3. attribution: praise, tribute.
4-5. stamp: coinage. As not a soldier of this season's stamp / Should go so general current through the world: that no one coined as a soldier in this current campaign should enjoy such a current reputation. (To go so general current is to be put into circulation, continuing the image of coining in line 4.)
6. defy: proclaim against.
7. soothers: flatterers. braver: better, dearer.
9. task me my word: challenge me to make good my word. approve: test.
12. But I will beard him: but that I will defy him; i.e., I am ready to defy anyone alive.
13. I can but thank you: Said to Douglas.
18. justling: contending, clashing, turbulent. power: troops.
19. government: command.
21. keep: keep to.
24. fear'd: feared for.
25. state of time: times. whole: sound, healthy.
27. better worth: more important.
30. catching hither: contagious as far away as this.
32-33.And that his friends by deputation could not / So soon be drawn: and that his allies could not so soon be assembled by anyone other than himself, any deputy.
33. meet: appropriate.
34. dear: significant.
35. On any soul remov'd but on his own: on anyone other than himself.
36. advertisement: counsel, advice.
37. conjunction: allied force. on: go on.
39. quailing: losing heart.
40. possess'd: informed.
42. maim: injury.
44. want: absence.
45. more: more serious.
46. To set the exact wealth of all our states: i.e., to stake the whole of our resources.
47. cast: throw of the dice. main: stake in gambling; also, an army.
48. nice: precious, delicate. hazard: (1) game at dice; (2) venture.
49-50. should we read / The very bottom and the soul of hope: we should discover the utmost foundation and basis of our hopes, the most we could rely on.
51. list: limit.
53. Where now remains a sweet reversion: since as things stand we can expect reinforcements. (A reversion is literally part of an estate yet to be inherited; i.e., future prospects, expectation.)
56. comfort of retirement: refuge to fall back on.
58. big: threatening.
59. maidenhead: i.e., commencement, early phase.
61. hair: fiber, kind, nature.
62. Brooks: tolerates, permits.
64. loyalty: i.e., to the crown. mere: outright.
66. apprehension: (1) perception; (2) apprehensiveness.
67. fearful faction: timid support.
69. off'ring side: side that attacks.
70. strict arbitrement: just inquiry or investigation, scrupulous inspection.
71. sight-holes: peep-holes. (Loop or loophole has the same meaning.) loop: loophole.
73. draws: draws aside, opens.
75. strain too far: exaggerate.
77. opinion: renown.
78. dare: daring.
80. make a head: raise an army.
83. Yet: still. joints: limbs.
92. intended: on the verge of departure; i.e., intended to come.
96-97. that daff'd the world aside, / And bid it pass?: i.e., that thumbed their noses at responsibilities telling the world to mind its own business?
97. furnish'd: equipped.
98-99.All plumed like estridges that with the wind / Baited like eagles having lately bathed: i.e., all plumed with ostrich feathers, fluttering their wings in the wind like eagles having just bathed. (The text may be defective.)
99. Bated: beat their wings (a term from falconry).
100. coats: (1) coats of mail, (2) heraldic coats of arms. images: gilded statues.
103. Wanton: sportive, frolicsome.
104. beaver: visor; hence, helmet.
105. cuisses: armor for the thighs.
107. seat: saddle.
109. wind: wheel about. Pegasus: winged horse of ancient Greek mythology.
110. witch: bewitch.
111-112. worse than the sun in March, / This praise doth nourish agues: The spring was believed to give impetus to chills and fevers, by drawing up vapors. Vernon's speech, says Hotspur, gives one the shudders.
112. agues: fevers (thought to result from vapors drawn by the sun).
113.sacrifices: beasts for sacrifice trim: fine apparel, trappings.
114. fire-eyed maid: i.e., Bellona, goddess of war.
116. mailed: dressed in mail, armored.
118. reprisal: prize.
119. taste: try, test, feel under me.
123. corse: corpse.
125. Worcester: cathedral city on the Severn River south of Shrewsbury.
126. draw his power: muster his army, assemble his troops.
129. battle: army.
132. The powers of us: our forces
135. out of: free from.