comfortingly to him

  21 raught reached

  23 Commend offer, remember

  26 espoused married, united

  27 testament will, bequest

  29 waters i.e. tears

  31 my mother i.e. his tender, womanly side

  34 perforce necessarily

  34 compound come to terms (may play on the sense of "mix") 35 mixed-full unclear meaning, perhaps "swimming confusedly with tears/fully mixed with tears" (some editors emend to "mistful" or "wilful") 35 issue discharge (tears)

  Act 4 Scene 7

  1 poys boys

  1 luggage perhaps "those guarding the luggage"

  3 offer't attempted, dared

  7 wherefore because of which

  8 worthily deservedly, justly

  10 Monmouth town in south Wales, near the English border

  11 Pig i.e. Big (Great)

  16 all one reckonings all amount to the same thing

  16 phrase ... variations wording is slightly different

  18 Macedon Macedonia, a region in what is now northern Greece 18 take understand

  20 'orld world

  22 situations geographical layout

  24 Wye the River Wye, on the Welsh-English border

  27 both i.e. both rivers

  28 is ... it follows, resembles

  29 figures comparisons, parallels

  30 cholers fits of anger (governed by choler, one of the four bodily humors controlling mood) 32 intoxicates intoxicated, drunk

  32 in his ales i.e. while drunk

  33 Cleitus friend and general to Alexander the Great (killed in a drunken argument by Alexander) 39 his cups i.e. drunk

  41 belly-doublet close-fitting jacket with the lower part padded (in Falstaff's case, with his fat) 42 gipes jibes

  42 knaveries roguish tricks

  42 mocks jeers, acts of mockery

  49 this instant i.e. at the death of the boys

  49 trumpet trumpeter

  54 skirr scurry, flee

  55 Enforced forcibly flung

  56 Besides in addition

  56 those i.e. those French prisoners

  57 take capture

  62 fined undertaken to pay

  62 bones i.e. and nothing more

  65 licence permission

  67 book record

  70 mercenary belonging to paid soldiers

  71 vulgar common people

  73 Fret struggle, chafe

  73 fetlock-deep up to the fetlock (back of a horse's leg, above the hoof) 74 Yerk lash, jerk

  74 armed heels iron-shod hooves

  79 day i.e. victory

  80 peer appear/look carefully

  84 hard close

  88 grandfather ... memory i.e. Edward III

  88 an't if it

  90 chronicles historical accounts

  96 Monmouth caps round brimless caps with tapering crowns, originally made in Monmouth 97 badge emblem, insignia

  98 Tavy's i.e. David's

  100 memorable honour honor well worth commemorating

  104 his grace i.e. the king (or possibly "God's grace") 116 gage pledge

  119 swaggered quarreled, blustered

  120 challenge claim

  124 fit appropriate

  126 craven coward

  126 else otherwise

  128 sort rank

  129 quite ... degree of too high a rank to have to answer Williams' challenge 131 Lucifer and Beelzebub the devil

  133 jack-sauce saucy, impudent fellow

  134 black dirty/wicked, damned

  136 sirrah sir (used to an inferior)

  141 is has

  142 literatured is well-read

  145 favour token worn as mark of favor

  146 Alencon a French duke

  147 down i.e. on the ground

  148 helm helmet

  150 apprehend arrest

  150 love an act of love and loyalty

  152 fain eagerly

  153 that ... legs i.e. whoever he might be

  154 it him

  163 haply perhaps

  167 blunt forthright

  168 mischief harm

  170 touched affected/lit, fired (like gunpowder) 170 choler anger

  Act 4 Scene 8

  3 apace quickly

  4 peradventure perhaps

  5 know you do you recognize

  8 'Sblood God's blood

  11 be forsworn break my word

  12 away aside

  13 into ploughs in blows (perhaps "in two blows")

  15 lie ... throat deliberate lie

  21 summer's day i.e. long day

  24 is take out took out

  33 is pear will bear

  34 avouchment avouch, affirm

  35 is give gave

  38 terms language, words

  41 satisfaction amends

  44 abuse insult

  47 lowliness apparent low rank

  56 mettle spirit, courage

  59 prawls and prabbles brawls and brabbles (i.e. petty quarrels) 59 dissensions quarrels, disputes

  61 will want

  64 good genuine, not counterfeit

  68 good sort high rank

  83 blood nobility

  86 Admiral commander-in-chief of the navy

  88 Great Master chief official of the royal household

  91 lusty strong, vigorous

  98 name note, rank

  99 arm i.e. might, power

  101 stratagem tricks designed to outwit the enemy

  102 plain shock direct clash of forces

  102 even play straightforward contest

  106 wonderful to be marveled at, extraordinary

  117 Non nobis opening words of Psalm 115 ("Give praise not unto us, O God") 117 Te Deum thanksgiving hymn "Te Deum laudamus" ("We praise thee O God") 118 with ... clay i.e. given a Christian burial

  Act 5

  1 Vouchsafe grant

  2 prompt them i.e. remind them what comes next

  4 time the (five-year) time lapse between the last scene and the next/the limited time in which to perform a play 4 numbers limited number of actors and the multitude they are called on to represent 4 due ... things the nature of historical events

