9 THE BARD AND THE BULLDOG the air, pour out the munitions, strangle the U boats, sweep the mines, plough the land, build the ships, guard the street, succour the wounded, uplift the downcast, and honour the brave. Let us go forward together in all parts of the Empire, in all parts of the Island. There is not a week, nor a day, nor an hour to lose.10 Like Henry, Churchill recognized the urgency of the moment and understood the leader’s role in calling people to sacrifice for a greater cause. That “greater cause” required creativity in both leader’s speeches. Henry often uses animal imagery to inspire his soldiers into action. Again at Harfleur, the king says: In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility: But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tiger . . . (III.i.4-7) He calls his tigers to “set the teeth, and stretch the nostrils wide” (III.i.16). Appealing to their animal instincts, Henry calculates his words to raise up vicious warriors ready to pounce. In the same speech, he changes the imagery from a tiger prepared to attack to dogs ready to be unleashed. Henry looks at his men and says, “I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, / Straining upon the start” (III.i.33-34). Henry inspires his men to be as fierce as tigers and swift as greyhounds as they besiege Harfleur. Churchill loved animals. He considered his pets to be not only his cats and dogs but also his goldfish, cows, pigs, and beloved ducks he believed he had trained.11 Churchill took cues from Henry’s speeches and would recall animal-like characteristics in his efforts to inspire the British people. He encouraged tenacity by reminding them, “The nose of the bulldog is slanted backward so that he can breathe without letting go.”12 In his first speech before the House of Commons as prime minister, Churchill opined, “Let party interest be ignored, let all our energies be harnessed, let the whole ability and forces of the nation be hurled
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