Special Poems in Tribute to Special People

Hello everyone –



Quotemail returns with some poems in tribute to some colleagues, friends, mentors, and neighbors who have greatly influenced my life journey. They exemplified the ideals, beliefs, and values enshrined in these verses and inspired many people to live their lives to the fullest, through unselfish service to others. I remember them all, and I’m grateful for their lives and legacies and how they intersected with mine.



“A Psalm of Life”

(What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist)

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)



Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream ! —

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.



Life is real !   Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal ;

Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

Was not spoken of the soul.



Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way ;

But to act, that each to-morrow

Find us farther than to-day.



Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

Funeral marches to the grave.



In the world's broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle !

Be a hero in the strife !



Trust no Future, however pleasant !

Let the dead Past bury its dead !

Act,— act in the living Present !

Heart within, and God overhead !



Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time ;



Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o'er life's solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.



Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate ;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait.



“The Rainbow Connecti8on” (1979)

Songwriters: Kenny Ascher / Paul Hamilton Williams

Rainbow Connection lyrics © Walt Disney Music Company



1. Why are there so many

Songs about rainbows

And what's on the other side?

Rainbows are visions;

They're only illusions,

And rainbows have nothing to hide

So we've been told and some chose to

Believe it;

But I know they're wrong, wait and see.

Someday we'll find it,

The Rainbow Connection,

The lovers, the dreamers and me.



2. Who said that every wish

Would be heard and answered

When wished on the morning star?

Somebody thought of that

And someone believed it

And look what it's done so far.

What's so amazing

That keeps us stargazing,

What do we think we might see?

Someday we'll find it,

That Rainbow Connection,

The lovers the dreamers and me.



All of us under its spell,

We know that it’s probably magic!



3. Have you been fast asleep

And have you heard voices?

I've heard them calling my name.

Is this the sweet sound that calls

The young sailors?

The voice might be one and the same.

I've heard it too many times to ignore it;

It's something that I’m supposed to be.

Someday we'll find it,

The rainbow connection...

The lovers, the dreamers and me.



“Who Would True Valor See”

By John Bunyan (1628-1688)

(Excerpted from Pilgrim’s Progress, 1678-1684)



Who would true valor see,

Let him come hither;

One here will constant be

Come wind, come weather.

There's no discouragement

Shall make him once relent

His first avowed intent

To be a Pilgrim.



Who so beset him round

With dismal stories,

Do but themselves confound,

His strength the more is.

No lion can him fright,

He'll with a giant fight,

But he will have a right

To be a Pilgrim.



Hobgoblin, nor foul fiend

Can daunt his spirit;

He knows he at the end

Shall life inherit.

Then fancies fly away,

He'll fear not what men say,

He'll labor night and day

To be a Pilgrim.



This message is dedicated with gratitude to four wonderful people who have left this world in the past year so that they could begin the next stage of their journey:

·         Dr. Wayne Banwart

·         Joe Hill

·         Dr. John Santas

·         Dr. Kevin Newman

Requiescant in pace.



Until next time –

Rob