today is the 604th anniversary<\/a>. Coincidentally (?) there are many other important and now-mythic battles that happened to occur on that particular day. <\/p>\nThe 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. <\/p>\n
The Battle of Agincourt was commemorated, unforgettably, by Shakespeare, in Henry V<\/i>, “Crispinian” here becomes “Crispian”, to honor the demands of iambic pentameter.<\/p>\n
Henry V<\/i>, Act IV, scene iii<\/big><\/p>\n
If we are mark’d to die, we are enow
\nTo do our country loss; and if to live,
\nThe fewer men, the greater share of honour.
\nGod’s will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
\nBy Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
\nNor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
\nIt yearns me not if men my garments wear;
\nSuch outward things dwell not in my desires:
\nBut if it be a sin to covet honour,
\nI am the most offending soul alive.
\nNo, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England:
\nGod’s peace! I would not lose so great an honour
\nAs one man more, methinks, would share from me
\nFor the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
\nRather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
\nThat he which hath no stomach to this fight,
\nLet him depart; his passport shall be made
\nAnd crowns for convoy put into his purse:
\nWe would not die in that man’s company
\nThat fears his fellowship to die with us.
\nThis day is called the Feast of Crispian:
\nHe that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
\nWill stand a-tiptoe when the day is named,
\nAnd rouse him at the name of Crispian.
\nHe that shall see this day and live t’old age,
\nWill yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
\nAnd say “To-morrow is Saint Crispian”:
\nThen will he strip his sleeve and show his scars
\nAnd say “These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.”
\nOld men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
\nBut he’ll remember with advantages
\nWhat feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
\nFamiliar in his mouth as household words
\nHarry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
\nWarwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
\nBe in their flowing cups freshly remembered.
\nThis story shall the good man teach his son;
\nAnd Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
\nFrom this day to the ending of the world,
\nBut we in it shall be remembered;
\nWe few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
\nFor he today that sheds his blood with me
\nShall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
\nThis day shall gentle his condition:
\nAnd gentlemen in England now abed
\nShall think themselves accursed they were not here,
\nAnd hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
\nThat fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.<\/p>\n
— Henry V<\/i> (Act IV, scene iii)<\/p>\n
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 … <\/p>\n
Six film versions of the speech below:<\/p>\n
1. Henry V<\/i>, Kenneth Branagh, 1989
\n2. Henry V<\/i>, Laurence Olivier, 1944
\n3. Renaissance Man<\/i>, Lillo Brancato, 1994
\n4. Mark Rylance at The Globe, 2013
\n5. A ridiculous version by Billy Zane in Tombstone<\/i>, 1993
\n6. A 5-year-old’s version<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Then we have the speech done in a Bronx accent in the 1994 film Renaissance Man<\/i>. The monologue speaks<\/i> 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. <\/p>\n
Then there’s a live theatrical version by the great Mark Rylance and Billy Zane’s version (or part of it) from Tombstone<\/i>, where he tries to perform the speech for a crowd of raucous gun-slinging outlaws.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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