Once more unto the breach/ Postman

[Evan van Eyk]

Can anybody give me the whole quote from Henry V, given in Postman. Its the same as in ST VI: Once more unto the breach... but is a load longer. Thanks

[Ramage]

Act III, Scene 1 -- France, before Harlfeur

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead!
In peace, there's nothing so becomes a man,
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the actions of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage:
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let is pry through the portage of the head,
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it,
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounced base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth, and stretch the nostril wide:
Hold hard the breath, and bend up every spirit
To his full height! -- On, on you noble English,
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof! --
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought,
And sheath'd their swords for lack of argument: --
Dishonour not your mothers; no attest
That those, whoe you call'd fathers, did beget you!
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war! -- And you, good yeomen,
Whose limbes were made in England, show us here
The mettler of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot;
Follow your spirit: and, upon this charge,
Cry -- God for Harry! England and saint George!

[Owen E Oulton]

And boy, when Ken Brannagh gave that speech in his movie version of Henry V, you really wanted to dive through that hole in the wall after him!

My favourite bit in the movie was when Derek Jacobi, as Chorus, runs across the battlefield at Agincourt, dives into a trench, breathlessly does the narration, then dives over a hedgerow and disappears. Or at the beginning, when he's obviously backstage with piles of props and flats, giving the opening narration, the slams the doors open and WHAM! there you are in Henry's throneroom. Absolutely magnificent! Of course, I've been a big fan of Jacobi ever since I first saw I, Claudius on PBS 20-odd years ago.

[AslanC]

Originally posted by Owen E Oulton
And boy, when Ken Brannagh gave that speech in his movie version of Henry V, you really wanted to dive through that hole in the wall after him!

Boy I couldn't agree more with you sir And as for Jacoby, Henry V was my first introduction to him and I was hooked.

Have you seen Dead Again? I highly recommend it if you haven't.

Oh and...

CHORUS.
O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act,
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!
Then should the warlike Harry, like himself,
Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels,
Leash'd in like hounds, should famine, sword, and fire
Crouch for employment. But pardon, gentles all,
The flat unraised spirits that hath dar'd
On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth
So great an object. Can this cockpit hold
The vasty fields of France? Or may we cram
Within this wooden O the very casques
That did affright the air at Agincourt?
O, pardon! since a crooked figure may
Attest in little place a million;
And let us, ciphers to this great accompt,
On your imaginary forces work.
Suppose within the girdle of these walls
Are now confin'd two mighty monarchies,
Whose high upreared and abutting fronts
The perilous narrow ocean parts asunder;
Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts:
Into a thousand parts divide one man,
And make imaginary puissance;
Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them
Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth.
For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings,
Carry them here and there, jumping o'er times,
Turning the accomplishment of many years
Into an hour-glass: for the which supply,
Admit me Chorus to this history;
Who, prologue-like, your humble patience pray,
Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play.

[Exit.]

[JonA]

My personal favourite is in DS9 when they're on their way to retake the station (I think it's Favour the Bold),

Charge of the Light Brigade by Tennyson.

O'Brien begins to quote verse 3 and Bashir completes it. And then Nog throws his rattle out of the pram.

The Charge of the Light Brigade
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
"Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.


2.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.


3.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.


4.
Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air,
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.


5.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.


6.
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.


One of my favourite poems.

[Evan van Eyk]

Thank you very much a thousand times, you helped me a lot! Thank you


( just realized this thread was in the wrong forum, oops )

[Owen E Oulton]

That's OK, they use so much from the Bard in Trek, that it's pretty much on-topic anyway. Picard and Data used to do Henry V[ on the holodeck.

[Ineti]

I was always partial to Henry's "St. Crispian speech." Talk about getting the blood flowing...

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 accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap while any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

And yeah, I like Kenneth Branagh too.

[Ramage]

Actually, for the St. Crispin's Day speech, I give it to Olivier. Unlike Branagh, he needs no sweeping strings behind him nor does he spit at the camera.

For the Harfleur speech, however, I give it to Branagh.

I'm kind of a split decision on the two films -- each is wonderful in its own way and each drops scenes from the play that the other one incorporates.

[Joe Dizzy]

Originally posted by Ineti
We few, we happy few....

"...we band of buggered" - Spike in "The Gift" (Buffy Season 5)

Had me in stitches.

[AslanC]

Originally posted by Joe Dizzy
"...we band of buggered" - Spike in "The Gift" (Buffy Season 5)

Had me in stitches.

You beat me too it you magnificant bastard

[First of Two]

Let's just say that there's a reason that my Security Chief NPC looks just like Kenneth Branagh, and leave it at that...

Who better to rally the away team when you're surrounded by Jem'Hadar and your phasers have just run out of juice?

One good speech, and suddenly there's more than enough critical successes to go around...