A small aged brass hourglass with almost no sand left in the top, casting a long soft shadow on a dark blue background.

Original artwork, not a still

Henry IV, Part II

William Shakespeare

The old folk, time's doting chronicles.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker pictures elderly people as living records of the passing years. Calling them doting suggests they are fond and affectionate, or perhaps feeble with age, and the word carries both shades. Their long lives store up the story of time itself.

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