In the opening scene of the play, King Henry IV gives a speech to a group of nobles in court, promising to put an end to the violence that marked his transition to the throne. In his speech, he uses a metaphor that imagines the two parties of the recent civil war as eyes on a face, and a simile that further describes the metaphorical eyes as meteors:
Those opposèd eyes,
Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven,
All of one nature, of one substance bred,
Did lately meet in the intestine shock
And furious close of civil butchery,
Shall now, in mutual well-beseeming ranks,
March all one way and be no more opposed
Against acquaintance, kindred, and allies.
First, the King imagines the two conflicting forces, his allies and the former allies of the deposed King Richard II, as “opposèd eyes.” This image of two eyes looking in opposite directions emphasizes the disorder and confusion of civil war. The King further expands upon his own metaphor with a simile, imagining these eyes as being “like the meteors of a troubled heaven.” The King’s metaphor and simile work together in a complementary fashion, suggesting that there is something particularly unnatural about civil war, which divides members of one nation into two.
In court, King Henry IV summons Hotspur and questions him harshly over his actions following a recent battle in Scotland. Hotspur, who has disobeyed the King’s orders to turn over his prisoners to the crown, defends his actions in a speech that compares the King’s messenger to a parrot and to a gentlewoman in a metaphor and simile, respectively:
I then, all smarting with my wounds being cold,
To be so pestered with a popinjay,
Out of my grief and my impatience
Answered neglectingly I know not what—
He should, or he should not; for he made me mad
To see him shine so brisk and smell so sweet
And talk so like a waiting-gentlewoman
Of guns, and drums, and wounds—God save the
Mark!
Percy, nicknamed Hotspur for his “hotheaded” demeanor, attempts to appeal to the King as a soldier. He claims that he did not mean to insult or disobey the King but, rather, that he was briefly offended by the King’s messenger and needed time to cool his head. After the heat of battle, with his wounds still “smarting” or causing him pain, Hotspur feels that he was “pestered” by the King’s officious messenger, whom he describes in a metaphor as a “popinjay” or a parrot. This metaphor characterizes the messenger as a vain and talkative courtier who had no rightful place on the battlefield.
Similarly, he describes the messenger as being “like a waiting-gentlewoman” due to his fussy clothing and effeminate manner. These metaphors and similes not only describe the messenger, but they also reveal Hotspur’s own values and priorities as a soldier who feels more comfortable on the battlefield than in court.
