I have made for you a song
And it may be right or wrong,
But only you can tell me if it's true.
I have tried for to explain
Both your pleasure and your pain,
And, Thomas, here's my best respects to you!
O there'll surely come a day
When they'll give you all your pay,
And treat you as a Christian ought to do;
So, until that day comes round,
Heaven keep you safe and sound,
And, Thomas, here's my best respects to you!
God bless those who died in the service of their country. God help those who survived.
we should always salute the men and women who do the jobs not one of the rest of us would ever do
ReplyDeleteWell, that includes you, doesn't it.
ReplyDelete...And God, please control the machinations and ambitions of the politicians and businessmen who make wars but never die or even fight in them.
ReplyDeleteThis made me cry.
ReplyDeleteMy best respects.
I'm all for wars. I think that we humans should have as many of them as we like. Provided that those who start them, or fail by inaction or corruption to prevent them - and only those people - fight in them, in their own back yards.
ReplyDeleteWars should be fought between politicians, to the death, and then the victor should be shot and buried along with the loser and elections held to replace them both.
Megan
ReplyDeleteKipling could make grown men cry. But he could also delight children (Kim, Puck of Pook's Hill, the Jungle Book...). He was a Freemason, did you know that?
Sir Pud and Sir Owl.
Clausewitz pointed out that war was merely politics by other means. While there are men, and increasingly women, willing to die for their country, there will be politicians willing to assist them fulfill their ambition.
No, i didn't know he was a Freemason.
ReplyDelete"Megan
ReplyDeleteKipling could make grown men cry"
I recited this at my Father's funeral and every single soldier and ex soldier in the congregation cried.
To get them all into some sort of order I asked ex Sgt Major Trevor Pilling standing next to me as they were lowering my Father's coffin into the ground why they lined the grave with a shroud. 'So you can't see the worms queuing up to get in', I told him.
It is surprisingly easy to laugh and cry at the same time but I am sure that my Father would have appreciated it.
"No, i didn't know he was a Freemason"
ReplyDeleteWatch 'The Man Who Would be King'
Or you could go to the Gutenberg (?) on line library and download it for free. All of Kipling's works are past copyright and available for free.
Yes, it is very easy to laugh and cry at the same time; both are used for release.
ReplyDeleteI want to say i've watched "The Man Who Would Be King" years ago, but am not sure that i have--films don't always stay with me the same way that books do.
When i watch it, i shall let you know.