Henry V goes on to deliver a rousing speech, insisting he is glad there are no more troops, that he would not want to fight in the company of anyone not brave enough to come to battle. Those afraid, he says, can go home – he’ll give them passports and a travel stipend. But those who stay and fight he calls “we happy few, we band of brothers,” and declares that England will forever afterwards celebrate this day, St. Crispin’s Day, in memory of their bravery and honor. They will be household names and heroes. The men are duly inspired.
techniques, the most notable is the tricolon and anaphora, which help sear the words into our memories. Tricolon is also called the 'Rule of Threes' which says that the human brain seems to absorb and remember information more effectively when it is presented in threes. Famous examples of the tricolon are Abraham Lincoln's "Government of the people, by the people, for the people" and Julius Caesar's "Veni, vidi, vinci". T
vinci". The other technique, anaphora, deliberately repeats the same word or words at the beginning of successive phrases or sentences. In this play the tricolon is used at the end "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers" and used together with the anaphora in the phrases:
This speech marks the climax of the play. In it, Henry wields his dazzling rhetorical powers to lift his soldiers’ spirits and unite them in an image of themselves that will prove the strongest weapon of all. His language invites the soldiers to see themselves as brave, noble men, regardless of class, and places common soldiers on equal footing with the king himself. They are all a “band of brothers,” united in a patriotic cause that will make them English heroes.
This speech marks the climax of the play. In it, Henry wields his dazzling rhetorical powers to lift his soldiers’ spirits and unite them in an image of themselves that will prove the strongest weapon of all. His language invites the soldiers to see themselves as brave, noble men, regardless of class, and places common soldiers on equal footing with the king himself. They are all a “band of brothers,” united in a patriotic cause that will make them English heroes.