The Battle of Agincourt 1415 A.D.

.....As I was thumbing through the books in my "library" the other day, I found a rather hefty volume of Shakespeare's plays, and my thumb just happened to stop at a page in "Henry V". The play has been performed many times since it was written, but perhaps none better than the films starring Kenneth Branagh and Lawrence Olivier. One scene in the play never fails to tear me up; the scene where Henry tries to rally his troops before the Battle of Agincourt on October 25, 1415 A.D. The war, as usual, takes place in France and the speech rallying his troops is better than any coach could make to inspire his team. The battle, during which a rather ragged and small band of Englishmen routed a powerful French army, took place on the Feast of St. Crispin's Day. (St. Crispin and his twin brother, Crispian, were tortured, martyred--and as if that weren't enough-- beheaded at Soissons in 286 A.D. for preaching Christianity to the Gauls.) A curious fact is that the Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War 1854 (Charge of the Light Brigade) and the Battle of Leyte Gulf 1944 also took place on St. Crispin's Day.

.....I have no understanding of how Shakespeare, a man who had never been in combat, could write such a stirring speech--it makes me want to get in a plane and fly up to shoot something! Patton and MacArthur could not have done as well. So, here it is:

KING: ..... 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,

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;

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.

....Now, every time I read this remarkable speech, or hear it read, I somehow feel a kinship with "that few, that happy few, that band of brothers." And as Shakespeare says, "...old men forget but will remember what feats he did that day." How true--and forever.