Need American Flag quotes, please
Dennis J. & Gloria A. Chada, St. Paul,MN
I am shortly doing a short speech about the American Flag. A bit of
history and some etiquette.
To make it more interesting, I would like to intersperse with quotes
about the flag.
For my purposes quotes of any era, and which are positive, negative, or
even fairly controversial would all provide a contest to my historical
notes.
Thanx for your help.
Dennis
--
"I'm hungry when I wake up, sleepy when I eat.
Only time I feel good is with some dirt
beneath my feet.
I want some fast food and eat it slow.
I'm gonna have some high times and live'em low."
from:
All The Time In The World by The Subdudes
The Sanity Inspector
Paul,MN <chad...@infi.net> shared with usenet this thought:
>Greetings,
>
>I am shortly doing a short speech about the American Flag. A bit of
>history and some etiquette.
>
>To make it more interesting, I would like to intersperse with quotes
>about the flag.
>
>For my purposes quotes of any era, and which are positive, negative, or
>even fairly controversial would all provide a contest to my historical
>notes.
BARBARA FRIETCHIE
Up from the meadows rich with corn,
Clear in the cool September morn,
The clustered spires of Frederick stand
Green-walled by the hills of Maryland.
Round about them orchards sweep,
Apple and peach tree fruited deep,
Fair as the garden of the Lord
To the eyes of the famished rebel horde,
On that pleasant morn of the early fall
When Lee marched over the mountain wall;
Over the mountains winding down,
Horse and foot, into Frederick town.
Forty flags with their silver stars,
Forty flags with their crimson bars,
Flapped in the morning wind: the sun
Of noon looked down, and saw not one.
Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then,
Bowed with her fourscore years and ten;
Bravest of all in Frederick town,
She took up the flag the men hauled down;
In her attic window the staff she set,
To show that one heart was loyal yet.
Up the street came the rebel tread,
Stonewall Jackson riding ahead.
Under his slouched hat left and right
He glanced; the old flag met his sight.
"Halt!"--the dust-brown ranks stood fast.
"Fire!"--out blazed the rifle blast.
It shivered the window, pane and sash;
It rent the banner with seam and gash.
Quick, as it fell, from the broken staff
Dame Barbara snatched the silken scarf.
She leaned far out on the window sill,
And shook it forth with a royal will.
"Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,
But spare your country's flag," she said.
A shade of sadness, a blush of shame,
Over the face of the leader came;
The nobler nature within him stirred
To life at that woman's deed and word;
"Who touches a hair of yon gray head
Dies like a dog! March on!" he said.
All day long through Frederick street
Sounded the tread of marching feet:
All day long that free flag tossed
Over the heads of the rebel host.
Ever its torn folds rose and fell
On the loyal winds that loved it well;
And through the hill-gaps sunset light
Shone over it with a warm good-night.
Barbara Frietchie's work is o'er,
And the Rebel rides on his raids no more.
Honor to her! and let a tear
Fall, for her sake, on Stonewall's bier.
Over Barbara Frietchie's grave,
Flag of Freedom and Union, wave!
Peace and order and beauty draw
Round thy symbol of light and law;
And ever the stars above look down
On thy stars below in Frederick town!
-- John Greenleaf Whittier
--
bruce
The dignified don't even enter in the game.
--The Jam
David C. Kifer
>
> Greetings,
>
> I am shortly doing a short speech about the American Flag. A bit of
> history and some etiquette.
>
> To make it more interesting, I would like to intersperse with quotes
> about the flag.
>
> For my purposes quotes of any era, and which are positive, negative, or
> even fairly controversial would all provide a contest to my historical
> notes.
It is the soldier, not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the soldier,
who salutes the flag, who serves under the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag,
who allows the protester to burn the flag.
-- -- Charles M. Province, The Soldier
[The Skirmish at Concord, 19 Apr 1775]
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Concord Hymn" - 1836
The flag is the symbol of our national unity, our national endeavor,
our national aspiration. The flag tells of the struggle for
independence, of union preserved, of liberty and union one and
inseparable, of the sacrifices of brave men and women to whom the
ideals and honor of this nation have been dearer than life. It means
America first; it means an undivided allegiance. It means America
united, strong and efficient, equal to her tasks. It means that you
cannot be saved by the valor and devotion of your ancestors, that to
each generation comes its patriotic duty; and that upon your willingness
to sacrifice and endure as those before you have sacrificed and endured
rests the national hope. It speaks of equal rights, of the inspiration
of free institutions exemplified and vindicated, of liberty under law
intelligently conceived and impartially administrated. There is not a
thread in it but scorns self-indulgence, weakness, and rapacity. It is
eloquent of our community interests, outweighing all divergencies of
opinion, and of our common destiny.
-- Charles Evans Hughes, "National Symbol"
I may sink, but I'm damned if I'll strike.
--John Paul Jones, 1778 [strike--"lower the flag"--surrender]
--
Dave [p&e]
"Tam multi libri, tam breve tempus!"
(Et brevis pecunia.) [Et breve spatium.]