Sir Walter Scott – Breathes there a man, with a soul so dead . . .

When I was in high school, Sister Mariana had each and every one of us in her English Class memorize and then recite it in front of the class. At the time, it was a mere poem, it wasn’t too long, and I did my homework, recited the memorized poem, and got my grade. I’ve never gotten the poem out of my mind and can almost always render a recitation. However, over the years, the meaning has sunk in and whenever I see/here people disrespecting this country in which they live, it seems the poem is a reminder.

Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne’er within him burn’d,
As home his footsteps he hath turn’d,
From wandering on a foreign strand!
If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no Minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonour’d, and unsung.

Sir Walter Scott
from ‘The Lay of the Last Minstrel’

Faithful Dogs and Applicable Quotes!

“Love me, love my dog.” or “Qui me amat, amat et canem meum.”!
St. Bernard: Sermons. 12th century

“He asks no angel’s wing, no seraph’s fire,
But thinks, admitted to that equal sky,
His faithful dog shall bear him company.”
Pope: An Essay on Man, 18th century

“It is naught good a sleeping hound to wake.”
Chaucer: Troilus and Criseyde 14th century

Speaking of dogs, this is the vision that greets me each morning as the dogs realize that someone is up and about and, perhaps, considering giving them a morning treat because they didn’t bark as much as they could have the night before!