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O Harry, thou hast robbed me of my youth
I better brook the loss of brittle life
Than those proud titles thou hast won of me.
They wound my thoughts worse than thy sword my flesh.
But thoughts, the slaves of life, and life, time’s fool,
And time, that takes survey of all the world,
Must have a stop.
(Act 5, scene 4, lines 78–85)
These lines contain Hotspur’s dying words after Prince Harry has felled him on the field of battle. Despite insisting on being a man of action rather than word, Hotspur’s final speech showcases his characteristic eloquence. These words also powerfully communicate Hotspur’s undying devotion to the pursuit of honor and achievement. Indeed, he claims to be less upset about his own death than he is about effectively losing “those proud titles” of honor and nobility, which now belong to Harry. This loss inflicts a wound on his psyche that’s much worse than the physical wound inflicted by Harry’s sword. Even so, Hotspur turns, in the final moments of his life, to reflect on the impossibility of evading one’s mortality. Life, he says, is merely “time’s fool”—that is, a fool for believing that time itself won’t “have a stop.”
For a man who lived with such vitality, it is perhaps not surprising that Hotspur’s first and only reflection on mortality comes when he is literally dying. Yet this situation contains a tragic irony that bodes ill for other characters in the play. If a man at the peak of physical fitness and the height of personal achievement can fall so swiftly, then anyone can experience a similar reversal of fortune. Worcester and Vernon learn a similar lesson immediately after the Battle at Shrewsbury ends. Despite having been so hopeful about winning the battle, they find themselves being shuffled off to the executioner. When the play effectively ends without a proper conclusion, the audience is left to wonder what other kinds of downfall are left to come. King Henry has successfully defended his crown, but will he be able to stave off the rebels forever? Prince Harry defeated his rival, but does that guarantee continued success? And what about Falstaff? He survived by playing dead to avoid the Earl of Douglas’s sword, but how much longer will he be able to wiggle his way out of tight spots. The play leaves all these questions hanging.
