Tribal Ways (Enemies of Match)
Every man with an opinion
Equal in valour and in strength equal
At the advent of the British
Who were carrying the flag
Of the queen with intentions
To conquer the lions and wolves
The British from India
Offered to make a few nabobs
The reply was that we are all nabobs
Can you make all nabobs
In retreat then a titular representation
In treaty like with sovereigns
With each tribe the British
Gave respect to the traditions
Commanded respect
Enemies of match
They laid arms
To each other
And the rest would follow
Between lovers of freedom
On the land they said theirs
And many more claimants
For the soil and souls
For the minds and ferocity
20/4/2009
poem by Sadiqullah Khan
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Related quotes
Canadian born
We first saw light in Canada, the land beloved of God;
We are the pulse of Canada, its marrow and its blood:
And we, the men of Canada, can face the world and brag
That we were born in Canada beneath the British flag.
Few of us have the blood of kings, few are of courtly birth,
But few are vagabonds or rogues of doubtful name and worth;
And all have one credential that entitles us to brag--
That we were born in Canada beneath the British flag.
We've yet to make our money, we've yet to make our fame,
But we have gold and glory in our clean colonial name;
And every man's a millionaire if only he can brag
That he was born in Canada beneath the British flag.
No title and no coronet is half so proudly worn
As that which we inherited as men Canadian born.
We count no man so noble as the one who makes the brag
That he was born in Canada beneath the British flag.
The Dutch may have their Holland, the Spaniard have his Spain,
The Yankee to the south of us must south of us remain;
For not a man dare lift a hand against the men who brag
That they were born in Canada beneath the British flag.
poem by Emily Pauline Johnson
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An Ode To A Saint Of Peace
An Ode to a Saint of Non-Violence – Mahatma Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
He came from a non-descript Indian place
A village which would not have a place
In Her Majesty’s palace’ grace
What could this man for India raise?
When the Indian nation reeled
Under a foreign yoke
This frail man with iron will
Preached a master stroke
He visualized violence was no funnel
To get to the end of the tunnel
That the spring of freedom would gurgle
For the Indian freedom struggle
It is not arms and blood
Or revenge, violence or death
That will get India freedom
From the British kingdom
They can take away our right
They can make their sticks bite
They can take us to gaol
But they cannot take away our soul!
Protests with no violence
Will shake their conscience
It is the only way
For the British to loose its sway
Despite British scorn
And ire of critics
He made every Indian “re-born”
And friends of skeptics
Respect for all and love for mankind
He preached & practiced
He made every Indian aware
And the British beware
When the British enacted suppressive laws
This soul bonded us with his non-violent straw
His simplicity and truthfulness held all in awe
He gave us belief, pride and strength not to thaw
In 1930 Gandhi gave a key freedom call
Civil disobedience was the mantra for all
Salt Tax was the symbol of oppression
That every Indian was to defy and make it fall
Men & women all were one
With Gandhi, they feared none
When Gandhi gave his peaceful protest call
They all rallied behind it like a wall
In Gandhi’s belief the nation rallied
Made the British rulers harried
The struggle for the British to leave continued
The voice of India was not to be subdued
The Salt law was broken
It was a challenge in token
The average Indian now believed
That the British could be shaken
The British police rained bullets and blows
Gandhi remained defiant with his followers in tow
Line replaced line as protestors were brought down
Under the bullets and blows of the Crown
A trickle became a torrent
The British blows served no deterrent
Pan India the rallies and crowds swelled
The peaceful voice of freedom could not be quelled
British goods were boycotted
In public rallies, they were burnt
Swadeshi! Swadeshi! rent the air
While the British sirens blared
Civil dis-obedience and satyagraha – grounded
The British were perplexed and confounded
The entire nation rallied to his non-violent call
The world took notice of it all
Came World War II
The Allies were stretched
While the war was won
British revenue coffers were wrecked
The Indian “Golden Hen”
Became a revenue drain
While Gandhi did not give in
His non-violent freedom refrain
Quit India! Quit India!
Unrelenting was Gandhi’s call
While the clamor gathered
The British “will” shattered
The Britsh knew not - how to handle it all
A frail looking man, had challenged them all
Years of supremacy of the British domain
Had cracked up under this non-violent virus strain.
The British empire gave in
To Gandhi’s non-violence spin
India was to become free
Without any violence or fee.
It is to this frail looking man
That the world gives credit
The strong belief in non-violence
He continues to inspire without any edit
To Indian, he is Bapu – The Father of the Nation
To the world he is an apostle of non-violence
And while the world looks on in silence
On still continuing theatres of violence
I pray that conflicting parties learn
No peace comes from the power of the gun
In how Bapu got us freedom – they should learn
Violence - they should shun
poem by Arvind Chandak
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Indian Mutiniy
British infants who were nobly born
Were from their bleeding mother's bosom torn
And with the bayonet dashed upon the street
There left to lie for native dogs to eat.
