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 Today In HistoryOn Sept. 1, 1939, World War II began as Nazi Germany invaded Poland. In response, W.H. Auden wrote the following (now famous) poem: SEPTEMBER 1, 1939 by W.H. Auden I sit in one of the dives On Fifty-second Street Uncertain and afraid As the clever hopes expire Of a low dishonest decade: Waves of anger and fear Circulate over the bright And darkened lands of the earth, Obsessing our private lives; The unmentionable odour of death Offends the September night. Accurate scholarship can Unearth the whole offence From Luther until now That has driven a culture mad, Find what occurred at Linz, What huge imago made A psychopathic god: I and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return. Exiled Thucydides knew All that a speech can say About Democracy, And what dictators do, The elderly rubbish they talk To an apathetic grave; Analysed all in his book, The enlightenment driven away, The habit-forming pain, Mismanagement and grief: We must suffer them all again. Into this neutral air Where blind skyscrapers use Their full height to proclaim The strength of Collective Man, Each language pours its vain Competitive excuse: But who can live for long In an euphoric dream; Out of the mirror they stare, Imperialism's face And the international wrong. Faces along the bar Cling to their average day: The lights must never go out, The music must always play, All the conventions conspire To make this fort assume The furniture of home; Lest we should see where we are, Lost in a haunted wood, Children afraid of the night Who have never been happy or good. The windiest militant trash Important Persons shout Is not so crude as our wish: What mad Nijinsky wrote About Diaghilev Is true of the normal heart; For the error bred in the bone Of each woman and each man Craves what it cannot have, Not universal love But to be loved alone. From the conservative dark Into the ethical life The dense commuters come, Repeating their morning vow; 'I will be true to the wife, I'll concentrate more on my work,' And helpless governors wake To resume their compulsory game: Who can release them now, Who can reach the dead, Who can speak for the dumb? All I have is a voice To undo the folded lie, The romantic lie in the brain Of the sensual man-in-the-street And the lie of Authority Whose buildings grope the sky: There is no such thing as the State And no one exists alone; Hunger allows no choice To the citizen or the police; We must love one another or die. Defenseless under the night Our world in stupor lies; Yet, dotted everywhere, Ironic points of light Flash out wherever the Just Exchange their messages: May I, composed like them Of Eros and of dust, Beleaguered by the same Negation and despair, Show an affirming flame. SOURCE: www.sheilaomalley.com |
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Cool poem I wonder if it is even possible to write the word 'morning' in a poem, without the undercurrent of 'mourning' "I and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return. " How true |
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1966 eating meat on Fridays. |
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November 18,1966 |
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November,22,1963 |
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February,27,1827 singing marking the beginning of Mardi Gras. |
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March,1st,1932 |
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March, 3, 1887 Also on March,3, 1875: George Bizet;s Carmen premiered in Paris. |
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June, 11,1979 |
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June,12,1987 famous Cold War speeches. The Berlin Wall was a symbol of repressive Communist that divided Germany for many years. |
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October,2, 1985 |
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vid1 15-Oct-11, 19:25 |
October 15, 2009 "You guys said that, um, we did this for the show." |
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January,30,1948 |
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February,9,1874 1773. President William Henry Harrison (9th President of the United States) is the firs to die in office. |
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October,26 Alexander the great defeated Darius III of Persia in the battle of Guagamela. |
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On this day November 4 90 people (including 63 Americans) are being taken hostages by Anatolian Khomeini militant students. 1980 Ronald Reagan is elected the 49th President of the United States |
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On this day November 6 Abraham Lincoln became the 16th President of the United States. |
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On this day November 7 Marie Curie is born.First woman to win a Noble prize in 1903. 1913 French -Algerian writer Albert Camus is born. |
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Leon Trosky is born (Russian revolutionary |
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On this day December 7 Imperial Japan attacked Peral Harbor. 1982 First lethal injection (serum) is executed in Texas. Execution: Charles Brooks jr. It replaced the electric chair. |
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On this day January 1 Pope Alexander VI is born 1863 Pierre de Coubertin is born ( Father of the Modern Olympic games) |
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On this day January 2 Catholic forces under King Ferdinand and Queen Isabela took Granada for Spain from last Muslim kingdom. |
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On this day January 15 Wikipedia goes on line |
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On this day January 16 The Gulf war begins |
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On this day January 19 American poet Edgar Allan Poe is born in Boston. |
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On this day June 22 Galileo Galilei is forced to recant by the Pope that the Earth was the center of our solar system. In October, 31 , 1992; the Vatican rectified their error. |
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On this day June 23 King Edward VIII is born King from Jan 1936 to Dec.11 1936. He abdicated. |
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On this day June 24th American Boxer Heavyweight champion fron 1919 - 1926 |
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On this day June 24 Jack Dempsey. American Heavyweight champion . |
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On this day July 19th French Impressionist Edgar Degas is born. |
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