[etni] Charge of the Light Brigade and Oz Letmura
- From: David Graniewitz <graniewitz@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: sbshai@xxxxxxxxxxx, judyewc@xxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2011 18:41:23 +0200 (IST)
I just felt that I must point out that Batya (whose posts I
always enjoy, I must say) mis-quoted Tennyson. The actual
line is
"Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do AND die"
rather than do OR die. The point was that the soldiers of
the Light Brigade realised that the order to charge the
Russian guns was nonsensical and that the charge itself
would be suicidal. However, they felt that they had no
choice in the matter. Tennyson, the Poet Laureate, was
praising the fact that they did not disobey orders. I have
always understood this in the light of the year of
revolutions, 1848, that came a few years before the Crimean
War broke out. The fact that the Light Brigade had obeyed an
order despite the fact that in the words of the
poem "someone had blundered" would serve as an example for
the whole of Britain in that the social order in a class-
ridden society could be maintained.
I know that this is an oft-misquoted line but the difference
is significant.
I now leave it for you, dear readers, to find the parallels
with HOTS and "Oz letmura".
Shabbat Shalom
David Graniewitz
Jerusalem
-----------------------------------------------
** Etni homepage - http://www.etni.org
** for help - ask@xxxxxxxx **
** to post to this list - etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx **
-----------------------------------------------
Other related posts:
