Favorite Poems
Invictus
William Ernest Henley
OUT of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
If
Rudyard Kipling
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!
The Man Who Thinks He Can
Unknown
If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you've lost,
For out in the world we find
Success beings with a fellow's will;
It's all in the state of mind.
If you think you're outclassed, you are:
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
The Test Of A Man
Unknown
The Test of a man is the fight that he makes.
The Grit that he daily shows.
The way he stands upon his feet.
And takes lifes numerous bumps and blows.
A coward can smile
When there's not to fear.
A noting his progress bars.
But it takes a man to stand and cheer.
While the other fellow stars.
It isn't the victory after all.
But the fight that a brother makes.
A man, when driven against the wall,
Still takes the blows of fate.
With his head held high.
Bleeding, bruised, and pale,
Is the man who will win fate defied.
For he isn't afraid to fail!
Is the man who thinks he can.
HOUSE OF ALPHA
Unknown
GOODWILL IS THE MONARCH OF THIS HOUSE, MEN
UNACQUAINTED, ENTER, SHAKE HANDS,
GREETINGS AND DEPART FRIENDS. CORDIALITY EXIST
AMONG ALL WHO ABIDE WITHIN. I AM THE EMINENT
EXPRESSION OF FRIENDSHIP. CHARACTER AND
TEMPERAMENT CHANGE UNDER MY DOMINANT POWER.
LIVES ONCE TOUCHED BY ME BECOME TUNED AND ARE
THEREAFTER AMIABLE, KINDLY, FRATERNAL.
I INSPIRE THE MUSICIAN TO PLAY NOBLE SENTIMENTS AND
ASSIST THE CHEMIST TO CONVERT UNGENEROUS
PERSONALITIES INTO INDIVIDUALS OF GREAT WORTH. I
DESTROY IGNOBLE IMPULSES. I CONSTANTLY INVOKE
PRINCIPLES WHICH MAKE FOR COMMON BROTHERHOOD
AND THE ECHO RESOUNDS IN ALL COMMUNITIES AND
PRINCELY MEN ARE THEREBY RECOGNIZED. EDUCATION,
HEALTH, MUSIC, ENCOURAGEMENT, SYMPATHY, LAUGHTER,
ALL THESE ARE SPECIES OF INTEREST GIVEN OF SELF
INVESTED CAPITAL.
TIRED MOMENTS FIND ME A DELIGHTFUL TREAT, HOURS OF
SORROW, A SHRINE OF UNDERSTANDING, AT ALL TIMES I AM
FAITHFUL TO THE CREED OF COMPANIONSHIP, TO A FEW, I
AM THE CASTLE OF DREAMS, AMBITIOUS, SUCCESSFUL,
HOPEFUL DREAMS. TO MANY, I AM THE POETIC PLACE
WHERE HUMAN FEELING IS RHYMED TO CELESTIAL
MOTIVES; TO THE GREAT MAJORITY, I AM THE TREASURY OF
GOOD FELLOWSHIP.
IN FACT, I AM THE COLLEGE OF FRIENDSHIP; THE
UNIVERSITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE; THE SCHOOL FOR THE
BETTER MAKING OF MEN.
I AM ALPHA PHI ALPHA!!!