Original: Wherefore do I this? So the question stands.
Modern: Why am I doing this? That’s the question you’re asking.

Original: Briefly to this end: we are all diseas’d
Modern: Here’s the short answer: we’re all sick

Original: And with our surfeiting and wanton hours
Modern: And through our excessive indulgence and reckless behavior

Original: Have brought ourselves into a burning fever,
Modern: We’ve given ourselves a dangerous fever,

Original: And we must bleed for it; of which disease
Modern: And we need to be bled to cure it; from this same disease

Original: Our late King, Richard, being infected, died.
Modern: Our former King Richard, who caught it, died.

Original: But, my most noble Lord of Westmoreland,
Modern: But, my noble Lord of Westmoreland,

Original: I take not on me here as a physician;
Modern: I’m not taking on the role of a doctor here;

Original: Nor do I as an enemy to peace
Modern: Nor am I acting as someone who hates peace

Original: Troop in the throngs of military men;
Modern: By marching here with crowds of soldiers;

Original: But rather show awhile like fearful war
Modern: Instead, I’m appearing for a while like frightening warfare

Original: To diet rank minds sick of happiness,
Modern: To put diseased minds that are sick from too much comfort on a strict regimen,

Original: And purge th’ obstructions which begin to stop
Modern: And clear out the blockages that are starting to clog

Original: Our very veins of life. Hear me more plainly.
Modern: The very veins that give our nation life. Let me be clearer.

Original: I have in equal balance justly weigh’d
Modern: I have fairly weighed on balanced scales

Original: What wrongs our arms may do, what wrongs we suffer,
Modern: What harm our weapons might cause versus what harm we’ve endured,

Original: And find our griefs heavier than our offences.
Modern: And I find our suffering outweighs any offense we’ve committed.

Original: We see which way the stream of time doth run
Modern: We see which direction the current of events is flowing

Original: And are enforc’d from our most quiet there
Modern: And we’ve been forced from our peaceful position

Original: By the rough torrent of occasion;
Modern: By the violent flood of circumstances;

Original: And have the summary of all our griefs,
Modern: And we have a complete list of all our complaints,

Original: When time shall serve, to show in articles;
Modern: Ready to present in written form when the time is right;

Original: Which long ere this we offer’d to the King,
Modern: Which we offered to the King long before now,

Original: And might by no suit gain our audience:
Modern: But no request could get us a meeting with him:

Original: When we are wrong’d, and would unfold our griefs,
Modern: When we’ve been wronged and want to explain our complaints,

Original: We are denied access unto his person,
Modern: We’re denied access to see him in person,

Original: Even by those men that most have done us wrong.
Modern: Especially by the very men who have wronged us most.

Original: The dangers of the days but newly gone,
Modern: The threats from the days that just recently passed,

Original: Whose memory is written on the earth
Modern: Whose memory is recorded on the ground

Original: With yet appearing blood, and the examples
Modern: With blood that’s still visible, and the evidence

Original: Of every minute’s instance, present now,
Modern: Of things happening every single minute, right now,

Original: Hath put us in these ill-beseeming arms;
Modern: Have forced us to take up these inappropriate weapons;

Original: Not to break peace, or any branch of it,
Modern: Not to destroy peace, or any part of it,

Original: But to establish here a peace indeed,
Modern: But to create here a genuine peace,

Original: Concurring both in name and quality.
Modern: That is peace both in word and in reality.

Henry IV, Part Two - Summary of Events

The play opens with Rumour spreading false news that Hotspur has defeated King Henry IV at Shrewsbury. Northumberland soon learns the truth: his son Hotspur is dead, and the rebellion has failed. Despite his grief and calls from his allies to continue the fight, Northumberland eventually flees to Scotland. Meanwhile, the rebel leaders—the Archbishop of York, Lord Mowbray, and Lord Hastings—gather forces for a new uprising against the King.

Prince Hal continues his time in the taverns of Eastcheap with Falstaff, Mistress Quickly, Doll Tearsheet, and his companions. Falstaff, deep in debt and pursued by the Hostess for unpaid bills, manipulates his way out of trouble and is eventually called to join the King’s forces. The King himself is gravely ill and troubled by insomnia, burdened by guilt over how he obtained the crown. He laments that Hal remains irresponsible and fears for England’s future under his son’s rule.

In Gaultree Forest, Prince John of Lancaster meets with the rebels under a flag of truce. He promises to address their grievances, and the rebel leaders dismiss their armies. Once the rebel forces disperse, Prince John arrests the leaders for treason and orders their execution. When the dying King Henry hears of this victory and later finds Hal with the crown at his bedside (believing him dead, Hal had taken it), father and son reconcile. Henry dies, and Hal becomes King Henry V.

As the new king, Henry V publicly rejects Falstaff, who arrives expecting rewards and favor. The King banishes his former companion from his presence, promises him support at a distance, but makes clear their relationship is over. The Lord Chief Justice is retained in his position, and the new king prepares to rule England. The epilogue promises that the story will continue with Henry V’s wars in France and hints that Falstaff will appear again.