Mae West
1892 -1980
88 years
"Diamonds are a girls best friend"
Mae west was heard to say,
which indicates that avarice
was common in her day.
A blonde who was notorious
for statements most dramatic
and also for appendages that
some might call pneumatic.
A flouting of the moral code
was her main claim to fame.
"Come up & see me,sometime",
was a quote that bore her name.
Throughout the age of cinema
these ladies come & go.
There's famous Dolly Parton
and Marilyn Monroe.
While 15 minutes fame is all
that comes to you & me.
These fair and shapely ladies
will go down in history.
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William Shakespere
1564-1616
52 years
23rd of April in 1564 William
Shakespere saw the light of day,
and 52 years later after writing all that verse.
It was the date he also passed away.
His output was prodigious
and here to name a few
The Tempest, Hamlet and Mc Beth
Alls well and Much Ado
King Lear and As you like it,
Romeo & Juliet, Othello, Julius
Caesar.
These all kept him out of
debt.
Stratford upon Avon was the place he loved to be,
with his wife Anne Hathaway
and all his family.
He opened up a theatre called the
"Globe",and still they say
shakesperean actors strut the stage
repeating every play.
What better epitaph could be
to one who was the best.
"Good night sweet prince,
may
flights of angels sing thee to
thy rest".
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Hannibal
247-182Bc
65 years
Now Hannibal was famous
when he fought the might of Rome.
He never was defeated,
and
he called New Carthage home.
In 218 bc he even crossed the Pyrenees,
then reached the Rhone
and fought the Gauls
and brought
them to their knees.
He crossed the Alps in 15 days
despite the cold & wet.
Then decimated all the Roman legions that he met'
With 37 elephants advancing
in the war. His enemy would flee
from sights they'd never seen before.
He overcame the celtic tribes
he forced them from their home,
and then conscripted them to fight
as though they were his own.
He won the Punic wars and
then he faltered in his mission.
The size of his almighty force was beaten by attrition.
His so called allies scorned him.
After many years of strife,
refusing to surrender
he (with poison) took his life.
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Fred
Astaire
1899-1987
88years
Fred Astaire the dancer and his sister named Adele
Gained Broadway fame in nineteen
seventeen.
And then when she retired in nineteen thirty two.
Miss Ginger Rogers came upon the
scene .
In "Flying down to Rio" they
both starred for the first time,
and later movies proved
that when they danced
they were sublime.
When Fred retired from the stage
in nineteen seventy.
9 emmys he'd acquired from his
dancing on T.V.
Judy Garland, Cyd Charisse and
Audery Hepburn too, were others
that he partnered. We know this to be true.
There's half an "Ali "statement
that says "I sting like a Bee"
but "Floating like a butterfly"
means Fred Astaire to me.
***************************
Dwight D.
Eisenhower
1890-1969
79 years
Dwight Eisenhower graduated at age 25.
West Point Academy was then his home.
In 1939 Macarthur took him as an aide.
Then General Mashall had him on his own.
When operation "Overlord" in
nineteen forty four
required co-ordination
some thought maybe he was raw.
But as supreme commander
of the Allied high command
d-day the sixth of June went
just exactly as they planned.
Then when the war was over
politics was next in store.
As president elect he would be
number thirty four.
In 1952 he was elected to the job
and then in '56 he won the same.
In '69 he died, but now the slogan that he left.
"I like Ike" forever will remain.
***************************
Albert
Einstein
1879-1955
76 years
Energy equates with mass when
speed of light is squared.
This is something physics
shows in school.
When Albert Einstein postulated
this could be a fact.
His peers told him that he was just a fool.
They also argued with him in
debates on space and time and
something he called relativity.
They could not seem to grasp
the benefits that could accrue
to ordinary folk like you & me.
His childhood class mates
used to think that he was not too bright.
They'd ostracise him or
they'd try to keep him out of sight.
But when he'd grown this professor proved
to be so wise
in 1921 he had the phycics
Nobel prize.
In '33 he had to flee from
Berlin (Hitlers town)
He came to the united States.
and there he settled down.
His shocking head of snow white hair
deserved appreciation,
for all the knowledge that he shared
to help protect the nation.
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Abraham
Lincoln
1809-1865
66 years
Abe Lincoln was a humble man
both kind and honest too.
and freeing all the slaves he thought
was what he had to do.
He entered politics when
Mary Todd became his bride.
As 16th president he represented
yankee pride.
He tried to broker peace but
neither party would agree.
The yankees proffered general
Grant, the south had General Lee.
Fort Sumpter was the place the civil war
was then begun and this was closely followed by the battle of Bull Run.
Honest abe @ gettysburg .com
was his address
where government of, by & for the
people first was stressed.
When finally the turmoil had ceased in every town.
It would take another 100 years to settle down.
Ford's theatre was the place
the President would not survive.
He died upon Good Friday April
eighteen sixty five'
An actor, John Wilkes Booth,
was the assassin at the site.
and he had changed the future of
America that night.
So may all men of vision
ever seek the holy grail
and we will see that liberty
forever will prevail.
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Neil Armstrong
1930----?
73 yrs
(and counting)
Neil Armstrong was a famous astronaut
who flew in space
and was the first
to stand upon the moon.
As rocketry advanced and astral
sciences progressed.
He knew
momentous things would happen soon.
He practised with the "Gemini"
until that fateful day, when Houston
gave the signal & he was on his way.
An uneventful trip until he
reached earth's satellite.
Then started sending pictures back
that filled us with delight.
"That's one small step for man,
but one great leap for all mankind"
the famous words that Neil was heard to say.
When he stepped from the eagle
in nineteen sixty nine.
Apollo was in history to stay.
The race for space has faltered now,
but NASA still exists.
the shuttle's now their focus that's
for sure.
But glorious achievements such as his
will never die, and men like him
will live forever more.
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Enrico Caruso
1873-1921
48 years
Caruso was an operatic tenor of renown
and of Italian parentage
when born in Naples town.
His first name was Enrico
and from an early age,
his peers all knew that he would do
great things upon the stage.
As 18th out of 20 siblings
he found it a pain remembering
just who was who when ere
he used a name.
La Scala in Milan became the place for his debut
and La Boheme showed opera buffs
a talent that was new.
His bookings took him round the world
to almost every nation
and he became accustomed
to a thunderous ovation.
His hats became a symbol
from Madrid to ancient Rome.
until he found his style was being worn by Al Capone.
His were the first recordings
of the opera so they say.
and these are still available for dilettantes to play.
He opened at the New York Met.
and yearly was the rage, till 17
years later he retired from the stage.
Performance six oh seven
was the number at that time
and critics said his voice that night
was utterly sublime.
He finally died in Naples in 1921.
At 48 a voice so great that hardly had begun.
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Sir Winston
Churchill
1875-1965
90 years
Winston Churchill first sought fame
and suffered some distress
as boer war correspondent
in the British evening press.
And then he was home secretary,
munitions chief as well.
LLoyd George put him in charge
of things when tank production fell.
Between the 2 world wars he was
frustrated in his dream.
Until
"peace in our time"
took Neville
Chamberlin from the scene.
Churchill formed a coaliton
as the storm clouds grew,
then as P.M. led Britain
as it entered world war 2.
His charismatic character
an oratorial power contributed to
what became Great Britain's finest hour.
His homburg hat, his big cigar,
his finger sign of V,
was what endeared him to the people
longing to be free.
This grand old bulldog warrior
stood down from history's stage,
then painted in retirement till
ninety years of age.