116 recompense return, repayment
117 gracious with divine grace/with favor
117 prostrate either figurative ("adoring, submissive"), or Charles may literally still be on the floor after the fight 117 thrall slave
119 shrives hears confession and grants absolution/undresses/has sex with 119 smock undergarment
120 protract extend (plays on notion of penile erection) 121 mean limit, measure
122 know perhaps with sexual connotations (to know: to have sex with) 123 shrewd cunning, artful
123 tongues speech/tongues used sexually
124 where are you what are your intentions
124 devise you on do you decide upon, are you planning 125 give o'er abandon, leave
126 recreants cowards, deserters, those who abandon the true cause 129 scourge one sent by God to punish
131 Saint Martin's summer a late spell of fine weather; Saint Martin's day is 11 November 131 halcyon's days a period of calm (from the legend that the kingfisher laid its eggs in a nest on the surface of the water; while they incubated the waters remained untroubled) 138 insulting exultant, mocking
139 Caesar ... once in a story related by the ancient writer Plutarch, Caesar tells a sea captain not to fear the rough weather as his ship contains both Caesar and Caesar's good fortune
140 Mahomet ... dove Mohammed, the prophet and founder of Islam who received divine revelations from a dove that whispered in his ear; skeptics said that he had merely trained the bird to nibble corn lodged there 141 with by eagle a Christian symbol
142 Helen mother of the emperor Constantine; after being led by a vision to the discovery of the true cross, she converted her son to Christianity, which he made the official religion in the Roman Empire 143 Saint Philip's daughters four virgins said to have prophetic powers (Acts 21:9) 144 Venus Roman goddess of love; the planet Venus is known as the Morning Star
148 immortalized gain immortal fame
149 Presently immediately
Act 1 Scene 3
1.3 Location: the Tower of London
1.3 blue coats Gloucester's livery and the typical color of Elizabethan servants' uniforms 2 conveyance trickery, theft
3 warders guards
8 Villains scoundrels/base servants
10 willed ordered
12 none no other
13 Break up open
13 warrantize guarantee, surety
14 flouted mocked, taunted
19 Cardinal an error; he has only just been made a cardinal in Act 5 Scene 1
22 prizest him 'fore do you esteem him more than
24 brook endure
26 shut ... shortly have you dismissed immediately
28 tawny yellowish brown, the color of the uniform worn by summoners or officers of an ecclesiastical court 29 umpire one who sets himself up as arbitrator (Second Folio's emendation of Folio's "Vmpheir"; some editors emend to "Humphrey," but there is no reason for the bishop to use his adversary's Christian name) 30 Peeled bald, tonsured
31 proditor traitor
34 contrived'st plotted
34 dead lord i.e. Henry V
35 whores ... sin the see of the Bishop of Winchester owned and leased land in Southwark, an area south of the Thames notorious for brothels; prostitutes were known as "Winchester geese"
35 indulgences official documents, purchasable from the Church, that granted absolution from sin 36 canvass entangle in a net/sift, examine, as through a canvas sieve/punish (literally toss in a canvas sheet) 36 cardinal's hat also the name of a long-standing Southwark brothel; the Bishop of Winchester does not actually become a cardinal until later in the play 39 Damascus ... Cain the city of Damascus, in Syria, was thought to have been built at the place where Adam and Eve's son Cain murdered his brother Abel
42 bearing-cloth christening robe
44 beard defy (literally, pull insultingly by the beard)
45 dared challenged
46 for all this despite this being
46 privileged place i.e. royal residence, where it was illegal to draw swords 50 dignities dignitaries
53 Winchester goose syphilitic swelling in the groin/client of prostitutes 53 A rope i.e. for flogging (dominant sense); also "hangman's noose/penis/parrot's cry (abusive)"
56 hurly-burly tumult, uproar
57 Fie expression of impatience
