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Kosciuszko · Joined: 30 Apr 2004 Posts: 197 Location: Poland

Hello i want to start new thred - about Poetry and songs connected with wars and battles - i hope each know some good poems . Here is one i like the most : specially when im playing HEllenic Total War :

1.
in the fourth book of the Peloponnesian War
Thucydides tells among other things
the story of his unsuccessful expedition

among long speeches of chiefs
battles sieges plague
dense net of intrigues of diplomatic endeavours
the episode is like a pin
in a forest

the Greek colony Amphipolis
fell into the hands of Brasidos
because Thucydides was late with relief

for this he paid his native city
with lifelong exile

exiles of all times
know what price that is

2.
generals of the most recent wars
if a similar affair happens to them
whine on their knees before posterity
praise their heroism and innocence

they accuse their subordinates
envious collegues
unfavourable winds

Thucydides says only
that he had seven ships
it was winter
and he sailed quickly

3.
if art for its subject
will have a broken jar
a small broken soul
with a great self-pity

what will remain after us
will it be lovers' weeping
in a small dirty hotel
when wall-paper dawns

After reading this poem i read whole Poleponesian WAr by Thucydides and now even playing of HTW is cos thiis short story.
so :
" I had seven ships, it was winter and I sailed quickly" - i always wanted to say something like this but never had such moment - ( even losing batltles in AOW and AC Smile

SO if u know some good and nice poems and songs which are so inspirated to read and play histroical lthing - please publish it here, its good be nice topic
regards
kosc

jib · Joined: 23 Apr 2004 Posts: 111 Location: Somerset, England,

Heres a good one, crimean war

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!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air,
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.
(Alfred, Lord Tennyson)
_________________
The pitchfork general.
''I ate all your bees''.
If at first you don't suceed, perhaps failier is more your style. I know its mine.

[HWK]Theosis · Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 3:25 pm Post subject:

This song/poem was written by a woman in the United States, during the American Civil War. She was very religious and believed in ending slavery. I love this song/poem. The music that goes along with it is beautiful also.

Julia Ward Howe:

Writing the Battle Hymn of the Republic

As a result of their voluntary work with the Sanitary Commission, in 1862 Samuel and Julia Howe were invited to Washington by President Lincoln. The Howes visited a Union Army camp in Virginia across the Potomac. There, they heard the men singing the song which had been sung by both North and South, one in admiration of John Brown, one in celebration of his death: "John Brown's body lies a'mouldering in his grave."

A clergyman in the party, James Freeman Clarke, who knew of Julia's published poems, urged her to write a new song for the war effort to replace "John Brown's Body." She described the events later:

"I replied that I had often wished to do so�. n spite of the excitement of the day I went to bed and slept as usual, but awoke the next morning in the gray of the early dawn, and to my astonishment found that the wished-for lines were arranging themselves in my brain. I lay quite still until the last verse had completed itself in my thoughts, then hastily arose, saying to myself, I shall lose this if I don't write it down immediately. I searched for an old sheet of paper and an old stub of a pen which I had had the night before, and began to scrawl the lines almost without looking, as I learned to do by often scratching down verses in the darkened room when my little children were sleeping. Having completed this, I lay down again and fell asleep, but not before feeling that something of importance had happened to me."

The result was a poem, published first in February 1862 in the Atlantic Monthly, and called "Battle Hymn of the Republic." The poem was quickly put to the tune that had been used for "John Brown's Body" � the original tune was written by a Southerner for religious revivals � and became the best known Civil War song of the North.

Julia Ward Howe's religious conviction shows in the way that Old and New Testament Biblical images are used to urge that people implement, in this life and this world, the principles that they adhere to. "As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free." Turning from the idea that the war was revenge for the death of a martyr, Howe hoped that the song would keep the war focused on the principle of the ending of slavery.

Today, that's what Howe is most remembered for: as the author of the song, still loved by many Americans, still hated by many Southerners. Her early poems are forgotten � her other social commitments forgotten. She became a much-loved American institution after that song was published � but even in her own lifetime, all her other pursuits paled besides her accomplishment of one piece of poetry for which she was paid $5 by the editor of Atlantic Monthly.

