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Any Other Poems! (AOP) - Spedius - 04-02-2006
Ave!
This topic is for any other poems, for those poems that don't have a Roman theme, but are so good they deserve a home at RomanArmyTalk.
To start things off here is one of Rudyard Kipling's more memorable poems.
"If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream -- and not make dreams your master;
If you can think -- and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings -- nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run --
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And -- which is more -- you'll be a Man, my son!
Rudyard Kipling"
I found this poem here http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/k ... g_ind.html
RUDYARD KIPLING
(Born December 30, 1865, Died January 18, 1936)
Vale
M. Spedius Corbulo
Re: Any Other Poems! (AOP) - Carlton Bach - 04-02-2006
Hey, a fellow Kiplinghead!
But I'll forward a different Victorian poem. I love the nineteenth century.
Arthur Hugh Clough: The Latest Decalogue
Thou shalt have one God only; who
Would be at the expense of two?
No graven images may be
Worshipped, except the currency:
Swear not at all; for for thy curse
Thine enemy is none the worse:
At church on Sunday to attend
Will serve to keep the world thy friend:
Honour thy parents; that is, all
From whom advancement may befall:
Thou shalt not kill; but needst not strive
Officiously to keep alive:
Do not adultery commit;
Advantage rarely comes of it:
Thou shalt not steal; an empty feat,
When it's so lucrative to cheat:
Bear not false witness: let the lie
Have time on its own wings to fly:
Thou shalt not covet; but tradition
Approves all forms of competition.
The sum of all is, thou shalt love,
If any body, God above:
At any rate shall never labour
More than thyself to love thy neighbour.
Written before 1861, and still quite apt, I should think.
Re: Any Other Poems! (AOP) - Spedius - 04-03-2006
Ave Volker,
Welcome to the thread,
you fellow Kiplinghead,
That couplet rhymes,
but only on two lines.
Jim Poulton
Here's another to keep the ball rolling.
"[i]645. The Charge of the Light Brigade
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892)
HALF a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!â€
Re: Any Other Poems! (AOP) - Carlton Bach - 04-03-2006
Well, on that note I'll quote the Imperial Bard:
Rudyard Kipling: The Last of the Light Brigade
There were thirty million English who talked of England's might,
There were twenty broken troopers who lacked a bed for the night.
They had neither food nor money, they had neither service nor trade;
They were only shiftless soldiers, the last of the Light Brigade.
They felt that life was fleeting; they knew not that art was long,
That though they were dying of famine, they lived in deathless song.
They asked for a little money to keep the wolf from the door;
And the thirty million English sent twenty pounds and four!
They laid their heads together that were scarred and lined and grey;
Keen were the Russian sabres, but want was keener than they;
And an old Troop-Sergeant muttered, "Let us go to the man who writes
The things on Balaclava the kiddies at school recites."
They went without bands or colours, a regiment ten-file strong,
To look for the Master-singer who had crowned them all in his song;
And, waiting his servant's order, by the garden gate they stayed,
A desolate little cluster, the last of the Light Brigade.
They strove to stand to attention, to straighten the toil-bowed back;
They drilled on an empty stomach, the loose-knit files fell slack;
With stooping of weary shoulders, in garments tattered and frayed,
They shambled into his presence, the last of the Light Brigade.
The old Troop-Sergeant was spokesman, and "Beggin' your pardon," he said,
"You wrote o' the Light Brigade, sir. Here's all that isn't dead.
An' it's all come true what you wrote, sir, regardin' the mouth of hell;
For we're all of us nigh to the workhouse, an, we thought we'd call an' tell.
"No, thank you, we don't want food, sir; but couldn't you take an' write
A sort of 'to be continued' and 'see next page' o' the fight?
We think that someone has blundered, an' couldn't you tell 'em how?
You wrote we were heroes once, sir. Please, write we are starving now."
The poor little army departed, limping and lean and forlorn.
And the heart of the Master-singer grew hot with "the scorn of scorn."
And he wrote for them wonderful verses that swept the land like flame,
Till the fatted souls of the English were scourged with the thing called Shame.
O thirty million English that babble of England's might,
Behold there are twenty heroes who lack their food to-night;
Our children's children are lisping to "honour the charge they made-"
And we leave to the streets and the workhouse the charge of the Light Brigade!
