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Post by deuce on Dec 12, 2018 2:13:02 GMT -5
REH was a big fan of Robert W. Service... The Song of the Soldier-Born
Give me the scorn of the stars and a peak defiant;
Wail of the pines and a wind with the shout of a giant;
Night and a trail unknown and a heart reliant.
Give me to live and love in the old, bold fashion;
A soldier's billet at night and a soldier's ration;
A heart that leaps to the fight with a soldier's passion.
For I hold as a simple faith there's no denying:
The trade of a soldier's the only trade worth plying;
The death of a soldier's the only death worth dying.
So let me go and leave your safety behind me;
Go to the spaces of hazard where nothing shall bind me;
Go till the word is War -- and then you will find me.
Then you will call me and claim me because you will need me;
Cheer me and gird me and into the battle-wrath speed me. . . .
And when it's over, spurn me and no longer heed me.
For guile and a purse gold-greased are the arms you carry;
With deeds of paper you fight and with pens you parry;
You call on the hounds of the law your foes to harry.
You with your "Art for its own sake", posing and prinking;
You with your "Live and be merry", eating and drinking;
You with your "Peace at all hazard", from bright blood shrinking.
Fools! I will tell you now: though the red rain patters,
And a million of men go down, it's little it matters. . . .
There's the Flag upflung to the stars, though it streams in tatters.
There's a glory gold never can buy to yearn and to cry for;
There's a hope that's as old as the sky to suffer and sigh for;
There's a faith that out-dazzles the sun to martyr and die for.
Ah no! it's my dream that War will never be ended;
That men will perish like men, and valour be splendid;
That the Flag by the sword will be served, and honour defended.
That the tale of my fights will never be ancient story;
That though my eye may be dim and my beard be hoary,
I'll die as a soldier dies on the Field of Glory.
So give me a strong right arm for a wrong's swift righting;
Stave of a song on my lips as my sword is smiting;
Death in my boots may-be, but fighting, fighting.
~ Robert W. Service ~ mm |
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Post by deuce on Dec 13, 2018 2:19:10 GMT -5
Kipling was one of REH's favorite poets. Norman and Saxon
A.D. 1100
"My son," said the Norman Baron, "I am dying, and you will be heir
To all the broad acres in England that William gave me for share
When he conquered the Saxon at Hastings, and a nice little handful it is.
But before you go over to rule it I want you to understand this...
~ Rudyard Kipling ~Great one, Deuce. Always enjoyed running across Kipling. I've seen some neat quotes by him, but only have one slender volume of his verse. Glad you dug it! IMO, Kipling was/is one of the great poets in the English language. He deserved his Nobel, despite the bitching of the last 50+yrs. REH considered Rudyard one of the masters of the English language. To me, the Kipling influence is obvious in Howard's poetry. Here's another good one... Dane-Geld
It is always a temptation to an armed and agile nation
To call upon a neighbour and to say: --
"We invaded you last night--we are quite prepared to fight,
Unless you pay us cash to go away."
And that is called asking for Dane-geld,
And the people who ask it explain
That you've only to pay 'em the Dane-geld
And then you'll get rid of the Dane!
It is always a temptation for a rich and lazy nation,
To puff and look important and to say: --
"Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the time to meet you.
We will therefore pay you cash to go away."
And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
But we've proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
You never get rid of the Dane.
It is wrong to put temptation in the path of any nation,
For fear they should succumb and go astray;
So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,
You will find it better policy to say: --
"We never pay any-one Dane-geld,
No matter how trifling the cost;
For the end of that game is oppression and shame,
And the nation that pays it is lost!"
~ Rudyard Kipling ~ |
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Dec 13, 2018 8:53:14 GMT -5
Dane-Geld
It is always a temptation to an armed and agile nation
To call upon a neighbour and to say: --
"We invaded you last night--we are quite prepared to fight,
Unless you pay us cash to go away."
...
~ Rudyard Kipling ~ Fantastic. Makes me want to dig out my Kipling and reread it. I should really pursue more of his stuff. Old books of poetry are fun to collect, but I don't have nearly enough. I did manage to snag a copy of Frost's famous 1923 New Hampshire a year or so ago wherein appeared his deathless, " Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" -- which I love. There are no elements of S&S in it, so I won't post it here, but to me it's wonderful. |
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Post by Grim Wanderer on Dec 13, 2018 11:26:34 GMT -5
Great one, Deuce. Always enjoyed running across Kipling. I've seen some neat quotes by him, but only have one slender volume of his verse. Glad you dug it! IMO, Kipling was/is one of the great poets in the English language. He deserved his Nobel, despite the bitching of the last 50+yrs. REH considered Rudyard one of the masters of the English language. To me, the Kipling influence is obvious in Howard's poetry. Here's another good one... Dane-Geld
Kipling is having a rather rough time of it lately with millennial children not seeing past the ends of their own youthful indignation. www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-44884913
Kipling was a genius of his time and anyone that says otherwise can fight me.
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Dec 13, 2018 13:19:24 GMT -5
Kipling is having a rather rough time of it lately with millennial children not seeing past the ends of their own youthful indignation. www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-44884913
Kipling was a genius of his time and anyone that says otherwise can fight me.
My gosh, a world gone mad. Some folks today seem to think they can blot out history by destroying anything related to it which they deem offensive. Much of history is offensive. Get used to it. In my opinion, the destruction of others property should not be condoned in such a friendly manner. The college had a 'teachable moment' and should have exercised it by expelling those who did the defacing, and announce to those remaining: "Next time, come talk to us." And that's me putting it mildly. |
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Post by deuce on Sept 2, 2019 5:38:12 GMT -5
To Science
And if thou slay Him, shall the ghost not rise?
Yea! if thou conquer Him thy enemy,
His specter from the dark shall visit thee-
Invincible, necessitous and wise,
The tyrant and mirage of human eyes,
Exhaled upon the spirit's darkened sea,
Shares He thy moment of Eternity,
Thy truth confronted ever with His lies.
Thy banners gleam a little, and are furled;
Against thy turrets surge His phantoms tow'rs;
Drugged with His opiates the nations nod,
Refusing still the beauty of thine hours;
And fragile is thy tenure of this world
Still haunted by the monstrous ghost of God.
~ George Sterling ~
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Post by deuce on Sept 2, 2019 14:43:44 GMT -5
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Post by deuce on Sept 21, 2019 14:26:27 GMT -5
I met a dragon face to face
the year when I was ten,
I took a trip to outer space,
I braved a pirate's den,
I wrestled with a wicked troll,
and fought a great white shark,
I trailed a rabbit down a hole,
I hunted for a snark.
I stowed aboard a submarine,
I opened magic doors,
I traveled in a time machine,
and searched for dinosaurs,
I climbed atop a giant's head,
I found a pot of gold,
I did all this in books I read
when I was ten years old.
~ Jack Prelutsky ~ |
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