These promises are fair, the parties sure,
And our induction full of prosperous hope.
These promises are fair, the parties sure, And our induction full of prosperous hope.
[Conversational: MORTIMER]
[Emotional core: MORTIMER]
Lord Mortimer and cousin Glendower,
Will you sit down? And uncle Worcester,
A plague upon it! I have forgot the map.
Lord Mortimer and cousin Glendower, Will you sit down? And uncle Worcester, A plague upon it! I have forgot the map.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
Glendower speaks in elaborate, image-rich verse — he has been educated at the English court and is proud of it. Watch for how his grandeur collides with Hotspur's blunt prose: the more Glendower builds himself up, the harder Hotspur cuts him down.
No, here it is.
Sit, cousin Percy, sit, good cousin Hotspur;
For by that name as oft as Lancaster doth speak of you
His cheek looks pale, and with a rising sigh
He wisheth you in heaven.
No, here it is. Sit, cousin Percy, sit, good cousin Hotspur; For by that name as oft as Lancaster does speak of you His cheek looks pale, and with a rising sigh He wisheth you in heaven.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
And you in hell,
As oft as he hears Owen Glendower spoke of.
And you in hell, As oft as he hears Owen Glendower spoke of.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
I cannot blame him. At my nativity
The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes,
Of burning cressets, and at my birth
The frame and huge foundation of the Earth
Shaked like a coward.
I cannot blame him. At my nativity The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes, Of burning cressets, and at my birth The frame and huge foundation of the Earth Shaked like a coward.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
Why, so it would have done
At the same season, if your mother’s cat
Had but kitten’d, though yourself had never been born.
Why, so it would have done At the same season, if your mother’s cat Had but kitten’d, though yourself had never been born.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
I say the Earth did shake when I was born.
I say the Earth did shake when I was born.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
And I say the Earth was not of my mind,
If you suppose as fearing you it shook.
And I say the Earth was not of my mind, If you suppose as fearing you it shook.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
The heavens were all on fire, the Earth did tremble.
The heavens were all on fire, the Earth did tremble.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
O, then th’ Earth shook to see the heavens on fire,
And not in fear of your nativity.
Diseased nature oftentimes breaks forth
In strange eruptions; oft the teeming Earth
Is with a kind of colic pinch’d and vex’d
By the imprisoning of unruly wind
Within her womb, which for enlargement striving,
Shakes the old beldam Earth, and topples down
Steeples and moss-grown towers. At your birth
Our grandam Earth, having this distemp’rature,
In passion shook.
O, then th’ Earth shook to see the heavens on fire, And not in fear of your nativity. Diseased nature oftentimes breaks forth In strange eruptions; oft the teeming Earth Is with a kind of colic pinch’d and vex’d By the imprisoning of unruly wind Within her womb, which for enlargement striving, Shakes the old beldam Earth, and topples down Steeples and moss-grown towers. At your birth Our grandam Earth, having this distemp’rature, In passion shook.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
Cousin, of many men
I do not bear these crossings. Give me leave
To tell you once again that at my birth
The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes,
The goats ran from the mountains, and the herds
Were strangely clamorous to the frighted fields.
These signs have mark’d me extraordinary,
And all the courses of my life do show
I am not in the roll of common men.
Where is he living, clipp’d in with the sea
That chides the banks of England, Scotland, Wales,
Which calls me pupil or hath read to me?
And bring him out that is but woman’s son
Can trace me in the tedious ways of art,
And hold me pace in deep experiments.
Cousin, of many men I do not bear these crossings. Give me leave To tell you once again that at my birth The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes, The goats ran from the mountains, and the herds Were strangely clamorous to the frighted fields. These signs have mark’d me extraordinary, And all the courses of my life do show I am not in the roll of common men. Where is he living, clipp’d in with the sea That chides the banks of England, Scotland, Wales, Which calls me pupil or has read to me? And bring him out that is but woman’s son Can trace me in the tedious ways of art, And hold me pace in deep experiments.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
I think there is no man speaks better Welsh.
