Tom Hiddleston - Prince Hal's monologue 'I know you all'

(c)BBC
I own nothing
I know you all, and will awhile uphold
The unyok'd humour of your idleness.
Yet herein will I imitate the Sun,
Who doth permit the base contagious clouds
To smother up his beauty from the world,
That, when he please again to be himself,
Being wanted, he may be more wonder'd at,
By breaking through the foul and ugly mists
Of vapours that did seem to strangle him.
If all the year were playing holidays,
To sport would be as tedious as to work;
But, when they seldom come, they wish'd-for come,
And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents.
So when this loose behaviour I throw off,
And pay the debt I never promised,
By how much better than my word I am,
By so much shall I falsify men's hopes;
And, like bright metal on a sullen ground,
My reformation, glitt'ring o'er my fault,
Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes
Than that which hath no foil to set it off.
I'll so offend to make offense a skill,
Redeeming time when men think least I will.

[@m29422]

His voice is like silk and chocolate! like waking up to the nicest breeze in the morning in a garden!

[@rainbowsunshine101]

His voice is like a warm, dark chocolate waterfall...OH MY GOD!!!! I seem to have lost the ability to breathe normally....

[@lindildeev5721]

It's not chocolate, this mortal pleasure but nectar, the drink of gods.

[@peteherb5170]

I remember this coming out on BBC all those years ago & have been as massive fan of Hiddleston ever since! Everyone knows him as Loki, but thats not his most profound work by a long shot. Part of this monologue is stuck in my head in his voice for ever.

[@DayDreamer2192]

I heard "I know you all" and then had to stop the video cause I was flailing and shivering uncontrollably... THOMAS WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!?!

[@citizenerrased]

Keep coming back here through the years... 🤍

[@charlize3096]

5 years later I still hear Loki

[@hathor762000]

I could listen to his voice 24/7... Think I just died & gone to heaven!

[@thelandofme]

This voice should be the last thing I hear each night and the first thing I hear each morning

[@velvetsixx]

Like half-burnt honey roasting slowly over a crackling fire. Like the world's finest whisky, liquid gold in a cask of dark oak. Like a whisper of a lover who strums your senses like a Spanish guitar. Like a song in a foreign tongue that nonetheless makes you cry, and love, and wonder. That is the voice of Thomas William Hiddleston.

[@lindildeev5721]

It's true (and I love your poem) but there is another man you can't ignore : an old Black with a calm and deep voice which makes you think he's the angel of God of God himself (in fact, he even played God in a comedy with the most hilarious man of the world).

[@Virtuasamsara]

For me, it was "and herein I will imitate the sun" Good lord, the way he just casually strolls past everyone while thinking this to himself...unbelievable.

[@luv4anome202]

I have head phones in as I listen to this, all I must do is imagine his breath on my ear and I can imagine him, speaking softly these words into my ear.

[@lamc93]

I literally have no idea what he just said. I was so distracted by his gorgeous face, his amazing voice and the fact that he's so bloody tall!

[@anthonywslls9777]

Hes saying basically "I am a screwup now but when I get my act together people will appreciate me all the more because I used to be a screwup." Think how Prince Harry used to be a trouble maker but now he is a good guy and getting married to a pretty girl and people love him more for being redeemed. Make sense?

[@Virtuasamsara]

This was my favorite monologue in all of Shakespeare since I was a teenager. It hasn't changed. And Tom Hiddleston's delivery is so incredibly perfect.

[@SHW97]

While listening to this, I began to tear up. I felt butterflies in my stomach. My heart started beating faster. I had an eargasm with his voice. And yet I have no idea what 70% of those words mean.

[@lmbee59]

not just his monologue that's so entrancing...but the haunting music that accompanies it makes it more so. damn. don't think I'll ever stop listening to this.

[@shaybean54]

Perfection....utter, pure perfection

[@martinastopani2314]

Um this man's voice is like summer rain 🌧️. He brings such passion to Shakespeare's words 😍

[@hinaansari3778]

eargasm at its finest

[@SandipRayChaudhury]

Just recommended by a friend of mine. And I am not disappointed

[@IhniWinterwind]

I ... didn't understand a word he was saying, but it could be because I was busy gaping over how BEAUTIFUL his voice is. Oh my gosh. That voice could stop wars. Or, you know, start them.

[@tattyania97]

His voice is like fire! So much power and yet it puts me in a peaceful trance

[@DarkRiku39]

"and herein will I imatate the sun" sunrise over a golden voice such is this the words of a trained and well formed Actor.

[@faraheliza6315]

he does in all of his movies!!

[@xSakuraKurox]

Dear God, as a girl who could only ever dream of being a GOOD actress, I could never permit myself to even DREAM of having such skill as this.

[@DayDreamer2192]

I know! It's ridiculous! But the voice get's me every damn time! It's like I'm shivering and convulsing and.... and... Yeah...

[@gneisstuffwacke]

His voice gets me fangirling every damn time. I can't help it!!

[@lauraedwards2852]

Hiddleston and the BBC knock it out of the park. Perfect delivery!

[@kristintalia1688]

even the minute 0.01 already makes me fangirling

[@michaelexman5474]

Shakespeare’s X-ray vision that seams to bore its way threw humanity.

