Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

No more shall trenching war channel her fields,

Nor bruise her flowerets with the armed hoof

Of hostile paces: those opposed eyes,

Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven,

All of one nature, of one substance bred,

Did lately meet in the intestine shock

And furious close of civil butchery,

Shall now, in mutual well-beseeming ranks,

March all one way, and be no more opposed

Against acquaintance, kindred, and allies:

 

-King Henry

King Henry the Fourth Part I    Act I Scene i, Line 12

Wrong.

Henry here, is talking about the fact that there’s going to be no more civil war. The ‘her’ he is referring to is, of course, England: no more Englishman fighting against Englishman. Henry will go on to talk about heading off to fight in the crusades in the Holy Land.

Again, wrong.

Basically, Henry is the one who started the Wars of the Roses, the civil butchery, by overthrowing his cousin Richard II, so I don’t know why he’s so simplistic to think that this internal strife will just end. These wars will continue for a few generations until Henry VII ends them by defeating Richard III (by the way, not the son of Richard II).

So this is how we start the play off.

Some fantastic wording here. Really, pretty much every line has something in it to enjoy. Trenching war channeling her fields, bruising her flowerets; meeting in the intestine shock. And now they’re going to march all one way in mutual, well-beseeming ranks.

You really need to find a way to spend a few minutes to enjoy this use of the English language. If you take just a little time to read these lines over slowly, and ponder the words and the imagery, you might, just might, start to get a little bit of an understanding of why Will is considered the best there ever was.

No pic today, just great words.