Line-by-Line Paraphrase

Original: Know you not

Modern: Don’t you realize

Original: How your state stands i’ the world, with the whole world?

Modern: what your position is in the world, how everyone sees you?

Original: Your enemies are many, and not small; their practises

Modern: You have many powerful enemies, and their schemes

Original: Must bear the same proportion; and not ever

Modern: must be just as big; and it’s not always true that

Original: The justice and the truth o’ the question carries

Modern: justice and truth in a case will result in

Original: The due o’ the verdict with it: at what ease

Modern: the right verdict: how easily

Original: Might corrupt minds procure knaves as corrupt

Modern: could dishonest people find scoundrels just as dishonest

Original: To swear against you? such things have been done.

Modern: to lie under oath against you? It’s happened before.

Original: You are potently opposed; and with a malice

Modern: You face powerful opposition; and with hatred

Original: Of as great size. Ween you of better luck,

Modern: just as strong. Do you think you’ll have better luck,

Original: I mean, in perjured witness, than your master,

Modern: I mean, with false witnesses, than your master Christ had,

Original: Whose minister you are, whiles here he lived

Modern: whose servant you are, when he lived

Original: Upon this naughty earth? Go to, go to;

Modern: on this wicked earth? Come now, come now;

Original: You take a precipice for no leap of danger,

Modern: You’re treating a cliff like it’s not a dangerous jump,

Original: And woo your own destruction.

Modern: and you’re inviting your own downfall.

Original: Be of good cheer;

Modern: Stay positive;

Original: They shall no more prevail than we give way to.

Modern: they’ll only succeed as much as we allow them to.

Original: Keep comfort to you; and this morning see

Modern: Stay strong; and make sure this morning

Original: You do appear before them: if they shall chance,

Modern: you appear before them: if they happen to,

Original: In charging you with matters, to commit you,

Modern: while accusing you of crimes, arrest you,

Original: The best persuasions to the contrary

Modern: use your best arguments against it

Original: Fail not to use, and with what vehemency

Modern: don’t fail to use them, and with whatever passion

Original: The occasion shall instruct you: if entreaties

Modern: the situation calls for: if your pleas

Original: Will render you no remedy, this ring

Modern: don’t help you, this ring

Original: Deliver them, and your appeal to us

Modern: give to them, and appeal directly to me

Original: There make before them. Look, the good man weeps!

Modern: right there in front of them. Look, the good man is crying!

Original: He’s honest, on mine honour. God’s blest mother!

Modern: He’s honest, I swear on my honor. By the blessed Virgin Mary!

Original: I swear he is true—hearted; and a soul

Modern: I swear he is loyal and true; there’s not a soul

Original: None better in my kingdom. Get you gone,

Modern: better than him in my kingdom. Now go,

Original: And do as I have bid you.

Modern: and do as I’ve told you.

Original: He has strangled his language in his tears.

Modern: His tears have choked off his ability to speak.

In Act IV, Scene 2 of “Henry VIII,” Queen Katherine lies dying in her chamber at Kimbolton Castle, having been banished from court following her divorce from King Henry. She is attended by her loyal servants Griffith and Patience, who provide comfort in her final hours. The scene opens with Katherine in a weakened state, reflecting on her exile and the injustices she has suffered. When Griffith begins to speak about Cardinal Wolsey, who has recently died, Katherine initially expresses bitter feelings toward the man she holds responsible for engineering her downfall and the king’s divorce proceedings.

However, as Griffith continues to recount Wolsey’s final days and his repentance before death, Katherine’s anger gradually transforms into a more charitable perspective. She acknowledges Wolsey’s scholarly achievements and his ultimate recognition of his own pride and ambition as his fatal flaws. The scene culminates with Katherine having a vision of celestial figures who appear to welcome her, which she interprets as a divine sign of her approaching death. She makes final preparations, dictating a letter to the king requesting care for her servants and expressing forgiveness, before peacefully preparing for her end. The scene serves as Katherine’s dignified farewell, portraying her transition from earthly concerns to spiritual acceptance.

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.