Passage of the day - 26 Nov 2003 - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Mephisto2 · 11-25-2003, 02:44 PM

Henry V by William Shakespeare
Act 4, Scene 3

Quote:

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.

Quite possibly the best rousing, morale boosting speech ever written.

Shakespeare has probably influenced and contributed more to the English language more than any other single person in history.

Read the passage. Doesn't it make the blood in your veins simmer? Your heart race?

"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."

Talk about encouraging your troops!

Mr Mephisto

Halx · 11-25-2003, 03:23 PM

I think this needs context and a decoder ring. I love Shakespeare and all, and I have read his works many times, but his line structure is not for the casual reader to understand. Cliffnotes for the poor, please.

Mephisto2 · 11-25-2003, 04:25 PM

New and improved version.

Now with extra commentry goodness...

Henry V by William Shakespeare
Act 4, Scene 3

Quote:

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.

King Harry overhears Westmoreland say that he wishes they had another 10,000 men for the upcoming battle.
King Harry dismisses this. If they die, so be it. But if they live, the fewer there are, the greater the honour they shall share.

Quote:

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.

I am not a greedy or materialistic man. I don't care for money or if men "use" me and my wealth to live.
But I do crave honour. And it that's a sin, then I'm the most guilty man alive.

Quote:

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.

I don't want to lose any honour, by having extra men. I don't want even one more!
Instead, my cousin Westmoreland, go and tell my whole army that anyone who is afraid is free to leave. He will get free-passage (a "passport") and even some money to help him go.
We don't want to die with men who are afraid to die with us.

Quote:

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.

Today is called St Cripian's Day.
Whoever shall live after today's battle shall always remember it and stand high when it is mentioned.

Quote:

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.'

Whoever lives after today's battle will stand up and show off his scars to his neighbours every St Crispian's day.

Quote:

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.

Even though old men forget things, this is something that they will not. They will remember their actions this day and also all our names.
As the old men drink, they will recount our names and remember us well.

Quote:

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;

The old men who survive this battle will not let a St Cripian's day go by without telling their sons this great story.
And our names and memory shall therefore live on.

Quote:

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.

We are a band of happy friends & brothers (I shall consider anyone who fights with me today my brother, no matter how vile he is).
Men who are at home in bed asleep shall feel ashamed, and consider themselves 'less than men' when we stand up and say "We fought on St Crispians Day!"

Hope this helps or sheds some light on the passage. This is just my humble interpretation.

Mr Mephisto

nirol · 11-25-2003, 04:31 PM

Halx,
Try reading the words aloud, and with a little rhythm, 400 yrs is a long time to expect the syntax and vocabulary to remain comprehensible.

That speech, like all morale boosting speech works great for about 5 minutes. Once you get bitch slapped off your horse and see your best friend maimed, the speech seems rather quaint.

I still like to read or hear it though.

nirol · 11-25-2003, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mr Mephisto
New and improved version.

Hope this helps or sheds some light on the passage. This is just my humble interpretation.

Mr Mephisto

Very well done, sir!

11-25-2003, 03:23 PM	#2 (permalink)
Halx Please touch this. Owner/Admin Location: Manhattan	I think this needs context and a decoder ring. I love Shakespeare and all, and I have read his works many times, but his line structure is not for the casual reader to understand. Cliffnotes for the poor, please. __________________ You have found this post informative. -The Administrator [Don't Feed The Animals]

11-25-2003, 04:31 PM	#4 (permalink)
nirol Crazy Location: South East US	Halx, Try reading the words aloud, and with a little rhythm, 400 yrs is a long time to expect the syntax and vocabulary to remain comprehensible. That speech, like all morale boosting speech works great for about 5 minutes. Once you get bitch slapped off your horse and see your best friend maimed, the speech seems rather quaint. I still like to read or hear it though. __________________ 'Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than open one's mouth and remove all doubt. Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)