Re: Any Other Poems! (AOP) - Anonymous - 04-03-2006
It was ever thus.
Is that "Badger badger badger badger FUNGUS!"? Why?
Re: Any Other Poems! (AOP) - Carlton Bach - 04-03-2006
Quote:It was ever thus.
Is that "Badger badger badger badger FUNGUS!"? Why?
Badger badger mushroom snake! I figured it might make a decent marching chant, actually.
Re: Any Other Poems! (AOP) - Spedius - 04-04-2006
Ave!
"Kipling was one HELL of a poet!
When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
and the women come out to cut up what remains,
just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains,
and go to your god like a soldier.
Kipling was indeed more than one hell of a poet, he had a mind that thought, and eyes that saw, and on top of that, he was one hell of a poet.
There are too many great poets in the library, that wrote wonderful poetry, but never saw or understood anything at all.
And Kipling wrote prose too, let us not forget. The Just So Stories, and of course Jungle Story, and I have a set of 7 volumes of his short stories that are largely unknown, mostly dealing with life in British India."
So wrote "possum" over at www.slitherine.com .
http://www.slitherine.com/eslitherine/f ... .php?t=976
Vale
M. Spedius Corbulo
Re: Any Other Poems! (AOP) - Jeroen Pelgrom - 04-04-2006
see also this old thread: Warrior Poems
Re: Any Other Poems! (AOP) - Spedius - 04-04-2006
Quote:see also this old thread: Warrior Poems
Ave Jeroen,
Thank you for bringing the old thread to my attention.
It's a bit sad really, I thought that the two new threads on poems were the first for this Forum.
That will teach me to utilise the search facility before I again make such rash assumptions.
Vale
M. Spedius Corbulo
Re: Any Other Poems! (AOP) - hoplite14gr - 04-08-2006
Lili Marlen in Latin :!: :!: :!: :!:
Latin tr. by
Meredith Minter Dixon
Extra hiberna
In decumana,
Trita'rat laterna;
Manebit vetusta,
Conveniemus hoc rursus;
Infra laternam stabimus,
Olim Lili Marleen.
Olim Lili Marleen.
Duae umbrae nobis
Una facta sunt.
Amavimus inter nos
Et omnes viderunt.
Omnes videbunt hac rursus;
Infra laternam stabimus,
Olim Lili Marleen.
Olim Lili Marleen.
Tum vigil dixit
Ut strepuisse vi.
Igitur ad castra
Reveniendum mi.
Ergo te iussi valere.
Malui tecum comitare,
Tecum Lili Marleen.
Tecum Lili Marleen.
Cognoverat vestrum
Incessum passumque.
Vesper' exspectabat
Diu oblita mei.
Occiso me, quis stabit tum,
Infra laternam sic tecum,
Tecum Lili Marleen?
Tecum Lili Marleen?
In hebeti die,
Vita quieta,
Memoria teneo
Quam dulci' oscula.
Nebula noctis venio.
Infra laternam solus sto.
Olim Lili Marleen.
Olim Lili Marleen
Re: Any Other Poems! (AOP) - Salvianus - 04-09-2006
Quote:And an old Troop-Sergeant muttered, "Let us go to the man who writes
The things on Balaclava the kiddies at school recites."
This one always gets me . I know the character was just a literary invention, but one of the four survivors from the Charge buried in York Cemetry is a Troop Sergeant-Major. Now when I do tours I always recite this by his grave.
Re: Any Other Poems! (AOP) - Salvianus - 04-09-2006
One I like:
The Valley of the Black Pig
THE DEWS drop slowly and dreams gather: unknown spears
Suddenly hurtle before my dream-awakened eyes,
And then the clash of fallen horsemen and the cries
Of unknown perishing armies beat about my ears.
We who still labour by the cromlec on the shore, 5
The grey cairn on the hill, when day sinks drowned in dew,
Being weary of the world’s empires, bow down to you
Master of the still stars and of the flaming door.
W.B. Yeats, The Wind Among the Reeds, 1899
Re: Any Other Poems! (AOP) - Tiberius Claudius Vindex - 04-10-2006
Another one by Kipling:
I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o'beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's ``Thank you, Mister Atkins,'' when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's ``Thank you, Mr. Atkins,'' when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy how's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints:
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind,"
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind.
