Speech to the Troops at Tilbury
Background
Back in the 16th century, the balance of power across nations was unlike what it is today. Spain and Portugal were undoubtedly the new masters due to their large colonial possessions in the New and Old World. Spain dominated over the lands comprising of the Greater Antilles, Mexico, and Peru and initiated a lucrative trade system spanning the Atlantic. The wealth generated by and taken from these colonies was shipped across the Atlantic to finance the Spanish Crown and it did not go unnoticed. English and French privateers (government-sanctioned pirates) would attack such ships to seize their wealth for their own states. A notable privateer was Sir Francis Drake who also circumnavigated the world. His royal reception angered the Spanish who saw him as a pirate seizing the wealth from Spanish ships.
Another major event that took place during this time was the Protestant reformation. The reformation movement spread across Europe, removing the dominance that the Catholic church had over Europe. Several states such as Spain led by Phillip the II (1527 – 1598) from 1556 to 1598 remained Catholic, while others such as England gradually became Protestant.
It was during this political, religious, and social background that Queen Elizabeth I came into prominence. The Protestant reformation in England was not a smooth transition. Religious reformations that began previously were hindered by King Edward VI‘s
death in 1553. His plan of succession failed to materialize, and so Mary I of England, (1553 to 1558) ascended to the throne. Being Catholic, she tried to initiate a vigorous Catholic recovery in England and to thwart the growing Protestant movement that would be a threat to her rise in power. To secure her reign and the Catholic dominance in England, she married King Philip II of Spain, a foreigner. The marriage was an unpopular one with many English opposed to it. Unfortunately, it was unable to secure her an heir as she died in 1558 due to illness, childless. Thus Elizabeth I, a protestant ascended to the English throne. The Catholic church opposed her rule, stating that she was illegitimate.
of Spanish-English relations. The execution of Mary also ended any hopes for a Catholic ruler in England. This led to Philip II declaring war and assembling the huge Spanish Armada to invade England, overthrow Elizabeth I, and return the country to Catholicism. It was against this backdrop of events that Queen Elizabeth I established herself as a strong and determined ruler.
The Invasion and the Speech
Two forces were assembled for the invasion. A primary force that set out from Lisbon under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia and a secondary force from the Spanish Netherlands led by Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma. The plan was for the Armada to significantly reduce English Naval resistance so that the Parma forces stationed in the Spanish Netherlands could use the cover of the warships to convey their army across the Channel to a location near London. Overall an invasion force of nearly 55,000 soldiers, a huge army was expected to attack.
-By Jayath De Silva
King Philip II wished to maintain his ties with England and sent a marriage proposal to Queen Elizabeth. However, she eventually rejected it. Despite there being a Protestant on the English throne, for a time, there was peace between the two powers. However, the alliance between England and the Protestant rebels in the Spanish Netherlands and the piracy of English ships against the Spanish threatened the peace. Further, all was not as it seemed, as Spain supported a plot to restore Catholicism to England by deposing/ assassinating Elizabeth and getting Mary, Queen of Scots (a Catholic) on the throne.
Eventually, the stresses of religious differences and the Treaty of Nonsuch signed by Elizabeth I supporting the Dutch rebels against the Spanish led to the deterioration
While the English Navy dealt with the Armada at sea, a 4,500 strong militia force was assembled near the West Tilbury, Essex to defend the Thames Estuary against any land invasions upriver towards London. It was here that Elizabeth I delivered her famous speech to the troop assembled at Tilbury. She famously appeared to walk among her subjects whilst clad in a silver cuirass (a type of armour), mounted on a grey horse
My loving people.
We have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery; but I assure you I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear. I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and goodwill of my subjects; and therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust.
I know I have the body but of a weak,
2 The Gavelier
Queen Elizabeth I at Tilbury
feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.
I know already, for your forwardness you have deserved rewards and crowns; and we do assure you on a word of a prince, they shall be duly paid. In the meantime, my lieutenant-general shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble or worthy subject; not doubting but by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over these enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people.
