Churchill

by Dave Bradley

Thursday 1st October 2009 10:52 pm

Obstreperous, cantankerous

Obnoxious, pugnacious,

Audacious,

Surprisingly gracious.

Tigerish, liverish

Arming, alarming

then disarming

and charming

No saint, never faint

Morale booster, crowing rooster,

Motivation of the nation,

Inspiration

Whisky-drinking, clear-thinking

Bricklaying, myth slaying

Always saying

Never give in

Never ever give in.

Rejected: heart-sore son of a distant father

Respected: beloved son of a grateful nation

A man on whom the world turned.

Comments

Isobel

Thu 22nd Oct 2009 21:43

Thanks for allowing me to perform this at the Tudor Dave. I hadn't appreciated just how well crafted and powerful it was until I decided to read it - a great man and a great poem. x

Jeff Dawson

Thu 22nd Oct 2009 20:37

Hi Dave, a great tribute to a great man, well put together, hope to see ya soon Jeff

Horace Thespider

Tue 20th Oct 2009 19:06

hello dave
thanks for your comment on here there and everywhere. You summed up the poem pretty well.Life is a beautiful and sometimes frightening thing.
good luck

Isobel

Fri 2nd Oct 2009 18:27

Like this one Dave - for once, I'll leave it at that.

Cynthia Buell Thomas

Fri 2nd Oct 2009 12:14

Excellent. One of the best ever posted on this site, and one of the best I've ever read .. period.

darren thomas

Fri 2nd Oct 2009 10:42

OoooOOOOOOooooOOOOo, yes.

Nichola Burrows

Fri 2nd Oct 2009 10:21

At last, haha. The long awaited Churchill - (did you read all 800 pages that quick - or cheat and skim read?) - it was worth the wait!

Particularly liked the last lines, and the juxtaposition of rejected and respected, emphasises the relationship between power and pain.

Enjoyed this very much dave.

Anthony Emmerson

Fri 2nd Oct 2009 00:09

Hi Dave,Glad you posted this as a result of the discussion thread. I was fortunate to be able to visit Chartwell a few weeks ago. Being there had a very strange and moving effect on me - I don't mind admitting the atmosphere there had me in tears. Churchill was a very complex character; a natural Tory but instigated the installation of pit-head baths for the miners. Certainly a long way from Thatcherism. Walking through the house I could feel the gravity of all those monumental decisions that had been made there, with millions of lives in the balance. Such a huge sense of responsibility, largely on the shoulders of one man. He was certainly an eccentric, in the finest tradition. Huge intellect and vocabulary, shameless romantic, and a sharp and incorrigible sense of humour. If ever there was a perfect example of "Cometh the hour . . ." etc it was most definitely Winston Spencer Churchill. I felt you captured it all here, with both economy and precision. Very well done.

Regards,
A.E.

<Deleted User> (5646)

Thu 1st Oct 2009 23:37

I love this version of a historical character.
It's so simple yet says a lot.

Nice one Dave.
Janet.x

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Churchill

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