Happy Saint Crispin's Day!

WESTMORELAND. O that we now had here 

    But one ten thousand of those men in England 

    That do no work to-day! 

  

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; 

    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.

 Agincourt, 25 October 1415

Happy Saint Crispin's Day!

The Hollow Crown 1x04: Henry V

"For, though

 I speak it to you, I think the king is but a man, as I

am: the violet smells to him as it doth to me: the

element shows to him as it doth to me; all his

senses have but human conditions: his ceremonies

laid by, in his nakedness he appears but a man; and

though his affections are higher mounted than ours,

yet, when they stoop, they stoop with the like

wing. Therefore when he sees reason of fears, as we

do, his fears, out of doubt, be of the same relish

as ours are. “(Henry V)

Un bambino corre in gran fretta per le vie di Londra: con in mano un fiore appena raccolto attraversa le strade silenti e addormentate, fino ad arrivare all'ingresso della cattedrale dove lascia il suo piccolo omaggio al passaggio della Regina.

L'occasione è la più triste e nefasta che un regno debba affrontare: il popolo è chiamato di nuovo a dire addio al suo re, ma invece di un sovrano vecchio e stanco della vita Dio stavolta ha chiamato a sé un condottiero giovane e forte, l'eroe che aveva guidato la Croce di San Giorgio in Francia donandole una vittoria impossibile e che col suo coraggio aveva fatto tremare il campo di battaglia di Agincourt.

è con inizio amaro e ineluttabile, funereo traguardo destinato a spegnere la stella dell'uomo ma non quella del mito che Thea Sharrock alza il sipario sull'Enrico V, quarto e ultimo appuntamento con la tetralogia dell’Enrieide adattata dalla BBC nella miniserie The Hollow Crown.

Mentre la bandiera che unisce Francia e Inghilterra scopre il corpo del re, è il Coro(nella voce e nelle sembianze di John Hurt) a riportarci indietro al tempo dell'azione: messe da parte le intemperanze giovanili, Enrico(Tom Hiddleston) è diventato un sovrano rispettato e amato, ma altrettanto determinato ed ambizioso: certo dei diritti su alcuni ducati ereditati dal nonno Edoardo III, egli chiede infatti l'abdicazione del re di Francia Carlo di Valois(Lambert Wilson) e ne reclama la corona: in seguito al rifiuto del sovrano e all'insulto del Delfino(Edward Akrout), che gli invia delle palle da tennis solo per il gusto di denigrarlo, Enrico è deciso a scendere nel continente e a invadere la Francia, insieme ad un esercito di uomini che da tutto il Regno sono pronti a combattere nella febbre della conquista.

For Harry, England, and Saint George!

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;

Or close the wall up with our English dead!

In peace there's nothing so becomes a man

As modest stillness and humility:

But when the blast of war blows in our ears,

Then imitate the action of the tiger;

Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,

Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;

Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,

Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit

To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.

Dishonour not your mothers; now attest

That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.

Be copy now to men of grosser blood,

And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,

Whose limbs were made in England, show us here

The mettle of your pasture; let us swear

That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;

For there is none of you so mean and base,

That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.

I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,

Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:

Follow your spirit, and upon this charge

Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!"

Sorry, I can't choose between two great Kings. I must love them both.