Then out spake brave Horatius,The Captain of the Gate:
"To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his gods,
Thomas Babbington Macaulay,
Lays of Ancient Rome
Beaverbrook, with thanks to the Gods of the Copybook Headings
It's something of a scandal that the Lays are not available in a cheap, modern, mainstream edition (Penguin classics or otherwise). Fine poetry; at least fine verse; definitely no similarity with the ghastly introverted, unskilled, immoderate, arrogant, facile, unenjoyable 'poetry' of today.
ReplyDeleteActually I was quoting from The Wordsworth Poetry Library's edition of The Works of Lord Macaulay. I picked it up at Chapters' Bargain Book section. Less than four dollars, I think. In my experience the cheaper and older the book, the better.
ReplyDeletePublius
The Gods of the Copybook Headings
Oh. How interesting. Must confess I have never heard of Chapters in the UK, but shall poke around.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid Chapters is a Canadian retail outlet, now owned by Indigo. Don't think you'll find it anywhere in the UK, cawp. But keep poking.
ReplyDelete