Posted on 07/21/2009 5:01:39 AM PDT by The Duke
The events unfolding today in Honduras conjure within my consciousness the immortal, stirring words of Shakespeare's St. Crispin's Day Speech from his play 'Henry V'. In this scene King Henry V of England, confronted with an overwhelming foe on the battlefield, bolsters the courage of his meager army before battle.
And yet it is not the entire scene that echos faintly in my mind, but rather the final line:
"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."
Never in my half-century on this planet do I believe I have seen so pure and true a cause for freedom as that which exists today in the small, central American nation of Honduras. Faced with a president who had declared his intention to violate the most fundamental law of their land - a term limit that was put in place to protect the country from dictatorship - former President Zelaya was duly impeached and ejected from the country by his legislature, and his Vice President subsequently (and legally) installed as the new President.
Zelaya, a crony of the dictator of Venezuela Hugo Chavez, was in fact following the same formula for dictatorship which has served Chavez so well in robbing the Venezuelan people their own freedoms.
The world's socialist nations and dictatorships, including the United States of America, are now declaring their support for Zelaya in his bid to return to power. Reportedly soldiers from Nicaragua and Venezuela are massing on Nicaragua's border with Honduras to return him to power through force of arms.
And this freedom lover sits in the comfort of his home this morning, resisting a gravitational attraction from Honduras to go and make a stand with these noble people. These people who have humbly asked that we support them by purchasing the bananas and shrimp that are their chief export items.
They ask us to buy shrimp while they face down the very forces of Mordor - and yet here I sit.
And so, sitting here "a-bed in America" I find myself feeling doubly shameful this morning. I am shamed that I am not racing to Honduras to take up my place beside those who, alone in this world it seems, are standing for freedom. And I find myself also ashamed that my own country - so long a supposed beacon for freedom - sides with those malevolent forces that stand arrayed against freedom.
It is a dark day for freedom - a dark time for freedom. I wish my brothers in Honduras well.
I never was really able to read that, nor did I like Shakespeare.
I found this very touching, too; the Hondurans are acting as if we still live in a reasonable world. Yet our very own government is siding with the forces of Mordor.
It makes so many of us feel guilty and powerless.
Danny Devito teaches literature to a bunch Army misfits in the movie “Renaissance Man”. Toward the end the young recruits are standing in the rain and one of them recites the entire passage from memory. A really special moment in an otherwise light film.
For me it is the greatest, most inspiring, passage in Western literature.
Maybe it was all the pot. I know now that he documented universal human behaviors and foibles. He would have a field day with our current president.
Well said.
The youtube clip of Kenneth Branaugh delivering the speech is worth watching.
Watch the Kenneth Branagh film - it's just incredible. It helps to have a copy of the play handy, at least at the beginning, to get the characters straight.
Thanks. When I opened my eyes this morning this just popped into my head, and I wanted to share it.
I couldn’t understand him and I didn’t get high.
The only thing more painful than Shakespeare was Beowulf. Not by much.
I was the same ... once long ago.
WOW. Powerful stuff.
> In high school it was a challenge for me to even comprehend the Cliff Notes versions of Shakespeare.
I was brought up in a family that read the King James Version of the Holy Bible and that used “Thee” and “Thou” during prayers, so Shakespeare never did present much of a problem to me. The English is contemporaneous.
Thanks for the feedback. :)
> The only thing more painful than Shakespeare was Beowulf. Not by much.
Surely ye jest, o Travis! Fie!
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