Citatepedia^®.com

The Battle of Waterloo

'Twas in the year 1815, and on the 18th day of June,
That British cannon, against the French army, loudly did boom,
Upon the ever memorable bloody field of Waterloo;
Which Napoleon remembered while in St. Helena, and bitterly did rue.
The morning of the 18th was gloomy and cheerless to behold,
But the British soon recovered from the severe cold
That they had endured the previous rainy night;
And each man prepared to burnish his arms for the coming fight.

Then the morning passed in mutual arrangements for battle,
And the French guns, at half-past eleven, loudly did rattle;
And immediately the order for attack was given,
Then the bullets flew like lightning till the Heaven's seemed riven.

The place from which Bonaparte viewed the bloody field
Was the farmhouse of La Belle Alliance, which some protection did yield;
And there he remained for the most part of the day,
Pacing to and fro with his hands behind him in doubtful dismay.

The Duke of Wellington stood upon a bridge behind La Haye,

[...] Read more

poem by William Topaz McGonagall
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Napoleon Bonaparte: Coalition Wars Of Conquest

Napoleon robust strength spirit complexion dark
fine chestnut hair dark reddish blond brown black
as aged eyes handsome blue reflected incredibly
various emotions eyebrows eyelashes much darker
forehead high board nose proportioned shaped straight

striking features quick searching eyes animated abrupt
gestures proclaimed ardent soul serious deep thinker

Napoleon Bonaparte profile prominent
looks expression earnest powerful a military
political leader in latter stages of French Revolution
born in Corsica parents lesser noble Italian ancestry
trained as an artillery officer in mainland France

a paradox 5 foot 5-7 inches British 5 foot 2 in French
powdered hair cut in peculiar square fashion below ears
fell down to shoulders closely buttoned up straight coat
decorated by narrow gold embroidery tri-coloured plume hat
close-fitting trousers boots reaching to the calf trimmed

[...] Read more

poem by Terence George Craddock
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Founders Of Great Empires Or Jesus Christ?

What is the defining difference
between founders of supposedly
great empires and Jesus Christ?

Alexander pure will lion strength light skin
blond hair with one eye dark as pitch night
one melting blue as sweeping horizon sky
a sweet natural fragrance born in his body
so strong smelling it perfumed his clothes

illuminating action glory not pleasure wealth
burning fame was intense flame his passion

Alexander the Great
a Macedonian king conquered
Ancient Greece, Persia, Egypt
conquered into western India feared
by a whole civilized known world

driven by a supposedly

[...] Read more

poem by Terence George Craddock
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

After Waterloo

On the field of Waterloo we made Napoleon rue
That ever out of Elba he decided for to come,
For we finished him that day, and he had to run away,
And yield himself to Maitland on the Billy-ruffium.

`Twas a stubborn fight, no doubt, and the fortune wheeled about,
And the brave Mossoos kept coming most uncomfortable near,
And says Wellington the hero, as his hopes went down to zero,
`I wish to God that Blooker or the night was only here!'

But Blooker came at length, and we broke Napoleon's strength,
And the flower of his army--that's the old Imperial Guard -
They made a final sally, but they found they could not rally,
And at last they broke and fled, after fighting bitter hard.

Now Napoleon he had thought, when a British ship he sought,
And gave himself uncalled-for, in a manner, you might say,
He'd be treated like a king with the best of every thing,
And maybe have a palace for to live in every day.

[...] Read more

poem by Robert Fuller Murray
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Battle of Corunna

'Twas in the year of 1808, and in the autumn of the year,
Napoleon resolved to crush Spain and Portugal without fear;
So with a mighty army three hundred thousand strong
Through the passes of the Pyrenees into spain he passed along.

But Sir John Moore concentrated his troops in the north,
And into the west corner of Spain he boldly marched forth;
To cut off Napoleon's communications with France
He considered it to be advisable and his only chance.

And when Napoleon heard of Moore's coming, his march he did begin,
Declaring that he was the only General that could oppose him;
And in the month of December, when the hills were clad with snow,
Napoleon's army marched over the Guadiana Hills with their hearts full of woe.

And with fifty thousand cavalry, infantry, and artillery,
Napoleon marched on, facing obstacles most dismal to see;
And performed one of the most rapid marches recorded in history,
Leaving the command of his army to Generals Soult and Ney.

