These are the last six lines from Prince Henry's soliloquy in Act I, scene II of Shakespeare's Henry IV pt. 1. I would have gotten the whole thing tattooed on me but my arm's not that big. See, Hal's in a bit of a bind because he's due to be King soon enough but the company and habits he keeps are rather unsavory. This leads the public to form a similarly unsavory opinion of the Prince, and they're not too keen on the idea of having him for a leader. No one expected him to ever change his stars, but Hal remained convinced of his own potential to shine. He knew, if no one else did, that one day he would become a great and noble king, and also he knew that all of the naysayers would have hats to eat on that day. Spite drove him to rise from the bottom, and when he made it, honor kept him at the top.
The typeface, spelling, and flourish design surrounding the tattoo are all taken from the plays 'First Quarto' printing in 1598. I got it from an amazing tattooist named Danielle in Oakland. I'm a 30 year old poet who lives in Golden Hill.
May 28, 2015