Poetry Friday 68
Yesterday was St Crispin's Day, so here is the St Crispin's Day speech from Henry V by Shakespeare:
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.
The Poetry Friday round up is over at Literary Safari
14 comments:
Oh, I love this one, and so does my 10-year-old daughter, who can still recite a good chunk by heart. Stirs the blood, especially on a cool autumn day! Thanks, Michele.
Excellent ! I'm glad your daughter likes it (yay for children liking Shakespeare !)
Oh, how I love this one too. Particularly when delivered by Kenneth Brannagh. Be we in it shall be remembered - We few, we happy few, we band of brothers"
I'm in with Shakespeare today as well, only I went witchy with Macbeth.
I really must make the time to watch Ken B in Henry V - I still haven't seen it but someone else was raving about it this morning when I mentioned to them what piece I'd chosen for this week's PF offering !
Yay for Macbeth !
To quote from Austen's Pride & Prejudice "I am all astonishment!"
You've probably been too busy salivating on the upcoming reunion between Doctors 5 & 10.
Hee ! Too right - though I'd have salivated more if it had been Ten and Four since the Fourth Doctor was my first Doctor, just as he was David's - we're of an age, you see...
(Random side note: funny you should mention P&P - I'm just about to re-read that..)
Given our current state of war this just chills my blood. I can not take it light-heartedly these days.
I love this speech, but like cloudscome, it sets my teeth on edge, too. It has been SO MISUSED...
Michele,
I love the poetry--hate the war! I have an anti-war protest song and poetry post at WWW today.
Given my intense interest in WW1, I'm not a lover of war either - in fact, if anything, my deep interest in WW1 has made me a pacifist. That doesn't mean I can't appreciate beautiful poetry though...
I'm with Kelly: watch Kenneth! And HBO's WWII series, Band of Brothers, is absolutely riveting and out on DVD.
Your recommendation of Kenneth is duly noted, thank you !
I second Sara's mention of Band of Brothers. It was gorgeous and riveting (and sad and awful and hopeful and devastating and . . . well, you get the picture).
Thanks. WW2 isn't really my era, but I'll see if the library has the DVDs to rent...
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