If
[IF]
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 impostors 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 all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath 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 too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!–Rudyard Kipling
November 19th, 2006 at 9:20 pm
This is lovely. A beautiful picture and a great poem.
November 20th, 2006 at 6:41 am
Absolutely one of my favorite poems.It’s greatness is only matched by one’s ability to meets it’s challenge!
Terrific photo.
November 20th, 2006 at 4:24 pm
I’d respond in kind, but unfortunately most of the poems I know are the kind that begin, “There was a young landy from Nantucket…”
You’ll note the dog’s name is missing from this post. That’s because she refuses to have anything to do with it. (I told you she was smart…)
November 21st, 2006 at 5:25 pm
Some poetry from two gentlemen who were far better at it than I:
There are places I’ll remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone, and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life, I’ve loved them all
But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life i love you more
In my life i love you more
John Lennon & Paul McCartney, In My Life
Happy Thanksgiving, from both of us.
November 23rd, 2006 at 10:15 pm
Kipling! Wonderful!