War Song of the Saracens

We are they who come faster than fate: we are they who ride early or late:
We storm at your ivory gate: Pale Kings of the Sunset, beware!
Not on silk nor in samet we lie, not in curtained solemnity die
Among women who chatter and cry, and children who mumble a prayer.
But we sleep by the ropes of the camp, and we rise with a shout, and we tramp
With the sun or the moon for a lamp, and the spray of the wind in our hair.

From the lands, where the elephants are, to the forts of Merou and Balghar,
Our steel we have brought and our star to shine on the ruins of Rum.
We have marched from the Indus to Spain, and by God we will go there again;
We have stood on the shore of the plain where the Waters of Destiny boom.
A mart of destruction we made at Jalula where men were afraid,
For death was a difficult trade, and the sword was a broker of doom;

And the Spear was a Desert Physician who cured not a few of ambition,
And drave not a few to perdition with medicine bitter and strong:
And the shield was a grief to the fool and as bright as a desolate pool,
And as straight as the rock of Stamboul when their cavalry thundered along:
For the coward was drowned with the brave when our battle sheered up like a wave,
And the dead to the desert we gave, and the glory to God in our song.

-- James Elroy Flecker #

My mother likes to quote the "mart of destruction" line whenever I leave my room in a tip.

The Order of Service

So... Saw off my Granny today. Cremation with family followed by memorial service at the parish church, then far too many sandwiches back at the house. Random occurence of the day: since she's married to one of my Granny's cousins the recently retired head of MI5 was there.

I ended up pondering, outside the church and later on, what would I want at my own funeral. I'd definitely put a wishlist in my will before going to Iraq or some other sandy holiday destination. Morbid fun all round, until Sarah decided that the poem I'd need read at my funeral would be...

Jabberwocky

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Jim and/or Will could do it in fine style. They could even get in some roleplay, one being the beamish boy. Apart from that awesomeness, there's a more sober and obvious choice:

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Hymns:

• Guide me, O thou great Redeemer


• O God, our help in ages past


• He who would valiant be


• I vow to thee, my country

Somewhere there should be room for this too:

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door. You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to."

I am the Captain of my Soul

Since there is obviously a new verb "To Wikipedia", what should its past tense be? I wikipediad? I google, you google, he/she/it googles... Google is such a nice verb, don't you think?

Be that as it may, Wikipedia, via the 'If' page, brought me to "a short poem by the British poet William Ernest Henley that is the source of a number of familiar clichés and quotations. The title is Latin for "unconquered". It was first published in 1875."

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Quiet Birds in Circled Flight

While searching for the "Nation's Favourite Poem" to demonstrate my horror at someone's ignorance of 'If' I found this, which surprised me in not putting either Mr Kipling or Mr Wordsworth first.

Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep

Do not stand at my grave and forever weep.
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn’s rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and forever cry.
I am not there. I did not die.

- Mary Fyre

The poem became well known in Britain after a copy was left in an envelope to be opened by his parents in the event of his death by Lance Bombadier Stephen Cummins, who was killed on active service in Northern Ireland in 1989.

Pink Eggs and Spam

The monkey explained that he’d quite like a hat
That was pink with the texture of jelly
With tentacles made of that slippery stuff
And a wobbly, see-through belly.
“A jellyfish hat is what you require!”
I said as I measured his head.
“I would wear it with pride!” the monkey replied
So I took out my needle and thread.

- From The Tail of the Jellyfish Hat, by one Miss Katy Burgess. As Facebook would put it, "Will knows Katy through a friend" and of course, Facebook rules my life now. Checking up on deviantART on the other hand is a rare occurence and of the 39 new deviations flagged up, this was by far the most awesome in its Owl-and-the-Pussycat-cum-Dr-Seuss-ness. Go read.

Der Panther

Quote of the moment:
Sein Blick ist vom Vorübergehen der Stäbe
so müd geworden, daß er nichts mehr hält.
Ihm ist, als ob es tausend Stäbe gäbe
und hinter tausend Stäben keine Welt.

Der weiche Gang geschmeidig starker Schritte,
der sich im allerkleinsten Kreise dreht,
ist wie ein Tanz von Kraft um eine Mitte,
in der betäubt ein großer Wille steht.

