St. Crispins Day Speech - William Shakespeare 1599

KING. 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 call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
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 Crispian'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 rememb'red.
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 to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
Make him a member of the gentry, even if he is a commoner.
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Modern Language Translation:

We Du'ers, we brave band of brothers (and sisters) are going to fuck Bushco up and we will remember this fight for all time and proudly proclaim, "We were there and threw out a cowardly liar and his corrupt enablers." And those who were on the wrong side will be ashamed that they were not with us for we are doing what is right. Fight on DU. Victory is within our reach.

The only difference for us is that we need all those "gentlemen in England now a-bed" to get to the polls on Tuesday!

Great play. Great speech.

and thanks for the read. It's been a while.

I liked your translation. :)

We shall prevail!

to the voting booths sire!

Thanks!

Sadly, the real Henry V was a religious zealot who engineered a war. Will Shakespeare, however, was the greatest playwright of history, and those are among his most eloquent lines. Go Will!

Besides the fact that it's overplayed, Henry was, IMO, a total villain. And not even a fun villain like Richard III.

I will say for the record though, that the Hal Trilogy might just be my favorite, since I can identify with it on a personal level. Alas, I have even turned my back upon my Falstaff.

I think we all need it.

Back in January, I told my son that I could hear the sound of distant drums and knew I would be called into this battle. My brothers and siters on DU have given me strength.

Once more....once more indeed.....

Remind you of anyone?

At least he could speak coherently, in the play at least.