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Poetryclass Fresh Ideas for Learning from the Poetry Society

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BackgroundOn St. Crispin’s Day (October 25th) 1415, an Englisharmy led by King Henry V defeated a much largerFrench force in battle near the French town ofAgincourt. Between seven and ten thousand Frenchsoldiers were reported to have been killed, withEngland’s losses estimated by some sources to be asfew as two hundred men. As a result of the battle,Henry gained or retained control of large swathes ofFrance. Agincourt is a foundational event in thedevelopment of English national identity andcontinues to resonate in our culture. However, theissues raised by the battle – heroism and theconstruction of celebrity, war and war crimes, abuse ofpower, social class and imperialism – make it ripe forpoetic exploration.

Topics at a glance• Agincourt 600• War poetry• National identity• Imagery• Descriptive language

Poetry in history: The Battle of AgincourtBy Steve Ely

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Responses to the battleThe dazzling success of England’s armies under theirdashing young king provoked an outpouring ofnational pride, as expressed in the ‘The AgincourtCarol’ (bit.ly/1OhoInU).

Almost two hundred years after the battle, England’sfinest poets were still re-imagining the victory.William Shakespeare’s play Henry V (1600) is centredon Agincourt, and the rallying speech(bit.ly/1QSMLML) he puts into Henry’s mouth –“Wefew, we happy few, we band of brothers” – is one ofthe most iconic pieces of poetry in our language. Onlyfive years later, another poet, Michael Drayton, wroteanother triumphalist poem about the battle, simplyentitled ‘The Ballad of Agincourt’ (bit.ly/1HZz78D).

This resource has been created to accompany theAgincourt 600 Poetry Competition, a collaborationbetween Agincourt 600 and The Poetry Society. You can find workshop ideas for creating poemswith your class on pages 5 and 6 of this resource.You can also find more details about the competitionand how to enter your class’s poems on the PoetrySociety’s Agincourt 600 webpage:poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/agincourt-600

Illustration by Alex Foster.

© 2015 The Poetry Society & the author/sDistribution authorised for educational use onlyeducation@poetrysociety.org.uk poetrysociety.org.uk

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Even five hundred years later, the resonance ofAgincourt’s underdog spirit – as mediated throughShakespeare – was so powerful that the British PrimeMinister, Winston Churchill, made a pointedreference to it in his speech in praise of the R.A.F.fighter pilots who had been defending England againstHitler’s Luftwaffe in 1940: “never in the field ofhuman conflict was so much owed by so many to sofew” (bit.ly/1YivZsj). Indeed, the very fact of theexistence of Agincourt 600 and its associated poetrycompetition is proof of the battle’s enduring place inour national mythology.

Why have English poets and politicians seeking to inspire their audiences referred morefrequently to Agincourt than any other battlein our history?

Difficult issues and challenging questionsThere is no question the English won a memorablevictory against overwhelming odds at Agincourt, thatEnglish soldiers fought bravely and with intelligence,creativity and demonstrated a real esprit de corps (teamspirit) under the leadership of the young andcharismatic warrior-king Henry V. However, a closerscrutiny of the facts surrounding the battle uncoverssome surprising information and raises somechallenging questions.

First of all, what was an English king doing fighting inFrance in the first place? Like all the members of thePlantagenet dynasty of English kings, Henry Vclaimed the kingship of France and further demandedthe ‘restoration’ of lands his ancestors had formerlyowned in the country, but which the French crownhad seized. However, this apparently principled standis undermined by the knowledge that in thenegotiations leading up to his invasion of France,Henry seemed to be willing to give up his ‘rights’ ifthe French king, Charles VI, would pay him a hugecash ransom. Henry only decided to invade whennegotiations didn’t go his way.

Perhaps the war was about Henry’s greed andpride rather than justice and glory. If this isthe case, then thousands died to satisfyessentially base motives. In what sense then canHenry be regarded as a ‘hero’ or a ‘good king’?

Other evidence also points to Henry V’s flawed moralcharacter and greed. For example, after winning thebattle, he ordered the slaughter of thousands of un-armed prisoners. Of the thousands of prisoners hetook, only fifteen hundred prisoners were spared – notout of mercy, but because Henry had worked out thattheir friends and relatives were rich enough to pay aransom for their lives and they were worth more tohim alive than dead.

