Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'
--Henry V, Act III, Scene 1
Posted by Dave J at July 7, 2005 09:48 AM | TrackBack (0) |How apt is this:
"We shall not flag nor fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France and on the seas and oceans; we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets and on the hills. We shall never surrender and even if, which I do not for the moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, will carry on the struggle until in God's good time the New World with all its power and might, sets forth to the liberation and rescue of the Old."
Posted by: Cullen at July 7, 2005 10:01 AMTwo excellent choices, gentlemen.
Posted by: Ken Summers at July 7, 2005 10:49 AMExcellent, Dave. Excellent.
Posted by: Val Prieto at July 7, 2005 12:35 PM"It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened. But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn't. Because they were holding on to something...That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for."
- Sam Gamgee, Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Posted by: Alan K. Henderson at July 7, 2005 09:49 PMAnother one:
"It's clobberin' time" - The Thing, Fantastic Four
Posted by: Alan K. Henderson at July 7, 2005 10:03 PMExcellent, Alan!
Posted by: Ken Summers at July 8, 2005 06:03 AMThe world's longest blog-post title might be appropriate here - just change "Saddam" to "Terrorist" to fit the current situation. Original post linked a Scrappleface take on UN resolutions.
"Mr. Saddam, This Is The B-1B Lancer, The Most Powerful High-Altitude Bomber In The World. Did I Drop 83 500-Pound Bombs Or 84? Do Ya Feel Lucky, Punk?"
http://alankhenderson.blogspot.com/2002_11_01_alankhenderson_archive.html#385683932
If only UN resolutions were worded like that. To heck with John Bolton - send in Clint Eastwood!
Posted by: Alan K. Henderson at July 8, 2005 03:49 PM
