A Birthday & a New Beginning

Hello everyone – 

This weekend, Sophie and I are presenting three poems that encapsulate my philosophy of life, on the occasion of my 57^th birthday and my transition to a new position in the College of ACES Office of Marketing & Communications (which starts on Monday). 😊 Quotemaster Sophie says: 

Today, we're delighted to share with you three inspirational masterpieces by some of the finest poets in the English language. These poems, “A Psalm of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “What Is Success” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley, explore powerful themes of life, perseverance, and the power of the human spirit. Let their words inspire and uplift you on the journey through your day!

 

“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 tomorrow

Find us farther than today.

 

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 over 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.

 

“What Is Success”

By Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

 

To laugh often and love much:

To win respect of intelligent people

And the affection of children;

To earn the approbation of honest critics

And endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty;

To find the best in others;

To give one’s self;

To leave the world a little better,

Whether by a healthy child,

A garden patch,

Or redeemed social condition;

To have played and laughed with enthusiasm

And sung with exultation;

To know even one life has breathed easier

Because you have lived…

This is to have succeeded.

 

“Invictus”

By William Ernest Henley (1849–1903)

 

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.

 

Here’s a digital image of your Editor, from 45 years ago, around his 12^th birthday, in August 1979. One of my favorite pastimes while growing up was looking at the night sky – especially the Moon – from my backyard in SW Illinois. (Image Credit: Me, Myself, and I) 😊

 

Until next time –

Rob & Sophie