Henry V – Act 4 Scene3

GLOUCESTER

Where is the king?

Where is the king?

BEDFORD

The king himself is rode to view their battle.

The king has ridden off to view their army.

WESTMORELAND

Of fighting men they have full three score thousand.

They have some sixty thousand fighting men.

EXETER

There's five to one; besides, they all are fresh.

That’s five to one; plus all of them are fresh.

SALISBURY

God's arm strike with us! 'Tis a fearful odds.

God fight with us! Those odds are terrifying.

God be wi' you, princes all; I'll to my charge:

May God be with you all; I’ll start my duty:

If we no more meet till we meet in heaven,

If we don’t meet again till we’re in heaven,

Then, joyfully, my noble Lord of Bedford,

Then happily I’ll say my Lord of Bedford,

My dear Lord Gloucester, and my good Lord Exeter,

My Lord of Gloucester, and Lord Exeter,

And my kind kinsman, warriors all, adieu!

And all my fighting countrymen, goodbye!

BEDFORD

Farewell, good Salisbury; and good luck go with thee!

Goodbye, dear Salisbury, and good luck to you!

EXETER

Farewell, kind lord; fight valiantly to-day:

Goodbye, kind lord; go fight courageously.

And yet I do thee wrong to mind thee of it,

And yet I’m wronging you by telling you this,

For thou art framed of the firm truth of valour.

For you are the epitome of courage.

BEDFORD

He is as full of valour as of kindness;

He is as full of courage as of kindness;

Princely in both.

He is a prince of both.

WESTMORELAND

O that we now had here

I wish we had here

But one ten thousand of those men in England

Ten thousand men who are today in England

That do no work to-day!

And not at work!

KING HENRY V

What's he that wishes so?

Which man has asked for this?

My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin:

My cousin Westmoreland? No, my dear cousin:

If we are marked to die, we are enow

If we’re destined to die, there are enough men

To do our country loss; and if to live,

For our country to lose; and if we live,

The fewer men, the greater share of honour.

Then fewer share the honour and the glory.

God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.

In God’s name, do not hope for one more soldier.

By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,

God knows I do not strive for extra wealth

Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;

Nor care who benefits at my expense;

It yearns me not if men my garments wear;

I’m not put out when others wear my clothes;

Such outward things dwell not in my desires:

I do not wish to wear such showy costumes.

But if it be a sin to covet honour,

But if it is a sin to strive for honour,

I am the most offending soul alive.

Then I’m the most offending man alive.

No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England:

So, cousin, do not wish for men from England:

God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour

Good God, I wouldn’t want honour diluted

As one man more, methinks, would share from me

By having one more man to share with me

For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!

The honour that I hope to gain. Don’t wish more!

Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,

Instead, declare to everyone, Westmoreland,

That he which hath no stomach to this fight,

That if you are not brave enough to fight,

Let him depart; his passport shall be made

You’re free to leave; you will receive your passport

And crowns for convoy put into his purse:

And have some money for your journey home.

We would not die in that man's company

We do not wish to die beside a man

That fears his fellowship to die with us.

Who’s scared to face his death beside us all.

This day is called the feast of Crispian:

Today, one celebrates Saint Crispian’s Day:

He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,

Survivors of today that get home safely

Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,

Will stand up tall each time this day is mentioned,

And rouse him at the name of Crispian.

The name of Crispian inciting pride.

He that shall live this day, and see old age,

Those that survive today, and grow to old age,

Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,

Will yearly host a feast for friends and family

And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'

And say, ‘It is Saint Crispian’s Day tomorrow.’

Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,

Then he’ll remove his shirt and show his scars,

And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'

And say, ‘I got these wounds on Crispin’s day.’

Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,

In old age, you’ll become forgetful, yet

But he'll remember with advantages

You’ll have embellished memories of what

What feats he did that day: then shall our names,

You did that day. Then all our names will be

Familiar in his mouth as household words

As common as are household words to people –

Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,

Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,

Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,

Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester –

Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.

Which they will freely use recalling us.

This story shall the good man teach his son;

Good folk will teach this story to their children;

And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,

Saint Crispin’s day will never pass again,

From this day to the ending of the world,

From this day forth until the end of time,

But we in it shall be remembered;

Without commemoration of us all.

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

We few, we lucky few, fight here as brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

For he that sheds his blood with me today

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

Will be my brother; even if a pauper,

This day shall gentle his condition:

Will from this day be called a gentleman.

And gentlemen in England now a-bed

And gentlemen in England now asleep

Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,

Will think that they’ve been cursed not being here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

And won’t think they are real men when hearing

That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

You fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

SALISBURY

My sovereign lord, bestow yourself with speed:

My lord the King, you have to come at once:

The French are bravely in their battles set,

The French have set a strong battle formation,

And will with all expedience charge on us.

And very soon they’re going to charge at us.

KING HENRY V

All things are ready, if our minds be so.

We’re ready, if our minds are ready for them.

WESTMORELAND

Perish the man whose mind is backward now!

