Gettysburg Directive

GETTYSBURG DIRECTIVE

a ghastly battle

272
painstaking
words

"my little speech"

revered,

"deep in feeling,
compact in thought
and expression,
and tasteful
and elegant in every word
and comma."

derided,

"The cheek
of every American
must tingle
with shame
as he reads the
silly, flat and dishwatery
utterances of the man
who has to be pointed out
to intelligent foreigners
as the President of the United States."

a house
divided.

flat? silly? dishwater?

or
a gripping plea?

compelling us
to carry on

despite
ourselves

his
masterpiece
born of grief
Lincoln’s reminder

“the world will little note,
nor long remember
what we say here…"

relevant?

breathe new life
into words
we thought we knew
(we ought
to know)
we ought to
live

“We are met
on a great
battlefield
of that war.”