# One Hundred Greatest Death Speeches in Literature **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 17, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243 "2003-07-17T22:11:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Opheilia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a587f6/32.png) [@Opheilia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opheilia)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/21 "2003-07-18T23:10:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by metroshane \* > \*\*Either the curtains go or I do. ; ) \*\* Is this really a death speech or are you yanking my chain? lol šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Opheilia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a587f6/32.png) [@Opheilia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opheilia)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/22 "2003-07-18T23:12:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shodan \* > \*\*"Donā€™t be ridiculous, men - they couldnā€™t hit an elephant at this dist- " > > Regards, > Shodan \*\* Humour in death, I like it. Where is this from please? ---
**Author:** ![Opheilia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a587f6/32.png) [@Opheilia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opheilia)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/23 "2003-07-18T23:18:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Humble Servant \* > \*\*Here is the very end of **The Death of Ivan Ilyich** , which is not a single speech, but suits. Tolstoy tried to write a brutal, unvarnished look at death, but it came out tinged with his religious romanticism, IMHO. \*\* Despite the religious romanticism you speak or, I really like this one. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/24 "2003-07-18T23:18:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Opheilia \* > \*\*šŸ˜• This is from where? \*\* 'Father, into Your Hands I Commend My Spirit" is from the New Testament, Luke 23:46. Jesus Christ is speaking to God the Father. ---
**Author:** ![Humble\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/47e85d/32.png) [@Humble\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Humble_Servant)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/25 "2003-07-19T02:52:41Z")
The words, ā€œIt is finished!ā€ in the Tolstoy I quoted are also taken from the New Testament, again spoken by Jesus frm the cross. John 19:30. ---
**Author:** ![Jello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@Jello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jello)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/26 "2003-07-19T03:03:17Z")
ā€œThey couldnā€™t hit an elephant at this distā€“ā€ were the last words ever spoken by Major Gen. John Sedgwick of the Union Army. The occasion was the battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse, in 1864. ---
**Author:** ![Parthol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dec6dc/32.png) [@Parthol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parthol)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/27 "2003-07-19T05:02:35Z")
Iā€™ve always been partial to the parting words of Cyrano de Bergerac: ā€œThere is one thing that goes with me when tonight I enter my final lodging. A thing unstained, unsullied by the brute broken nails of the world, by death, by doom unfingered. See it there, a white plume over the battle ā€” a diamond in the ash of the ultimate combustion ā€” my panache.ā€ -P ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/28 "2003-07-19T07:21:56Z")
This was in a book, a historical novel, so I think it counts: ā€œMy only regret is that I have but one life to give.ā€ Can someone tell me who said that? It is in the book The Glorious Cause. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/29 "2003-07-19T08:21:27Z")
What is the answer? _I was silent_.] In that case, what is the question? ā€” Gertrude Steinā€™s last words. From Alice B. Toklas, _What Is Remembered_ ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/30 "2003-07-19T11:54:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Opheilia \* > \*\*Humour in death, I like it. Where is this from please? \*\* I cheated - it is not literary. It is the dying words of John Sedgewick, a Civil War general. [Cite.](http://www.nowyoudidit.com/quotes/lastwords/lastwords.html) Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/31 "2003-07-19T12:13:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RandMcnally \* > \*\*This was in a book, a historical novel, so I think it counts: ā€œMy only regret is that I have but one life to give.ā€ Can someone tell me who said that? It is in the book The Glorious Cause. \*\* I havenā€™t read the book, but Iā€™ve heard that Patrick Henry said that, but I think it might have been ā€œā€¦ one life to give to my country.ā€ And if weā€™re being precise, I believe it was quoted as ā€œI regret that ā€¦ā€ rather than ā€œMy only regret ā€¦ā€ In other words, ā€œI regret that I have but one life to give to my country.ā€ ā€“ Patrick Henry And no, I wasnā€™t there. šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/32 "2003-07-19T19:19:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MizQuirk \* > \*\*I havenā€™t read the book, but Iā€™ve heard that Patrick Henry said that, but I think it might have been ā€œā€¦ one life to give to my country.ā€ And if weā€™re being precise, I believe it was quoted as ā€œI regret that ā€¦ā€ rather than ā€œMy only regret ā€¦ā€ > > In other words, ā€œI regret that I have but one life to give to my country.ā€ ā€“ Patrick Henry > > And no, I wasnā€™t there. šŸ˜‰ \*\* [Nathan Hale](http://www.seanet.com/Users/pamur/nhale.html), not Patrick Henry. Uttered upon the occasion of his execution. And it counts in this thread, because Hale was actually paraphrasing a line from a popular play, Addisonā€™s ā€œCato.ā€ ---
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/33 "2003-07-19T22:50:20Z")
Obviously my memory for peopleā€™s names is kaput. Thanks to you who ā€˜fixedā€™ those. :eek: MizQuirk ---
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/34 "2003-07-19T22:57:07Z")
Obviously my memory for peopleā€™s names is kaput. Thanks to you who ā€˜fixedā€™ those. :eek: MizQuirk ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/35 "2003-07-20T01:25:40Z")
Iā€™ve read that Nathan Hale actually didnā€™t say that, and was quoted in a British soldierā€™s journal (not the most objective source, I must admit) as saying ā€œIt is every manā€™s job to serve his Commander-in-Chiefā€ ā€“ something to that effect, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/36 "2003-07-20T06:11:55Z")
I wish I could quote it from memory, but I never made the effort, simply because just reading the passage is always so heart-wrenching for me\*. Perhaps someone with a copy of the book could favor us with a rendering: Charlotteā€™s farewell to Wilbur, when she tells him of the life he has ahead of him (thanks to her efforts), when he returns to Zuckermanā€™s farm. _Charlotteā€™s Web_, by E. B. White. \*_In fact, I couldnā€™t finish typing this post without choking up._ ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/37 "2003-07-20T17:21:10Z")
BTW, **Opheilia** , welcome to the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Merejane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Merejane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merejane)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/38 "2003-07-20T21:11:20Z")
If a ā€œdeath speechā€ is someoneā€™s dying words, then this doesnā€™t qualify because itā€™s a speech made to someone else who has already died. But itā€™s the first thing that came to mind when I read the original post: Heathcliffā€™s charge to Catherine that she haunt him for the rest of his life~ ā€œAnd I pray one prayer - I repeat it till my tongue stiffens - Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed you - haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always - take any form - drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!ā€ _Wuthering Heights_, by Emily Bronte. Gives me chills. ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/39 "2003-07-22T18:08:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kaylasdad99 \* > \*_I wish I could quote it from memory, but I never made the effort, simply because just reading the passage is always so heart-wrenching for me_. Perhaps someone with a copy of the book could favor us with a rendering: > > Charlotteā€™s farewell to Wilbur, when she tells him of the life he has ahead of him (thanks to her efforts), when he returns to Zuckermanā€™s farm. > > _Charlotteā€™s Web_, by E. B. White. > > \*_In fact, I couldnā€™t finish typing this post without choking up._ \*\* Oh, could anyone please post it? Itā€™s been years since I read Charlotteā€™s Web and saw the cartoon (they made a cartoon out of it, you know). ---
**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243/40 "2003-07-22T18:22:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Is this really a death speech or are you yanking my chain? lol Itā€™s supposedly what Oscar Wilde said on his death bed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-hundred-greatest-death-speeches-in-literature/189243.md?page=3)