[...] Read more

poem by William Topaz McGonagall
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

How Bateese Came Home

1 W'en I was young boy on de farm, dat 's twenty year ago
2 I have wan frien' he 's leev near me, call Jean Bateese Trudeau
3 An offen w'en we are alone, we lak for spik about
4 De tam w'en we was come beeg man, wit' moustache on our mout'.

5 Bateese is get it on hees head, he 's too moche educate
6 For mak' de habitant farmerre--he better go on State--
7 An' so wan summer evening we 're drivin' home de cow
8 He 's tole me all de whole beez-nesse--jus' lak you hear me now.

9 'W'at 's use mak' foolish on de farm? dere 's no good chances lef'
10 An' all de tam you be poor man--you know dat 's true you'se'f;
11 We never get no fun at all--don't never go on spree
12 Onless we pass on 'noder place, an' mak' it some monee.

13 'I go on Les Etats Unis, I go dere right away
14 An' den mebbe on ten-twelve year, I be riche man some day,
15 An' w'en I mak' de large fortune, I come back I s'pose
16 Wit' Yankee famme from off de State, an' monee on my clothes.

[...] Read more

poem by William Henry Drummond
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

James K. Polk

in 1844, the democrats were split
The three nominees for the presidential candidate
Were martin van buren, a former president and an abolitionist
James buchanan, a moderate
Louis cass, a general and expansionist
From nashville came a dark horse riding up
He was james k. polk, napoleon of the stump
Austere, severe, he held few people dear
His oratory filled his foes with fear
The factions soon agreed
He's just the man we need
To bring about victory
Fulfill our manifest destiny
And annex the land the mexicans command
And when the vote was cast the winner was
Mister james k. polk, napoleon of the stump
In four short years he met his every goal
He seized the whole southwest from mexico
Made sure the tarriffs fell
And made the english sell the oregon territory

[...] Read more

song performed by They Might Be Giants
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Banker’s Secret

THE Banker's dinner is the stateliest feast
The town has heard of for a year, at least;
The sparry lustres shed their broadest blaze,
Damask and silver catch and spread the rays;
The florist's triumphs crown the daintier spoil
Won from the sea, the forest, or the soil;
The steaming hot-house yields its largest pines,
The sunless vaults unearth their oldest wines;
With one admiring look the scene survey,
And turn a moment from the bright display.

Of all the joys of earthly pride or power,
What gives most life, worth living, in an hour?
When Victory settles on the doubtful fight
And the last foeman wheels in panting flight,
No thrill like this is felt beneath the sun;
Life's sovereign moment is a battle won.
But say what next? To shape a Senate's choice,
By the strong magic of the master's voice;
To ride the stormy tempest of debate

[...] Read more

poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Chronicle Of The Drum

Part I.

At Paris, hard by the Maine barriers,
Whoever will choose to repair,
Midst a dozen of wooden-legged warriors
May haply fall in with old Pierre.
On the sunshiny bench of a tavern
He sits and he prates of old wars,
And moistens his pipe of tobacco
With a drink that is named after Mars.

The beer makes his tongue run the quicker,
And as long as his tap never fails,
Thus over his favorite liquor
Old Peter will tell his old tales.
Says he, 'In my life's ninety summers
Strange changes and chances I've seen,—
So here's to all gentlemen drummers
That ever have thump'd on a skin.

[...] Read more

poem by William Makepeace Thackeray
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Alsace-Lorraine

I

The sister Hours in circles linked,
Daughters of men, of men the mates,
Are gone on flow with the day that winked,
With the night that spanned at golden gates.
Mothers, they leave us, quickening seed;
They bear us grain or flower or weed,
As we have sown; is nought extinct
For them we fill to be our Fates.
Life of the breath is but the loan;
Passing death what we have sown.

Pearly are they till the pale inherited stain
Deepens in us, and the mirrors they form on their flow
Darken to feature and nature: a volumed chain,
Sequent of issue, in various eddies they show.
Theirs is the Book of the River of Life, to read
Leaf by leaf by reapers of long-sown seed:
There doth our shoot up to light from a spiriting sane

[...] Read more

poem by George Meredith
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!