[@brettjohnson536]

I've always wondered whether Prince Hal actually believes what he's saying at this point, or is this just how he justifys it to himself. And I think that's how a lot if actors have interpreted it, including Tom imo, but more often than not that tends to get communicated by making the speech comical, like he's making a desperate excuse to the audience which no one in their right mind would believe. But Tom brings a real element of sadness to the speech. Like he genuinley dislikes himself for being a fuck-up, but he needs to believe it's only temporary, and that there's a reason to continue, almost as if he's trying to convince himself. Neither approach is "wrong" but I personally think Tom's makes the character very relatable, and helps us feel more sympathy for him from the begining.

[@ingridaholmes]

Well said, I agree.

[@ken-ip4ih]

I haven’t seen Hollow Crown but obviously these scene takes creative liberties with it being television and not a live play. I believe the monologue comes right the audience witnesses the shenanigans of Hal, Falstaff & gang. So when I read it, I thought the speech was ironic. But this is probably a truer interpretation considering just how much Shakespeare wanted to show Hal turn to Henry. I like it!

[@WhiteDragonStuidos]

Love this section in the book. He reads it the best, that voice is amazing.

[@isammolina4842]

Al llegar a rey ...dejaria de tener contacto con ese otro mundo...EL PUEBLO.💔👀

[@beatrizvillalba9711]

Su voz es un susurro del mismo Shakespeare al oído...maravilloso!!!

[@adrianasoccibarbosa]

Esse é o solilóquio do Príncipe Hal

[@CatMcLloyd]

this is so beautiful....

[@virginiwoolf]

I know you all, and will awhile uphold The unyoked humour of your idleness: Yet herein will I imitate the sun, Who doth permit the base contagious clouds To smother up his beauty from the world, That, when he please again to be himself, Being wanted, he may be more wonder'd at, By breaking through the foul and ugly mists Of vapours that did seem to strangle him. If all the year were playing holidays, To sport would be as tedious as to work; But when they seldom come, they wish'd for come, And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents. So, when this loose behavior I throw off And pay the debt I never promised, By how much better than my word I am, By so much shall I falsify men's hopes; And like bright metal on a sullen ground, My reformation, glittering o'er my fault, Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes Than that which hath no foil to set it off. I'll so offend, to make offence a skill; Redeeming time when men think least I will.

[@OceanbornAngel]

You should make it your smartphone's alarm clock tone then! That way you can hear his voice every night before you go to sleep and when you wake up as well. :D

[@saltflut7556]

Fantastic!!!!

[@IldikoLaDiva]

I've just put this 'I know you all' voice clip to alarm. YESSSSS!!! Thanks for the idea

[@amberturnbull2565]

Wow

[@OceanbornAngel]

That's the spirit!!

[@Virtuasamsara]

I was wrong actually, it was "Yet herein will I imitate the sun" not that it matters really, great portrayal anyway. I don't think you have to be worried about orgasming on youtube. ;) Happens to the best of us.

[@OceanbornAngel]

Oh God with all the fangirls he is a rock star.

[@rosywilson3076]

Not bad. But not a patch on Alex Hassell on stage with the RSC in London. I ‘did’ this play for English ‘O’ level in 1977, always loved this speech, finally got to see it on stage couple of years ago. Love it.

[@buffy21033]

DIS VOICE.

[@diyanamaya]

ah! he just did the EHEHE at 0:38 *swoon*

[@sugarcookieww]

It’s Shakespearean English, and it’s hard to understand. Even though I’ve read Hamlet and Romeo+Juliet.

[@yonkishawol]

Su voz... 🤤🤤

[@NightRainDream]

Year 10. I don't do A-levels... I'm in New Zealand and we have NCEA but I studied the play the year before I started NCEA, I'm Year 12 this year.

[@todrkdck9805]

I....know you all

[@abbey.belamour]

this isn't a song? youtube, thank you for your repeat feature!

[@katiestrange5156]

His voice asdfghjkl

[@CourtneyCoulson]

Oh that's awkward I appear to have made love to my headphones.

[@gryffindore7]

[@iamSeanBrowne]

The after 11pm version via Tom Hardy : kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooKrcnd-qsR3d7c&ab_channel=charlidos

[@DayDreamer2192]

*Laughs* True story!

[@thelandofme]

You know, I have his audiobook of the Red Necklace, maybe I can do that! Thanks!

[@AmDrag5]

i just have all dees feelz

[@IhniWinterwind]

Poetry recitations? Read with THAT voice?! Where, pry tell, would one find those?

[@NightRainDream]

It worries me that I can remember this. However if we were watching this version... English would have been a whole load better.

[@thesilversakura]

stop it stop it stop it I have to sleep in a few minutes......!

[@TheDarkSoulDemon]

Oh

[@thehandleisuseless]

It's difficult for me not to see/hear Loki

[@ffantasia24]

DAT VOICE *A*

[@buffy21033]

ergujiobf'krktjgdf DAT VOICE 4AE9OP WITH DAT JACKET AND FACE

[@AirwrekaDoesntRead]

His voice is so amazing, and what he just said (I don't really know what he just said ) but it ounces beautiful. What play is ths? I will watch it

[@TheAgent0004]

What year did you study this play? Did you do it for your a-levels?

[@ilovedeidaraandgaara]

Mind if I can have that too?

[@morrocancheese]

Any chance I can get that file from you??

[@drspaseebo410]

Delivering Shakespeare does NOT mean mumbling and slurring words. The voice of this actor may be sonorous, but it is NOT suited to this speech.

[@djizzah]

it's not a play it's the hollow crown henry IV

[@GoddessOfWhim2003]

isn't it based on Shakespeare's Henry IV and Henry V?

[@christinawaldschutz2436]

@@GoddessOfWhim2003 It is. Therefore: a play.

[@SuChan]

Porn for my ears.