58 contumeliously disgracefully, insolently
61 distrained seized
63 still constantly, always motions promotes, urges 64 O'ercharging ... fines i.e. overburdening with heavy taxation (levied to fund war) 64 free generous
68 prince ruler, king
70 rests remains
75 repair return
76 several various
80 break reveal, broach
80 at large in full
83 call for clubs give the rallying cry for apprentices armed with clubs (used to suppress a riot) 86 Abominable loathsome (often popularly "inhuman, unnatural") 87 ere before
89 stomachs tempers, anger
Act 1 Scene 4
1.4 Location: Orleans, France
1 Sirrah sir (used to inferiors)
2 suburbs outskirts, areas outside the city walls
7 grace honor/favor
8 espials spies
9 close entrenched securely dug-in/fortified nearby
10 Wont are accustomed
14 inconvenience harm, injury
15 ordnance cannon, artillery
15 gainst aimed at
21 take ... care do not worry
30 baser of lower birth or rank
30 man of arms soldier
32 craved entreated
33 pilled peeled, i.e. reduced, worthless, deprived of honor 34 In fine in short, to sum up
34 redeemed ransomed
38 entertained treated
39 contumelious contemptuous, insolent
47 grisly grim, terrifying
48 sudden immediate
52 spurn kick
52 adamant a legendary substance of unsurpassed hardness 53 Wherefore for which reason
53 chosen shot specially selected marksman
54 every minute while at one-minute intervals
56 linstock forked stick for holding the gunner's lighted match 64 express precise, considered
65 batt'ry assault, bombardment
67 bulwark manned fortification
68 aught anything, what
69 enfeebled weakened
72 chance unfortunate event crossed thwarted 74 mirror i.e. model, image
76 fatal deadly/that deals fate
80 trump trumpet
86 wants lacks
93 As as one
95 Plantagenet Salisbury (Thomas Montacute) was a descendant of Edward III 96 Nero ... burn Roman emperor, Nero supposedly played music (popularly "fiddled") while Rome burned 97 only in at the mere sound of
97 lightens lightning flashes
100 gathered head raised an army, drawn their forces together 103 power army
105 irks distresses
107 Puzzel or pucelle though it means the opposite, the word had in England taken on a slang sense of "whore"
107 dolphin i.e. Dauphin (pronounced in the same way) 109 mingled mixed together/mangled
110 Convey me convey (me is emphatic)
Act 1 Scene 5
2 stay prevent
4 bout of fighting/of sex
5 dam mother conjure control with incantations, exorcise (perhaps "have sex with") 6 Blood ... witch superstition held anyone who drew blood from a witch was then protected from her spells 7 him the devil/the dauphin
10 courage vigor, spirit
12 high-minded arrogant
14 victual supply with provisions
17 testament will
21 Hannibal famous third-century Carthaginian general who once outwitted his Roman enemies by tying firebrands to the horns of a vast herd of oxen so that they thought they were outnumbered 22 lists pleases
23 noisome noxious
&
nbsp; 26 whelps puppies
28 England's coat coat of arms, in which three lions featured, quartered with the French fleur-de-lis 29 give display
29 stead place
30 treacherous cowardly
32 subdued overcome, subjugated
33 It ... be i.e. it is useless
34 consented unto conspired to bring about
35 his revenge revenge of him
38 would if only, I wish
Act 1 Scene 6
1.6 walls city walls
1 Advance raise aloft colours military banners or flags 4 Astraea Greek goddess of justice
6 Adonis' garden mythical garden of extraordinary fertility
10 hap chance, fortune
16 played the men performed our role of soldier, displayed manliness 22 pyramid ... Memphis Rhodope was a Greek courtesan, who married a king of Memphis and supposedly built the third Egyptian pyramid 25 rich-jewelled ... Darius King of Persia, conquered by Alexander the Great; the coffer is either Darius' jeweled treasure chest (in which Alexander stored the works of Homer), or his coffin 26 high elaborate, important
28 Saint Denis patron saint of France
Act 2 Scene 1
2.1 band company of soldiers guarding the town 3 apparent clear, manifest
4 court of guard guardhouse
5 servitors soldiers, those who perform military service
