WESTMORELAND. [ O that we now had here But one ten thousand of those men in England That do no work to-day!]1 KING (Henry V). [ What's he that wishes so? My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin. If we are marked to die, we are enough To do our country loss; and if to live, The fewer men, the greater share of honour. God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more. By Jove, I am not covetous for gold, Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost; It yearns me not if men my garments wear; Such outward things dwell not in my desires; But if it be a sin to covet honour, I am the most offending soul alive. No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England. God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour As one man more, methinks, would share from me For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more! Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host, That he which hath no stomach to this fight, Let him depart. His passport shall be made, And crowns for convoy put into his purse. We would not die in that man's company That fears his fellowship to die with us.]1 This day is call'd the feast of Crispian. He that outlives this day, and comes safe home, Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named, And rouse him at the name of Crispian. He that shall live this day, and see old age, Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, And say, "To-morrow is Saint Crispian." Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars, And say, "These wounds I had on Crispian's day." Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, But he'll remember [with advantages]1 What feats he did that day. [Then shall our names, Familiar in his mouth as household words, Harry the King, Bedford, and Exeter, Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester, Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.]1 This story shall the good man teach his son; And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, [From this day to the ending of the world,]1 But we in it shall be remembered, 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. SALISBURY [My sovereign lord, bestow yourself with speed: The French are bravely in their battles set, And will with all expedience charge on us.]1 KING (Henry V). [All things are ready, if our minds be so.]1
We Happy Few
Song Cycle by Richard Jackson Cumming (b. 1928)
1. The Feast of Crispian  [sung text checked 1 time]
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Henry V, Act IV, Scene 3
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- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title
- POL Polish (Polski) (Józef Ignacy Kraszewski) , no title
1 omitted by Cumming.
Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller
2. To whom can i speak today?
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3. Fife tune
One morning in May . . . . . . . . . .— The rest of this text is not
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Authorship:
- by John Streeter Manifold (1915 - 1985), copyright ©
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This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.4. Here dead we lie  [sung text not yet checked]
Here dead we lie because we did not choose To live and shame the land from which we sprung. Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose, But young men think it is, and we were young.
Authorship:
- by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), "Here dead we lie", appears in More Poems, no. 36, first published 1936
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]5. A ballad of good Lord Nelson
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Authorship:
- by Lawrence Durrell (1912 - 1990), copyright ©
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This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.6. Going to the warres  [sung text not yet checked]
Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind, That from the nunnery Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind To war and arms I fly. True, a new mistress now I chase, The first foe in the field; And with a stronger faith embrace A sword, a horse, a shield. Yet this inconstancy is such As you too shall adore; I could not love thee, dear, so much, Lov'd I not honour more.
Authorship:
- by Richard Lovelace (1618 - 1658)
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Adolf von Marées) , "Abschied des Cavaliers"
7. A sight in camp  [sung text not yet checked]
A sight in camp in the daybreak grey and dim, As from my tent I emerge so early, sleepless, As slow I walk in the cool fresh air the path near by the hospital tent, Three forms I see on stretchers lying, brought out there untended lying, Over each the blanket spread, ample brownish woollen blanket, Grey and heavy blanket, folding, covering all. Curious I halt and silent stand, Then with light fingers I from the face of the nearest, the first, just lift the blanket; Who are you, elderly man so gaunt and grim, with well-grey'd hair, and flesh all sunken about the eyes? Who are you my dear comrade? Then to the second I step - and who are you my child and darling? Who are you sweet boy with cheeks yet blooming? Then to the third - a face nor child nor old, very calm, as of beautiful yellow-white ivory; Young man I think I know you - I think this face is the face of Christ Himself, Dead and divine and brother of all, and here again He lies.
Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "A sight in camp in the daybreak grey and dim"
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]8. The end of the world  [sung text not yet checked]
Quite unexpectedly as Vasserot [ ... ]
Authorship:
- by Archibald MacLeish (1892 - 1982), "The end of the world", appears in Streets in the Moon, first published 1926, copyright ©
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This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.9. Grave hour  [sung text not yet checked]
Who now weeps anywhere in the world [ ... ]
Authorship:
- by Margaret Dows Herter Norton (1894 - 1985), "Grave hour", appears in Translations from the Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, pp. 82-83 (The Book of Pictures 1.2), first published 1962, copyright ©
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926), "Ernste Stunde", appears in Das Buch der Bilder, first published 1906
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This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.10. The song of Moses
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