Wednesday, August 18, 2010

The Extinguishing of Empire


THE EXTINGUISHING OF EMPIRE!

So it was with the Romans and so, of course, it will be
With other Empires that will rise and fall.
America and China will go down the self-same path;
Because it seems to happen to them all.
*
My mother was a teenage girl at school in 1910
And she recalled an episode with pride
When her teacher held a map of the world, standing before the class,
And pointed to all the red bits there and cried
'See the red! How far it spreads! All that belongs to us!
We're British and the British are the best!'
It was then my mother's patriotism simply knew no bounds.
It was pinned there, like a rosette, on her chest!

She stayed a patriot like that until the day she died
And that was at the age of ninety-seven;
Rule Britannia! Hope and Glory! And 'God Save the Queen!'
She was quite convinced that she'd been born in Heaven!
But I come from a generation born during the Depression
The generation that saw the slow decline
Of the little island floating in the chilly North Atlantic,
The birthplace she considered so divine.


'How are the mighty fallen!' Isn't that a well-known phrase?
And does it really matter after all?
For good or evil Empires rise only to reach their peak
And then, as though it's natural, they fall.
*
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THE MOWO!

Is it nearly two years ago that Max was only two?
And approximating words was all the speaking he could do?
His passion for lawn-mowers was much in evidence then,
And he'd mow his daddy's back lawn again and again and again!
Back and forth and back and forth he'd trudge for quite a while
Ending the whole procedure with a wide and beaming smile!
Not only that but a 'thumbs-up' that made everybody laugh
And rush to get their cameras to take a photograph!
Is it nearly two years ago? The time has gone so fast!
And the memories of Max at two are already in the past!

*
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P.S.

Yesterday morning we had to catch a train into the country, as our financial adviser lives at Maitland. It only took us half an hour to get there, though. Here is a shot of Malcolm sitting in the lovey cosy waiting-room. I chopped most of him off, though!

Then, at night (after having entertained the little boys after school!) we went to the Book Group meeting at Joy and Dave's. We actually saw a film tonight. It was called 'The Good German' and I didn't care for it much. However, the socialising afterwards made up for that. I managed to get the whole group to pose for me!

13 comments:

Hildred said...

Love the verses and wonderful subjects for E. How true that empires come and go, but I do have a great admiration for the English - part of my heritage I guess. Max is so sweet and industrious!

Roger Owen Green said...

I'm afraid you are right about empire - the Romans had it all, then they didn't.

ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Sylvia K said...

Great post for the E Day, Brenda! You have been busy! But it looks like fun! Hope the rest of your week goes well!

Sylvia

Unknown said...

Max is adorable. They grow too fast don't they? It makes me cry.

I love your book group. How wonderfully fun! : )

Great lesson (and reminder) about the rise and the fall...

mrsnesbitt said...

Yes I remember the maps we had at school - later as a teacher atlasses went out of fashion like nobody's business - once so new next minute out of date!

Great Brenda - loved the socialising after the film, best part of the night eh?
lol!

Denise
ABC Team

jabblog said...

Barry and I were discussing the fall of empires yesterday and agreed we could see the gradual decline of the States. However, although we felt the next leading power in the world would come from the East, we couldn't decide which nation would prevail.
Two-year-old emergent speech is wonderful. I wish I'd made time to write down my children's utterances.
Lovely waiting room - not like our grubby, utilitarian rooms.

Anonymous said...

Dear Max deserves a rime
from you at any time

I find your rimes so good
even though I don't all words specific understand ;-)

Vinay Leo R. said...

this is like a history series.. again, a lovely post, Rinkly :)

Leo - ABC Wednesday E

Lost in thoughts said...

Loved the verse on the British empire...The sun never sets on the empire. So they said.

Nanc Twop said...

That timeline is very interesting - how things changed before and after the Boer war - wow.

Thanks for posting it. :) Nanc

my TT post

Brian Miller said...

nicely done...with some interesting visuals as well...empires come and go...

Karen Fayeth said...

I love the idea of a map, and yet something more personal and patriotic. It's not just land there on the page, it's *my* land. Beautiful verse!

Shail Raghuvanshi said...

Liked it all. Nice expression of thoughts...