But the British Lion he soon o'erthrew
Both the high and the low Hindoo ;
Now they respect the Christian laws
For fear of British Lion's paws.
poem by James McIntyre
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Sonnet: Respect
Respect your elders all if they deserve;
Respect your servants too who you well serve;
Respect your father for tilling the soil;
Respect your mother for her love and toil.
Respect all teachers who gave you knowledge;
Respect your friend who saved you from the ledge;
Respect all good minds who advised you good;
Respect the man of God who gave soul’s food.
Respect all strangers who were all Godsends;
Respect your foes who taught you self-defense;
Respect those evil men who you troubled;
Respect the tempter who well you misled.
Respect your conscience which tells you what’s right;
Respect your God who is your Friend and Guide.
poem by John Celes
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The British seizure of Hongkong was an aspect of one of the most ugly crimes of the British Empire: the takeover and destruction of India, and the use of India to flood China with opium.
quote by Robert Trout
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Respect!
respect...
for all sacred traditions,
for every political viewpoint,
for every color of skin...
for every walk of life,
for sexual orientation...
respect equal for male and female....
respect for respect given!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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In the United States today, we have more than our share of nattering nabobs of negativism.
quote by Spiro Agnew
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In the United States today, we have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism.
quote by Spiro T. Agnew
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sonnet: ‘Happy Birthday, Dear Mahatma Gandhiji!
A foreign-trained Indian and bar-at-law,
Spear-headed freedom struggle for his land;
His methods followed held the world in awe;
He won us freedom with his magic wand!
To fight the British Raj was not a joke!
Non-violence, Satyagraha had both worked;
The half-dressed Gandhi did not even smoke;
The white man's strategy was annulled, jerked!
The man became the Father of the soil,
And sacrificed his life to gain freedom;
The secrets were his faith in God and toil,
That wrought the miracle that's seen seldom!
Hats off to Gandhi who a legend turned;
The British rule, he successfully spurned!
poem by John Celes
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Gandhi Jayanthi
You won the hearts of Indians globally –
O beloved Father of India!
You stood for truth, non-violence totally,
And gave the freedom we enjoy.
Born in Porbandar on October two,
Mohandhas Karamchand Gandhi,
You stood against odds of all sorts
To win innumerable patriotic hearts.
About you, Albert Einstein said,
‘Generations to come will scarce believe
that such a man as this had walked
upon the earth in flesh and blood.’
You were a mediocre student;
You were so timid and too shy;
You went to England to learn law,
To South Africa to practice!
The racial state of Africa
Had influenced your mind aright
To enter politics and fight,
And born were Satyagraha, Ahimsa!
What mattered was not skin-color,
But pangs of hunger and dolor!
What mattered was not caste or race,
But love of mankind and a smiling face!
You loved India’s poor peasantry;
You fought the British valiantly;
You led the nation brilliantly,
And won the freedom gallantly!
You fasted for the people’s sake;
You kept the freedom cry awake;
You didn’t use things of British make,
And made salt boldly with your rake!
Happy Birthday Gandhiji!
Though dead, you’re live in Indian hearts!
Your noble sacrifice on earth
Will shower Indians immense mirth!
You loved to pray to God always!
You trod the land by feet most days;
You kept the Freedom Struggle’s pace,
And won the battle against race!
Jai Hind! Jai Bharat!
Jai Gandhiji!
Copyright by Dr John Celes 2-10-2009
poem by John Celes
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Government cannot make us equal it can only recognize, respect, and protect us as equal before the law.
quote by Clarence Thomas
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Great Three
At one time when the country was ruled by creul british
there came the Tremendous three
who were on mission to make our country free
they distributed templates
to stop their mission
the british called simon commission
they knew it was test of the best
against simon they made protest
but it proved them costly
as their leader was beaten by sticks
furious by their behaviour
it was time to teach british lesson
The officer guilty deserved the punishment
it was justice
After some days
once again the british at its creulity
for their pleasure
they were going with train of treasure
the Revolutionaries decide to do justice
they steal the train
The british pass bill
which made sure that the farmers will not get justice
it was test of best
as they protest
in the Assembly they throw bomb
the british catch the tremendous three
the punishment they get is hanged till death
but fear is stranger to them
as they happily hang themselves
and they still say
long live the revolution
vande mataram
I proud to be indian
poem by Rohan Bendre
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Gideon Scheepers
There’s a Boer commandant
that proofs himself at Magersfontein
and help to beat the British there
and at Paardeberg on horseback,
rides right through them
and they cannot touch him.
