I wander thro' each charter'd street,
Near where the charter'd Thames does flow.
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.
In every cry of every Man,
In every Infants cry of fear,
In every voice: in every ban,
The mind-forg'd manacles I hear
How the Chimney-sweepers cry
Every blackning Church appalls,
And the hapless Soldiers sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls
But most thro' midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlots curse
Blasts the new-born Infants tear
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse
- William Blake, "London"
You showed me nutmegs and nutmeg husks,
Ostrich feathers and elephant tusks,
Hundreds of tons of costly tea,
Packed in wood by Cingalee,
And a myriad of drugs which disagree.
Cinnamon, Myrrh, and mace you showed,
Golden paradise birds that glowed,
More cigars than a man could count,
And a billion cloves in an odorous mount,
And choice port wine from a bright glass fount.
You showed, for a most delightful hour,
The wealth of the world and London’s power.
- John Masefield (1914)
“Behold now this vast city [London]; a city of refuge, the mansion-house of liberty, encompassed and surrounded with His protection.”
-- John Milton
10 comments:
"He who is tired of London is tired of life."
~ Samuel Johnson (1777)
i just LOVE Stephen Fry! All by himself he personifies the glorious culture that defines what it means to be truly BRITISH in the best sense of the term.
I'm an unabashed Anglophile in the old-fashioned sense of the the word, and have always found it a great treat to hear the English language spoken as it SHOULD be at the highest possible level.
Sonorous, dignified, exquisitely clear, precise diction, but not the least bit stuffy, pompous or affected. Stephen Fry is the Real Deal.
So glad he is focused on The City of London, which, apparently, excludes even the MENTION of the odious Sadiq Khan and the horrid influence Mohammedanism has brought to bear on TRUE British Culture.
[I've found it amusingly ironic that "SADIQ" is so close to the French word for SADISTIC -- i.e "SADIQUE."] ];^}>
THERES NO PLACE LIKE LONDON
I have sailed the world, beheld its wonders
From the Dardanelles to the mountains of Peru
But there's no place like London!
I feel home again
I could hear the city bells ring
Whatever I would do
No, there's no place like London!
Mr. Todd, sir
You are young
Life has been kind to you
You will learn
So Antony, it is here we go our several ways
Farewell, I shall not soon forget the good ship bountiful
Nor the young man who saved my life
Alms, alms for a miserable woman
On a miserable chilly mornin'
Oh, thank you, sir, thank you
How would you like a little squiff, dear
A little jig-jig, a little bounce around the bush
Wouldn't you like to push me crumpet?
It looks to me, dear, like you've got plenty there to push
Alms, alms for a pitiful woman
What's got wandering wits
Hey, don't I know you, mister?
Must you glare at me, woman?
Off with you, off I say
Then how would you like to fish me squiff, Mister?
We'll go jig-jig, a little
Off I said to the devil with you!
Alms, alms for a desperate woman
Pardon me, sir
But there's no need to fear the likes of her
She's only a half-crazed beggar woman
London's full of them
There's a hole in the world like a great black pit
And the vermin of the world inhabit it
And it's morals aren't worth what a pig can spit
And it goes by the name of London
At the top of the hole sit the privileged few
Making mock of the vermin in the lower zoo
Turning beauty into filth and greed
I too have sailed the world and seen its wonders
For the cruelty of men is as wondrous as Peru
But there's no place like London
~ Stephen Sondheim - opening number of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Center and World Capital of capitalism...
I detest the first video because it's presented in the style of an EXPOSE, as though there MUST be something nefarious, devious, underhanded and anti-democratic abput the remarkable survival of thise venerable recondite organizatiin that has endured since Roman times when Lindin was called Londinium.
I'll only say THIS:
LONDINIUM is far far better than LONDONISTAN.
Must I elaborate?
Hoy there, rabble! Do you have a loicense for this gahtherin' of yarbles?
...it must be in my other pocket...
Sing along!
Can we goosestep?
From a purely musical standpoint it's a good, robust, well-constructed piece filled with appopriate pomp and solemnity as befits a great cltral heritage.
Genuine cultural-musical values and polemics in support of power politics don't mix.
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