The Battle Hymn of the Republic:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored,
He has loosed the fateful lightening of His terrible swift sword
His truth is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps
His day is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnish`d rows of steel,
"As ye deal with my contemners, So with you my grace shall deal;"
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel
Since God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
_________________
All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing. I shall do something, even if I have to do it myself.

El Shaddai lives!

[HWK]Theosis · Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 3:31 pm Post subject:

Also, when I was much younger, I was in the U.S. Marine Corps. Some may be interested in that song/poem...

Marines� Hymn
Words: L.Z. Phillips (1919)
Music: Jacques Offenbach from Genevieve de Brabant (1868)

From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli,
We fight our country�s battles in the air, on land and sea.
First to fight for right and freedom, and to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title of United States Marine.

Our Flag�s unfurled to every breeze from dawn to setting sun.
We have fought in every clime and place, where we could take a gun.
In the snow of far off northern lands and in sunny tropic scenes,
You will find us always on the job �The United States Marines.

Here�s health to you and to our Corps, which we are proud to serve.
In many a strife we�ve fought for life and never lost our nerve.
If the Army and the Navy ever look on heaven�s scenes,
They will find the streets are guarded by United States Marines.

_________________
All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing. I shall do something, even if I have to do it myself.

El Shaddai lives!

jib · Joined: 23 Apr 2004 Posts: 111 Location: Somerset, England,

The grand old duke of york,
He had ten thousand men,
He marched them up to the top of the hill,
and Marched them down again,
When they were up they were up,
When they were down they were down,
And when they were only half way up they were niether up or down.
_________________
The pitchfork general.
''I ate all your bees''.
If at first you don't suceed, perhaps failier is more your style. I know its mine.

[HWK]axlethehawk · Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2004 10:55 pm Post subject:

Nice one JIb!! Cool

_________________

[hwk] axlethehawk ( DIPLOMATIC LIAISSON )

Serbian_Wolf · Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 3

i have a strange love for Ilja Ehereburg, Soviet poet, Goebbels called him "the jew Eherenburg, Stalins favorite deamagouge" it does sound better in Russian, it is bloddthirsty as hell but that was the mood of the time.

"kill the fascist, this is your mothers whis
kill the facist, it is the motherlands sacreds soils whis.
Grey gren slugs they are, kill them all"

and this is "The saint war" a very famous soviet march of ww2

Get up, the giant country,
Get up for mortal fight
With German horde uncounted,
With forces of the night

Chorus:
Let noble anger of the soul
Get boiled as a wave.
The people�s war, the holy war.
We�ll fight until the grave.

Let's give repulse to oppressors
Of all the ardent thoughts.
To rapers and to murderers,
Let's say the swear words.

Chorus:

We will not let the darkened wings
Fly over Motherland.
The native country spacious fields
Are not for fiend's extend.

Chorus:

For rotten fascist pack we've got
A bullet and a bomb.
The spawn of the planet Earth
Must get into the tomb.

Kosciuszko · Joined: 30 Apr 2004 Posts: 197 Location: Poland

hi Serbian Wolf
Nice to see u here
i was reading some novels by Ilja Ehereburg hawever did not know that he was poet too.. Some of his novels were very ironical to socialistic system
regards
kosc
_________________
(...)" Thucydides says only that he had seven ships it was winter and he sailed quickly"

Serbian_Wolf · Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 3

yes old Ilja wrote a lot of both books and poems, he very much had his own wiew points on the system, on all systems which makes him stand above most of the poets of the time
_________________
"A toast to comrade Stalin, genius leader of all people of all times, i am a busy man so i have probably forgotten stuff, what more great things have you done"
S.M Kirov toast to Stalin in spring 1934
(Kirov shot 1 dec 1934)

[HWK]axlethehawk · Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 8:48 pm Post subject:

HI again Serbian_Wolf, I really like the poem and as you said quite "bloodthirsty" Cool

_________________

[hwk] axlethehawk ( DIPLOMATIC LIAISSON )

jib · Joined: 23 Apr 2004 Posts: 111 Location: Somerset, England,

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
All the kings horses and all the kings men
couldn't put humpty together again.

