| Roland |
Ah, Durendal, fair, hallowed and devote,
What store of relics lie in thy hilt of gold!
St. Peter's tooth, St. Basil's blood, it holds,
Hair of my lord St. Denis, there enclosed,
Likewise a piece of Blessed Mary's robe;
To Paynim hands 'twere sin to let you go;
You should be served by Christian men alone,
Ne'er may you fall to any coward soul!
Many wide lands I conquered by your strokes
For Charles to keep whose beard is white as snow,
Whereby right rich and mighty is his throne. |
Mea culpa; Thy mercy, Lord, I beg
For all the sins, both the great and the less,
That e'er I did since first I drew my breath
Unto this day when I'm struck down by death. |
|
Epic Poem: Song of Roland, Turold?, 12th century |
|
For more information:
Song of Roland
Background Information
Song of Roland,
e-text version |
 |
Recommended reading:
Song
of Roland |
| Salome |
| "Ah! I have kissed your mouth, Iokanaan, I have kissed
your mouth. Your lips had a bitter taste. Was it the taste
of blood? . . . Perhaps it was the taste of love. They say
that love has a bitter taste. . . . But what does it matter?
What does it matter? I have kissed your mouth." |
|
Play: Salome, Oscar Wilde, 1896 |
|
For more information:
A Synopsis of
Salome |
|
Recommended reading:
Salome
and Under the Hill by Oscar Wilde, illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley |
| Sullivan,
Rocky (actor - James Cagney) |
| "Oh, I don't wanna die! Oh, please. I don't
wanna die! Oh, please. Don't let me burn. Oh, please.
Let go of me. Please." |
|
Movie: Angels with Dirty Faces, 1938 |
|
For more information:
Angels with Dirty Faces
at the Greatest Movies |
 |
Recommended viewing:
Angels
with Dirty Faces starring James Cagney |
| Traherne,
Judy (actress - Bette Davis) |
| "Is that you, Martha? . . . I don't want to be
disturbed." |
|
Movie: Dark Victory, 1939 |
|
For more information:
Dark Victory
at the Greatest Movies |
|
Recommended viewing:
Dark
Victory starring Bette Davis |
| Usher,
Roderick |
| "We have put her in the tomb! Said I not
that my senses were acute? I now tell you that I heard her
first feeble movements in the hollow coffin. I heard them--many,
many days ago--yet I dared not--I dared not speak! And now--to-night--Ethelred--ha!
ha!--the breaking of the hermit's door, and the death-cry of the dragon,
and the clangor of the shield--say, rather, the rending of her coffin,
and the grating of the iron hinges of her prison, and her struggles with
the coppered archway of the vault! Oh! whither shall I fly?
Will she not be here anon? Is she not hurrying to upbraid me for
my haste? Have I not heard her footstep on the stair? Do I not distinguish
that heavy and horrible beating of her heart? Madman! Madman!
I tell you that she no stands without the door!" |
|
Short Story: "The Fall of the House of Usher," Edgar Allan
Poe, |
|
For more information:
The Complete
On-line Works of Edgar Allan Poe |
|
Recommended reading:
The
Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan P |
| Valjean,
Jean |
| "You will weep for me a little, will you not?
Not too much. I do not wish you to have any deep grief. . . .
My children, you will not forget that I am a poor man, you will have me
buried in the most convenient piece of ground under a stone to mark the
spot. That is my wish. No name on the stone. . . . So I am
going away, my children. Love each other dearly always. There
is scarcely anything else in the world but that: to love one another. .
. . Think of me a little. You are blessed creatures.
I do not know what is the matter with me, I see a light. come nearer.
I die happy. Let me put my hands upon your beloved heads." |
|
Novel: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, 1862 |
|
Recommended reading:
Les
Miserables by Victor Hugo |
|
Recommended viewing:
Les
Miserables starring Liam Neeson |
 |
Recommended listening:
Les
Miserables (original London cast recording) |
| Wicked
Witch of the West (actress - Margaret Hamilton) |
| Movie: "You cursed brat. Look what you've done.
I'm melting! Melting! Oh, what a world! What a world! Who would have thought
a good little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness." |
| Children's Book: "See what you've done!
In a minute I shall melt away. . . . Didn't you know water would
be the end of me? . . . . Well, in a few minutes I shall be all melted,
and you will have the castle to your self. I have been wicked in
my day, but I never thought a little girl like you would ever be able to
melt me and end my wicked deeds. Lookout--here I go!" |
|
Children's Book: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank
Baum, 1900
Movie: The Wizard of Oz, 1939 |
|
For more information:
The Wizard of Oz
at Greatest Movies
The
Wizard of Oz, e-text version of Baum's children's book |
|
Recommended reading:
The
Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The
Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum |
|
Recommended viewing:
The
Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland
The
Wizard of Oz (silent film from 1925) |
| Wilson
(actor - Jack Palance) |
| "Prove it." |
|
Movie: Shane, 1953 |
|
For more information:
Shane at Greatest
Movies |
|
Recommended viewing:
Shane
starring Alan Ladd |
| Winter,
Lady de |
| "D'Artagnan! d'Artagnan! remember that I have
love you. I am lost! I must die! . . . Where am
I to die?" |
|
Novel: The Three Musketeers, Alexander Dumas |
|
For more information:
Alexandre Dumas |
|
Recommended reading:
The
Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas |
|
Recommended viewing:
The
Three Musketeers starring Richard Chamberlain, Christopher Lee,
and many others
The
Four Musketeers starring Richard Chamberlain, Christopher Lee,
and many others |
| Zaroff,
General |
| "I see. Splendid! One of us is to furnish
a repast for the hounds. The other will sleep in this very excellent
bed. On guard, Rainsford." |
|
Short Story: "The Most Dangerous Game," by Richard Connell, 1924? |
|
"The Most Dangerous
Game," e-text version |
|