Elizabeth I ascended to the throne in 1558 and was Queen for only 30 years when the Armada set out in 1588. The years leading up to the Spanish Armada were tumultuous with numerous political problems that threatened her reign including the Catholic threat and the question of whom she would marry. She never married for reasons unknown, but she successfully used the situation to her own political advantage as her unmarried status inspired a cult of virginity related to that of the Virgin Mary. During the latter years of her rule, she would insist that she was married to her kingdom and subjects under divine protection. However, before she would ever make that statement, in her speech to the assembeled troops, she first makes note of her special relationship to the people of England with her first statement, My loving people, confirming the special relationship between the two parties and the place they held in her heart. She reminds the assembled troops that while she was Queen she will not be swayed by the threat of treacherous plots to usurp nor the tyranny of the Spanish
as she places her trust in God and the strength and fortitude of her people to fight to defend her and to defend England. The Queen inspires religious fervor by reminding the troops of her chaste nature, thus indirectly likening herself to the Virgin Mary. She also inspires patriotism from her people to lay down their lives England and their Queen
I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. … I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and goodwill of my subjects.
In the time Elizabeth was Queen, previous female monarchs have fallen into various misfortunes. However, she is quick to reassure her subjects that while she may be a woman she has the spirit of a King of England. She is aware of the previous trend that has affected previous rulers but she asserts her position and lets her troops know that she sees herself as both king and queen setting a new precedent for future royals. She further goes on to say that she will be the general, judge, and rewarder of those who stand by her, implying that she will be standing side by side alongside her troops in spirit even though she might not be at the battlefield.
Finally, she concludes her oration by stating her confidence in her people to achieve victory over their enemies with the support of ‘My God’ implying that they were favored by the divine to be victorious in the battle against Spain.
Elizabeth I also compares herself to her subjects. Regardless of the belief that she was favoured by God to rule and was of higher social status she makes comparisons between herself and her people. She appears before her troops clad in armour as if to lead them into battle, representing her willingness to do whatever it takes to defend England and its people. Her physical presence also reinforces her statement as she is present with her people at the site of defence and not sheltered far away in some royal enclave. She repeatedly states that she would lay down her life, her body, and soul for her honour and for England as is fit for the duty of a royal and of the common English man. In the defence of England she is not the faraway royal, commanding her pawns, but an equal amongst her men.
Elizabeth also acknowledges herself in the most famous line of her speech;
“I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a King of England, too”.
As fate would have it the invasion of England never occurs due to the successful intervention of the English navy along the channel and at the Battle of Gravelines. The defeated Armada set sail back to Spain around Scotland and Ireland and lost a number of ships as they were wrecked on the rocks and the coast of Ireland due to the strong winds. Of the roughly 18,000 (soldiers) strong invasion, only 10,000 ever made it home. A combination of bad luck, bad weather, poor planning and leadership resulted in their defeat and a massive blow to the Spanish Crown.
The defeat of the Armada and the speech made by Elizabeth to raise troop morale cemented her position as the ruler of a strong and United England. It boosted national pride and its memory was a source of strength for many of the future crises to come. The memorable speech given by Elizabeth increased her public image to an almost legendary status that grew ever larger even after her death, If there was truly an aweinspiring speech given by a woman that would be remembered for generations this truly is one of them.
3 Gavel Club of College of Chemical Sciences
The English were up against a massive Spanish Armada
Christmas Carols: A History
Christmas is unarguably one of the most festive holiday seasons celebrated by many across the globe.
Incidentally, Christmas carols are one of the more integral parts of this festive season. These Christmas songs have origins dating back as far as the 129 AD. And was first sung in Europe as Pagan songs, which were sung at the Winter Solstice celebration as people danced around stone circles. ‘Carol’ comes from the old French word ‘Carole’ which means a dance accompanied by singers. Carols used to be sung during all four seasons, but only the tradition of singing them at Christmas has really survived.
