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‘Riot and dishonor stain the brow/Of my young Harry.’: Joe Biden and Henry IV contemplate their sons

‘Riot and dishonor stain the brow/Of my young Harry.’: Joe Biden and Henry IV contemplate their sons

President Biden in contemplating his son Hunter may have thoughts similar to those of Henry IV contemplating his own son, the perceived wastrel Prince Harry. Here’s the King, chatting at the start of the play with Westmoreland, father of the celebrated soldier Hotspur:

Henry IV: “Yea, there thou mak’st me sad, and mak’st me sin
In envy that my Lord Northumberland
Should be the father to so blest a son,
A son who is the theme of Honor’s tongue,
Amongst a grove the very straightest plant,
Who is sweet Fortune’s minion and her pride;
Whilst I, by looking on the praise of him,
See riot and dishonor stain the brow
Of my young Harry. O, that it could be proved
That some night-tripping fairy had exchanged
In cradle-clothes our children where they lay,
And called mine ‘Percy,’ his ‘Plantagenet’!”

Care to comment, Mr. President?

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