Original: This battle fares like to the morning’s war,
Modern: This battle is going like the struggle at dawn,

Original: When dying clouds contend with growing light,
Modern: When the fading darkness fights against the rising light,

Original: What time the shepherd, blowing of his nails,
Modern: At that hour when the shepherd, blowing on his fingernails to keep warm,

Original: Can neither call it perfect day nor night.
Modern: Can’t tell if it’s completely day or still night.

Original: Now sways it this way, like a mighty sea
Modern: Now the battle shifts in this direction, like a powerful ocean

Original: Forced by the tide to combat with the wind;
Modern: Pushed by the tide to fight against the wind;

Original: Now sways it that way, like the selfsame sea
Modern: Now it shifts the other way, like that same ocean

Original: Forced to retire by fury of the wind:
Modern: Forced to pull back by the fierce wind:

Original: Sometime the flood prevails, and then the wind;
Modern: Sometimes the tide wins, and then the wind does;

Original: Now one the better, then another best;
Modern: Now one side has the advantage, then the other does;

Original: Both tugging to be victors, breast to breast,
Modern: Both struggling to win, fighting face to face,

Original: Yet neither conqueror nor conquered:
Modern: Yet neither one winning nor losing:

Original: So is the equal of this fell war.
Modern: That’s how evenly matched this terrible war is.

Original: Here on this molehill will I sit me down.
Modern: Here on this small hill I will sit myself down.

Original: To whom God will, there be the victory!
Modern: Whoever God wants to win will have the victory!

Original: For Margaret my queen, and Clifford too,
Modern: Because Margaret my queen, and Clifford as well,

Original: Have chid me from the battle; swearing both
Modern: Have scolded me away from the battle; both of them swearing

Original: They prosper best of all when I am thence.
Modern: They do better when I’m not there.

Original: Would I were dead! if God’s good will were so;
Modern: I wish I were dead! if that’s what God wanted;

Original: For what is in this world but grief and woe?
Modern: Because what is there in this world except sadness and misery?

Original: O God! methinks it were a happy life,
Modern: Oh God! I think it would be a happy life,

Original: To be no better than a homely swain;
Modern: To be nothing more than a simple shepherd;

Original: To sit upon a hill, as I do now,
Modern: To sit on a hill, as I’m doing now,

Original: To carve out dials quaintly, point by point,
Modern: To carefully carve sundials, marking each point,

Original: Thereby to see the minutes how they run,
Modern: And by doing that to watch how the minutes pass,

Original: How many make the hour full complete;
Modern: How many minutes make up a complete hour;

Original: How many hours bring about the day;
Modern: How many hours make up a day;

Original: How many days will finish up the year;
Modern: How many days complete a year;

Original: How many years a mortal man may live.
Modern: How many years a human being might live.

Original: When this is known, then to divide the times:
Modern: Once I know this, then I could divide up my time:

Original: So many hours must I tend my flock;
Modern: This many hours I must watch over my sheep;

Original: So many hours must I take my rest;
Modern: This many hours I must rest;

Original: So many hours must I contemplate;
Modern: This many hours I must think and reflect;

Original: So many hours must I sport myself;
Modern: This many hours I must entertain myself;

Original: So many days my ewes have been with young;
Modern: This many days my female sheep have been pregnant;

Original: So many weeks ere the poor fools will ean:
Modern: This many weeks before the poor creatures will give birth:

Original: So many years ere I shall shear the fleece:
Modern: This many years before I can shear their wool:

Original: So minutes, hours, days, months, and years,
Modern: And so minutes, hours, days, months, and years,

Original: Pass’d over to the end they were created,
Modern: Passed along for the purpose they were made,

Original: Would bring white hairs unto a quiet grave.
Modern: Would bring old age and a peaceful death.

Original: Ah, what a life were this! how sweet! how lovely!
Modern: Ah, what a life that would be! How wonderful! How beautiful!

Original: Gives not the hawthorn-bush a sweeter shade
Modern: Doesn’t the hawthorn bush provide better shade

Original: To shepherds looking on their silly sheep,
Modern: For shepherds watching over their innocent sheep,

Original: Than doth a rich embroider’d canopy
Modern: Than a richly decorated canopy does

Original: To kings that fear their subjects’ treachery?
Modern: For kings who fear their subjects will betray them?

Original: O, yes, it doth; a thousand-fold it doth.
Modern: Oh, yes, it does; a thousand times more it does.

Original: And to conclude, the shepherd’s homely curds,
Modern: And finally, the shepherd’s simple cheese,

Original: His cold thin drink out of his leather bottle.
Modern: His cold, plain drink from his leather flask.

Original: His wonted sleep under a fresh tree’s shade,
Modern: His usual sleep under a leafy tree’s shade,

Original: All which secure and sweetly he enjoys,
Modern: All of which he enjoys safely and peacefully,

Original: Is far beyond a prince’s delicates,
Modern: Is far better than a prince’s delicacies,

Original: His viands sparkling in a golden cup,
Modern: His fancy food and wine in a golden cup,

Original: His body couched in a curious bed,
Modern: His body lying in an elaborate bed,

Original: When care, mistrust, and treason waits on him.
Modern: When worry, suspicion, and betrayal surround him.

In Act II, Scene 5 of Henry VI, Part 3, King Henry VI sits alone on a molehill during the Battle of Towton, lamenting his forced participation in the civil war and expressing his desire for a simple shepherd’s life. As the battle rages around him, Henry reflects on the peaceful existence he would prefer, measuring time by seasons rather than by the conflicts that plague his reign. His soliloquy reveals his gentle nature and his unsuitability for the violent demands of kingship during the Wars of the Roses.

The scene takes a deeply tragic turn when a son enters carrying the body of a man he has killed in battle, only to discover it is his own father who fought for the opposing side. Shortly after, a father appears with the corpse of his son, whom he unknowingly slew while fighting for the Yorkist cause. Both men express their horror and grief at these discoveries, while King Henry observes their anguish and sees in their personal tragedies a reflection of the broader catastrophe that the civil war has brought upon England. The scene concludes with the departure of the grieving men, leaving Henry alone to continue his sorrowful observations of the battle’s aftermath.

Henry VI, Part 3 opens with the aftermath of the Battle of St. Albans, where the Yorkists have achieved victory over the Lancastrians. The Duke of York enters Parliament and claims the throne, leading to a confrontation with King Henry VI. A compromise is reached whereby Henry remains king for his lifetime but agrees to disinherit his son Prince Edward in favor of York and his heirs. When Queen Margaret learns of this arrangement, she is furious and raises an army to defend her son’s birthright.

The conflict escalates into full civil war. Margaret’s forces defeat and kill the Duke of York at the Battle of Wakefield, but York’s sons—Edward, George, and Richard—continue the fight. They achieve victory at the Battle of Towton, where King Henry is captured and Edward of York is proclaimed King Edward IV. Henry escapes and flees to Scotland with Margaret and Prince Edward, while Edward IV consolidates his power and marries Elizabeth Woodville, causing tension with his supporter the Earl of Warwick.

Warwick, feeling betrayed by Edward’s marriage, switches sides and allies with Margaret and the exiled Henry VI. With French support, they invade England and briefly restore Henry to the throne while Edward flees to Burgundy. However, Edward returns with an army and reclaims his crown. The final act culminates in the Battle of Tewkesbury, where the Yorkists achieve decisive victory. Prince Edward is killed in battle, Queen Margaret is captured, and Henry VI is murdered in the Tower of London by Richard of Gloucester. The play concludes with Edward IV seemingly secure on the throne, though Richard’s final soliloquy hints at his own future ambitions for the crown.