I wanted to get this out before the Election. However, I didn't have time to write a complete analysis of the poem but I have a brief outline of some of the ideas I want to discuss eventually when I have the time to write it.
I hopefully will post the complete version of my introduction hopefully in the Video's Settings in the next month or so, so please check back then to read my personal interpretation of the meaning of the poem!
Also, check out the two political songs “I'll Be A Tory” / “Up and Waur Them A'Willie” I posted on the occasion of Election 2020 in my Channel!
Sir Henry Newbolt (1862-1938) “Vitaï Lampada" ("The Torch of Life") was written in 1892:
Outline:
Quote attributed to General Dwight Eisenhower: “The true mission of American sports is to prepare young men for war." —Dwight D. Eisenhower, c. 1952.
Why the British public school is called a public school.
The stiff upper lip, instill a form of stoicism on the students, control the emotions to have reason guide actions and thoughts and not be controlled by emotions or passions.
Rudyard Kipling's “If” poem exemplifies the stiff upper lip / British version of stoicisim.
Not to lose one's equilibrium under extreme odds but to pick oneself up and keep going out of a belief in Duty and Honor as well as Courage.
The battle described in the poem is the Battle of Abu Klea in Sudan which took place January 16-18, 1885, during the Mahdist War (1881–99).
Even though the character in the poem is now an officer and no longer a schoolboy, the poet connects his present life's profession and dire circumstances to that of his past by stating “the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks,” and that the virtues of Duty and Honor he learned as a public schoolboy, as well as love of Country, presently inform his actions and display of valor on the battlefield.
Muscular Christianity and the English public school.
Theodore Roosevelt. Still traces of Muscular Christianity today in American college football in the Notre Dame and Baylor University football programs as well as individual NFL players.
Chariots of Fire (1981) Eric Liddell the ideal Muscular Christian versus Harold Abrahams, a Jew who runs to prove his own self worth and to boost his own ego.
After the First World War. Newbolt publicly regretted he wrote this poem and was dismissive of it.
“Vitaï Lampada" ("The Torch of Life")
There's a breathless hush in the Close to-night --
Ten to make and the match to win --
A bumping pitch and a blinding light,
An hour to play and the last man in.
And it's not for the sake of a ribboned coat,
Or the selfish hope of a season's fame,
But his Captain's hand on his shoulder smote --
'Play up! play up! and play the game!'
The sand of the desert is sodden red, --
Red with the wreck of a square that broke; --
The Gatling's jammed and the Colonel dead,
And the regiment blind with dust and smoke.
The river of death has brimmed his banks,
And England's far, and Honour a name,
But the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks:
'Play up! play up! and play the game!'
This is the word that year by year,
While in her place the School is set,
Every one of her sons must hear,
And none that hears it dare forget.
This they all with a joyful mind
Bear through life like a torch in flame,
And falling fling to the host behind --
'Play up! play up! and play the game!'
Sir Henry Newbolt (1862-1938)