Before carol singing was popularized in churches, there were bands of people led by important local leaders such as town council leaders, who had the only power in the towns and villages to take money from the public. Others could not do this as they were sometimes charged as beggars. The carolers were called ‘Waits’, as they sang on Christmas Eve, which was sometimes known as the ‘Watch night’ or ‘Waitnight’ because the shepherds were watching their sheep when the angels appeared
to them. Christmas celebrations usually began on Christmas Eve with the Waits assembling in public spaces to perform for passers-by, who traditionally thanked them with tasty offerings of drinks or mince pies. This became known as wassailing and continues to this day.
Further, around the Victorian period, many orchestras and choirs were being set up in cities in England and people wanted Christmas songs to sing, therefore carols once again became popular in churches and concert halls.
It is traditional to sing Christmas carols in the lead-up to Christmas Day. The lead-up to Christmas is best seen as being from the start of advent, the period marked by the first of four Sundays before Christmas – until Christmas day.
The end of Christmas is usually marked by the feast of Epiphany, the day in Christianity where the revelation of the birth of Jesus is celebrated.
In the modern-day, Christmas music is played in households, and carol services are held in churches and city centers. According to experts, holiday music such as Christmas carols burrows into the sweet spot in our brain’s wiring. All music can stimulate the brain’s pleasure centers, but holiday music can evoke treasured memories on top of that. Hence, this explains the nostalgia that kicks in when Christmas music is being played. ‘Silent night’, ‘Jingle Bells’, White Christmas’, ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ are some of the most played Christmas carols in the world.
4 The Gavelier
-ByMithuniSenadeera
Carolers of Yore and Carolers Today
I may be alive
But I never breathe
Touch me exposed
And you may grieve
Over your heads and under your feet
Wrapped up, I bring no harm
When you walk over me
Who am I?
A set of words that seem so fickle A story hiding in the middle
You can think or you can scribble
Will you be able to solve our riddle?
Answer to last issue’s riddle: GLASS
Do we actually want you to annoy a large herbivore with deadly horns?
Not really.
Anagram
Nag a ram, is a word or a phrase formed by rearranging the letters of another word or a phrase. Even the ancient Greeks used them to fool their friends.
Can you figure out this Anagram?
PLAYERS
hint: The [solution] is used in roasts while the [anagram] ‘ghosts’.
Answer to last month’s Anagram: DIRTY ROOM - DORMITORY
‘The Gavelier’ Board of Editors: Anupa Somasiri
Minoli Rupasinghe
Upeksha ‘Mona’ Nilnuwani
Gimhani Jayathilake
Lasani Gunawardena
Sasanka Yakandawala
Jayath de Silva
Yohara Ranasinghe
Senan Alwis
5 Gavel Club of College of Chemical Sciences
6 The
Gavelier
What do you think Halloween is about? For most of us, it’s a night full of fun, costumes, and candy. Well, it felt the same way for Gavel CCS as well. Halloween has got rich ancient history, beliefs, and mysterious stories.
cial. So, the role players of the day had to address themselves with a unique name to make this event more immersive. The four spookmasters (aka Game Masters) were The Harbinger (Gimhani), The Omen (Nihinsa), The Darkness (Minoli), The Mysterious (Lasani), The Medium (Anupa). The rest of the roles were Time Wraiths (aka Timers) (Anupa, Minoli), and the Word Demon (aka Grammarian) (Dinushi).
All the members of the meeting were split into four groups, which promptly named themselves Lucifer’s Disciples, Squad Ghouls, Aarghfterlife, Coffin Breakers. The meeting started with a costume revealing session it was called “Who Am I?”. It was conducted by The Harbinger. I’m happy to say that most of the participants showed up with wonderful costumes. Freakishly, it gave shivers to everyone.
cessfully guessing the harder clues. Then the “Ask Me Anything” game started with the Medium. All we had to do was to think of a funny, creative, mysterious, or bizarre question to ask from the ghost. All manner of questions, from interesting ones such as “Do ghosts fall in love?” to downright weird ones such as “Can we use ghost poop as manure?” was asked by the audience. I will refrain from listing the answers, as they were quite controversial.
