25 October 2011

And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by...

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.

Today is the Feast of St. Crispin, 25 October, the anniversary of the battle of Agincourt almost 600 years ago. A good time as ever to trot out my favorite scene of my favorite adaptation of my favorite Shakespearean play.

Do we all holy rites;
Let there be sung 'Non nobis' and 'Te Deum;'
The dead with charity enclosed in clay:
And then to Calais; and to England then:
Where ne'er from France arrived more happy men.
Posted by John Grantham at 10:15 PM
Labels: , , ,
Location: My humble abode

1 comment:

  1. phesslerOctober 28, 2011 at 4:37 PM

    SPIKE: Well, not exactly the St. Crispin's Day speech, was it?

    GILES: "We few...we happy few..."

    SPIKE: "We band of buggered..."

    ReplyDelete

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