You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country," when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
But Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees!
Re: Any Other Poems! (AOP) - Spedius - 04-19-2006
Ave!
Together by Jim Poulton
Together, we can breathe the gift of life into our dying thread,
Together, with your help and support, our topic won't be dead,
Together, we can stop the slide from top of page to bottom,
Together, with your contributions, our thread will not be forgotten.
Any suggestions for improvements would be most welcome :oops:
"452. The Soldier’s Dream
Thomas Campbell (1777–1844)
OUR bugles sang truce, for the night-cloud had lower’d,
And the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky;
And thousands had sunk on the ground overpower’d;
The weary to sleep, and the wounded to die.
When reposing that night on my pallet of straw
By the wolf-scaring faggot that guarded the slain,
At the dead of the night a sweet Vision I saw;
And thrice ere the morning I dreamt it again.
Methought from the battle-field’s dreadful array
Far, far, I had roam’d on a desolate track:
’Twas Autumn,—and sunshine arose on the way
To the home of my fathers, that welcomed me back.
I flew to the pleasant fields traversed so oft
In life’s morning march, when my bosom was young;
I heard my own mountain-goats bleating aloft,
And knew the sweet strain that the corn-reapers sung.
Then pledged we the wine-cup, and fondly I swore
From my home and my weeping friends never to part;
My little ones kiss’d me a thousand times o’er,
And my wife sobb’d aloud in her fulness of heart.
‘Stay—stay with us!—rest!—thou art weary and worn!’—
And fain was their war-broken soldier to stay;—
But sorrow return’d with the dawning of morn,
And the voice in my dreaming ear melted away."
I found this poem here http://www.bartleby.com/41/452.html
Vale
M. Spedius Corbulo
Not exactly Kipling, but... - philbo - 04-21-2006
Not one of mine, but possibly the finest Greek myth parody at amiright:
"I Swear This Is the Last Time I'll Go Boating with Odysseus" Parody by Spaff.com
[Eurylochus]
I swear this is the last time I'll go boating with Odysseus
Titanic? Minnow? Edmund F.? His ship's by far the riskiest
He said Let's get some Trojans! so I left without apology
But now I find my sorry butt ensnared in Greek mythology
So here's the tale I'm tellin', Jack (You may conclude I'm sellin' crack):
We had to tramp to Hell 'n' back to drag a tramp named Helen back
But since we started sailin' back, the gods have been their pissiest...
The one thing worse than politics is boating with Odysseus!
[Gods]
IN CASE YOU THINK WE'RE HERE TO ECHO LINES ABOUT ODYSSEUS
WE'RE NOT! FOR REPETITION, GO TRY ROLLING STONES WITH SISYPHUS
REPEAT, WE'RE NOT JUST HERE TO, WE REPEAT, BE REPETITI-TITIOUS
[Eurylochus]
He plays the very model of a modern Major-General
But only after lotuses, ambrosia, wine, and Demerol
I tried to join the Lotus-Eaters; dude, their bud's delici-ous
But guess who dragged me back on board? That S.O.B. Odysseus
[Gods]
BELIEVE US HERE: THE LOTUS WITH AMBROSIA MAKES YOU FRISKIEST
TOO BAD THIS IS THE LAST TIME HE'LL GO BOATING WITH ODYSSEUS
[Eurylochus]
We dined with Polyphemus on the island of the Cyclopes
He ate our friends, then coughed 'em up and asked us if we'd like a piece
In proper conversation that's just not a thing you joke about
And so you know the monster's single eye? We had to poke it out
Poseidon went ballistic so we crashed with the Aeolians
The stupid windbags blew us like Katrina did New Orle-ans
But better blown than eaten(!) by the nasty Laestrygonians...
They fricasseed our comrades, both the fatties and the bony ones!
[Gods]
WE'RE GLAD TO NOT REPEAT THAT RHYME; WE DOUBT WE'VE SEEN ONE STUPIDER
WE MUST REPORT IT TO THE MIGHTY ZEUS, A.K.A. JUPITER
HOLD ON A SEC - THAT RHYME WE MADE RIGHT THERE IS EVEN STUPI-DUPIDER
[Eurylochus]
Next stop, we played Submissives to the goddess Circe's Dominant
Her island's A-e-a-e-a (Pat, may I buy a consonant?)