All the sessions were very exciting with a lot of friendly banter between the competitors. There were even heated arguments between the competitors at one point.
The 84th Educational Meeting of the Gavel Club of CCS was held on 26th October 2021 via Zoom. The theme of the meeting was Halloween. Although it was an online meeting, we were able to organize amazing team games. As I mentioned earlier 84th meeting was spe-
“The Horror Story” session was on the agenda next, conducted by The Omen. It was about building up a story. All 4 teams got 10 different words that are not related to each other which will be somewhat challenging. All we had to do was to build up a scary story using those 10 words given by The Omen.
“I Have Seen This Before“, which was conducted by The Darkness was next on the list. What we had to do was to guess the horror movie which was played 1-2 minutes on Zoom. To be honest, it literally gave me the creeps since I’m not a horror movie fan.
The next game was “Draw Me Like One of Your Demons”, conducted by me The Mysterious. For this game, two members from each team volunteered to draw and guess the word or the phrase given by myself. Each pair had 1 minute to draw and guess. They received more marks for suc-
At the end of the day team, Aarghfterlife emerged the 1st place in the Halloween games 2021 of Gavel CCS and Gav. Mona (Countess Dracula) and Gav. Janani Rajadhurai (Valak) took home the prize for the most creative costumes. Furthermore, team Squad Ghouls secured 2nd place, team Coffin Breakers secured 3rd place, and team Lucifer’s Disciples secured 4th place. At the end of the day, it was nothing but another fabulous and satisfying evening with the Gavel CCS family.
The rest of the weeks leading up to this point have been pretty uneventful for Gavel CCS, as we all had to prepare and write for our semester exams. I hope I will be able to fill up this segment with lots of items for the next issue.
By Lasani Gunawardena
7 Gavel Club of College of Chemical Sciences
Catch up on what happened at Gavel CCS!
Branching Out is a segment where one of our editors dive headfirst into topics that they have no clue about, resulting in a fresh, if not entertaining insight to the topic. Everything from Art, History and Technology to Aliens, Conspiracies, and our ruthless AI Overlords will have their turn!
Temujin
When it comes to great empires that had ruled the world; the Macedonian empire under Alexander the Great, the Roman empire, and the fairly recent British and French empires will surely come to mind. However, most often forget the largest contiguous empire that ever existed, the Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries, which at its height extended from China in the east to Poland in the west and from the great plains of Eurasia in the north to the sands of Egypt in the south.
The meteoric rise of the Mongols, from a group of nomadic tribes squabbling amongst themselves to one of the greatest empires the world had ever seen, is, without a doubt, attributed to the ruthless brilliance of one man named Temujin.
The birth of Temujin is shrouded in mystery, due to the lack of contemporary records of that time, however, it is believed that he was born in the year 1162, to a chieftain of a minor tribe in Northern Mongolia; according to The Secret History of the Mongols, he was born holding a blood-clot in his hand, a sign that he is destined to become a great leader in Mongol culture.
At the age of 12, after the death of his father at the hands of an enemy tribe, Temujin and his family was cast out, having to live the next several years in poverty, surviving on wild fruits, dead carcasses of animals, and occasionally on what Temujin and his brothers, who were raised from a young age to ride, hunt, and fight, managed to hunt.
Temujin began his ascent to power by becoming a vassal of one of his father’s former allies and in 1184 proved to be a capable warrior and battlefield commander when he led 20,000 men to save his wife who had been kidnapped by a rival tribe.