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Illustration byAlex Foster.

Commemorating warIs it ever right to celebrate victories in war? In wars,people are killed and inujured; wives are widowed,children are orphaned, parents bereaved of theirchildren. Some would say that crowing triumphalismafter victory in war is a distasteful form of gloatingthat trivialises the enormous suffering and destructioncaused by conflict, and reduces war to a bloodysporting contest.

The folk singer Maddy Prior illustrates this trivialisingtendency in her introduction to a live performance of‘The Agincourt Carol’ (bit.ly/1n11UtH):

“The sports results from 1415 read, England won,France lost. This is a song celebrating an Englishvictory against overwhelming odds, which seem tothe only way we can do it.”

These sentiments are similar in spirit to the boorishboasting of some England football fans when theytaunt their German rivals with the infamous chant,‘Two World Wars and One World Cup’. Surely war isnot the same as a sporting contest, a decapitating swordequivalent to a free-kick curled into the top corner? Ormaybe it is...

How can sporting or other significant rivalriesbe compared to the rivalries of war and thebattlefield? How are the beliefs and emotionsof the people involved similar, and how arethey different?

‘Celebrating’ war?For all these reasons – and more – many contemporarypoets would be reluctant to write poems celebratingvictory in this or any other battle. To do so might beseen as endorsing injustice, inequality, unnecessarykilling, exploitation and greed. Indeed, war poetry inEngland is overwhelming associated with the poets ofthe First World War – Wilfred Owen, Isaac Rosenbergand Siegfried Sassoon, for example – who expose andcondemn ‘the horrors of war’.

Organise a class debate on one or both of thefollowing statements: • ‘Henry V – national hero or

self- aggrandising war criminal?’• ‘Is celebratory war poetry ever appropriate?’

A ‘British’ or ‘English’ victory?Finally, many of the English archers were actuallyWelsh – a country so dominated by England that ithad lost its independence and whose people werehumiliated in their very name – ‘Welsh’ is an OldEnglish word meaning ‘foreigner’. How must it havefelt for a proud Welshman to have played a key role ina battle that was seen as an English victory? How doWelsh people feel about celebrating the battle now?

Why should we celebrate an English victory – and not a British, Irish, Welsh or Scottishvictory? Does celebrating the battle make anysense at all in these days of multi-culturalismand the European Union?

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British wounded at Bernafay Wood, France, 19 July 1916, during theBattle of the Somme.

Talkingpoint

Talkingpoint

Talkingpoint

© 2015 The Poetry Society & the author/sDistribution authorised for educational use onlyeducation@poetrysociety.org.uk poetrysociety.org.uk

The meaning of Agincourt todayDespite the misgivings and reservations outlinedabove, it is important to note that English poetry hasa long tradition of celebrating success in battle. ‘The Battle of Brunanburh’ (bit.ly/1XbaHKI) is apoem written in 937AD, translated here by Alfred,Lord Tennyson, which celebrates King Aethelstan’svictory over an invading army of Scots, Irish, Welshand Vikings.

‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ (see Workshop 1,page 5), also by Tennyson, celebrates a battle that tookplace in 1854. Here it is: (bit.ly/1i0Et6f), and youcan watch poet and spoken word artists HollieMcNish perform ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ aspart of the Poetry Society’s Page Fright project:bit.ly/1PCiq5x

Rudyard Kipling has written many poems sympatheticto the British military, including ‘For All We Haveand Are’ (bit.ly/1ME7fDD).

These poems are about heroism in the face ofoverwhelming odds. To this day, the overwhelminglydominant view of the Battle of Agincourt in Englandis of a valiant and charismatic young king –interpreted by the actors Kenneth Branagh orLaurence Olivier via the poetries of Shakespeare andfilm – leading a swaggering team of brave and brashyoung men to an underdog’s victory ‘away fromhome’.

The fact that six hundred years after the battle we arestill talking about it makes many of the aboveconsiderations academic. The story of Agincourt haspassed from history into myth, in the processbecoming a pillar of English national identity. Everygeneration encounters this myth anew and makes of itwhat it will. The question we should all ask is, ‘Whatis the meaning of Agincourt for the English today?’

