On Fri, Dec 13, 2002 at 02:50:39PM +1100, John Griffiths wrote:
> Not yet is the spirit of that pristine valour
> extinct in you, when girt with steel and lofty flames
> once we fought against the empire of heaven.
> We were -- that I will not deny -- vanquished in that conflict:
> yet the great intention was not lacking in nobility.
> Something or other gave Him victory: to us remained
> the glory of a dauntless daring.
> And even if my troop fell thence vanquished,
> yet to have attempted a lofty enterprise is still a trophy.
>
> --From La Strage degli Innocenti (The Slaughter of the
> Innocents) by Giambattista Marino (1569-1625)
I prefer:
yet not for those
Nor what the potent Victor in his rage
Can else inflict do I repent or change,
Though changed in outward lustre; that fixed mind
And high disdain, from sense of injured merit,
That with the mightiest raised me to contend,
And to the fierce contention brought along
Innumerable force of Spirits armed
That durst dislike his reign, and me preferring,
His utmost power with adverse power opposed
In dubious battle on the plains of Heav'n,
And shook his throne. What though the field be lost?
All is not lost; the unconquerable Will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
And courage never to submit or yield:
And what is else not to be overcome?
That Glory never shall his wrath or might
Extort from me.
-- Book I, Paradise Lost, John Milton
Excuse the digression. :-)
--
Colin Watson [[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