In the aftermath of this great victory, he followed a meritocratic method of reward to his subordinates, disregarding one’s birth or circumstance, resulting in him accumulating a loyal group of followers from all walks of life. Unsurprisingly Temujin’s reputation grew in leaps and bounds, culminating in him being elected as ‘Khan’ (ruler) of the Mongols two years later. However, his rule was short-lived as he was attacked and defeated by a rival in 1187 and was exiled to the Great Liao Empire in western China. The next 10 years of Temujin’s life is
again shrouded in mystery, but in 1197 he was able to reclaim his place with the assistance of the Chinese Jin Empire that rule Northern China at that time. After reclaiming power, Temujin set about bringing, by means of diplomacy or by means of the sword, all neighbouring Mongol and Turkic tribes under his banner. In his conquest of rival tribes, Temujin broke with Mongol tradition of driving away the civilians and soldiers of the defeated tribe, opting to instead assimilate them into his; each time a tribe was conquered he would take at least one wife from the defeated tribe, adopt orphans to his own family and would reward based on merit and loyalty rather than familial or tribal ties. These actions garnered him great respect and loyalty among the conquered people, making him stronger and stronger with each victory.
By 1206, Temujin and his Generals had managed to unite or subdue all other tribes in the Mongol steppe, resulting in peace between tribes that had been warring for hundreds of years, and a single political entity that united all Mongols. According to The Secret History of the Mongols, at a great council of the Chieftains, they pledged;
We will make you Khan; you shall ride at our head, against our foes.
We will throw ourselves like lightning on your enemies; we will bring you their finest women and girls, their rich tents like palaces.
From all the peoples and nations, we will bring you the fair girls and the high-stepping horses.
When you hunt wild beasts, we will drive them towards you; we will encircle them, pressing hard at their heels.
If on the day of battle, we disobey you,
8 The Gavelier
Temujin, better known as Genghis Khan
A Statue of Genghis Khan in Mongolia
take our flocks from us, our women and children, and cast our worthless heads on the steppe.
If in times of peace we disobey you, part us from our men and our servants, our wives and our sons;
Abandon us and cast us out, masterless, on the forsaken earth.
Thus, the Chieftains of the Mongols proclaimed Temujin, “Genghis Khan” –The Great Khan, ruler of all Mongols. Genghis Khan continued his expansion into neighbouring regions of China, Persia, and Eastern Europe, conquering or subjugating once great empires that had ruled over them for centuries, laying the bedrock for the further expansion of his empire by his decedents.
The unification of central and east Asia, Persia, and eastern Europe by Genghis Khan resulted in the Pax Mongolica – The Mongol Peace. It unified vast regions, some that still remain united, it brought the silk road under one political entity, established an efficient mail system known as the Yam, and improved and expanded road networks; which
greatly improved communication and trade between east and the west, it saw culture, science, and the arts flourish in all corners of the empire and beyond.
The Mongol Empire was, surprisingly, tolerant towards all religions, ensuring complete religious freedom within the empire; Shamanists, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Jews; all were free to practice their beliefs.
Even though the Mongol Empire brought the Pax Mongolica to their people, the creation of it was an enterprise of wholesale murder, rape, plunder, and destruction. The scale of the destruction wrought upon some regions the Mongols conquered was so great that it permanently altered the demographics of those regions.
The consequences of any slight against the Mongols were especially grave, as was clear in the case of the Khwarasmian Empire, which ruled Persia, Afghanistan, and the surrounding regions. The Mongol invasion of the Khwarasmian Empire, brought on by the execution of Mongol envoys by the
Shah of Khwarazmia, saw entire urban populations, in the cities of Samarkand, Bukhara, Merv, and Nishipur, massacred in one of the bloodiest wars in human history. The population of Persia was devastated to such an extent that the population did not reach pre-invasion numbers until the 1900s, 700 years after the invasion.
In any case, the empire created by Temujin would continue to expand under his decedents, bringing both destruction and progress to regions far and wide in equal measure. Even after the fracturing of the Mongol Empire, Temujin’s descendants would go on to rule over vast empires from the Yuan dynasty in China, the Ilkhanate in Persia, the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia, the Golden Horde in Eastern Europe, and even the Mughal Empire in India. The mark of the Mongols on the world, especially that of Temujin, is undeniable.