I’ll to dinner.
I think there is no man speaks better Welsh. I’ll to dinner.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
Peace, cousin Percy, you will make him mad.
Peace, cousin Percy, you will make him mad.
[Conversational: MORTIMER]
[Emotional core: MORTIMER]
I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
Why, so can I, or so can any man,
But will they come when you do call for them?
Why, so can I, or so can any man, But will they come when you do call for them?
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
Why, I can teach you, cousin, to command the devil.
Why, I can teach you, cousin, to command the devil.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
And I can teach thee, coz, to shame the devil
By telling truth; tell truth, and shame the devil.
If thou have power to raise him, bring him hither,
And I’ll be sworn I have power to shame him hence.
O, while you live, tell truth, and shame the devil!
And I can teach you, coz, to shame the devil By telling truth; tell truth, and shame the devil. If you have power to raise him, bring him here, And I’ll be sworn I have power to shame him hence. O, while you live, tell truth, and shame the devil!
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
Come, come, no more of this unprofitable chat.
Come, come, no more of this unprofitable chat.
[Conversational: MORTIMER]
[Emotional core: MORTIMER]
Three times hath Henry Bolingbroke made head
Against my power; thrice from the banks of Wye
And sandy-bottom’d Severn have I sent him
Bootless home and weather-beaten back.
Three times has Henry Bolingbroke made head Against my power; thrice from the banks of Wye And sandy-bottom’d Severn have I sent him Bootless home and weather-beaten back.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
Home without boots, and in foul weather too!
How ’scapes he agues, in the devil’s name!
Home without boots, and in foul weather too! How ’scapes he agues, in the devil’s name!
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
Come, here’s the map, shall we divide our right
According to our threefold order ta’en?
Come, here’s the map, shall we divide our right According to our threefold order ta’en?
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
The archdeacon hath divided it
Into three limits very equally:
England, from Trent and Severn hitherto,
By south and east is to my part assign’d:
All westward, Wales beyond the Severn shore,
And all the fertile land within that bound,
To Owen Glendower: and, dear coz, to you
The remnant northward lying off from Trent.
And our indentures tripartite are drawn,
Which being sealed interchangeably,
A business that this night may execute,
Tomorrow, cousin Percy, you and I,
And my good Lord of Worcester will set forth
To meet your father and the Scottish power,
As is appointed us, at Shrewsbury.
My father Glendower is not ready yet,
Nor shall we need his help these fourteen days.
The archdeacon has divided it Into three limits very equally: England, from Trent and Severn hitherto, By south and east is to my part assign’d: All westward, Wales beyond the Severn shore, And all the fertile land within that bound, To Owen Glendower: and, dear coz, to you The remnant northward lying off from Trent. And our indentures tripartite are drawn, Which being sealed interchangeably, A business that this night may execute, Tomorrow, cousin Percy, you and I, And my good Lord of Worcester will set forth To meet your father and the Scottish power, As is appointed us, at Shrewsbury. My father Glendower is not ready yet, Nor shall we need his help these fourteen days.
[Conversational: MORTIMER]
[Emotional core: MORTIMER]
A shorter time shall send me to you, lords,
And in my conduct shall your ladies come,
From whom you now must steal, and take no leave,
For there will be a world of water shed
Upon the parting of your wives and you.
A shorter time shall send me to you, lords, And in my conduct shall your ladies come, From whom you now must steal, and take no leave, For there will be a world of water shed Upon the parting of your wives and you.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
Methinks my moiety, north from Burton here,
In quantity equals not one of yours.
See how this river comes me cranking in,
And cuts me from the best of all my land
A huge half-moon, a monstrous cantle out.
I’ll have the current in this place dammed up,
And here the smug and silver Trent shall run
In a new channel, fair and evenly.
It shall not wind with such a deep indent,
To rob me of so rich a bottom here.
