I came to bury the martyrs, not to praise them

By Tenzin Dhargyal


Tenzin Dhargayl / file photo
Author's note: This is a changed version of Mark Anthony’s Speech. Apologies for the breach of copyright act. It all just came up when I was teaching "Mark Anthony's Speech" to the students in my school.

Friends, world people and Countrymen, Lend me your ears
I came to bury the martyrs, not to praise them
The single act of self immolation they do lives after them
But the good is oft deterred with their bones
So let it be with the martyrs
The noble Hu Jintao says, they are splittists
If it were so, it was a grievous fault
And grievously had they answered it
Here under the leave of Hu Jintao and the rest
For Hu Jintao is an honorable men, so are they all, all honorable
Come I to speak in martyrs’ funeral
They were my friends, compassionate and God fearing
( yet Hu Jintao says they were terrorists
And Hu Jintao is an honorable man)
They hath burned their own bodies not others
Did this in martyrs seem terrorist?
When the world carried guns and bombs
Our martyrs carried rosaries
Terrorists should be made of sterner stuff
(Yet Hu Jintao says they were terrorists
And Hu Jintao is an honorable man)
You all did see that in Tibet since 1959
Even after hellish acts of Hu Jintao and the rest
Not a single bullet was fired back. Were they terrorists?
(Yet Hu Jintao says they were terrorists
And sure, he is an honorable man)
I speak not to disprove what Hu Jintao says
But here I am to speak what I do know
You all did love Tibet once not without a cause
What cause withhold you to speak for Tibet?
O judgment! Thou art fled to power and money
And men have lost their reason… bear with me;
My heart is there in Tibet with the martyrs,
And I must pause till it come back to me



Editor's NOTE-- Tenzin Dhargyal is a teacher at Tibetan Children's Village, Suja School. Tibet Telegraph doesn't publish poetry, only articles but this poem has been published by seeing so unique and so powerful. Follow US on   FACEBOOK // Twitter 



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11 comments:

  1. I loved this play when I was in school, and I got to study again back in college and loved that.. Still looking forward to read that play once more. Thanks for the lovely write up. Every word in the write up carries powerful message .

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  2. Nice work, you can teach this to your students instead of the original speech. It will touch your students' hearts and moved to tears. Instead of forcing them to learn the original speech over which your students have no feeling, no clue, you can teach this one to your students, seriously.

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  3. Wow! Beautiful! Teacher embellished with the all-round beauties: body, mind and soul. Congratulations TenDhargyal la.

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  4. Teachers who have the sense of patriotism are much needed in our society especially at this critical moment when all of our brothers and sisters inside Tibet are setting themselves on fire one after another in protest against the chinese brutality since its illegal occupation of our beautiful land 'Tibet'.

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  5. The fire put 5 more Tibetans in to ash and sure it will never end as we wish!

    How many more are there, having the willingness to die than to live without the freedoms and rights, I really, am fear the sacrifice may be just a number in the Tibetan history and a sad moment to the people who have conscience. Today is the exact day that the leadership of communist party is to change in the way they set already. Tibet will not be the subject to discuss but an object to destroy in the name of "maintaining the stability”. The fire has been keeping burning in the heart of the Tibetan people long time ago, but it is out now, and it spreads in a way that never has happen in the world History to date!

    China is stupid in some ways!
    They have to think the His Holiness the 14 Dalai Lama as the solution to this issue rather a separatist whose death is the end of the Tibetan struggle. Nothing will happen that easy to an issue which lasts more than 60 solid years. It is obvious the Tibetan freedom struggle has turn its way inside Tibet nowadays, the self immolators and many who joined the demonstrations were youngsters, were educated and were the new generations of this old nation. It is wrong to keep silent and wrong to criticize the Dalai Lama and center Tibetan administration in India. China, as the big brother in the world nowadays, has to stand up for the people of its own.If no interference from outside is allowed on the soil of china, then table the issue and tackle it as it should be. Nothing is achieved so far by denying the existence of the Tibetan issue and the cultural genocide in all the minority regions. To deny the truth is lying, to lie is self destroying!

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  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. Thanks so much for going through my piece and sharing your views. We really need to feel the pain of our martyrs everyday rather than sudden out burst of emotion and then let is vanish. Its not 60 now who had immolated, it is now going on to 70s. I really fear what the out come will be after this 18th Chinese leadership change! Bod Gyalo!

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