-By Sasanka Yakandawala
9 Gavel Club of College of Chemical Sciences
The vast reach of the Mongol Empire
Making Sense Out of Nonsense
A paint palette is chaos defined, with smears of paint of many a kind Yet chaos becomes order in an artist’s mind, such skill is naught but hard to find
In the previous issue of The Gavelier, this section concerned being ‘the greatest showman’, for showmanship, attention, and memorability amount to a significant weight percentage of a good evaluation. And it seemed like it was perfect to me at the time, and after reading it, I envisioned it being the greatest article in history. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I recalled a great saying by my Uncle Raheem while I was eating a bowl of the greatest ramen to ever exist, that is Maggi noodles. My mind was positively boggled, and all my aspirations, fantasies and ‘happy dreams’ shattered with a smash louder than a beaker breaking in the chemistry lab, for the wise uncle, in his raspy, asthmatic voice had said, “Being memorable is great, boy! But do you want to be remembered for all the wrong reasons?”
So, here I am once more at my computer with yet another segment after what seems like ages after the last one, for your evaluations need not only be memorable, but effective as well. With that bold statement, one might ask, “How exactly do you evaluate?” It all begins with watching and listening to the speaker. From the moment they take the stage, you ought to be watching their moves and listening to their words. It helps to have a clear mind for this occasion, it must be said, for it is one that requires focus, unwavering attention, and quick thinking. One tried and tested approach is to note down all their gestures, tones, words, techniques and keep an eye out for those subtle expressions that so often are seen but disregarded. The difficult part comes afterwards where you piece them all together, turning chaos into
order, and presenting it in a memorable way. With what little experience I have, I dare say that this method is one of the best, and most successful in terms of technicality, for it is an almost perfect way of winning evaluation competitions, or at least doing well. However, I also dare say that I almost never resort to this method since it doesn’t feel natural to me, for I believe I am a feeler, an empath, one that likes to ‘feel out’ a speech and go off how each part of it emotionally impacts me. Perhaps there are some among you readers that feel mutually, and I speak to you in the sentence that follows. Do what you are comfortable with, but do not abandon technicality, logic, and fact, just to go with what your heart tells you, for often it is akin to throwing darts in the dark. I recall one ridiculous statement I made at my AIBGS finals evaluation, which seemed to make sense to me at the time. It was one of those impulsive, intuitive feelings of mine, which I didn’t think through at all, which went something along the lines of “make your speech funnier by adding
Order from Chaos
humor, it didn’t maintain my attention in its body.” Those are the signs that show I’m no professional at this, but heartwarmingly enough I can say that we are all in this crazy evaluating journey together. What that anecdote also shows is how unreliable intuition could be sometimes.
Regardless of the method, the objective is to pick up on the impactful details of a speech and effectively deliver feedback on them to the speaker so they could speak better. However, it isn’t as easily done as told, since next comes the filtration, the sorting, or as I like to call it, ‘the culling,’ where you figure out what to say and what to keep under wraps. But that’s for another issue of The Gavelier, which I’m sure you’ll stay tuned for.
The second law of thermodynamics says everything will descend into chaos naturally, but with energy and effort, order is able to be brought about. And so will you do so, dear readers, dear evaluators. Enough rambling by myself now, I shall depart - after all, I only have so much space to write on here, right?
- By Senan Alwis
10 The Gavelier Speech
102
Evaluations
Improve your vocabulary and learn something new with “The Gavelier” Crossword.
This issue’s crossword is based on the theme of “Christmas Food”.
Fill the grid online!
Submit your answers here.
Happy hunting!
(By the way, you can find the solution for the last issue’s crossword here. See if you got it right!)