She said that men are pigs; I said Yo Sweetcheeks that's ridiculous
(***POOF!***)
I oink this is the oink time I'll go oinking with Oinkdysseus
[Gods]
OF ALL THE WITCHES IN THE STORY, CIRCE IS THE WITCHIEST
AND CAN YOU TELL WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF WORDS THAT RHYME "ODYSSEUS"?
[Eurylochus]
We detoured to the underworld of Hades and Persephone
It's weird as Hell; if I return, it's sure to be the death of me
The sight of dead guys drinking blood's enough to make a fella pee
But Odie only left 'cause dudes are hitting on Penelope
We stuffed our ears with Skippy so we wouldn't hear the Sirens sing
(I use the same procedure when my children watch The Lion King)
We skirted Scylla and Charybdis; Homer tells it wittily...
To summarize: I'd recommend a PLANE from Greece to Italy!
[Gods]
WE INTERVENE TO SAY HERE (WITH OUR STANDARD LACK OF MODESTY):
THE ONLY PEOPLE IN THE SKIES ARE STRICTLY GOD-AND-GODDESSY
THE BOTTOM LINE: THERE AIN'T NO FREAKING *AIRPLANES* IN THE ODYSS-ODYSSEY
[McCroskey (Lloyd Bridges)]
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit eating lotuses...
[Eurylochus]
(Ahem...)
We ate the Sun God's cattle, so he freaked and now we're lost at sea
I tell you, folks, the Odyssey's as fun as a colostomy
If Odie's with Calypso now, I hope the nymph has syphilis!
I swear this is the last time I'll go boating with Odysseus!
[Gods]
YOU SWEAR TO US YOU'VE HAD ENOUGH? YOU MORTALS ARE THE SISSIEST!
OKAY, THIS *IS* THE LAST TIME YOU'LL GO BOATING WITH ODYSSEUS!
/THUN/
/DER/
/BO/
/L/
/T/
!/
[Gods]
DANG. MISSED
...and here's one I prepared earlier:
"Homerian Rhapsody" Parody by Phil Alexander
Was this once real life?
Is it mythology?
What's in the Iliad
A prequel to the Odyssey
Paris of Troy
Knew how to annoy the Greeks:
He whisked off Helen, wife of the Spartan king
But 'cause of promises made before
All the Greeks went to war
Odysseus, Achilles followed Agamemnon to Troy
To Troy
Hector just killed a man
But that Achilles was a fake
Killed Patroclus by mistake
Hector pissed Achilles off
And now he's dead and dragged all round Troy
Priam, oooh
Saw his son, Hector die
And got him back again to be buried
Carrion, carrion, a body left in tatters
Paris, his time had come
One Apollo-guided shot
To Achilles' one weak spot
Goodbye to Achilles - he got you now
I guess heel tendonitis ain't that new
Paris, ooo- (fighting Menelaus)
He looked about to die
In the nick of time was saved by Aphrodite
* * * * *
I see a huge silhouetto of a horse,
Scared 'em off, scared 'em off- where did all the Greeks go?
Ten long years of fighting - no longer exciting him:
Menelaus Menelaus
Menelaus Menelaus
Menelaus had to go (Where did he go-o-o-o?)
It's such a big horse - a present from the Gods
It's such a big horse, must be from a deity
Get it inside then let's have a party
Trojans pull, Trojans go - in the horse will go
Cassandra: No! Inside it should not go - (let it go)
Cassandra: No! Inside it should not go - (let it go)
Cassandra: No! Inside it should not go - (let it go)
No it should not go (let it go)
No it should not go (let it go)
No,no,no,no,no,no,no-
And I fear and I fear and I fear a sneaky foe
Odysseus put a load of troops inside - the cheat
The cheat
The Cheeeeeeat
* * * * *
So the Trojans they partied and drank and got high
So the Greeks from the horse let their army inside
O..dysseus, nasty, sneaky Odysseus
Nobody got out- nobody escaped out of Troy
Timeo Danaos
Means "I fear the Greeks"
Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes
To me
Anyway, that horse goes....