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» Hatrack River Forum » Active Forums » Books, Films, Food and Culture » "Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do and die"

   
Author Topic: "Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do and die"
Strider
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Where is this quote from? it may not be reason, it may be "question".

It suddenly popped in my head tonight. And i know it's famous and been used in everything now. But what is it originally from? I feel like it would be some philosopher or some religious quote. But I just don't know. Shakespeare?

Help!

[ March 16, 2004, 12:39 AM: Message edited by: Strider ]

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ClaudiaTherese
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The Charge of the Light Brigade

(let me snag a link)

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/britpo/tennyson/TenChar.html

Actual quote (note the scanned original document!):
quote:
... 9 `Forward the Light Brigade!'
10 Was there a man dismay'd?
11 Not tho' the soldier knew
12 Some one had blunder'd:
13 Theirs not to make reply,
14 Theirs not to reason why,
15 Theirs but to do & die,
16 Into the valley of Death
17 Rode the six hundred. ...

Alfred Lord Tennyson

It's often quoted wryly as if the speaker compares his or her own situation with the futile course of the Light Brigade, ordered to charge forth into certain defeat.

[ March 16, 2004, 12:44 AM: Message edited by: ClaudiaTherese ]

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rivka
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Look at the second stanza.
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ClaudiaTherese
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!

rivka [Kiss]

!

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rivka
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[Big Grin]
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Strider
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thanks girls. [Smile]
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ClaudiaTherese
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Literary Quotation Tag Team Chicks, at your service.

We also parse out Strong's Concordance numbers on request. *softshoes across the floor

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rivka
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We do? Cuz I haven't figured those out yet, having always used a Hebrew Korkadanztia before (but since I don't actually own one at the moment, and there seems to be no online equivalent -- or way to enter Hebrew characters from my keyboard . . .)
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ClaudiaTherese
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(shhh ... hum a few bars, and I can fake it)

So, girlfriend, what are you doing up so late?

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rivka
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Living in the Pacific Time zone. [Big Grin]
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ClaudiaTherese
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Ahhhhh.

(why isn't there a head-smacky graemlin?)

Edit: There is! [Wave]

[ March 16, 2004, 01:09 AM: Message edited by: ClaudiaTherese ]

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rivka
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[ROFL]

I will never be able to look at the waving-fellow the same way again!

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Taberah
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Strong's numbering system is a brilliant way for someone who has little or no knowledge of an ancient tounge to delve into the nuances of a book written in that language.

It's framework isn't that difficult to understand. Make a list of every Hebrew word that appears in the Bible. Arrange them alphabetically (in Hebrew). Number them sequentially. Then do the same thing for Greek words in the New Testament. The result is Strong's numbering system. It's a beautiful thing.

This is, of course, only half of the puzzle. The other half is Strong's Concordance, which lists every word in the Bible as it is presented in the King James Version. Since the same word in English is at times used to translate various words in Hebrew or Greek, you can do a word study and get a better concept of what the writers of the Bible were trying to say. This is only the tip of the iceberg of what can be done with Strong's (especially when you introduce parallel texts and alternate translations), but shows the intellectual power of scholarship.

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SoberTillNoon
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I use that philosophy in math. Well, at least the first part. Hell, it works most eveywhere. It makes everything simpler for school anyhow. I have perverted it into "Blind Acceptance is the Way"
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rivka
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I see how it would be useful to someone who isn't versed in Hebrew -- but how do I "translate" a Hebrew shoresh (root) into a number?
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Primal Curve
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Hebrew letters have numbers? AUGH!

<sticks drill in head>

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SoberTillNoon
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Well, first you ask someone that knows, then you just remember how. That is it. You don't ask why, or how, or anythink like that. Just accept blindly that it is done a certain way.
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Proteus
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*Yawns and looks to the top of the page* Meh, I always preferred Love and Death or Morte'd Arthur by Tennyson. Charge of the Light Brigade and the Lady of Shallott seem to get relentlessly over-examined at school as does the end section of Oenone to which nobody bothers to read in full anymore.
But, that which they are, they are I guess.

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rivka
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PC, actually, Hebrew letters ARE numbers (aleph is 1, beit is 2, gimmel is 3 . . . yud is 10, kaf is 20, etc.) -- but this is different.

I'm quite sure, because the first time I tried to use an online concordance that used Strong's numbers, I tried finding the numerical value of the word, and it did not work AT ALL! [Big Grin]

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Bob_Scopatz
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You all need to look up the SWORD project and download their search and translation tools. It's the coolest piece of Bible software I've ever seen. And it's free.

Not that this has anything to do with the charge of the light brigade.

As a kid, I was always confused by that title. Why were they a light brigade? Because they operated durign the daytime? Did they carry torches (and later flashlights?)

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rivka
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Successful dieters all.
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Bob_Scopatz
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[ROFL]

Yes, and they wore white and pastel colors.

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rivka
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To a battle? [Eek!]

Those stains will never come out! [Grumble]

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Proteus
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*Gasps* Mock not our curious English Weirding Ways!
For we will drink much tea and eat Scones (That is Sconns...not Scownes!) in protest!

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