Here is the line-by-line paraphrase of King Henry V’s monologue:

Original: Upon the king! let us our lives, our souls,
Modern: Blame the king! Let’s put our lives and souls on him,

Original: Our debts, our careful wives,
Modern: Our debts, our worried wives,

Original: Our children and our sins lay on the king!
Modern: Our children and our sins - all the king’s responsibility!

Original: We must bear all. O hard condition,
Modern: I must carry everything. Oh, what a terrible burden,

Original: Twin-born with greatness, subject to the breath
Modern: Born alongside power, vulnerable to the words

Original: Of every fool, whose sense no more can feel
Modern: Of every idiot, who can’t understand anything

Original: But his own wringing! What infinite heart’s-ease
Modern: Except his own problems! What endless peace of mind

Original: Must kings neglect, that private men enjoy!
Modern: Must kings give up that ordinary people get to have!

Original: And what have kings, that privates have not too,
Modern: And what do kings have that regular people don’t,

Original: Save ceremony, save general ceremony?
Modern: Except ceremony, except official ceremony?

Original: And what art thou, thou idle ceremony?
Modern: And what are you, you useless ceremony?

Original: What kind of god art thou, that suffer’st more
Modern: What kind of god are you, who suffers more

Original: Of mortal griefs than do thy worshippers?
Modern: Human sorrows than the people who worship you?

Original: What are thy rents? what are thy comings in?
Modern: What do you earn? What’s your income?

Original: O ceremony, show me but thy worth!
Modern: Oh ceremony, just show me your value!

Original: What is thy soul of adoration?
Modern: What’s at the heart of all this worship?

Original: Art thou aught else but place, degree and form,
Modern: Are you anything more than position, rank, and appearance,

Original: Creating awe and fear in other men?
Modern: Making other people feel amazed and afraid?

Original: Wherein thou art less happy being fear’d
Modern: In which you’re less happy being feared

Original: Than they in fearing.
Modern: Than they are in fearing you.

Original: What drink’st thou oft, instead of homage sweet,
Modern: What do you often drink, instead of genuine respect,

Original: But poison’d flattery? O, be sick, great greatness,
Modern: But poisonous lies? Oh, get sick, great power,

Original: And bid thy ceremony give thee cure!
Modern: And ask your ceremony to heal you!

Original: Think’st thou the fiery fever will go out
Modern: Do you think a burning fever will be cured

Original: With titles blown from adulation?
Modern: With fancy titles coming from fake praise?

Original: Will it give place to flexure and low bending?
Modern: Will it be healed by bowing and kneeling?

Original: Canst thou, when thou command’st the beggar’s knee,
Modern: Can you, when you force a beggar to kneel,

Original: Command the health of it? No, thou proud dream,
Modern: Command his knee to be healthy? No, you arrogant fantasy,

Original: That play’st so subtly with a king’s repose;
Modern: That tricks around so cleverly with a king’s rest;

Original: I am a king that find thee, and I know
Modern: I am a king who has figured you out, and I know

Original: ‘Tis not the balm, the sceptre and the ball,
Modern: It’s not the holy oil, the royal staff and orb,

Original: The sword, the mace, the crown imperial,
Modern: The sword, the ceremonial club, the royal crown,

Original: The intertissued robe of gold and pearl,
Modern: The robe woven with gold and pearls,

Original: The farced title running ‘fore the king,
Modern: The stuffed-up titles announced before the king,

Original: The throne he sits on, nor the tide of pomp
Modern: The throne he sits on, or the wave of splendor

Original: That beats upon the high shore of this world,
Modern: That crashes on the high shores of this world,

Original: No, not all these, thrice-gorgeous ceremony,
Modern: No, not all these things, you three-times beautiful ceremony,

Original: Not all these, laid in bed majestical,
Modern: Not all these things, even in a royal bed,

Original: Can sleep so soundly as the wretched slave,
Modern: Can sleep as peacefully as the miserable peasant,

Original: Who with a body fill’d and vacant mind
Modern: Who with a full stomach and empty mind

Original: Gets him to rest, cramm’d with distressful bread;
Modern: Goes to sleep, stuffed with rough bread;

Original: Never sees horrid night, the child of hell,
Modern: Never experiences terrible night, hell’s child,

Original: But, like a lackey, from the rise to set
Modern: But, like a servant, from sunrise to sunset

Original: Sweats in the eye of Phoebus and all night
Modern: Works hard under the sun’s gaze and all night

Original: Sleeps in Elysium; next day after dawn,
Modern: Sleeps in paradise; the next day after sunrise,

Original: Doth rise and help Hyperion to his horse,
Modern: Gets up and helps the sun god with his horses,

Original: And follows so the ever-running year,
Modern: And follows along with the constantly moving year,

Original: With profitable labour, to his grave:
Modern: With useful work, until he dies:

Original: And, but for ceremony, such a wretch,
Modern: And, except for ceremony, such a poor man,

Original: Winding up days with toil and nights with sleep,
Modern: Ending his days with hard work and nights with sleep,

Original: Had the fore-hand and vantage of a king.
Modern: Would have the advantage and upper hand over a king.

Original: The slave, a member of the country’s peace,
Modern: The peasant, as part of the country’s peace,

Original: Enjoys it; but in gross brain little wots
Modern: Enjoys it; but in his simple mind barely knows

Original: What watch the king keeps to maintain the peace,
Modern: What sleepless nights the king endures to keep the peace,

Original: Whose hours the peasant best advantages.
Modern: Which benefits the peasant the most.

In Act IV, Scene 1 of “Henry V,” King Henry disguises himself by borrowing Sir Thomas Erpingham’s cloak and walks anonymously among his soldiers on the night before the Battle of Agincourt. He encounters several common soldiers, including Pistol, who doesn’t recognize him, and later John Bates, Alexander Court, and Michael Williams. When Henry, still disguised, engages these men in conversation about the king’s responsibility for his soldiers’ souls should they die in battle, Williams challenges his arguments, leading to a heated exchange. Henry and Williams agree to continue their quarrel after the battle and exchange gloves as pledges to recognize each other later.

After the soldiers depart, Henry is left alone and delivers a soliloquy reflecting on the burdens of kingship and the hollow nature of ceremony. He meditates on how a king, despite all his outward trappings of power, suffers the same anxieties as common men but bears the additional weight of responsibility for his subjects. He then kneels in prayer, asking God not to punish his army for his father’s sin of usurping Richard II’s throne, reminding God of his various acts of penance and contrition for that crime. Erpingham and Gloucester arrive to summon the king to his commanders, and Henry resolves to face the coming battle.

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.