“‘France is sick—the very sky
Though sunshine light, it seems to me as pale
As is the fainting man on his death-bed,
Whose face is shown by light of one weak taper—
It makes me sad and sick unto the heart;
Thousands must fall to-day.’”

—William Blake, from King Edward the Third. Spoken by Sir Thomas Dagworth on the eve of the battle of Cressy.