Our Modern Watchwords
Feb 9, 2013 1:28:48 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2013 1:28:48 GMT -5
'The Financial Times' leads this weekend with some editorial comment on politics and poetry. Sir Winston Churchill is revered as a war leader. The discovery of the only poem he is known to have written as an adult prompts the question whether he also should be renowned as a war poet. The answer seems to be No.
www.telegraph.co.uk/history/9852330/Revealed-the-only-known-poem-by-an-adult-Winston-Churchill.html
'Our Modern Watchwords' was composed when Churchill was in his mid-20s, serving in the Fourth Hussars in 1899-1900. The stirring 10-verse celebration of the Empire name-checks places under British rule. In the line “For England, Home & Wai-hai-wai”, the last word may sound like a battle cry but is actually a location in China.
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This newly discovered poem reminds us of the days when politicians had hinterlands, in contrast to the narrow careers pursued by many in Washington and Westminster today. At the same time, its unexceptional quality offers reassurance that in pursuing politics he did not deprive the world of a great poet. The FT concludes thus:
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/597ae622-71f0-11e2-886e-00144feab49a.html
www.telegraph.co.uk/history/9852330/Revealed-the-only-known-poem-by-an-adult-Winston-Churchill.html
'Our Modern Watchwords' was composed when Churchill was in his mid-20s, serving in the Fourth Hussars in 1899-1900. The stirring 10-verse celebration of the Empire name-checks places under British rule. In the line “For England, Home & Wai-hai-wai”, the last word may sound like a battle cry but is actually a location in China.
"The shadow falls along the shore
The search lights twinkle on the sea
The silence of a mighty fleet
Portends the tumult yet to be.
The tables of the evening meal
Are spread amid the great machines
And thus with pride the question runs
Among the sailors and marines
Breathes there the man who fears to die
For England, Home, & Wai-hai-wai."
The search lights twinkle on the sea
The silence of a mighty fleet
Portends the tumult yet to be.
The tables of the evening meal
Are spread amid the great machines
And thus with pride the question runs
Among the sailors and marines
Breathes there the man who fears to die
For England, Home, & Wai-hai-wai."
This newly discovered poem reminds us of the days when politicians had hinterlands, in contrast to the narrow careers pursued by many in Washington and Westminster today. At the same time, its unexceptional quality offers reassurance that in pursuing politics he did not deprive the world of a great poet. The FT concludes thus:
" ... The really encouraging point is broader. For here is a statesman, a winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, an inspiring orator and a painter whose works have consistently fetched six- or seven-figure sums. Yet his verse is closer to ordinary than outstanding – suggesting that not even the most talented of us can be world-class at everything we undertake. So we can all relax a little bit."
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/597ae622-71f0-11e2-886e-00144feab49a.html
