König Heinrich Der Vierte. Der Erste Theil
1598
König Heinrich Der Vierte. Der Erste Theil
1598
Translated by Christoph Martin Wieland
König Heinrich Der Vierte. Der Erste Theil, written by William Shakespeare and first published in 1598, is a historical play that explores themes of power, honor, and rebellion. The narrative centers on King Henry IV as he navigates the challenges of ruling a divided kingdom, alongside his son Prince Hal and rival factions led by Hotspur and Owen Glendower. The play juxtaposes the serious political climate with the comedic antics of Falstaff, highlighting the complexities of personal and political relationships during a tumultuous period in English history.
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“I know you all, and will awhile upholdThe unyoked humour of your idleness.Yet herein will I imitate the sun,Who doth permit the base contagious cloudsTo smother up his beauty from the world,That when he please again to be himself,Being wanted, he may be more wondered atBy breaking through the foul and ugly mistsOf vapours that did seem to strangle him.If all the year were playing holidays,To sport would be as tedious as to work;But when they seldom come, they wished-for come,And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents.So, when this loose behaviour I throw offAnd pay the debt I never promisèd,By how much better than my word I am,By so much shall I falsify men’s hopes;And like bright metal on a sullen ground,My reformation, glitt’ring o’er my fault,Shall show more goodly and attract more eyesThan that which hath no foil to set it off.I’ll so offend to make offence a skill,Redeeming time when men think least I will.””
— William Shakespeare
“I can call the spirits from the vasty deep.Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;But will they come, when you do call for them?””
— William Shakespeare
“If all the year were playing holidays; To sport would be as tedious as to work.””
— William Shakespeare
“What is honour? a word. What is in that word honour? what is that honour? air. A trim reckoning! Who hath it? he that died o' Wednesday. Doth he feel it? no. Doth he hear it? no.””
— William Shakespeare
“Ill-weaved ambition, how much art thou shrunk! When that this body did contain a spirit a kingdom for it was to small a bound. But now two paces of the vilest earth are room enough””
— William Shakespeare
“O, while you live, tell truth, and shame the Devil!””
— William Shakespeare
“I am the Prince of Wales; and think not, Percy,To share with me in glory any more:Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere;””
— William Shakespeare
“But thoughts the slave of life, and life, Time’s fool,And Time, that takes survey of all the world,Must have a stop.””
— William Shakespeare
“No, my good lord, banish Peto, banish Bardolph, banish Poins, but for sweet Jack Falstaff, kind Jack Falstaff, true Jack Falstaff, valiant Jack Falstaff, and therefore more valiant, being as he is, old Jack Falstaff, banish not him thy Harry's company, banish not him thy Harry's company. Banish plump Jack, and banish all the world.””
— William Shakespeare