I think my moiety, north from Burton here, In quantity equals not one of yours. See how this river comes me cranking in, And cuts me from the best of all my land A huge half-moon, a monstrous cantle out. I’ll have the current in this place dammed up, And here the smug and silver Trent shall run In a new channel, fair and evenly. It shall not wind with such a deep indent, To rob me of so rich a bottom here.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
Not wind? It shall, it must. You see it doth.
Not wind? It shall, it must. You see it does.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
Yea, but mark how he bears his course, and runs me up
With like advantage on the other side,
Gelding the opposed continent as much
As on the other side it takes from you.
Yea, but mark how he bears his course, and runs me up With like advantage on the other side, Gelding the opposed continent as much As on the other side it takes from you.
[Conversational: MORTIMER]
[Emotional core: MORTIMER]
Yea, but a little charge will trench him here,
And on this north side win this cape of land,
And then he runs straight and even.
Yea, but a little charge will trench him here, And on this north side win this cape of land, And then he runs straight and even.
[Conversational: WORCESTER]
[Emotional core: WORCESTER]
I’ll have it so, a little charge will do it.
I’ll have it so, a little charge will do it.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
Hotspur's rant against 'metre ballad-mongers' is one of the funniest speeches in the play, but it's not just comedy. He says he'd rather hear a dog howling or metal grinding on an axle than listen to verse. This is character-consistent: Hotspur is a man of physical action who distrusts ornament, mediation, and representation. Poetry, for him, is a kind of lying — a prettifying of things that should be direct. The irony is acute: this play is written in poetry, and Hotspur himself speaks some of the most striking verse in it. He is a poet who hates poets, a verbal genius who claims to have no interest in words. Watch for how his speeches — even the ones denouncing language — are among the most energetically inventive in the whole play.
I’ll not have it altered.
I’ll not have it altered.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
Will not you?
Will not you?
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
No, nor you shall not.
No, nor you shall not.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
Who shall say me nay?
Who shall say me no?
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
Why, that will I.
Why, that will I.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
Let me not understand you, then; speak it in Welsh.
Let me not understand you, then; speak it in Welsh.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
I can speak English, lord, as well as you,
For I was train’d up in the English Court,
Where being but young I framed to the harp
Many an English ditty lovely well,
And gave the tongue a helpful ornament—
A virtue that was never seen in you.
I can speak English, lord, as well as you, For I was train’d up in the English Court, Where being but young I framed to the harp Many an English ditty lovely well, And gave the tongue a helpful ornament— A virtue that was never seen in you.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
Marry, and I am glad of it with all my heart.
I had rather be a kitten, and cry “mew”
Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers;
I had rather hear a brazen canstick turn’d,
Or a dry wheel grate on the axletree,
And that would set my teeth nothing on edge,
Nothing so much as mincing poetry.
’Tis like the forced gait of a shuffling nag.
Marry, and I am glad of it with all my heart. I had rather be a kitten, and cry “mew” Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers; I had rather hear a brazen canstick turn’d, Or a dry wheel grate on the axletree, And that would set my teeth nothing on edge, Nothing so much as mincing poetry. ’Tis like the forced gait of a shuffling nag.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
Come, you shall have Trent turn’d.
Come, you shall have Trent turn’d.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
I do not care. I’ll give thrice so much land
To any well-deserving friend;
But in the way of bargain, mark ye me,
I’ll cavil on the ninth part of a hair.
Are the indentures drawn? Shall we be gone?
I do not care. I’ll give thrice so much land To any well-deserving friend; But in the way of bargain, mark ye me, I’ll cavil on the ninth part of a hair. Are the indentures drawn? Shall we be gone?
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
The moon shines fair, you may away by night.
I’ll haste the writer, and withal
Break with your wives of your departure hence.
I am afraid my daughter will run mad,
So much she doteth on her Mortimer.
