I'm not sure where the post title originates; looking it up on Google brought up several references to pop songs, and I'm sure it's older than that. There are also references to Frederick Forsythe's novel, and quite a few people seem to use it as a quote. I thought it might be The Bard himself, but that is possibly a red herring, or at least a mis-quote......but I digress!
I just wanted to say that school starts for me again tomorrow, and the madness begins again! Oh well, at least I didn't have to go back on Monday, like Leutgeb!
It's a paraphrase of Hamlet:
ReplyDelete"Cry havoc! and let slip the dogs of war".
Cry Havock and let slip the dogs of war,
ReplyDeleteThat this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial
(Mark Antony, soliloquy over the body of Julius Caesar)
I'm not a smart alec - I just recall it from O Level English. The Jesuits were excellent teachers.
" ... And Caesar's spirit, raging for revenge,
ReplyDeleteWith Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice
Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war,
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial ... "
said by Mark Antony - from Julius Caesar Act 3, scene 1
Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act III Scene 1,
ReplyDeleteMark Anthony's soliloquy at the end of his funeral oration for Caesar:
"Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines, with a monarch's voice,
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial!"
(I thought it was Julius Caesar, but asked my son--who starts university tomorrow--and he not only confirmed it but quoted it right off.
Well, I used to be able to recite it myself at one time . . .)
Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteIt could well be a misquote of the Bard:
ReplyDelete"Cry havoc! And let slip the dogs of war!"
Two days in to term, no lessons yet taught .... but slept for 10 hours last night! Is it anticipation?
ReplyDeleteHeck mac I was just about to add the same ... "with a monarch's voice / Cry 'havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war" (3.1.275-6)
ReplyDeleteBut to throw in another not dissimilar from the prologue of Henry V:
Then should the warlike Harry, like himself,
Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels,
Leash'd in like hounds, should famine, sword and fire
Crouch for employment.
Did you snooze through Shakespeare?
'Well done class, 99% pass rate!
ReplyDelete(Puts on genuinely kind teacher face) Hilary Jane White, how often have you been told you to check your work before handing it in, particularly in a public examination.'
Ah me! 'There's many a true word spoken in jest.' How, where does that come from?!
Teach me to look things up.
ReplyDeleteJust cry God for Mac, England and St George!
ReplyDeleteHilary Jane Margaret:
ReplyDeleteYou didn't spot my two 'deliberate mistakes'!