The American Spectator : Old Ironsides Redux

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Old Ironsides Redux

By Lawrence Henry on 8.22.08 @ 12:07AM

Reflections on life amid another devastating setback.

(Page 3 of 4)

br> And waves were white below, br> No more shall feel the victor's tread, br> Or know the conquered knee; -- br> The harpies of the shore shall pluck br> The eagle of the sea! /blockquote> br> Joe has had to learn a lot from this stanza. What does "knelt" mean? What does "vanquished" mean? What does the poet mean by "the flood"? What does it mean when waves are white? What is a "victor"? What about "conquered knee"? What is a "harpy"?

That's a lot of intellectual heft for an eight-year-old. It was hard enough teaching him about "ensign" and "banner."

For me, I think of "no more." In one of the most disturbing pieces of news from my transplant coordinator, she hinted that my donor perhaps would not work out, that, in effect, I would be untransplantable.

I can have an even worse day than the one I had last week. Sunday found me in the hospital with a bad dose of peritonitis. It will mean at least a three-week further delay in the transplant process, and may spell "no more" to the entire undertaking.

p> WE NOW GET AS FAR AS THE FIRST HALF of the last stanza: br> /p> blockquote>Oh, better that her shattered hulk br> Should sink beneath the wave;

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topics:
Hollywood, Constitution, NATO

About the Author

Lawrence Henry writes every week from North Andover, Massachusetts.

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