Dear David f.,

I chose that particular verse out of Dryden's "Alexander's Feast," because of the anti-war sentiment contained in the words. The same criteria was applied in the verse I selected by Christopher Marlowe.

Thomas Hardy in 'The Man he Killed' puts it at the level of the common soldier:

Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have set us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!

But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place.

I shot him dead because--
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That's clear enough; although

He thought he'd 'list, perhaps,
Off-hand like--just as I--
Was out of work--had sold his traps--
No other reason why.

Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You'd treat, if met where any bar is,
Or help to half a crown.

Dear David f.,

The historian can establish that an act took place on a certain day, but this, by historical standards, constitutes only chronology or, "factology." The moment the historian begins to look critically at motivation, circumstances, context, or any other such considerations, the product becomes unacceptable for one or another camp of readers.

As Napoleon said, "History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon."

Absolutely, Lexi. That also goes for biographers.
All hail Herodotus!

love the words...lexey

but its squers queer words
that rings in me ear

""All hail Herodotus""

hero-dot/us
hero dotage
dont dote on heroes

funny word that
begins with 'hero'

much like words ending with the oath 'el'...good*[god]

must be a bit of creativity
behind that hero...*''honour''

what gives?

the true hero
is he who holds his peace
when the whole world goes insane again

Dear Lexi,

One cannot even always establish facts. The Battleship Maine blew up in Havana harbour on 15 February, 1898. The enquiry concluded that a mine set under the ship blew it up. If it is a was true that a mine did it who placed the mine there will probably remain unknown. The US used the explosion as justification for the Spanish-American War. The identity of the agant placing the mine if there was a mine placed will probably remain unknown.