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by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

The Feast of Crispian
 (Sung text for setting by R. Cumming)
 See original
Language: English 
WESTMORELAND.
 ... 

KING (Henry V).
 ... 
 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  ... 
 What feats he did that day.  ... 
 This story shall the good man teach his son;
 And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
  ... 
 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
  ... 

KING (Henry V).
  ... 

Composition:

    Set to music by Richard Jackson Cumming (b. 1928), "The Feast of Crispian", 1963, published 1969 [ medium voice and piano ], from We Happy Few, no. 1, note: this setting begins with the line "This day is call'd the feast of Crispian" and ends with the line "That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."

Text Authorship:

  • by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Henry V, Act IV, Scene 3

See other settings of this text.

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title
  • POL Polish (Polski) (Józef Ignacy Kraszewski) , no title


Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller

This text was added to the website: 2005-06-22
Line count: 61
Word count: 477

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