Honour and Courage!

Haven't felt much inclination to blog but lately, been feeding on really inspirational books and movies that've got me thinking and excited about the future! Here's a short excerpt from the script of "The Blind Side". Check out the movie, it's worth watching and thinking over :)

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

1.

Half a league, half a league,

Half a league onward,

All in the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"

"Charge for the guns!" he said:

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

2.

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"

Was there a man dismay'd?

Not tho' the soldier knew

Someone had blunder'd:

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do and die:

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

3.

Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon in front of them

Volley'd and thunder'd;

Storm'd at with shot and shell,

Boldly they rode and well,

Into the jaws of Death,

Into the mouth of Hell

Rode the six hundred.

4.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,

Flash'd as they turn'd in air,

Sabring the gunners there,

Charging an army, while

All the world wonder'd;

Plunged in the battery-smoke

Right thro' the line they broke;

Cossack and Russian

Reel'd from the sabre stroke

Shatter'd and sunder'd.

Then they rode back, but not

Not the six hundred.

5.

Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon behind them

Volley'd and thunder'd;

Storm'd at with shot and shell,

While horse and hero fell,

They that had fought so well

Came thro' the jaws of Death

Back from the mouth of Hell,

All that was left of them,

Left of six hundred.

6.

When can their glory fade?

O the wild charge they made!

All the world wondered.

Honor the charge they made,

Honor the Light Brigade,

Noble six hundred.

Copied from Poems of Alfred Tennyson,

J. E. Tilton and Company, Boston, 1870.

"Courage is a hard thing to figure. You can have courage based on a dumb idea or a mistake. But question adults or your coach or your teacher, because they make the rules? Maybe they know best, but maybe they don't. It all depends on who you are, where you come from. Didn't at least one of the 600 think about giving up and joining the other side? I mean, "Valley of Death", that's pretty salty stuff.

That's why courage is tricky. Should you always do what others tell you to do? Sometimes you might not even know why you're doing something. I mean, any fool can have courage. But honour, that's the real reason you either do something or don't. It's who you are, and maybe who you want to be. If you die trying for something important, then you have both honour and courage. And that's pretty good. I think that's what the writer was saying, that you should hope for courage, and try for honour. And maybe even pray that the people telling you what to do, have some too."

- Poem interpretation by Michael Oher