We use these stress patterns naturally and unconsciously when speaking and, unless we’re poets, probably never need to give them much thought outside of a musical context.Īs an example: Let’s pretend this sentence is a lyric in your song.
Example of scansion free#
*This anecdote was “off the record.” Please feel free to comment in order to bully Zach into letting me recount it.Scansion is the study of a text’s inherent rhythm and the marking of each syllable in the text as being either strongly or weakly stressed. That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day. Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,Īnd hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks We few, we happy few, we band of brothers įor he to-day that sheds his blood with me This story shall the good man teach his son įrom this day to the ending of the world, Please come back and read our conversation here very soon. And, without wanting to sound too effusive, after our chat today, there really isn’t an actor that I’d rather watch crafting this character than Zach Appelman. In all seriousness, there really isn’t a better piece of battlefield oratory in dramatic literature than this speech. And I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the holiday – and to end this entry mercifully – than sharing with you the finale of Henry’s speech. Regardless, the Battle of Agincourt took place on October 25 in 1415 AD which is, incontrovertibly, Saint Crispin’s/Crispian’s/Crispinian’s Day)
Crispin and Crispinian conflated into “Crispian,” perhaps for the sake of scansion, perhaps for not really wanting to get into all of this stuff for dramatic reasons. Still, they are remembered in several ways, all of them imperfect, and some of them bizarre.Įxample one: Saint Crispin’s Genuine Hand Sewn Welted Shoes (retail shoe website, no mention of Crispinian)Įxample two: Saint Crispin and Saint Crispinian, Patron Saints of Leather Fetishists (website for a church in Toronto, the less said the better)Įxample three: The King’s Speech in Henry V (link to the speech at MIT’s website. While they have remained in the pantheon of saints, the Catholic Church did remove them from the liturgical calendar in 1960, finding evidence of their existence to be dubious.
As such, they were martyred and, later, canonized. A millstone was then fastened about the neck of each, and they were thrown into the Aisne, but they were able to swim to the opposite bank of the river.”** Arriving on the opposite bank – after what must have been the worst afternoon ever – the brothers were finally beheaded. As the legend goes, “ they were stretched on the rack, thongs were cut from their flesh, and awls were driven under their finger-nails. Unfortunately, during a particular nasty crackdown on the Christian faith by the Emperor Diocletian, a complaint was brought against the brothers – perhaps by a disgruntled pagan shoe client – and the two were sentenced to death. The brothers preached by day and made shoes by night, a busy schedule by anyone’s estimation, and one sure to make a mother proud. The two were shoemakers and they set up shop in Soissons – on the outskirts of the Empire in Gaul, northeast of Paris – on the banks of the river Aisne. Originally from Rome, and perhaps of noble descent, twin brothers Crispin and Crispinian fled the Imperial city, as did many persecuted Christians, sometime in the 3 rd century AD. And it is in this spirit that I will soon offer you what I imagine will be the best Saint Crispin’s Day present you have ever received from me – or perhaps from anyone else. You may be a little bit like me: I had only ever heard of Saint Crispin (or “Saint Crispian”) vis a vis the King’s incredible speech in Shakespeare’s Henry V. Of course, one could wonder why poor old Crispinian isn’t mentioned in the name of the holiday – but that would simply not be in keeping with today’s spirit of celebration. Imagine how proud their mother must have been. You may not know it, but today – as it has been every October 25 th since the year 287 AD – is Feast Day for the early Christian martyr Saint Crispin and his twin brother Saint Crispinian. Next, I want to wish you a very, very Happy Saint Crispin’s Day. I’ll be playing Nym in Henry V and Feste in Twelfth Night later this season at Folger Theatre.įirst, let me please urge you to get your tickets to The Conference of the Birds right now by clicking here! Also, let me please urge you to read Jay Dunn’s account of putting up the show right here in the Production Diary. Engraving of the Battle of Agincourt of 1415
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