I ran into this poem the first time reading “The Diamond Age” by Neal Stephenson. It is in many ways a dark and subversive poem, especially for, as self titled, a “Christmas story”. While I already had a fondness of Kiplings short stories, my love of poetry (and history) owes less to my english teachers …
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The Lady of Shalott
This is a poem that I can’t remember whether or not they made us read and “analyze” it in high school, but it was definitely in the reader. As was my usual practice, I’d skipped ahead through the book in my first week, and already had fallen in love with both the poem and the …
Tommy
This Kipling poem is one that I’ve memorized off and on, and one of the first I tumbled into (I think “The ‘Eathen” was the first) in the process of discovering Kipling as a poet. It too would have been fitting for Memorial day, and no, I wasn’t going to wait for veterans day. The …
Myths we Tell Ourselves
The following is from the excellent Terry Pratchett novel Hogfather, and is an excerpt from a conversation between Death, and his granddaughter (long story) Susan. “All right,” said Susan. “I’m not stupid. You’re saying humans need… fantasies to make life bearable.” REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY …
Sterret’s Sea Fight
This wasn’t consciously planned, but this weeks selection, while relatively plain and bloodily straight-forward, is a fitting pean to the sailors and crew who fought with Sterret in the war with Tripoli, which is also the source of the line “to the shores of Tripoli” in the Marine anthem. As Kipling reminds us, they are not plaster …
Cells
I first ran into this poem while reading an early, collected version of Pournelle’s “Falkenberg” mercenary stories set in a future “CoDominium”. This is much earlier in the same timeline as the classic first contact science fiction novel “Mote in Gods Eye”. Needless to say – Kipling was well aware that soldiers were hardly saints. …
Dover Beach
This poem by Matthew Arnold is a lot drearier and more despairing than I usually go for, yet the cadence and the visuals, for all of its pessimism, are filled with a haunting beauty. Dover Beach By Matthew Arnold The sea is calm to-night. The tide is full, the moon lies fair Upon the straits; …
The Charge of the Light Brigade
This poem leaves me torn. It speaks to both the honor and bravery to follow impossible orders into the jaws of death, trusting that there is a purpose and your lives are not simply being thrown away, and the tragedy and stupidity of pointless death when a leader screws up. Yes, there is glory, but …
Gentlemen Rankers
The term “Gentleman Ranker” applies to an enlisted man who is a former officer, or was born into sufficient wealth or prestige that he could have been an officer. In short, the odds are they majorly screwed up. They may be an outright screw-up. In this case, the viewpoint character carries a mix of pride …
The Woodpile
This poem works on many layers and discusses many things in one place. Those easily offended or perpetually paranoid, those who are so busy with new projects that they could leave behind significant work untended as something else grasps their attention, and how perhaps that is not an entirely good thing to change focus so …