France is sick

''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.