7 Constrained obliged
7 scaling-ladders used by soldiers to climb defensive fortifications 7 dead march funeral march or simply march played on muffled drums 8 redoubted revered/feared
9 approach arrival
10 Wallon region that is now part of southern Belgium
11 happy fortunate
11 secure carefree/overconfident
14 quittance requite, repay
15 art magic
15 baleful malignant, deadly
16 Coward of France! i.e. the dauphin
16 fame reputation
17 fortitude strength
23 prove not masculine does not turn out to be a man/turns out to be a woman (by getting pregnant) 24 standard military banner/soldier who carries the banner/erect penis 25 carry armour wear armor/bear the weight of a man in armor (during sex) 26 practise and converse scheme and talk, associate/have sex 28 flinty hard, stony
31 several separate, various
34 yond yonder, that (over there)
40.1 ready dressed
43 I trow I am sure
47 venturous risky
47 desperate reckless, hazardous
50 marvel ... sped wonder how he fared
51 holy may pun on "holey" (i.e. "with a vagina," imaging Joan in her sexual capacity) 52 cunning magic/skill/craftiness
53 flatter falsely encourage
53 withal with it
56 impatient angry
57 alike in the same way
58 prevail be victorious
60 Improvident careless, short-sighted
61 mischief calamity, harm
61 fall'n befallen, happened
62 default failure, negligence
64 weighty charge important responsibility
65 quarters part of an army camp/rooms, apartments
65 kept guarded, secured
66 government control, management
67 surprised ambushed, assaulted
71 her quarter Joan's rooms (possibly plays sexually on sense of "hindquarters") 71 precinct sector, area of control
72 passing moving
73 About concerned with
73 relieving ... sentinels possibly plays on the sense of "sexually relieving my erection"
77 But only
78 rests remains shift strategy
80 platforms plans
80 endamage them harm the enemy
83 spoils plunder, booty
Act 2 Scene 2
2 pitchy black (as pitch, a tarlike substance)
3.1 Retreat trumpet signal recalling the pursuing force 5 advance display/raise
7 vow i.e. of vengeance
11 ruin death, destruction
16 mournful sorrowful, causing grief
19 muse wonder
20 champion one who fights for another, defendant
20 virtuous said with irony
28 trull whore
30 turtle-doves emblematic of faithful love, they supposedly formed couples for life 33 power military force
40 vouchsafe grant, deign
41 poor humble
41 lies lives
43 report plays on the sense of "explosion of a gun or cannon"
45 comic sport amusing entertainment (sport plays on the sense of "sexual activity") 46 encountered with met/fought with/had sex with
47 despise scorn
47 gentle kind/courteous/honorable
48 world i.e. great number
49 oratory eloquence, rhetorical skill
50 overruled prevailed
52 attend on visit, wait on
55 unbidden uninvited
57 remedy alternative
58 prove try/test sexually
60 mind intention
61 mean mean to act
Act 2 Scene 3
2.3 Location: the castle of the Countess of Auvergne, near Orleans, France
1 gave in charge ordered
6 Tomyris ... death in revenge for her son's death, Queen Tomyris killed his murderer, the Persian King Cyrus, and put his head in a wineskin full of blood 9 Fain willingly
10 censure opinion (not necessarily negative)
10 rare exceptional/splendid
16 abroad everywhere, out in the world
17 still silence
18 fabulous fantastical, fictitious
19 Hercules famous Greek hero and demigod, possessed of exceptional strength 20 Hector famed Trojan warrior
20 for in terms of grim aspect stern expression 21 proportion size, bulk
21 strong-knit powerfully built, well constructed
22 silly feeble, weak
23 writhled wrinkled
27 sort arrange, choose
31 Marry by the Virgin Mary
31 for that because
31 in ... belief under a misapprehension
32 I ... here i.e. by leaving I demonstrate that I am the real Talbot, independent-minded and not inclined to listen to insults/I go as a means of demonstrating my presence 36 trained lured
37 shadow portrait/(illusory) image built on reputation/insubstantial thing 37 thrall slave
41 tyranny cruelty, oppressive violence
