Courage from Shakespeare
When things are grim I’ll take courage where I can find it. Tonight I am grateful for Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V. The St. Crispin’s Day speech has worked for me more than once recently. Usually I like the climax of the speech. But tonight, I like the answer Henry V gives the French army when they ask (again) for ransom. Emphasis mine.
Montjoy:
Once more I come to know of thee, King Harry,
If for thy ransom thou wilt now compound,
Before thy most assured overthrow.Henry V: Who hath sent thee now?
Montjoy: The Constable of France.
Henry V:
I pray thee, bear my former answer back:
Bid them achieve me and then sell my bones.
Good God! Why should they mock poor fellows thus?
Let me speak proudly: tell the constable
We are but warriors for the working-day;
Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch’d
With rainy marching in the painful field;
But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim;
And oh! – Save thou thy labour;
Come thou no more for ransom, gentle herald:
They shall have none, I swear, but these my joints;
Which if they have as I shall leave of them,
Shall yield them little, tell the constable.
For the unadulterated text look here. And here is the clip I must have watched 100+ times in the last few months:
I need Henry V because I am discouraged. I will need church tomorrow to help me remember to hold tight to God.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion, forever.
Faith and Sight 