St. Crispin's Day!

and now, for some good poetry

Today is St. Crispin’s Day, honoring the martyrdom of brothers who were cobblers. They gave away shoes, and in the end, sacrificed their lives when they refused to renounce Christ in the era of Rome’s Diocletian.

It is also the day that an outnumbered English army, using the longbow as the equivalent of artillery, defeated the French at Agincourt in 1415.

Which brings me to Shakespeare and the St. Crispin’s Day speech in Henry V, lines of blank verse in iambic pentameter that may or may not give you goosebumps. In the case below, the bumps are raised further by the delivery of Kenneth Branagh above a score composed by Patrick Doyle.

It’s the original “Band of Brothers.” Enjoy. Might be the most stirring three and half minutes of your day, depending, of course, on what else you’ve got planned.

Sorry, no stupid poetry today.

AAAAAND, if you want more . . . Branagh shortened the speech by about a dozen lines. Here’s the whole thing.

King Henry V: What’s he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin:
If we are mark’d to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God’s will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires:
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England:
God’s peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more, methinks, would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian:’
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember’d.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

From Henry V, Act IV, Scene III

AAAAND, even more trivia:

Patrick Doyle was an actor in the cast of Henry V. He asked to try his hand at composing the score. He afterwards became one of the most sought after soundtrack composers of our time.

And now, I’ll remove my bifocals.