ACROSS
6 - What the non-Christmas-celebrating brown neighbor expects from those celebrating
7 - The universal christmas spice
8 - An everyday, [spongey] baked sweet treat
9 - A non veg centerpiece of a christmas dinner
11 - Heaps of these in supermarkets means Christmas is starting
12 - A representation of burning a special type of firewood symbolizing luck for the new year
DOWN
1 - Eat this and taste some liqour even if you’re a minor
2 - A thick beverage usually spiced with cinnamon and a main ingredient that isn’t usually eaten raw
3 - Small baked [pastry-based] treats stuffed with dried fruits and spice
4 - The only excuse to get ready for christmas 2 months early
5 - A year round sweet treat for cold days
10 - Thanksgiving leftovers
Theme: Christmas Food
11 Gavel Club of College of Chemical Sciences
The Voice of a Brook
The lush emerald green, nurtured with my sap, made man free of hunger. Blood drops that flow Upon my veins, quenched the thirst of man.
Men venerated me, I venerated them. Now it is only a sweet dream, for I am deprived of man. United with synthetic trolls, they torture and destruct us. Ignoring our blood and sweat, we have shed upon the glory of them.
We swear you and tell before you mourn, you are a drudge of a giant, who was made by yourself We command you, open your eyes and think a bit, love and care for my family. We reprimand you, but still, we sympathize with you, in gratitude to your ancestors, where they treated us like their own sons.
Hasangee Gunasinghe Level 01
Fromthe beginning of human civilization humans looked up to the night sky in awe and wondered about the stars of what they were, why they were here and how it affected them.
They didn’t knew much as we do now but they came up with amazing stories to tell gathered around under the starry night the massive dome up above them was their theater and stars were their story tellers.
Those stories became myths the myths become legends and still to this day when we hear them we are amazed by them. But there is something else with the help of modern science that we know for sure about them and that’s the way how we are connected to stars that we too are made of stars.
Yes, that’s true everything you see , feel or touch in your lifetime came from the extravagant cosmic death of a star. This is called a supernova by scientists and the most beautiful thing is it can be explained by modern mathematics, physics and chemistry. It’s the story about where we came from.
The iron in your blood, the calcium in your bones, the air you breathe was once inside a star. It is enlightening as well as incredibly humbling to know that the atoms in our bodies once inside stars were once a part of another solar system.We are the children of stars
Dileesha Umalinga Level 02
Rahmah Hamdoon Leve1 01
Dreamy Night
What would happen to the world if humans became extinct by a virus?
Viruses probably have been around as long as life itself, and epidemics have affected people since we’ve been gathering in large groups. But by destroying ecosystems and abusing animals on a grand scale, we are dramatically increasing our exposure to dangerous pathogens. One of the best example for this is novel coronavirus.
The novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 got its start at a wet market in China. Genomic research suggests that this virus emerged in a bat. In the market, it appears to have jumped to a pangolin, a scaly anteater native to Africa and Asia, before infecting a human. Let’s consider about what would happen to the world if human became extinct by this corona virus. Following things can be possible to happen if human became extinct by a virus.
1. Just a few hours after humans disappear, lights around the world will shut down.
2. Within 10 days, pets and farm animals will die out due to starvation and dehydration.
3. A few week later, those adorable small dog breeds will no longer exist as packs of bigger dogs hunt them down and take them out.
4. A month later, cooling water at nuclear power plants will evap-
orate, leading to a series of explosions much stronger than the Fukushima and Chernobyl disasters.
5. After a year, the sky will light up with the thousands of objects we’ve put in the Earth’sorbit as they come crashing back down.
6. A quarter of a century after man’s disappearance, 75% of the planet’s paved city streets and sidewalks will be covered in vegetation.
7. Cities like Las Vegas and Dubai will be smothered in sand as “the desert takes what belongs to it.
8. After 300 years, metal constructions like the Eiffel Tower and steel bridges, without maintenance, will crumble to the ground.
9. Swamps that once covered large parts of the world will reappear.
10. The only evidence of manmade buildings after 10,000 years will be stone constructions, which can last several hundred thousand years. The best way to prevent these pathogens from reaching humans is to keep them in the ecosystems where they evolved. In healthy, diverse ecosystems that contain different kinds of animal hosts and vectors interacting in complex ways, pathogens tend to have a tougher time spreading.
