‘Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more’ (Henry V) This is the second most famous speech from Henry V, and comes in Act 3 Scene 1 of the play, during the siege of Harfleur in Normandy, carried out by the real historical King Henry V in 1415 as part of the Hundred Years War. Henry’s rousing speech to his troops is his attempt to unite the inspire his men to continue fighting with him against the French.
Henry’s speech begins with rousing words of encouragement to his troops, with the words ‘dear friends’ treating the soldiers as the king’s equals and close companions (as some of them, namely the noblemen, would have been). He begins by addressing the noblemen among his ranks; later (as we will see), he also addresses the yeomen or ordinary men within the army. The repetition of ‘once more’ meaning ‘again’ (fittingly, repeated once more at the end of the line), spurs the men to summon the energy for one last assault on the walls of the town of Harfleur. Henry and his men have already attacked the walls and weakened them – hence the ‘breach’ that has appeared in the wall – but they have not yet completely broken through and gained access to the town. Although these first two lines of Henry’s speech are well-known and often quoted, do they actually make sense? ‘Once more unto the breach … or close the wall up with our English dead’ can be paraphrased as ‘charge at the wall once more or die in the attempt’. But it doesn’t really make sense: the charge is easy enough to carry out, but it’s the success or failure of it which is at issue.
This call to war should cause men’s muscles to stiffen in readiness for battle and get their blood up, so they’re ready for a fight. Their calm or ‘fair’ nature should be suppressed and replaced with anger and ferocity that gives their eyes a fearsome appearance. In peacetime, men should be humble and not quick to anger; but when at war, as soon as they hear the trumpets of war they should become like the tiger, a ferocious beast. Henry commands his men to grit their teeth (in hardened resolve) and let their nostrils flare in warlike anger. They should take a deep breath and summon all the energy they have to the utmost. He reminds the men that their fathers proved themselves in war: now it’s their turn. (By the way, ‘fet’ means ‘fetched’, so these men’s blood is fetched or derived from their fathers, who were tried and tested in war.)
nd their fathers were men who, like so many Alexander the Greats, have fought in this part of the world from morning until night, sheathing their swords only when there was no one left to fight with. Henry calls on the men not to dishonour their mother. Henry doesn’t doubt that they are worthy of their English identity, but now is the time to prove it. This is a neat piece of rhetoric from Henry, winning the soldiers round: he’s essentially praising them (‘don’t worry, I know you men won’t let me down’) while at the same time calling upon them to prove that they can be relied upon (‘but just remind me, for my sake’) by running away now: stand here and fight, he says, and by doing so prove that those warlike men who sired you actually were your fathers.
Henry concludes his rousing speech by telling the men that none of them is of so humble birth that they don’t possess a noble look in their eyes. To him, the men are like greyhounds straining at their leash, wanting to be released and begin the hunt. With words that have become among the most famous in all of the play, Henry V rallies his troops, calling for them to cry ‘God for Harry, England, and Saint George!’ – another piece of fine rhetoric utilising the pattern of three, whereby ‘Harry’ (i.e., King Henry V) is linked to both the country the men are fighting for and that country’s patron saint, a knight who embodies the noble qualities Henry wants the soldiers to find in themselves now.