  5 huge ... life i.e. true enormous scale

  7 grant acknowledge, allow imaginatively

  9 Athwart across

>   10 Pales fences

  10 flood sea

  11 claps applause

  11 deep-mouthed loud, deep-voiced

  12 whiffler attendant who clears the way at a procession

  14 solemnly ceremoniously

  16 Blackheath a large common, just south of London

  17 Where that where

  18 bruised dented

  18 bended bent

  20 vainness personal vanity, pride

  21 trophy token of victory

  21 signal symbol, sign

  21 ostent display

  23 working-house workshop

  25 brethren fellow councillors

  25 best sort i.e. civic robes

  26 th'antique ancient

  29 lower ... likelihood i.e. less glorious, but as loving, similar circumstance 30 general ... empress apparently a reference to the Earl of Essex, for much of 1599 the commander of English troops in Ireland on behalf of Elizabeth I 32 broached pierced, speared

  34 Much many

  34 and and with

  36 lamentation mourning, grievances

  37 Invites requires

  38 emperor's coming the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund came to England in 1416

  39 them editors have conjectured that there may be a line or so missing at this point in the text 39 omit let us pass over, ignore

  42 played The interim performed, represented the intervening period 44 brook tolerate

  Act 5 Scene 1

  5.1 Location: the English camp, France

  3 wherefore how, why

  4 asse as (plays on "ass/arse")

  5 scald vile/scabby

  9 breed no contention start any argument

  13 swelling ... turkey-cock i.e. puffed up with self-importance (in Fluellen's response swellings and cock have potentially phallic resonances) 15 scurvy contemptible, worthless

  17 bedlam mad

  17 thirst i.e. long

  17 base Trojan knave

  18 fold ... web i.e. end your life (in classical mythology, the Parcae are the three Fates, who spin, reel out, and cut the thread of each human life) 19 qualmish made sick

  23 disgestions digestions, perhaps implying "hard-earned," "difficult to digest"

  25 Cadwallader seventh-century Welsh warrior king

  25 goats traditionally associated with Wales

  26 goat possible pun on "goad" (i.e. rod for driving cattle/powerful incitement) 27 scald scabby

  29 God's will is God decides

  30 victuals food

  31 sauce flavoring/a rebuke

  33 fall to begin eating

  35 astonished stunned

  38 green fresh/festering, infected

  38 ploody coxcomb bloody head

  42 revenge have my revenge

  50 take occasions should happen, have the opportunity

  52 Good very well

  54 groat small coin worth four old pence

  58 in earnest of as a down-payment for

  59 pay punish

  59 cudgels beatings

  60 woodmonger one who deals in wood

  61 buy be with

  63 counterfeit deceitful

  66 predeceased former, past

  67 gleeking taunting, insulting

  67 galling harassing, scoffing

  69 garb fashion

  72 condition disposition

  74 Doll some editors emend to "Nell," assuming that Pistol refers to his wife Nell Quickly 74 i'th'spital in the hospital

  75 malady of France syphilis, the "French disease"

  76 rendezvous refuge, haven, perhaps with play on "sexual encounter"

  77 wax grow

  78 bawd pimp

  79 something ... hand am somewhat inclined to become a deft pickpocket 80 steal steal away (plays on the sense of "rob")

  81 patches bandages (also with suggestion of patches to conceal syphilitic scars) 82 Gallia i.e. French

  Act 5 Scene 2

  5.2 Location: the royal court, France

  1 wherefore for which

  2 brother fellow monarch

  2 sister i.e. Queen Isabel, wife of the French king 3 fair ... day i.e. good day

  4 princely royal

  5 royalty collection of royal persons

  12 issue outcome

  13 gracious happy/prosperous

  16 bent line of sight/direction of fire

  17 balls eyeballs/cannonballs

  17 basilisks large cannon/mythical reptiles whose gaze could kill 19 quality i.e. deadly nature

  23 on based on

  25 pains efforts

  27 bar court, tribunal

  27 interview meeting

  30 That in the sense that

  31 congreeted greeted each other

  32 before ... view in such royal company

  33 rub obstacle (bowling term)

