It Can Be Done - Poems of Inspiration | Page 3

be a tree.
If you can't be a bush be a bit of the grass,?And some highway some happier make;?If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass--?But the liveliest bass in the lake!
We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew,?There's something for all of us here.?There's big work to do and there's lesser to do,?And the task we must do is the near.
If you can't be a highway then just be a trail,?If you can't be the sun be a star;?It isn't by size that you win or you fail--?Be the best of whatever you are!
Douglas Malloch.
THE HOUSE BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD
This poem has as its keynote friendship and sympathy for other people. It is a paradox of life that by hoarding love and happiness we lose them, and that only by giving them away can we keep them for ourselves. The more we share, the more we possess. We of course find in other people weaknesses and sins, but our best means of curing these are through a wise and sympathetic understanding.
Let me live in a house by the side of the road,?Where the race of men go by--?The men who are good and the men who are bad,?As good and as bad as I.?I would not sit in the scorner's seat,?Or hurl the cynic's ban;--?Let me live in a house by the side of the road?And be a friend to man.
I see from my house by the side of the road,?By the side of the highway of life,?The men who press with the ardor of hope,?The men who are faint with the strife.?But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears--?Both parts of an infinite plan;--?Let me live in my house by the side of the road?And be a friend to man.
I know there are brook-gladdened meadows ahead?And mountains of wearisome height;?And the road passes on through the long afternoon?And stretches away to the night.?But still I rejoice when the travelers rejoice,?And weep with the strangers that moan,?Nor live in my house by the side of the road?Like a man who dwells alone.
Let me live in my house by the side of the road?Where the race of men go by--?They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong, Wise, foolish--so am I.?Then why should I sit in the scorner's seat?Or hurl the cynic's ban?--?Let me live in my house by the side of the road?And be a friend to man.
Sam Walter Foss.
From "Dreams in Homespun."
FOUR THINGS
What are the qualities of ideal manhood? Various people have given various answers to this question. Here the poet states what qualities he thinks indispensable.
Four things a man must learn to do?If he would make his record true:?To think without confusion clearly;?To love his fellow-men sincerely;?To act from honest motives purely;?To trust in God and Heaven securely.
Henry Van Dyke.
From "Collected Poems."
IF
The central idea of this poem is that success comes from self-control and a true sense of the values of things. In extremes lies danger. A man must not lose heart because of doubts or opposition, yet he must do his best to see the grounds for both. He must not be deceived into thinking either triumph or disaster final; he must use each wisely--and push on. In all things he must hold to the golden mean. If he does, he will own the world, and even better, for his personal reward he will attain the full stature of manhood.
If you can keep your head when all about you?Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,?If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,?But make allowance for their doubting too;?If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,?Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,?Or being hated don't give way to hating,?And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master;?If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim,?If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster?And treat those two imposters just the same;?If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken?Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,?Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,?And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings?And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,?And lose, and start again at your beginnings?And never breathe a word about your loss;?If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew?To serve your turn long after they are gone,?And so hold on when there is nothing in you?Except the Will which says to them; "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,?Or walk with Kings--nor lose the common touch,?If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,?If all men count with you, but none