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1. From Henry V (the night scene before Agincourt):
   O, not today, think not upon the fault
   My father made in compassing the crown.
   I Richard’s body have interrèd new
   And on it have bestowed more contrite tears
   Than from it issued forcèd drops of blood.
   Five hundred poor I have in yearly pay
   Who twice a day their withered hands hold up
   Toward heaven to pardon blood. And I have built
   Two chantries where the sad and solemn priests
   Sing still for Richard’s soul. More will I do—
   Though all that I can do is nothing worth,
   Since that my penitence comes after all,
   Imploring pardon.
   Here is a son still paying for his father’s sins, but since he owns the kingdom, his penitence is nothing worth. One aspect of Hal/Henry that struck me in my most recent reading of the Henriad is Hal’s sense from the very beginning the price he will have to pay to be recognized as a true king, great king. Henry V’s repeated use of Christian imagery maybe hypocrisy or true guilt; I lean more towards the latter, mostly because of this speech.
   Claudius’ guilt is better developed than Hal/Henry’s and this soliloquy is magnificent.

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   1. The line from Henry V is a really interesting one – Burbage would have just played not just Henry V but Brutus… The second tetralogy (unlike the first) were most likely written in order – so there is a real arc over the 4, and especially for Hal, and a developing sense of the tragedy of kingship – which is there perhaps most vividly in Richard II, but most urgently in Henry V, and in this speech in particular.

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