"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..."
Shakespeare's fictional and famous speech of Henry V could easily be altered to be a speech made by a modern-day radical critic of our current society.
But the sexist language has got to go. Heh.
"Away, you cut-purse rascal! you filthy bung, away! By
wine, I'll thrust my knife in your mouldy chaps, an you play
saucy cuttle with me. Away, you bottle-ale rascal! you
basket-hilt stale juggler, you! Since when, I pray you, sir?
God's light, with two points on your shoulder? Much!"
N.Belton
It was written for this day, Friday 25 October 1415.
It's the bard himself, and not so much Henry V, for whom it can be said that this day "shall ne'er go by ... to the ending of the world" but
that "he" in it shall be remembered. But thanks for the reminder anyway.
I do. I will.