The moon shines fair, you may away by night. I’ll haste the writer, and withal Break with your wives of your departure hence. I am afraid my daughter will run mad, So much she doteth on her Mortimer.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
Fie, cousin Percy, how you cross my father!
Fie, cousin Percy, how you cross my father!
[Conversational: MORTIMER]
[Emotional core: MORTIMER]
I cannot choose. Sometimes he angers me
With telling me of the moldwarp and the ant,
Of the dreamer Merlin and his prophecies,
And of a dragon and a finless fish,
A clip-wing’d griffin and a moulten raven,
A couching lion and a ramping cat,
And such a deal of skimble-skamble stuff
As puts me from my faith. I tell you what—
He held me last night at least nine hours
In reckoning up the several devils’ names
That were his lackeys: I cried “Hum,” and “Well, go to,”
But mark’d him not a word. O, he is as tedious
As a tired horse, a railing wife,
Worse than a smoky house. I had rather live
With cheese and garlic in a windmill, far,
Than feed on cates and have him talk to me
In any summer house in Christendom.
I cannot choose. Sometimes he angers me With telling me of the moldwarp and the ant, Of the dreamer Merlin and his prophecies, And of a dragon and a finless fish, A clip-wing’d griffin and a moulten raven, A couching lion and a ramping cat, And such a deal of skimble-skamble stuff As puts me from my faith. I tell you what— He held me last night at least nine hours In reckoning up the several devils’ names That were his lackeys: I cried “Hum,” and “Well, go to,” But mark’d him not a word. O, he is as tedious As a tired horse, a railing wife, Worse than a smoky house. I had rather live With cheese and garlic in a windmill, far, Than feed on cates and have him talk to me In any summer house in Christendom.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
In faith, he is a worthy gentleman,
Exceedingly well read, and profited
In strange concealments, valiant as a lion,
And wondrous affable, and as bountiful
As mines of India. Shall I tell you, cousin?
He holds your temper in a high respect
And curbs himself even of his natural scope
When you come cross his humour, faith, he does.
I warrant you that man is not alive
Might so have tempted him as you have done
Without the taste of danger and reproof:
But do not use it oft, let me entreat you.
In faith, he is a worthy gentleman, Exceedingly well read, and profited In strange concealments, valiant as a lion, And wondrous affable, and as bountiful As mines of India. Shall I tell you, cousin? He holds your temper in a high respect And curbs himself even of his natural scope When you come cross his humour, faith, he does. I warrant you that man is not alive Might so have tempted him as you have done Without the taste of danger and reproof: But do not use it oft, let me entreat you.
[Conversational: MORTIMER]
[Emotional core: MORTIMER]
In faith, my lord, you are too wilful-blame,
And since your coming hither have done enough
To put him quite besides his patience.
You must needs learn, lord, to amend this fault.
Though sometimes it show greatness, courage, blood—
And that’s the dearest grace it renders you—
Yet oftentimes it doth present harsh rage,
Defect of manners, want of government,
Pride, haughtiness, opinion, and disdain,
The least of which haunting a nobleman
Loseth men’s hearts and leaves behind a stain
Upon the beauty of all parts besides,
Beguiling them of commendation.
In faith, my lord, you are too wilful-blame, And since your coming here have done enough To put him quite besides his patience. You must needs learn, lord, to amend this fault. Though sometimes it show greatness, courage, blood— And that’s the dearest grace it renders you— Yet oftentimes it does present harsh rage, Defect of manners, want of government, Pride, haughtiness, opinion, and disdain, The least of which haunting a nobleman Loseth men’s hearts and leaves behind a stain Upon the beauty of all parts besides, Beguiling them of commendation.
[Conversational: WORCESTER]
[Emotional core: WORCESTER]
Well, I am school’d. Good manners be your speed!
Here come our wives, and let us take our leave.
Well, I am school’d. Good manners be your speed! Here come our wives, and let us take our leave.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
This is the deadly spite that angers me,
My wife can speak no English, I no Welsh.
This is the deadly spite that angers me, My wife can speak no English, I no Welsh.
