Happy Anniversary of The Battle of Agincourt
Today is the feast day of Saints Crispin and Crispinian, cobblers by trade (and patron saints thereof, although Vatican II nixed them from the calendar), fierce warriors of their faith, martyred in 286.
The Battle of Agincourt in 1415, an improbable victory over the French, happened on the Feast Day, and today is the 604th anniversary. Coincidentally (?) there are many other important and now-mythic battles that happened to occur on that particular day.
The day has great meaning and resonance in English history. Other battles on October 25th:: Battle of Balaklava (i.e. the Charge of the Light Brigade – memorialized by Alfred Lord Tennyson), and the WWII battle of Leyte Gulf.
The Battle of Agincourt was commemorated, unforgettably, by Shakespeare, in Henry V, “Crispinian” here becomes “Crispian”, to honor the demands of iambic pentameter.
Henry V, Act IV, scene iii
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-tiptoe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall see this day and live t’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 remembered.
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 remembered;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today 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 abed
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.
— Henry V (Act IV, scene iii)
I think it’s pretty funny that this rousing magnificent speech is made in service to what is essentially an egotistic land-grab. It’s not like they’re defending their shores from a dangerous foe, or fighting for their freedom. No. It’s petty, it’s petulant, it’s in service of nothing ideologically fine or elevated. And yet …
Six film versions of the speech below:
1. Henry V, Kenneth Branagh, 1989
2. Henry V, Laurence Olivier, 1944
3. Renaissance Man, Lillo Brancato, 1994
4. Mark Rylance at The Globe, 2013
5. A ridiculous version by Billy Zane in Tombstone, 1993
6. A 5-year-old’s version
The music in the Kenneth Branagh version is a huge part of the scene. The speech itself is so rousing, as is delivery, but it all works together with the music. Watch how he builds it. It’s symphonic.
The Olivier version: I remember my acting teacher in college talking about how Olivier did this speech, especially his last vocal choice, when he says the word ‘day’ and catapults his voice up and up and up the scale. The choice is inherently artificial, but it works. In the play, the King is also an “actor”, performing for his men, and he needs to make a speech to inspire them. Nobody could pull off a vocal stunt like that except Olivier. And when I say “nobody”, I actually mean nobody.
Then we have the speech done in a Bronx accent in the 1994 film Renaissance Man. The monologue speaks to something universal – it doesn’t only work in the context of a petty land grab in the Middle Ages – it’s about togetherness and belief and loyalty. It also expresses the perhaps doomed hope that even if you do fail, what you do will be remembered by future generations. We are greater than ourselves.
Then there’s a live theatrical version by the great Mark Rylance and Billy Zane’s version (or part of it) from Tombstone, where he tries to perform the speech for a crowd of raucous gun-slinging outlaws.
And finally: a 5-year-old, dressed in chainmail, does the whole speech. Shakespeare wrote the play 4 centuries ago. And here’s a 5-year-old in the 21st century screaming out those words.
There are more. Tom Hiddleston’s takes a quiet intimate friendly approach but I couldn’t find the clip on YouTube.
The speech is eternal. Actors will continue to find their way through it.
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I think the Hiddleston version works in the context of its presentation. Jincy’s right, it’s not so much of a battlefield speech here. It’s the King taking and giving solace in the company of his most trusted–who will then take their places among the men they each command, reassured and ready to rally them to battle. It’s disconcerting, though, that the production chose to stage both this speech and the “Once more into the breach” speech in a more intimate way–Henry delivers the earlier speech to a small group of his soldiers huddled by the city walls rather than to his army at large.
It’s interesting, too, that both Branagh’s version and the Hollow Crown bring in a note of uncertainty–Hiddleston looking over his shoulder at the French army taking the field, Branagh being confronted by the Herald. The Hollow Crown ends on this note, is that right? In contrast Branagh uses the interruption of his speech, turning it around to further strengthen his troops’ resolve. (An aside–I love the actor playing the Herald! Christopher Ravenscroft. The conception of the Herald in this version is great. I’m not sure he’s really in the original play, or if parts were combined, but he becomes the witness of the piece. His growing admiration of King Henry parallels the audience’s understanding.)
On a personal note (since I can’t help it) I came to Shakespeare directly through Branagh’s Henry V. The realistic acting choices, the music, the use of actors like Ravenscroft, Brian Blessed, and Derek Jacobi as the Chorus, and of course, Branagh’s “big” and emotional performance combined in such a heady mix! Love at (second, or fourth) sight. This is the version, then, that echoes in my mind, the one to which I will compare all others.
