Harfleur

Now, the narrator in the Henry, Henry V play is there to issue the patriotic propaganda, and it's immediately contradicted by what happens on the stage.

For instance, at one point with the, "And down goes all before them at Harfleur." Well, no, down doesn't go all before them.

It's actually a negotiated surrender after a period of time.

So, uh, Shakespeare has done a lot of this.

Um, and, and so I think the sort of checklist, as it were, is get, get to Normandy, um, and take a, a, a foothold there, um, that I can sort of say is kind of like Calais, you know, that I've, that I've done another thing like that.

And his decision is to, is to hit Harfleur.

Whether or not Harfleur was the, uh, the intended target when they left or if it was like, "Well, let's kind of see where our ships end up and see what, you know, what that is," uh, hard to say.

If, if, if the intention was Harfleur, it was a really brilliant one, uh, because when the French realized that he's coming, they have really reestablished all their garrisons along the coast, um, on the other side of the Seine, um, which is the s- basically along the same coast that Edward III had been on.

They're like, "We think this is what he's doing." And so they guard against all that, and he hits on the other side of the, of the Seine at Harfleur.

So there's not- nothing hardly to oppose him other than the town itself.

Uh, and so he's able to lay siege to that, which goes terribly for him.

Um, he takes lots of, lots of cannon.

She died, most conveniently for him, on the 16th of March 1485, and alarming rumours immediately got abroad that he was actually about to marry the Princess Elizabeth.

He was compelled by his own counsellors to repudiate the intention before the Lord Mayor and the Aldermen of London, but the story got abroad and caused much anxiety to Henry, who was then at Rouen, preparing to collect a fleet at Harfleur for a new expedition against England.

So greatly indeed did it disconcert his plans that looking upon a match with any of Edward's daughters as now hopeless, for it was said that the second, Cecily, was also to be married to the man of an obscure birth.

He was beginning to think of marrying a sister of Sir Walter Herbert, who was very powerful in Wales, and with this view had sent secret messages to the Earl of Northumberland, who had married another of Sir Walter's sisters, when he learnt, to his great relief, that Richard had been obliged to disclaim the disgraceful design imputed to him.

Henry determined to land in his own native district.

He had received messages by one Morgan of Kidwelly, a lawyer, that Rhys ap Thomas, a valiant captain of South Wales, and another named Sir John Savage, were ready to take part, and he had every reason to believe that his uncle, Jasper Tudor, on his reappearance in that country, would be at once greeted as Earl of Pembroke, notwithstanding his attainder.

The French king had given him a body of troops under the command of an able leader named Philip Deschondes, and with these and a whole body of his English followers he embarked at Harfleur on the 1st of August.

With a prosperous wind he reached the coast of Wales in little more than a week, and landed at Milford Haven.

The achievements both of Napoleon and Wellington call us, the one to the path of glory and the other to the path of duty, and a second greater Waterloo awaits us as victors in the struggle for the freedom of Europe.

At this time, we may still hear the ringing cry of Henry V at Harfleur in our English ears.

Once more into 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.

There's some wonderful speeches.

Once more into the breach, the Battle of Harfleur, besieging this town.

Things go pretty well for the English in this case.

You get some great stuff, again, as I talked about with these sort of generals and lieutenants who all have funny accents and some of them hate each other.

And there's just some really wonderful characters in this play to learn from and play around with.

We have this great successful battle of Harfleur where the besieged town surrenders.

And Henry's able to sort of take command of the city.

And immediately following this great, this sort of first of these big military successes for England, we get this scene, act three, scene four, between Catherine and her gentlewoman.

Grandpre, a French lord, read by Craig Franklin.

The Governor of Harfleur, read by Brad.

Montjoy, a French herald, read by Brad.

A French ambassador, read by Sonja.

Behold the threaden sails, borne with the invisible and creeping wind, draw the huge bottoms through the furrow'd sea, breasting the lofty surge.

O, do but think you stand upon the ravage and behold a city on the inconstant billows dancing.

For so appears this fleet majestical, holding due course to Harfleur.

Follow, follow.

Open your gates.

Come, Uncle Exeter, go you and enter Harfleur.

There remain, and fortify it strongly against the French.

Use mercy to them all.

For us, dear Uncle, the winter coming on and sickness growing upon our soldiers, we will retire to Calais.

To-night in Harfleur will we be your guest.

To-morrow, for the march, are we addressed."

the king and his train enter the town scene for the french king's palace enter catherine and alice an old gentlewoman alice tu as etes en angleterre et tu parles bien le langage un peu madame je t'en prie monseigne il faut que j'apprenne a parler comment

This plot was a purely dynastic business, the legitimate continuation of the many movements in favor of the House of March which had disturbed the reign of Henry IV.

In the middle of August, the army crossed the Channel and landed near Harfleur, to which it laid siege.

The place made a gallant resistance but received no help from without, though the Dauphin had mustered a large army at Rouen.

The English suffered more from the summer heat and from camp fever than from the missiles of their enemies.

After a siege of five weeks, the artillery of the besiegers had so shaken the walls that the garrison surrendered, September 22nd, 1415.

A good foothold in Normandy had been secured, but meanwhile the season was growing late and the army was dwindling away.

When 1,200 men had been told off to garrison Harfleur and the numerous sick and wounded had been sent back to England, only 1,000 men-at-arms and 4,000 archers remained available for service in the field.

This body was too small for a march on Paris or a serious attempt to subdue Normandy, and the king resolved to lead them across to Calais and not to advance deeper into France.

Read for LibriVox.org by Martin Clifton.

King Henry rouses his troops before Harfleur.

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.