The man whose mind’s not ready will be damned!

KING HENRY V

Thou dost not wish more help from England, coz?

You don’t want English reinforcements, cousin?

WESTMORELAND

God's will! My liege, would you and I alone,

By God, my lord, if only you and I

Without more help, could fight this royal battle!

Could fight this royal battle without help!

KING HENRY V

Why, now thou hast unwished five thousand men;

Well, now you wish five thousand men weren’t here;

Which likes me better than to wish us one.

That I prefer to wishing we had one more.

You know your places: God be with you all!

You know your roles: may God be with you all!

MONTJOY

Once more I come to know of thee, King Harry,

I’ve come again to know your thoughts, King Harry,

If for thy ransom thou wilt now compound,

And if you will surrender for a payment,

Before thy most assured overthrow:

Before your almost-guaranteed defeat.

For certainly thou art so near the gulf,

For certainly you’re so close to the whirlpool,

Thou needs must be englutted. Besides, in mercy,

It’s going to swallow you. And, out of mercy,

The constable desires thee thou wilt mind

The constable has asked you to remind

Thy followers of repentance; that their souls

Your followers to say their prayers, so their souls

May make a peaceful and a sweet retire

Can peacefully retire from here to heaven

From off these fields, where, wretches, their poor bodies

And leave these fields wherein their lifeless bodies

Must lie and fester.

Will lie and rot.

KING HENRY V

Who hath sent thee now?

So, who has sent you this time?

MONTJOY

The Constable of France.

The Constable of France.

KING HENRY V

I pray thee, bear my former answer back:

I ask you tell them what I said before:

Bid them achieve me and then sell my bones.

Tell them to capture me, then sell my bones.

Good God! Why should they mock poor fellows thus?

Good God! Why do you need to mock these poor men?

The man that once did sell the lion's skin

The proverb says: the man that sold the lion

While the beast lived, was killed with hunting him.

While it was still alive, died hunting it.

A many of our bodies shall no doubt

No doubt that many of our bodies will

Find native graves; upon the which, I trust,

Be buried back in England, where, I’m sure,

Shall witness live in brass of this day's work:

Brass plaques will be embossed with what they did here.

And those that leave their valiant bones in France,

And those brave souls that perish here in France

Dying like men, though buried in your dunghills,

Will die like men, though they lie in your horse dung,

They shall be famed; for there the sun shall greet them,

They’ll still be famous; shone on by the sun,

And draw their honours reeking up to heaven;

Each soul will leave its reeking corpse for heaven

Leaving their earthly parts to choke your clime,

And leave their rotting flesh to spread disease,

The smell whereof shall breed a plague in France.

The stink of which will cause a plague in France.

Mark then abounding valour in our English,

You’ll then observe the valour of the English,

That being dead, like to the bullet's grazing,

That though they’re dead, like bullets ricocheting,

Break out into a second course of mischief,

They’ll cause a second round of deadly violence

Killing in relapse of mortality.

By killing people, even though they’re dead.

Let me speak proudly: tell the constable

I will speak proudly: tell the constable

We are but warriors for the working-day;

We’re all just average working warriors;

Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirched

Our military regalia is filthy

With rainy marching in the painful field;

From marching in the rain in muddy fields;

There's not a piece of feather in our host –

There are no plumes of feathers in our caps –

Good argument, I hope, we will not fly –

Which proves, I guess, that we won’t fly away –

And time hath worn us into slovenry:

And passing time has made us look a mess.

But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim;

But oh, by God, I swear our hearts are fit;

And my poor soldiers tell me, yet ere night

And my poor soldiers say, before it’s night-time,

They'll be in fresher robes, or they will pluck

They’ll dress in fresher clothes, or else they’ll strip

The gay new coats o'er the French soldiers' heads

The fancy modern coats worn by French soldiers

And turn them out of service. If they do this, –

And kick them from your army. If they do this –

As, if God please, they shall, – my ransom then

And if, God willing, they will – then my ransom

Will soon be levied. Herald, save thou thy labour;

Will soon be paid. Now, save yourself a job;

Come thou no more for ransom, gentle herald:

Do not return for ransom, messenger:

They shall have none, I swear, but these my joints;

The only ransom they’ll get is my bones,

Which if they have as I will leave 'em them,

Which if they get them as I plan to leave them,

Shall yield them little, tell the constable.

They won’t be worth much, tell the constable.

MONTJOY

I shall, King Harry. And so fare thee well:

I will, King Harry. So, goodbye to you;

Thou never shalt hear herald any more.

You will not hear from me ever again.

KING HENRY V

I fear thou'lt once more come again for ransom.

I fear you’ll come back once again for ransom.

YORK

My lord, most humbly on my knee I beg

My lord, I beg you on my bended knee

The leading of the vaward.

That I can lead us into battle.

KING HENRY V

Take it, brave York. Now, soldiers, march away:

You can, brave York. Now, soldiers, march in stride:

And how Thou pleasest, God, dispose the day!

Dear God, we’ll pass the day as you decide.