Original: O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
Modern: Oh, I wish I had a fiery, inspiring Muse that could rise up

Original: The brightest heaven of invention,
Modern: To the highest heights of creative imagination,

Original: A kingdom for a stage, princes to act
Modern: With an entire kingdom as our stage, princes as our actors,

Original: And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!
Modern: And kings as our audience to watch this grand, magnificent production!

Original: Then should the warlike Harry, like himself,
Modern: Then warrior King Henry could truly appear as himself,

Original: Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels,
Modern: Taking on the bearing and manner of Mars, the god of war; and following behind him,

Original: Leash’d in like hounds, should famine, sword and fire
Modern: Held back like hunting dogs on leashes, hunger, violence, and destruction

Original: Crouch for employment. But pardon, and gentles all,
Modern: Would wait eagerly to be unleashed. But forgive us, ladies and gentlemen,

Original: The flat unraised spirits that have dared
Modern: We humble, uninspired actors who have dared

Original: On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth
Modern: On this poor, inadequate stage to present

Original: So great an object: can this cockpit hold
Modern: Such an important story: can this tiny theater contain

Original: The vasty fields of France? or may we cram
Modern: The vast battlefields of France? Or can we possibly squeeze

Original: Within this wooden O the very casques
Modern: Inside this round wooden theater the actual helmets

Original: That did affright the air at Agincourt?
Modern: That filled the air with terror at the Battle of Agincourt?

Original: O, pardon! since a crooked figure may
Modern: Oh, please forgive us! Just as a simple curved number

Original: Attest in little place a million;
Modern: Can represent a million in a small space;

Original: And let us, ciphers to this great accompt,
Modern: So let us, mere zeros in this grand calculation,

Original: On your imaginary forces work.
Modern: Work upon your powers of imagination.

Original: Suppose within the girdle of these walls
Modern: Imagine that within the circle of these theater walls

Original: Are now confined two mighty monarchies,
Modern: Are now contained two powerful kingdoms,

Original: Whose high upreared and abutting fronts
Modern: Whose tall, raised-up borders that meet each other

Original: The perilous narrow ocean parts asunder:
Modern: Are separated only by the dangerous, narrow English Channel:

Original: Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts;
Modern: Fill in what we’re missing with your imagination;

Original: Into a thousand parts divide on man,
Modern: Split one man into a thousand parts,

Original: And make imaginary puissance;
Modern: And create armies in your mind;

Original: Think when we talk of horses, that you see them
Modern: When we mention horses, imagine that you actually see them

Original: Printing their proud hoofs i’ the receiving earth;
Modern: Stamping their noble hooves into the yielding ground;

Original: For ‘tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings,
Modern: Because it’s your imagination that must now dress and adorn our kings,

Original: Carry them here and there; jumping o’er times,
Modern: Transport them from place to place; leaping across time periods,

Original: Turning the accomplishment of many years
Modern: Transforming events that took many years to happen

Original: Into an hour-glass: for the which supply,
Modern: Into just an hour or two: to help make this possible,

Original: Admit me Chorus to this history;
Modern: Accept me as the Chorus-narrator of this historical story;

Original: Who prologue-like your humble patience pray,
Modern: I, like a prologue speaker, humbly ask for your patience,

Original: Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play.
Modern: To listen graciously and judge generously our play.

The Prologue to “Henry V” opens with a single speaker, the Chorus, who addresses the audience directly and apologizes for the limitations of the theater in depicting the grand historical events about to unfold. The Chorus asks the audience to imagine a “Muse of fire” and wishes for a kingdom as a stage, princes as actors, and monarchs as spectators worthy of the great subject matter. He acknowledges that the “wooden O” (the theater) and its small company of actors cannot possibly contain the vast fields of France or adequately represent the mighty horses, armies, and battles of the historical events they are about to present.

The Chorus humbly requests the audience’s pardon for these theatrical shortcomings and asks them to use their imagination to supplement what the stage cannot provide. He urges the spectators to let their “imaginary forces work,” to think of the single actor playing a king as representing thousands of soldiers, and to divide one man into a thousand parts to create armies in their minds. The Chorus promises to serve as guide throughout the play, asking the audience’s patience and “gentle” judgment as they work together to bring this great historical story to life despite the inherent limitations of theatrical performance.

Henry V follows the young English king as he transforms from the wayward Prince Hal into a decisive military leader. The play opens with Henry’s court debating his claim to the French throne through his great-great-grandmother’s lineage. When the French Dauphin mockingly sends Henry tennis balls as a gift, suggesting he should stick to games rather than warfare, Henry uses this insult as justification to invade France. He sentences three conspirators - Cambridge, Scroop, and Grey - to death for plotting against his life, then sets sail for France with his army.

The English forces land in France and lay siege to Harfleur, which Henry captures after his famous “Once more unto the breach” speech. However, his army is weakened by disease and casualties. Meanwhile, we follow the tavern companions from Henry’s youth - Pistol, Nym, Bardolph, and Hostess Quickly, who reports the death of Falstaff. The English army, vastly outnumbered, faces the French at Agincourt. On the eve of battle, Henry disguises himself and walks among his soldiers to gauge their morale, engaging in philosophical discussions about kingship and responsibility.

The Battle of Agincourt proves to be a decisive English victory despite overwhelming French numerical superiority. Henry orders the killing of French prisoners when he believes the French are regrouping, and becomes enraged when he discovers French forces have killed the English boys guarding the baggage train. The English suffer minimal casualties while French losses are enormous. The play concludes with Henry’s courtship of Princess Katherine of France, conducted partly in broken French and English. Their marriage seals the Treaty of Troyes, which names Henry as heir to the French throne, though the Chorus epilogue reminds the audience that Henry’s son would later lose these French territories.