[Conversational: MORTIMER]
[Emotional core: MORTIMER]
My daughter weeps, she’ll not part with you,
She’ll be a soldier too, she’ll to the wars.
My daughter weeps, she’ll not part with you, She’ll be a soldier too, she’ll to the wars.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
Good father, tell her that she and my aunt Percy
Shall follow in your conduct speedily.
Good father, tell her that she and my aunt Percy Shall follow in your conduct speedily.
[Conversational: MORTIMER]
[Emotional core: MORTIMER]
She is desperate here, a peevish self-willed harlotry,
One that no persuasion can do good upon.
She is desperate here, a peevish self-willed harlotry, One that no persuasion can do good upon.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
I understand thy looks, that pretty Welsh
Which thou pourest down from these swelling heavens
I am too perfect in, and but for shame
In such a parley should I answer thee.
I understand your looks, that pretty Welsh Which you pourest down from these swelling heavens I am too perfect in, and but for shame In such a parley should I answer you.
[Conversational: MORTIMER]
[Emotional core: MORTIMER]
The scene's second half turns on an unusual theatrical choice: Lady Mortimer speaks only Welsh, which Mortimer cannot understand, and Shakespeare doesn't translate her lines for the audience either. We watch a couple say goodbye across a complete language barrier, mediated by a father who also happens to be their most powerful military ally. Lady Percy, meanwhile, can talk to Hotspur — but he won't be still long enough to make it worth anything. Both couples are communicating, and neither is quite reaching the other. The Welsh song Lady Mortimer sings is the one successful act of communication in the scene: music crosses the language gap. Keep watching to see whether this kind of silence pays a price.
Nay, if you melt, then will she run mad.
no, if you melt, then will she run mad.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
O, I am ignorance itself in this!
O, I am ignorance itself in this!
[Conversational: MORTIMER]
[Emotional core: MORTIMER]
She bids you on the wanton rushes lay you down,
And rest your gentle head upon her lap,
And she will sing the song that pleaseth you,
And on your eyelids crown the god of sleep,
Charming your blood with pleasing heaviness,
Making such difference ’twixt wake and sleep
As is the difference betwixt day and night,
The hour before the heavenly-harness’d team
Begins his golden progress in the east.
She bids you on the wanton rushes lay you down, And rest your gentle head upon her lap, And she will sing the song that pleaseth you, And on your eyelids crown the god of sleep, Charming your blood with pleasing heaviness, Making such difference ’twixt wake and sleep As is the difference between day and night, The hour before the heavenly-harness’d team Begins his golden progress in the east.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
With all my heart I’ll sit and hear her sing,
By that time will our book, I think, be drawn.
With all my heart I’ll sit and hear her sing, By that time will our book, I think, be drawn.
[Conversational: MORTIMER]
[Emotional core: MORTIMER]
Do so, and those musicians that shall play to you
Hang in the air a thousand leagues from hence,
And straight they shall be here: sit, and attend.
Do so, and those musicians that shall play to you Hang in the air a thousand leagues from hence, And straight they shall be here: sit, and attend.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
Come, Kate, thou art perfect in lying down.
Come, quick, quick, that I may lay my head in thy lap.
Come, Kate, you art perfect in lying down. Come, quick, quick, that I may lay my head in your lap.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
Kate Percy is the only person who can physically stop Hotspur mid-sentence. Watch for how she deflects his energy with wit rather than argument — she knows arguing with him is pointless.
Go, ye giddy goose.
Go, ye giddy goose.
[Conversational: LADY PERCY]
[Emotional core: LADY PERCY]
Now I perceive the devil understands Welsh,
And ’tis no marvel he’s so humorous.
By’r Lady, he’s a good musician.
Now I perceive the devil understands Welsh, And ’tis no marvel he’s so humorous. By’r Lady, he’s a good musician.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
Then should you be nothing but musical,
For you are altogether governed by humours.