Sanjula Sewwandi Bandara Level 02
There once was a knife of beauty and sin
One that made a strong man stray his eyes not away
Gave away his sanity consumed by its sight
That knife, that knife that beautiful knife
The scares I make are beautiful too A river of rubies I give to you
He cut himself and bled, saw no rubies but pain
The knife that was made of beauty and sin
Certainly, took his breath away
Dinara Gunatillake Level 01
The Beautiful Knife
appear
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Those were the best days of my life
It was, as usual, to see the hot sun brighten up in the morning
As the ground was cracked without water for years
Trees dying, birds searching for water
Life was hard for all without water
Time passed as the sun hit the top of the sky
Burning hot as usual we got But when I saw a miracle on the other side
I just wiped my eyes to check it was real
Dark clouds surrounded, birds racing home asap
As the wind started to blow I knew it’s going to rain
I heard the sound of a boat rowing, which I saw the fisherman coming ashore
Which then the sun disappeared and the clouds started to smile
Surrounding got dark as night when a huge flash came at me
Which then a massive sound came, I just shut my ears
It didn’t take a second to hear the sound of rain
Which started to pour slowly on the floor
Water drops falling on my roof is like a horse running in a field
The smell that rain gave is simply amazing to sniff
The rain started to pour as heavier as it could
My garden started to convert into a lake with plenty of water
Thundering and lightning never stopped coming
I made small a boat to send in the garden
Which raised away with the speed of water
As The cold started to make me shiver
I went to bed with a sheet covering myself
With all the frogs shouting and dancing
I would have never thought a day like today
As I went on to sleep with a very joyful feeling
Chamodh Munasinghe
Level 2
Brave Spirit
Kind Heart, Fierce mind
Mythology
Minoli Rupasinghe Level 02
Wikum Sanjith Level 01
Many nights will pass with bowls of moonlight...
Our memories and dreams will give us gentle warmth through spring till winter...
When the buds suddenly soften their attitudes,
Our eyes will reveal new secrets of our thoughts, feelings, and emotions...
Let’s enjoy our lives together under the rinsed moon...
Perhaps then we will wish one another “so long, take care”...
The will of heaven always toys with humans...
It can’t be helped, once we have little say in our fate...
Fortune granted our world billions of lives...
With the adornments lifted from the realm of men,
Our dreams have become the world’s unbeatable courage and fear...
Splitting mountains and sea, falling heaven and sky...
Should we yearn to forget the pain of our unruly youth ???
Flickering tears will turn into colorful and fragrant flower petals...
We shall be souls that reveling in death and life...
So we can free ourselves from the constraints of time
By the wonderful beats of our mortal thoughts,
Let’s sing the song of our hearts by releasing our worst pains.. And at the mountain peak, that
.
can rest immediately mortal lives,
Let’s remember everything about our Never-Ending Dreams....
Burn with the noon sun
City lights and traffic lights
Busy horns and noisy horns
Vibrant clothes shine in dayspring
Hustle bustle clash my thoughts
Crowd of chasing people
Greedy human‘s fight
It has a life of its own
Life is full of fear and worries
Tolerant of toxic people
Troubles with rat race
I start feeling sick
The city sleeps
The silence of the night
The gleam of the moon in the darkness
Give hope to next morning
I wish I could go back to my origin
The charms of country life
Keep my heart warm
Remind the love of god
Heal my soul
But a goodbye was only meant
Life seems but a quick
No spend time with me
I need a break
Half a decade far apart
Chase my desires
Distressingly miss my hometown
But still, memories are fresh
Skyscrapers touch clouds
Crash smash sounds here and there
Gloomy fog stirs with dusty wind
No spend time with silence
Miss the sound of freedom
I met with anger all alone
I am full of pain
Still have fakeness of smile
Feel myself shutting down
I need a break
Amanda
Never Ending
Supun Anjana Level 01 Mickey
Karunaratne Level 02
Upeksha Nilnuwani Level 02