Believe it or not thats actually a war rhyme, not just about a happy go lucky egg who didn't take health and safty in to account when he had a rest.
Humpty Dumpty was actually a battering ram. During the english civil war royalist troops were besieging a parlimentarian walled (and ditched surrounded) town in the west country (sorry I cant remember which one). They planned to roll humpty down off the high ground, and smash the town gates and the soldiers inside would storm the town. Things went a wee bit wrong and humpty rolled off the hill and into the ditch and mostly everyone inside drowned or was killed. Thus all the kings horse and men couldn't put humpty together again.
_________________
The pitchfork general.
''I ate all your bees''.
If at first you don't suceed, perhaps failier is more your style. I know its mine.

[HWK]axlethehawk · Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2004 6:27 pm Post subject:

Lmao ......... we need to verify where this happened Jib ( or anyone who may know ) Cool

_________________

[hwk] axlethehawk ( DIPLOMATIC LIAISSON )

[HWK]Greenwarrior · Joined: 20 Apr 2004 Posts: 290 Location: A BLUE STATE!

Thats one hella of an interesting story m8. Thanxs for sharing it cheerz!

Green!
_________________
"Next to a battle lost, the greatest misery is a battle gained"

[HWK]Theosis · Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2004 11:25 pm Post subject:

For your reading pleasure...

He also appears in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass and discusses semantics with Alice. Among other things, he explains the hard words from Jabberwocky.

There are various theories of the origin of Humpty Dumpty. One is from the name of a cannon during the English Civil War. It was on top of a tower. When the opposing force blew off the top of the tower, Humpty Dumpty fell to the ground. The King's (since they were on the Royalist side) footmen and cavalry tried to fix him, but failed.

In another theory, Humpty Dumpty referred to King Richard III of England, the hunchbacked monarch, whose horse was named "Wall". During the battle of Bosworth Field, He fell off of his steed and was said to have been "hacked into pieces".

(However, although Shakespeare's play depicts Richard as a hunchback, other historical evidence suggests that he was not.) Humpty Dumpty may also refer to a Roman war machine called a Testudo used to cross moats and climb over castle walls. Humpty Dumpty refers to the turtle-like look of the machine and the noise of the wheels.

Another theory has Humpty Dumpty as medieval slang for short, clumsy people.

A phonetic variation composed of near-sounding French language words of the rhyme is also used in the fields of Systems analysis, Knowledge management and requirements management in Software development to illustrate the complexity of human communications. It is useful in bilingual or near-bilingual environments to show the issues involved in crossing over from the oral world typical of implicit knowledge to the written world of explicit knowledge.

One of the many variations is thus: Homme petit d'homme petit, s'attend, n'avale

''Homme petit d'homme petit, degr s de b gues folles

Anal deux qui noeuds ours, anal deux qui noeuds s'y m nent

Coup d'un poux tome petit tout guetteur gaine''

If this is read out slowly (by somebody who has a good enough knowledge of French to pronounce it properly, but has not been told a nursery rhyme is involved) to an audience of persons who have been warned a nursery rhyme is involved, the reader would be rather bemused and the listeners would very rapidly reckognize the nursery rhyme.

A literal translation of the french words (by somebody with a good knowledge of French,and a moderate knowledge of English but no knowledge of the nursery rhyme) would come out thus: Little man of little man, waits for himself, does not swallow

Little man of little man, by degrees of stuttering madwomen

Anal two that knots bears, anal two that leads

Strike from a louse small volume any watchman with a girdle

---- Humpty Dumpty is a historically important pinball machine released by Gottlieb in October 1947. It is considered to be the first true pinball machine ever produced, distinguishing it from earlier bagatelle game machines. Humpty Dumpty had six flippers but, unlike modern pinball tables, they faced outward instead of inward and were not placed at the bottom of the table near the main outhole. Like all early pinball tables, Humpty Dumpty was constructed with wood and had backlit scoring in preset units of scoring rather than mechanical reel or electronic LED scoring.

Laughing

_________________
All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing. I shall do something, even if I have to do it myself.

El Shaddai lives!

administrator · Site Admin Joined: 01 Jan 1970 Posts: 314

Guys

You are terrible historians!!

I have read numerous publications on Humpty Dumpty from the age of three and he was alway an EGG. Wink

Yours SW

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