When his commando
enters the Cape Colony
rail tracts are blown away
and British trains stand and wait
and there are many Cape Boers
that joins him
to fight against
the overwhelming British might.
The British give guns
to the black population
and send them to farmsteads
to murder women and children
and to rape
and to Gideon Scheepers it’s more than enough
and it hits him like a hammer blow
and every black man
that his commando catches carrying a firearm
is hanged.
Then it happens
that the British find Gideon Scheepers
lying ill in the field
and they execute him
and somewhere in the field
he is pushed into an unmarked grave
and even today
nobody knows where
Gideon Scheepers lies.
[References: The rank of Commandant is equivalent to that of Lieutenant-Colonel. The heroic story of Gideon Scheepers during the second Anglo-Boer war.]
poem by Gert Strydom
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Lord Robert's Triumphal Entry into Pretoria
'Twas in the year of 1900, and on the 5th of June,
Lord Roberts entered Pretoria in the afternoon;
His triumphal entry was magnificent to see,
The British Army marching behind him fearlessly.
With their beautiful banners unfurled to the breeze,
But the scene didn't the Boers please;
And they immediately made some show of fight,
But at the charge of the bayonet they were put to flight.
The troops, by the people, were received with loud cheers,
While many of them through joy shed joyous tears;
Because Lord Roberts from bondage had set them free,
Which made them dance and sing with glee.
Lord Roberts' march into Pretoria was inspiring to see,
It is reckoned one of the greatest achievements in our military history;
Because the Boers were watching him in front and behind,
But he scattered them like chaff before the wind.
Oh! it was a most beautiful and inspiring sight
To see the British bayonets glittering in the sunlight,
Whilst the bands played "See the conquering hero comes,"
While the people in ecstasy towards them run.
The British marched into Pretoria like the rushing tide,
And the Boers around Pretoria there no longer could abide,
Because the British at the charge of the bayonet made them run with fear,
And fly from Pretoria just like wild dear.
Then Lord Roberts cried, "Pull down the Transvaal Flag,
And hoist the Union Jack instead of the Transvaal rag;
And shout 'Britannia for ever,' and 'Long live our Queen,'
For she is the noblest Queen the world has ever seen."
Then the Union Jack was hoisted and unfurled to the breeze,
Which certainly did the Boers displease,
When they saw the Union Jack flying o'er their capital,
The sight thereof amazed them, and did them appall.
And when old Kruger saw Lord Roberts he shook with fright,
Then he immediately disguised himself and took to flight,
Leaving his poor wife in Pretoria behind,
But the British troops have treated her very kind.
Now let us all thank Lord Roberts for his great bravery,
Who has gained for the people of Pretoria their liberty,
By his skillful tactics and great generalship, be it told,
And the courage of his soldiers, who fought like lions bold.
Lord Roberts is a brave man, be it said,
Who never was the least afraid
To defend his Queen and country when called upon;
And by his valorous deeds great battles he has won.
Then success to Lord Roberts and the British Army,
May God protect them by land and by sea;
And enable them always to conquer the Boers,
And beat all foreign foes from our shores.
poem by William Topaz McGonagall
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Salmon Van As
On a night just as the moon is rising
a British officer comes by horse with a white flag
and the rifle barrels of the Boers follow him,
as they are on guard at the front post.
Evening after evening he comes
and sometimes rides past in a cloud of dust
where he is spying on their positions
and tries to lead them astray with his chattering.
With words that by now they know:
“No nation will win against us.
Surrender tonight,
as you have already lost the war.”
On a hillock Salmon van As is at the front post
and something creaks below him in the trees and bushes
where he is standing with his Mauser rifle at the ready
and he knows of the atrocities of this Englishman
where with a thunder clap he shoots at him.
Some black men run back to the British camp
to tell the story of the shot,
where a red headed major stamps his feet in anger
and swears to God to take revenge.
Convinced of his own innocence Salmon van As
stays openly on his own farm,
where he goes on with his life in Heidelberg
and just after the peace of Vereniging,
when it fits the British,
they insist on his arrest.
He is brought before a military court
where he is not given any chance to defend himself,
as probably he would have succeeded in his own defence
and the British officer says his final say.
At daylight the Lee Metford rifles of the British soldiers fire
and like Gideon Scheepers there’s a Boer that falls,
a Boer citizen is murdered by the British
and in the cliff a thorn tree on his grave still tells that story.
poem by Gert Strydom
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Thank God God Was On Our Side
When British Catholics were killing
German Catholics in World War I and II.
British Protestants Methodists Baptists
were busy killing German Protestants
Methodists Baptists in grand slaughter.
Do you think God supported the British?
Or do you think God supported Germans?