Barb – thanks for your perspective!
I will never forget going to see Branagh’s Henry V in a packed movie house in Philadelphia. It was a totally thrilling experience.
I agree with the comments about Hiddleston’s version – and yes, the intimacy and uncertainty he brings to it – an unexpected choice, but I think it works in that context!
Lovely to read this again but is it a sign of old age that St Crispin’s day seems to come round faster every year?
I know! It really snuck up on me.
I’d like to add to this post as the years go by – there will (I’m sure) be more clips of more actors doing that speech. I love the compare and contrast aspect of it.
It is ridiculous, but I have a soft spot for that Billy Zane speech in Tombstone. Seems almost meta, with an actor giving a serious speech surrounded by riotous action. He’s doing what he loves and goddamnit, he’s going to do it the best he can. Which is what I imagine all the workhorse actors in this actual movie do with all of their speeches (workhorse in the best possible sense for actors like Michael Biehn, Val Kilmer, Thomas Haden Church, Powers Booth). “I’ll be your buttercup”.
Paula – I know – I love Billy Zane’s speech too!
I own the soundtrack CD to Branagh’s Henry V because I loved the music. Yes, Shakespeare’s words need no background music, yet that music is amazing and stirring and emotional and truly add drama and grandeur to the scene.
Olivier’s “day” is unique and powerful, definitely conveying his purpose in rallying and inspiring his troops with his words.
Music was used purposefully in the background of the “Renaissance Man” clip too. The Bronx accent was different but didn’t detract because he was so earnest.
I loved Hiddleston’s emotion. The intimacy made an interesting contrast with other performances like Olivier’s which is purposefully an oration to a crowd.
The Tombstone audience is intimidating! I like how the actor chooses to own what he’s doing despite the challenges.
The little boy is so cute. And how I love the power of literature, the power of words, that 400 years later, we recite those words and they still have the ability to move us. (I recently visited Stratford, Ontario, to see Twelfth Night. The program mentioned that the play was first performed near 1600, and I kept thinking how people have been laughing at this comedy for 400 years!
Ye Gods, wasn’t it St. Crispin’s Day just a few weeks ago? Ouch…I guess it was, but 52 weeks ago…anyway, the Branagh version was one of several gateway drugs for me to finally turn the corner into Shakespeare. As a film music buff, I actually heard the score (and owned the album!) well before I watched the actual film, but there really is a marriage of music and words there that’s almost Wagnerian. Branagh places his emphasis, the beats of his diction, in a rhythm that syncs up almost perfectly to what Patrick Doyle is doing with that orchestra. But I also love the way it’s shot, starting with a tracking shot not following the King but following the men who are following the King, as if we’re there, looking over their shoulders too as he disappears occasionally behind this tree or that soldier. The angle doesn’t cut to close-up until “Old men forget, yet all shall be forgot but he’ll remember….”, which Branagh delivers as the moment when Henry hits his stride on this speech. A brief cut to the faces of his faithful Lords as he names them (and really, you KNOW you’re delivering the hell out of a speech if you make Brian Blessed grin like that!), and his voice keeps rising, like a tenor belting an aria at the end. This thing is opera, is what it is!
I also remember one year, before the Super Bowl, it was about an hour before kickoff–maybe the Packers-Pats game–and the guy on the pregame show said something like, “The teams have now gone back to their locker rooms for their last bit of business before the biggest game of the year. This is when the coaches have to deliver the biggest pep talks of their lives…we can’t show you what they’re actually saying, but here’s a bit of the greatest pep talk of all time….” And they cut to the Branagh Crispin’s Day speech! I’ve never forgotten that.
(Oh, and the way Branagh starts to grin as he nears the end…”Be he ne’er so vile, this day shall gentle his condition….” Swoon!)
// Branagh places his emphasis, the beats of his diction, in a rhythm that syncs up almost perfectly to what Patrick Doyle is doing with that orchestra. //
Absolutely – it is thrilling. How did they do that? The two are just amazingly syncopated – it’s like the music is coming from HIM. Goosebumps!
I love your breakdown of that scene moment by moment. It really is a perfect piece of filmmaking. I mean, Branagh’s no dummy – he knows he’s competing with Olivier – he has to get it RIGHT.
and – ahhhhh that Super Bowl moment! Glorious!!