Nur manchmal schiebt der Vorhang der Pupille
sich lautlos auf -. Dann geht ein Bild hinein,
geht durch der Glieder angespannter Stille -
und hört im Herzen auf zu sein.

- Der Panther, von Rainer Maria Rilke. Poetry quoting one-upmanship it is. Once upon a time I could reel that off like The Jabberwock, but sadly German doesn't stick in the mind so well.

Further Facebook robbery produced another type of panther...


But some people are definitely not panthers. A guy who eats a whole chicken in one meal, weighs 18 stone and doesn't think he's fat? Is he a professional rugby player? Methinks not...

In other news, I am a mouthy git. While walking home I made an excessively loud comment about some guy slumped crosslegged in the middle of the high street and he got up and pursued us... he got in two punches to my face and got even angrier because I was just amused by him. My views on Welsh inferiority complexes were similarly unappreciated by the rest of the audience... Only because the guys were worried about their Welsh female neighbours taking offence. How chivalrous.

Psalm 23

Quote of the moment:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

- Psalm 23, also the name of the episode of Lost series 2 about Mr Eko. Marvelous what you can randomly find out from the RT online, Daily-Mail-reader-targeted though the reviews are. Mr Eko: don't you wish he'd been the school chaplain? Even I would have turned up on time then...

A Fire Shall Be Woken

Quote of the moment:
"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king."

Inspirational stuff... from the darkness may come light. But what did the candle say to the darkness? I can't remember the classic Rev. quote...

Religious Indoctrination Found In Riddles

Quote of the moment:
What is greater than God,
More evil than the devil,
The poor have it,
The rich need it,
And if you eat it, you'll die?

Known Unto God

Quote of the moment:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Laurence Binyon, For the Fallen.


From BBC News "In Pictures"

SAS beret. Too young for the Falklands or the first Gulf War. Perhaps the helicopter crash at the start of the second.

Their Name Liveth For Evermore

Quote of the moment:

In Memoriam
Private D Sutherland - Killed in Action in the German
trench May 16th, and the others who died.

So you were David's father,
and he was your only son,
And the new-cut peats are rotting
And the work is left undone
Because of an old man weeping,
Just an old man in pain,
For David, his son David,
That will not come again.

Oh, the letters that he wrote you,
And I can see them still,
Not a word of the fighting
But just the sheep on the hill
And how you should get the crops in
Ere the year gets stormier,
And the Boches have got his body,
And I was his officer.

You were only Davids father,
But I had 50 sons
When we went up in the evening
Under the arch of the guns,
And we came back at twilight -
O God! I heard them call,
To me for help and pity
That could not help at all.

Oh, never will I forget you,
My men that trusted me,
More my sons than your father's,
For they could only see
The helpless little babies
And the young men in their pride.
They could not see you dying,
And hold you while you died.

Happy and young and gallant,
They saw their first-born go,
But not the strong limbs broken
And the beautiful men brought low,
The piteous writhing bodies,
They screamed 'Don't leave me, sir,'
For they were only your fathers
But I was your officer.

If I manage to wake up in the morning, which is by no means guaranteed, I'll be going to the first and foremost of my three religious services of the year.

Went to the gym today to try and make up for this week. Ate almost all of the junk food that my rents bought me when they visited, didn't go to the gym because of pulled muscle in my leg. My bad. The suggested gym program has changed from 3 sets of 10 minutes with 10 minute breaks to a solid half hour. Apparently it'll "build our mental toughness". Not convinced. Apparently I should have broken a pain barrier somewhere in the middle 10 minutes, but it never really kicked in. 7678 metres at the end, which meant I passed 5k in 19:53, in the midst of the times listed on the gym "leaderboard" for just the 5k. Mwahaha. I suspect I may be more of a 5k than a 2k race person.

Stop All The Clocks

Quote of the moment:
"Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good."

- W H Smith Auden.

The clocks have gone back. I'm waiting until 2.30am (which used to be 3.30am) to take Sarah into school to get the bus to the airport for her Malta netball tour. My dad had his maps spread out on the table to tell her about it. Lol. I'm sure he'd love to go back, but despite his British birth certificate (my grandpa was a Royal Marine) he's still liable for national service there. I wonder if that's expired yet?! Perhaps they'll call up Sarah instead...