Lie still, ye thief, and hear the lady sing in Welsh.
Then should you be nothing but musical, For you are altogether governed by humours. Lie still, ye thief, and hear the lady sing in Welsh.
[Conversational: LADY PERCY]
[Emotional core: LADY PERCY]
I had rather hear Lady, my brach, howl in Irish.
I had rather hear Lady, my brach, howl in Irish.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
Wouldst thou have thy head broken?
would you have your head broken?
[Conversational: LADY PERCY]
[Emotional core: LADY PERCY]
No.
No.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
Then be still.
Then be still.
[Conversational: LADY PERCY]
[Emotional core: LADY PERCY]
Neither; ’tis a woman’s fault.
Neither; ’tis a woman’s fault.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
Now God help thee!
Now God help you!
[Conversational: LADY PERCY]
[Emotional core: LADY PERCY]
To the Welsh lady’s bed.
To the Welsh lady’s bed.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
What’s that?
What’s that?
[Conversational: LADY PERCY]
[Emotional core: LADY PERCY]
Peace, she sings.
Peace, she sings.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
Not mine, in good sooth.
Not mine, in good sooth.
[Conversational: LADY PERCY]
[Emotional core: LADY PERCY]
Not yours, in good sooth! Heart! you swear like a comfit-maker’s wife!
“Not you, in good sooth,” and “As true as I live,” and “As God shall
mend me,” and “As sure as day”
And givest such sarcenet surety for thy oaths
As if thou never walk’dst further than Finsbury.
Swear me, Kate, like a lady as thou art,
A good mouth-filling oath, and leave “In sooth,”
And such protest of pepper-gingerbread,
To velvet-guards and Sunday citizens.
Come, sing.
Not yours, in good sooth! Heart! you swear like a comfit-maker’s wife! “Not you, in good sooth,” and “As true as I live,” and “As God shall mend me,” and “As sure as day” And givest such sarcenet surety for your oaths As if you never walk’dst further than Finsbury. Swear me, Kate, like a lady as you art, A good mouth-filling oath, and leave “In sooth,” And such protest of pepper-gingerbread, To velvet-guards and Sunday citizens. Come, sing.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
I will not sing.
I will not sing.
[Conversational: LADY PERCY]
[Emotional core: LADY PERCY]
’Tis the next way to turn tailor, or be redbreast-teacher. An the
indentures be drawn, I’ll away within these two hours; and so come in
when ye will.
’Tis the next way to turn tailor, or be redbreast-teacher. An the indentures be drawn, I’ll away within these two hours; and so come in when ye will.
[Conversational: HOTSPUR]
[Emotional core: HOTSPUR]
Come, come, Lord Mortimer, you are as slow
As hot Lord Percy is on fire to go.
By this our book is drawn. We’ll but seal,
And then to horse immediately.
Come, come, Lord Mortimer, you are as slow As hot Lord Percy is on fire to go. By this our book is drawn. We’ll but seal, And then to horse immediately.
[Conversational: GLENDOWER]
[Emotional core: GLENDOWER]
With all my heart.
With all my heart.
[Conversational: MORTIMER]
[Emotional core: MORTIMER]
The Reckoning
The scene is two moods at once. The first half is almost farcical: Hotspur picks fights with Glendower over everything — his mystical birth, his poetry, a river's bend on a map — and Worcester has to apologize for him like a parent at a dinner party. Then the Welsh women arrive, and the scene goes quiet. Mortimer can't speak to his wife; Hotspur won't sing for his. In the gap between the map-dividing warriors and these two couples who can barely communicate, Shakespeare puts everything that war is going to cost.
If this happened today…
Three regional executives are splitting up a huge territory in a conference room. One of them keeps arguing with another about his TED talk, his personal mythology, and whether a river boundary should be moved three miles east. The HR rep whispers to the first one: please stop antagonizing him, we need him. Then both men's wives walk in to say goodbye before a deployment, and the room goes quiet in a completely different way.