sophie's fair

Sir Laurence Olivier's The Chronicle or King Henry the Fift with His battel Fought at Agincourt in France, 1944

Then we call this field of Agincourt,
Fought on the day of Crispin Crispianus.
-- Henry V Scene Vll

october 25th is st. crispin's day. i was looking forward to this date so i could talk about my man, henry. i was a day late, though. the english still celebrate st. crispin's every year for henry V's miraculous win at agincourt against france in 1415. shakespeare immortalised him in 1599 to the delight of his then audience, queen elizabeth I.

Come, go we in procession to the village.
And be it death proclaimed through our host
To boast of this or praise from God
Which is his only.
-- Henry V Scene Vlll

responses to the play are shaped by the times. by people who view war as just or unjust. the playwright, too, had been subject to criticism, to suggestions that the nationalistic interpretation of henry V was to please the queen at the time. i do not claim to be a writer. i do not claim to be a critic. i read as i am moved. by words and by the images they conjure.

Now, fie upon my false French! By mine honour, in
true English, I love thee, Kate: by which honour I
dare not swear thou lovest me; yet my blood begins to
flatter me that thou dost, notwithstanding the poor
and untempering effect of my visage. Now, beshrew
my father's ambition! he was thinking of civil wars
when he got me: therefore was I created with a
stubborn outside, with an aspect of iron, that, when
I come to woo ladies, I fright them. But, in faith,
Kate, the elder I wax, the better I shall appear:
my comfort is, that old age, that ill layer up of
beauty, can do no more, spoil upon my face: thou
hast me, if thou hast me, at the worst; and thou
shalt wear me, if thou wear me, better and better:
and therefore tell me, most fair Katharine, will you
have me? Put off your maiden blushes; avouch the
thoughts of your heart with the looks of an empress;
take me by the hand, and say 'Harry of England I am
thine:' which word thou shalt no sooner bless mine
ear withal, but I will tell thee aloud 'England is
thine, Ireland is thine, France is thine, and Harry
Plantagenet is thine;' who though I speak it before
his face, if he be not fellow with the best king,
thou shalt find the best king of good fellows.
Come, your answer in broken music; for thy voice is
music and thy English broken; therefore, queen of
all, Katharine, break thy mind to me in broken
English; wilt thou have me?
-- Henry V Scene ll

love, too, is a form of heroism. it is what gets us through a war.

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.

Exeunt.
-- Henry V Scene Vlll

Non nobis, Domine, non nobis,
sed nomini tuo da gloriam,
sed nomini tuo da gloriam.
Non nobis, Domine.

Not to us, O LORD, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.
-- Psalm 115

the miraculous military victory commemorated in 'non nobis' is the core event of salvation in the bible, the model of all of God's interventions in human history. there is honour for the king and the playwright who honoured their God.

did you know...
The scene with Henry V (Kenneth Branagh) carrying the body of his dead page has been named as #84 on the Observer's February 6, 2000 list of Cinema's 100 most Memorable Moments.