42 Wasted ravaged/exhausted
43 captivate into captivity
46 fond foolish
47 aught nothing
55 least ... humanity smallest part of humankind (here referring to the army) 56 frame structure, i.e. the body/the army
57 pitch height
59 merchant fellow/trader (in riddles) for the nonce as the occasion requires 61 contrarieties paradoxes, contradictions
62 presently immediately
62 Winds blows
62 ordnance artillery
66 yoketh subjects, imprisons, yokes like an animal
67 Razeth wipes out, obliterates
67 subverts overthrows
69 abuse insulting, aggressive behavior/delusion, misconception 70 bruited reported, proclaimed
74 entertain receive
75 misconster misconstrue
80 patience permission
81 cates delicacies
82 stomachs appetites
Act 2 Scene 4
2.4 Location: London, a garden at the Temple (area west of the City that housed the Inns of Court, where young men studied law)
2 case of truth legal term for a case that is to be resolved by considering the facts rather than any ethical implications; given the ensuing dialogue, the dispute may have been one concerning Plantagenet's claim to the throne 3 were would have been
6 Or else perhaps "or alternatively, to put it another way," but probably Plantagenet simply inquires, "Was I right
or was Somerset wrong?" to which he can only receive a favorable answer 6 wrangling quarreling/disputing (formally on an academic issue) 7 a truant negligent
8 frame adapt
11 pitch height (falconry term: highest point in the flight of a bird of prey) 12 mouth bark
13 blades swords' blades
13 temper quality, hardness
14 bear him carry himself
16 shallow naive
17 nice precise, fastidious
17 sharp subtle, discerning
17 quillets fine distinctions
18 daw jackdaw, a proverbially stupid bird
19 mannerly forbearance courteous reluctance (to be involved) 20 naked evident, palpable
21 purblind partially blind
22 apparelled dressed (as opposed to being naked)
24 blind i.e. totally blind as opposed to merely purblind
26 significants signs
28 stands insists
29 pleaded stated (legal sense)
30 white rose badge of the Mortimers (from whom Richard is descended) and then the House of York 32 party side
33 red rose badge of the House of Lancaster
34 colours literally, hues/corroborative evidence (legal sen se)/military banners 34 colour outward appearance
38 withal with it
42 yield concede in law
43 objected urged, brought forward as an argument
44 subscribe submit, agree (literally, sign a document)
47 maiden unblemished, pure
53 Opinion public opinion, reputation (a shift from the usual sense in the previous line) 54 still always
60 scabbard sheath for a sword
60 meditating that thinking on that which
62 counterfeit imitate
69 canker parasitic grub that destroys plants
71 his its
75 false dishonest (also continues Somerset's accusation that Richard is counterfeit)
77 fashion sort/fashion of wearing a red rose
77 peevish foolish/stubborn
79 Pole Suffolk's family name
80 turn ... throat throw the slanders back down your throat 82 grace favor, ennoble
82 yeoman man who owns properly but is not a gentleman
84 grandfather ancestor (actually his great-great-grandfather) 86 crestless without heraldic crest/without a top to his family tree (an image picked up on in root)/with lowered (cock's) crest, i.e. cowardly 87 bears ... privilege relies on the fact that this is a privileged place (where it was forbidden to draw swords) 88 craven cowardly
89 maintain standby, defend
93 attainted tainted, corrupt/subject to attainder (legal term), i.e. unable to inherit properly or title from a relative who received the death penalty 96 be restored have title and property returned, be reinstated 97 attached, not attainted arrested, but not made legally subject to attainder (perhaps having been executed on the king's orders, without being formally indicted by bill of attainder) 100 Were ... will i.e. given the opportunity
101 partaker part-taker, supporter
102 note record/brand
103 apprehension opinion
104 Look to it beware it, expect it
107 spite contempt
109 cognizance badge, distinguishing mark
112 degree rank