  35 nurse nourisher

  35 arts learning, scholarship

  37 put up raise

  37 visage face

  39 husbandry agricultural cultivation and produce

  39 on heaps in a mess

  40 Corrupting ... fertility rotting for being overripe/ruining itself by being overgrown 40 it its

  42 even-pleached regularly interwoven

  44 fallow leas unplowed arable fields

  45 darnel ... fumitory weeds

  45 rank overabundant

  46 root upon take root, grow

  46 coulter blade on a plow

  47 deracinate uproot

  47 savagery wild plants

  48 even mead level meadow

  48 erst formerly

  49 freckled ... clover i.e. all useful plants or herbs 50 Wanting lacking

  50 withal uncorrected unchecked by it

  51 Conceives germinates, breeds

  51 teems is fertile, flourishes

  52 docks ... burs all types of weed

  52 kecksies dry hollow stems

  54 fallows arable lands

  55 natures proper functions

  58 sciences knowledge, skills

  61 diffused disordered

  63 reduce restore

  63 favour appearance/approval, good grace

  65 let hindrance

  68 would desire

  69 want lack

  71 accord agreement

  71 just exact/legitimate

  72 tenors substances, contents

  72 effects purposes/drifts

  73 enscheduled listed, written down

  78 cursitory eye cursory glance

  79 O'erglanced looked over

  79 Pleaseth if it please

  81 better heed greater care, attention

  82 suddenly in a short time

  83 Pass pronounce

  83 accept acceptable (to us), agreed

  83 peremptory final, resolved

  87 ratify confirm

  91 consign subscribe, agree

  94 Haply perhaps

  95 nicely strictly, fastidiously

  95 stood on insisted

  97 capital principal

  97 comprised included

  98 fore-rank front row

  98 articles conditions

  101 terms words, expressions (plays on the sense of "conditions of a truce") 103 love-suit courtship

  109 Pardonnez-moi "excuse me"

  112 Que ... anges? "What does he say? That I resemble angels?"

  113 Oui ... dit-il "Yes, truly, saving your grace, he says so"

  116 O ... tromperies "O good God! The tongues of men are full of deceits"

  121 is de princess i.e. is what the princess said 122 the better Englishwoman i.e. like an Englishwoman for mistrusting his flattery 123 fit appropriate, suitable

  125 plain plain-spoken/simple

  126 mince speak in a delicate or pretentious way/behave affectedly 128 suit courtship (perhaps with suggestion of worn-out clothing) 129 clap ... bargain shake hands on a deal

  131 Sauf votre honneur "saving your honor"

  132 put ... verses have me write love poetry

  133
undid would ruin

  134 measure poetic meter

  135 strength in measure i.e. ability in dancing

  135 measure slow, stately dance

  135 measure in strength amount of physical strength

  137 under ... spoken at the risk of punishment for boasting, let it be said 138 leap into gain/have sex with

  139 buffet box

  139 bound make jump

  140 lay on strike vigorously/lie upon during sex

  140 sit on his horse/on his wife

  140 jackanapes monkey (or someone acting like one)

  141 off falling off

  141 look greenly i.e. as an inexperienced young lover does 142 cunning in protestation skill in declarations (of love) 143 downright plain

  143 urged provoked

  144 urging being persuaded by others

  144 temper temperament, disposition

  145 not worth sunburning i.e. so ugly that the sun could not make it worse (Elizabethans considered fair skin a particular mark of beauty) 146 glass mirror

  146 be thy cook i.e. dress the dish (his face) to make it appetizing 150 uncoined genuine, freshly minted and uncirculated (amongst women) 153 infinite tongue clever, unlimited speech

  154 favours sexual benevolence

  154 What! exclamation of scorn

  155 prater chatterbox

  155 ballad popular, common form of poetry

  156 fall waste away

  158 full perfect, lustrous

  158 wax hollow sunken/insincere

  163 fairly favorably

  166 friend also has sense of "lover"

  173 Je ... moi "I, when I have possession of France, and when you have the possession of me" (imperfect but generally comprehensible French) 175 Saint Denis patron saint of France

  175 Saint ... speed! Saint Denis help me!

  175 donc ... mienne "therefore yours is France and you are mine"

  178 move i.e. stir emotion in

  179 Sauf ... parle "Saving your honor, the French that you speak, it is better than the English that I speak"

  182 truly-falsely sincerely and inaccurately

  183 at one the same

  186 neighbours close acquaintances

  188 closet private room

  189 dispraise belittle

  192 cruelly extremely

  192 beest be

  193 saving faith faith deep enough for salvation

  194 scambling struggling, scuffling

  196 compound compose, create

  197 take ... beard humiliate, drive the Turks out

  198 flower-de-luce fleur-de-lis (lily), emblem on the French coat of arms 201 hereafter in time to come

  201 know plays on sense of "have sex"

  203 part behalf (plays on sense of "genitals")

  203 moiety half, portion

  204 la ... deesse "the most fair Katherine of the world, my most dear and divine goddess"

  206 'ave have, i.e. has

  206 fausse "false"--i.e. "incorrect/insincere"

  207 sage prudent, wise

  207 demoiselle "young lady"

  210 blood passion/sexual desire

  211 notwithstanding in spite of

  211 untempering unsoftening, unsettling

  212 beshrew curse

  213 civil wars i.e. Richard II's deposition

  213 got conceived

  214 aspect facial appearance

  217 ill layer-up poor preserver/wrinkler

  217 spoil damage

  219 wear use, possess (plays on sense of "exhaust sexually") 226 Plantagenet name of the dynasty to which Henry V belonged 227 fellow with equal to

  230 break open, broach

  232 de ... pere "the king my father"

  238 Laissez ... seigneur "Desist, my lord, desist, desist: my faith, I do not at all wish you to abase your greatness in kissing the hand of one [who is] your lordship's unworthy servant. Excuse me, I beg of you, my most mighty lord"

 

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