“And raw in fields the rude militia swarms,
Mouths without hands; maintain'd at vast expense,
In peace a charge, in war a weak defence;
Stout once a month they march, a blustering band,
And ever but in times of need at hand.”
Source: Fables, Ancient and Modern (1700), Cymon and Iphigenia, Line 400.
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
John Dryden 196
English poet and playwright of the XVIIth century 1631–1700Related quotes
Nythod ddwyn, cyd nithud ddail,
Ni'th dditia neb, ni'th etail,
Na llu rhugl, na llaw rhaglaw,
Na llafn glas na llif na glaw.
"Y Gwynt" (The Wind), line 13; translation by Joseph P. Clancy, from Gwyn Jones (ed.) The Oxford Book of Welsh Verse in English (Oxford: OUP, 1977) p. 39.
Presidency (1977–1981), 1977
"To Lucasta on Going to the War — For the Fourth Time"
Fairies and Fusiliers (1917)
Context: Let statesmen bluster, bark and bray,
And so decide who started
This bloody war, and who's to pay,
But he must be stout-hearted,
Must sit and stake with quiet breath,
Playing at cards with Death.
Don't plume yourself he fights for you;
It is no courage, love, or hate,
But let us do the things we do;
It's pride that makes the heart be great;
It is not anger, no, nor fear —
Lucasta he's a Fusilier,
And his pride keeps him here.
“A handful of men, inured to war, proceed to certain victory, while on the contrary numerous armies of raw and undisciplined troops are but multitudes of men dragged to slaughter.”
Etenim in certamine bellorum exercitata paucitas ad uictoriam promptior est, rudis et indocta multitudo exposita semper ad caedem.
Book 1
De Re Militari (also Epitoma Rei Militaris), Book I, "The Selection and Training of New Levies"
“May no rude hand deface it,
And its forlorn Hic jacet!”
Ellen Irwin, or the Braes of Kirtle, st. 7 (1800).
Lyrical Ballads (1798–1800)
Source: How to Become President (1940), Ch. 1 : Government jobs pay big money
Context: As we walk hand in hand through the pathways of knowledge, remember that I am giving you freely and without stint the full accumulation of my two months’ experience as a candidate. I have on file a complete record of everything I’ve said and done. Ever since I threw my hat in the ring I have had myself shadowed, and the results were very entertaining. The things that go on in those back rooms, you wouldn’t believe.
So now we begin our journey together. If you follow these instructions carefully, you will find that every step of your progress, like the path that climbs up and up from the sheltered valley, offers you an ever-wider and more facinating vista, until at last you come out upon the summit of the wrong hill.
Second Week, First Day, Part iv.
La Seconde Semaine (1584)