Think we King Harry strong; And, princes, look you strongly arm to meet him. The kindred of him hath been flesh’d upon us; And he is bred out of that bloody strain That haunted us in our familiar paths: Witness our too much memorable shame When Cressy battle fatally was struck, And all our princes captiv’d by the hand Of that black name, Edward, Black Prince of Wales; Whiles that his mountain sire, on mountain standing, Up in the air, crown’d with the golden sun, Saw his heroical seed, and smiled to see him, Mangle the work of nature and deface The patterns that by God and by French fathers Had twenty years been made. This is a stem Of that victorious stock; and let us fear The native mightiness and fate of him.
Let’s think of King Henry as strong; And princes, make sure you arm yourselves well to face him. His family has been tested on us; And he’s from that bloody line That has haunted us for years: Remember our shameful defeat When the battle of Cressy was lost, And all our princes were captured By the hand of that infamous man, Edward, Black Prince of Wales; While his father, on a mountain, standing tall, Under the golden sun, looked down and smiled To see his son, the hero, destroy The legacy that by God and by French fathers Had been created for twenty years. This is the root Of that victorious bloodline; and we must fear The raw strength and fate of him.
King of France · Act 2, Scene 4
The King of France is warning his princes that Henry is not the soft boy they mocked with tennis balls, but the heir to a bloodline of conquerors—Edward the Black Prince and his father, who devastated French armies before. France must prepare for war with a man bred from victorious stock. The speech lands because it names the real threat: not Henry's present army, small and sick, but his inheritance, his fate, the fact that he carries centuries of English conquest in his blood and will play it out.
