Original: All good people,
Modern: All you decent people,

Original: You that thus far have come to pity me,
Modern: You who have come here today to feel sorry for me,

Original: Hear what I say, and then go home and lose me.
Modern: Listen to what I have to say, and then go home and forget about me.

Original: I have this day received a traitor’s judgment,
Modern: Today I have been sentenced to death as a traitor,

Original: And by that name must die: yet, heaven bear witness,
Modern: And I must die with that label, but let heaven be my witness,

Original: And if I have a conscience, let it sink me,
Modern: And if I have any sense of right and wrong, let it condemn me,

Original: Even as the axe falls, if I be not faithful!
Modern: Right as the executioner’s axe comes down, if I have not been loyal to my king!

Original: The law I bear no malice for my death;
Modern: I hold no anger toward the law for my death sentence;

Original: ‘T has done, upon the premises, but justice:
Modern: Based on the evidence, it has only done what is just:

Original: But those that sought it I could wish more Christians:
Modern: But I wish those who wanted me dead were more Christian in their behavior:

Original: Be what they will, I heartily forgive ‘em:
Modern: Whatever they are, I sincerely forgive them:

Original: Yet let ‘em look they glory not in mischief,
Modern: But I warn them not to take pride in their wrongdoing,

Original: Nor build their evils on the graves of great men;
Modern: And not to advance their wicked plans by destroying great men;

Original: For then my guiltless blood must cry against ‘em.
Modern: Because then my innocent blood will testify against them.

Original: For further life in this world I ne’er hope,
Modern: I have no hope of living any longer in this world,

Original: Nor will I sue, although the king have mercies
Modern: And I won’t beg for mercy, even though the king has shown more forgiveness

Original: More than I dare make faults. You few that loved me,
Modern: Than I have dared to commit sins. You few who loved me,

Original: And dare be bold to weep for Buckingham,
Modern: And are brave enough to cry for Buckingham,

Original: His noble friends and fellows, whom to leave
Modern: His noble friends and companions, whom leaving behind

Original: Is only bitter to him, only dying,
Modern: Is the only painful thing about dying,

Original: Go with me, like good angels, to my end;
Modern: Come with me, like guardian angels, to my execution;

Original: And, as the long divorce of steel falls on me,
Modern: And as the blade that will separate my soul from my body falls on me,

Original: Make of your prayers one sweet sacrifice,
Modern: Join your prayers together as one holy offering,

Original: And lift my soul to heaven. Lead on, o’ God’s name.
Modern: And raise my soul up to heaven. Let’s go, in God’s name.

Henry VIII: Plot Summary

The play opens in the court of King Henry VIII of England, where the powerful Cardinal Wolsey has orchestrated the downfall of the Duke of Buckingham, who is arrested for treason based on the testimony of his own surveyor. Despite pleas for mercy, Buckingham is condemned and executed. Meanwhile, King Henry meets Anne Bullen (Anne Boleyn) at a masque hosted by Cardinal Wolsey and becomes captivated by her. Henry also begins to express doubts about the validity of his marriage to Queen Katherine of Aragon, claiming his conscience troubles him over the legality of the union, as Katherine was previously married to his brother Prince Arthur.

Cardinal Wolsey works to manage the political situation, but his influence begins to unravel when Henry discovers that Wolsey has been secretly corresponding with the Pope to delay the annulment of Henry’s marriage to Katherine, and that Wolsey has been accumulating enormous personal wealth. Henry strips Wolsey of his offices and powers. Wolsey, broken by his fall from grace, dies before he can be brought to formal ruin. Queen Katherine, meanwhile, is put on trial regarding the annulment of her marriage. She passionately defends herself before the court but is ultimately cast aside. She later receives a vision of blessed spirits before dying, having been given the reduced title of Princess Dowager.

With Katherine removed, Henry marries Anne Bullen, and she is crowned Queen in a grand coronation celebrated by the common people. Archbishop Cranmer, a Protestant reformer and ally of the King, comes under threat from a council of nobles who attempt to bring charges against him. Henry, however, intervenes to protect Cranmer. The play concludes with the christening of Henry and Anne’s newborn daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I, where Cranmer delivers a joyful prophecy foretelling the greatness of Elizabeth’s reign and the prosperity that will follow under her successor, King James I.