Vanity - The Elections in Spain

William Shakespeare

[Vernaux]

My feelings on the Spanish people's election results are best summed up by Shakespeare in this excerpt. (I have bolded passages that I find most applicable and made one change marked with a "*" begging the Bard's pardon):

Henry V

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.
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 nam'd,
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,
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.
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,
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 Spain* 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.


-William Shakespeare

[Vernaux]

First time poster, lurker since 1997.

I looked for this passage in relation to the Spanish Elections using the search but did not find anything. Sorry if it is a repeat.

Also, I changed the word "England" to "Spain" where I used the *. I hope it didn't ruin the perfection of the passage, but I just couldn't bring myself to use England in association with this travesty.

Cheers from NYC.

[jwalburg]

Hurray for Shakespeare! I always wonder, though, just how big a deal IS St. Crispin's Day in England. I was glad to see that the military issued copies of the St. Crispin's Day speech to troops before sending them to Iraq.

[dts32041]

Bump to ONC

[dts32041]

bump

[agooga]

Second that--

This sets a bad precedent. Give in once to the terrorists and you embolden them to try the same thing here again.

Damn...