About the authorSteve Ely teaches creative writing at HuddersfieldUniversity and the Poetry School. His most recent bookof poems is Englaland (Smokestack, 2015). His previouscollection, Oswald’s Book of Hours (Smokestack, 2013)was nominated for the Forward Prize for Best FirstCollection and the Ted Hughes Award for New Workin Poetry. His novel Ratmen was published byBlackheath in 2012. His biographical work about TedHughes’s neglected South Yorkshire period, Ted Hughes’sSouth Yorkshire; Made in Mexborough, was published byPalgrave Macmillan in 2015.

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Illustration by Alex Foster.

Agincourt 600 Poetry CompetitionYou can now enter your class’s poems in theAgincourt 600 Poetry Competition. Visitpoetrysociety.org.uk/agincourt600 for thefull rules, terms and conditions and prizes,and download a class set entry form. Sendyour poems to: Agincourt 600, The PoetrySociety, 22 Betterton Street, London WC2H9BX. You can also send them via email toeducationadmin@poetrysociety.org.uk

Workshop 1Read and discuss ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’with your class. Their task is to write a poemcommemorating the Battle of Agincourt using asimilar form (short-lines, stanzas, rhyming) to thatadopted in this poem.

They might invent a main character – a knight, or anarcher – and narrate the poem from his point of view.The poem might even be written from the point ofview of a witness, perhaps the wife of one of thecombatants. They might even write it from theviewpoint of the horse.

Alternatively, ask them to write a poem in any stylefrom the point of view of someone bereaved by thebattle – a parent, wife, girlfriend or child of a slainwarrior, English or French. To be convincing, thepoem needs to be vivid and concrete, so imagine theslain warrior in detail – the fondest memories ofthem, what they looked like/the clothes they’dtypically wear, their ‘hobbies’, their last words, theactivities they shared and how they died – beforewriting the poem.

AdviceLook at the stanza from the ‘The Charge of the LightBrigade’ (below) and encourage pupils to use similarform and techniques in their own poems. However, ifthey are really not comfortable writing in this styleafter trying it, ask them to interpret the task in yourown way. They should try to write four verses.

Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon in front of themVolleyed and thundered;Stormed at with shot and shell,Boldly they rode and well,Into the jaws of Death,Into the mouth of hellRode the six hundred.

• Short urgent phrases – communicating the chaos and panic of battle

• Onomatopoeia – the repetition of ‘Cannon’ with the stress on the first syllable mimics the explosions of gunfire

• Rhyme – end-stopped lines • Repetition – of key words/phrase• Alliteration – ‘shot and shell’• Rhythm – note how Tennyson’s rhythm evokes

galloping horses)• Imagery of violence – ‘jaws of Death’ ‘mouth of hell’

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The Relief of the Light Brigade (detail)by Richard Caton Woodville, 1854.

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Workshop 2The task is to write a poem written in the first person– a monologue – that expresses the thoughts and feelingsof an English archer ordered to execute an unarmedFrench soldier.

The poem should be set in the moment the string ofthe bow is pulled back but before the arrow isreleased; the tension of the quivering bow-stringreflects the emotions of both the archer and hisvictim. Ask your pupils to consider the following:

• What do you see and hear? • What do you feel?• What do you think? • What do you do? • Are you aware of what others are doing and saying

around you?• What are your feelings about Henry, who has led

his army to a great victory, but is now executing unarmed men?

• What are your feelings about your victim/killer?

This archer might have no qualms whatsoever aboutkilling his victim, or he might feel so appalled by theprospect of murdering an unarmed man that he wantsto throw down his bow and run. The victim might bestoic and resigned to his fate or be in a state ofabsolute panicking terror. It’s up to them.

AdviceThe poem can be written in any style, but they mightwant to look at the example from Wilfred Owen(‘Strange Meeting’ – extract right) and use that generalstyle.

It seemed that out of battle I escapedDown some profound dull tunnel, long since

scoopedThrough granites which titanic wars had groined.Yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned,Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred.Then, as I probed them, one sprang up, and staredWith piteous recognition in fixed eyes,Lifting distressful hands, as if to bless.And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall,– By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell.

• Ask your pupils to communicate emotion and the terror of the situation through language and imagery – think carefully about this and be as vivid as you can.

• The poem can be as long or as short as you like – the important thing is its impact.

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British wounded at Bernafay Wood, France, 19 July 1916, during theBattle of the Somme.