How Henry V drew on Psalms
A documented line of influence: William Shakespeare demonstrably engaged David’s work. The commentary below is Gröblé’s, verbatim from each work’s page.
The source
Psalms
David · c. 500 BCE
BibleThe influenced
Henry V
William Shakespeare · c. 1599
ShakespeareRelevance
5/10
On Henry V’s page
- Henry's great Agincourt thanksgiving is the Psalms speaking through him — he names Psalm 115's "Non nobis" and orders it sung
- "O God, thy arm was here; not to us... ascribe we all" echoes Psalm 44's insistence that the victory was God's, not the soldiers'
- The Coverdale and Geneva Psalms were Shakespeare's most-quarried scripture; reading them first lets you catch the borrowed cadence under the king's piety
On Psalms’s page
- After Agincourt, Shakespeare crowns the victory with the Psalms — Henry calls by name for Psalm 115's "Non nobis"
- The king's "O God, thy arm was here; not to us... ascribe we all" is Psalm 44 turned into a battlefield prayer: give God the glory, not ourselves
- Shakespeare quotes the Psalms more than any biblical book but Matthew — Henry V is one of the clearest places you hear it