We Will Remember Them

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,

England mourns for her dead across the sea.

Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,

Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal

Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,

There is music in the midst of desolation

And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,

Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;

They sit no more at familiar tables of home;

They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;

They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,

Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,

To the innermost heart of their own land they are known

As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,

Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;

As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,

To the end, to the end, they remain.

Here's to all those who lost their lives in past conflict, and recent conflict. To those who died protecting their country. On 11th November, at 11am 1918 the armistice was signed and ever since we have taken two minutes silence at 11am to remember the fallen of past and present conflict. I myself have had family fight in both world wars, as well as the recent Afghanistan conflict, so personally I believe that today should be a day of thought and reflection.

Thank you.

Les We Forget.

In Memory Of Hasan - Art Historian Extraordinaire and Fantastic Friend.

It is with a heavy heart that I write today's post. I came online this morning only to find out that my dear friend Hasan Niyazi, author of the fantastic Renaissance and Art History blog "Three Pipe Problem" has sadly passed away. This was a huge shock, as I was only talking with him on twitter last week about my plans for my week off and he was looking forward to seeing photographs of the places I had planned to visit.

Hasan's blog was one of the first I found when I started LBM, and we connected through our love of Renaissance history and our "mythbusting" over The Borgias. He was a delight to speak to, and his research spoke volumes of his passion and love for the Renaissance and all things art history. Truth be told, Hasan was, and still is, a complete inspiration to me and I shall continue to use his blog and his work not only for my own research but to keep his memory alive. It was clear from the moment that I first started talking to Hasan that his passion lay in the Renaissance, and I remember him commenting on my photo of me next to Raphael's tomb. We often discussed Italian art, and I was always in awe over his love and passion for Raphael. His story of how his tour guide in Rome let him in the Pantheon on his own to save the rest of the group his flailing always made me crack up. 

Hasan, my dear friend. You will be sorely missed not only by me but by your friends and readers. My heart goes out to your family. I wish we had been able to speak more, although when we did it was always a pleasure. Thank you for inspiring me to keep this blog going, thank you for being such a good friend. I will miss you and will always remember you.

I may never have had the chance to meet Hasan, and despite the fact that we lived half a world apart I considered him (and still do) an amazing friend, a colleague and an inspiration.

May you rest in peace, my friend. Next time I'm in Italy? The trip shall be dedicated to you.