Or do you think God supported individuals?
Which country do you think enjoyed Divine Favour?
Or according to individual sins merit by merit?
Or do you think God meant it when God said.
Commanded created human race Thy Shalt Not Kill!
Do you think it might be about time we listened?
One just one among ten commandments can we keep?
poem by Terence George Craddock
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I find respect for a mediocre British composer, as opposed to a really good American, ridiculous because they automatically respect a composer if he's from England.
quote by John Corigliano
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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To Arms! (II)
Now let the cry, ``To Arms! To Arms!''
Go ringing round the world;
And swift a wave-wide Empire swarms
Round Battleflag unfurled!
Wherever glitters Britain's might,
Or Britain's banner flies,
Leap up mailed myriads with the light
Of manhood in their eyes;
Calling from farmstead, mart, and strand,
``We come! And we! And we!
That British steel may hold the land,
And British keels the sea!''
From English hamlet, Irish hill,
Welsh hearths, and Scottish byres,
They throng to show that they are still
Sons worthy of their sires:
That what these did, we still can do,
That what they were, we are,
Whose fathers fought at Waterloo,
And died at Trafalgar!
Shoulder to shoulder see them stand,
Wherever menace be,
To guard the lordship of the land
And the Trident of the sea.
Nor in the parent Isle alone
Spring squadrons from the ground;
Canadian shore and Austral zone
With kindred cry resound:
``From shimmering plain and snow-fed stream,
Across the deep we come,
Seeing the British bayonets gleam,
Hearing the British drum.
Foot in the stirrup, hilt in hand,
Free men, to keep men free,
All, all will help to hold the land
While England guards the sea!''
Comrades in arms, from every shore
Where thundereth the main,
On to the front they press and pour
To face the rifles' rain;
To force the foe from covert crag,
And chase them till they fall,
Then plant for ever England's Flag
Upon the rebel wall!
What! Wrench the Sceptre from her hand,
And bid her bow the knee!
Not while her Yeomen guard the land,
And her ironclads the sea!
poem by Alfred Austin
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Mahatma Gandhi
A great person of peace,
Who to all wars called a cease,
And who prevented bloodshed,
And who India to freedom led.
A lawyer who was in Africa,
And who racial discrimination saw,
He solved the problem there,
And then, he, Indian problems laid bare.
He fought using non-violence,
In senseless people he put sense,
He led India to greatness,
And he India thus did bless.
He pushed the British out of our land,
To the ordinary people he lent a hand,
A greater person never did walk this earth,
To a greater person never did India give birth.
A great solver of problems he was,
He was never at a loss,
To give an answer to problematic questions,
He was the only one to say no to guns.
poem by Pratheek Praveen
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Wars In Queen Victorias Reign
We will now sing in thoughtful strain
Of wars in Queen Victoria's reign,
The Russian Bear did ages lurk
All ready for to spring on Turk,
For Russian Statesmen did divine
That they should conquer Constantine;
But like a Grey hound after Hare,
The Lion did drive back the Bear,
And made it feel the British rule,
At gates of strong Sebastapool,
Then insolent was Persia,
Till Lion had to dictate law;
And while engaged in scenes like these,
He was attacked by the Chinese.
And for this outrage all so wanton
He then resolved to seize on Canton,
But soon there came a dismal cry
Of slaughtered Britons from Delhi;
The Bengal Tiger, sick with gore,
Did tremble at the Lion's roar,
But Briton's got a serious shock
By losing of brave Havelock,
But Campbell, 'mid a numerous foe,
Full quick these armied hordes did o'erthrow
In Abyssinian dungeons vile
Lay captives of Great Britain's Isle,
But soon the tyrant Theodore
Lay sadly weltering in his gore.
The savage tribes of Ashanteee
From British troops did quickly flee.
In Afgan and Zulu wars
Many did find their deadly scars.
In the land of the Pharaohs
The Christians suffered cruel woes,
Till in Alexandria Bay
The British iron clads did display
The mighty power they did wield,
While their steel sides from harm did shield
And British army on the land
Marched bravely o'er the burning sand,
And Arabi found 'twas useless labor
His strong trench of Tel-el-Kebir.
Egyptians did not wish to feel
In their breast cold British steel.
Their great power was soon laid low
And Wolseley entered Grand Cairo.
Egyptians now no more revile
The Christians on the Banks of Nile.
We here have sung three heroes' names,
Havelock from the land of Thames,
And Campbell from the banks of Clyde,
And Wolseley from Liffey's side.
When rose, thistle, shamrock unite;
They do prove victors in the fight.
Now Britain once more does command
Respect alike on sea and land.
But now may wars forever cease
And mankind ever live in peace.
poem by James McIntyre
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