"O for a muse of fire . . . "

Good afternoon,

Some days all the cosmic tumblers just seem to fall into place*.  So as I returned from my morning workout at the beach, I switched on the television only to hear a simple flute melody playing in the background and Derek Jacobi utter those stirring words, "O, for a muse of fire."  It could only mean one thing - Shakespeare's Henry V directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh was just beginning.   Derek, Kenneth, Ian Holm, Emma Thompson, Judi Dench, Brian Blessed, and even Robbie Coltraine are part of the impressive cast.

I've been a huge Shakespeare fan most of my adult life.  The magic of the language fascinates me.  And it's ability to transmogrify into most any era and place shows the timelessness of the text.  And of course for any fan of Henry V, there's always the stirring St. Crispin's Day speech.  But, you've got to earn it.  It's a good hour into the movie - and even further into the play . . . lol.  I know deep in my soul, there is little on this Earth that I can't do when I hear this . . . maybe it's just a 'boy thing' - 'cause it's a serious testosterone high . . . lol.



"Do we all holy rites;

Let there be sung "Non Nobis" and "Te Deum;"

The dead with charity enclosed in clay;

And then to Calais; and to England then;

Where ne'er from France arrived more happy men."

Act IV, scene VIII

- a bit of trivia - that's actually the Scottish composer Patrick Doyle who begins the "Non Nobis Domine" chant at the conclusion of the battle.  He has scored several of Branagh's films and always shows up somewhere.  and for some real minutia, Kenneth is actually carrying a very young Christian Bale (in one of his early roles) across the battlefield.

I hope everyone's weekend is full of such delightful and inspiring surprises.

Cheers,

tartanscot

* yes, I know that's a quote from "Field of Dreams," but it's another of my favourite phrases.  Shoot me, I'm a film geek.