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;
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.
Henry's speech to his men before the Battle of Agincourt, from Henry V IV.2.
Kenneth Branagh's rendition:
Henry's rousing speech is fictional (although jolly good poetry), but the Battle of Agincourt was real enough. It took place as part of the Hundred Years' War on Friday 25th October 1415 - six hundred years ago today. The English, outnumbered by the French, were ultimately victorious.
Legend has it that the rude two-fingered salute originates from the battle. Before it began, the French boasted that they would cut off the two arrow fingers from any captured English archers. After the English won, thanks largely to the range and effectiveness of the longbow, they mockingly waved their intact fingers at the defeated French!
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