Poems with Power to Strengthen the Soul. Various

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СКАЧАТЬ other forms of life than ours,

      What know we greater than the soul?

      On God and Godlike men we build our trust.

      —Alfred Tennyson.

      

      ———

      THE GOOD, GREAT MAN

      How seldom, friend, a good, great man inherits

      Honor and wealth, with all his worth and pains!

      It seems a story from the world of spirits

      When any man obtains that which he merits,

      Or any merits that which he obtains.

      For shame, my friend; renounce this idle strain!

      What would'st thou have a good, great man obtain?

      Wealth, title, dignity, a golden chain,

      Or heap of corses which his sword hath slain?

      Goodness and greatness are not means, but ends.

      Hath he not always treasurer, always friends,

      The great, good man? Three treasures—love, and light,

      And calm thoughts, equable as infants' breath;

      And three fast friends, more sure than day or night—

      Himself, his Maker, and the angel Death.

      —Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

      ———

      THE POEM OF THE UNIVERSE

      The poem of the universe

      Nor rhythm has nor rhyme;

      For God recites the wondrous song

      A stanza at a time.

      Great deeds is he foredoomed to do—

      With Freedom's flag unfurled—

      Who hears the echo of that song

      As it goes down the world.

      Great words he is compelled to speak

      Who understands the song;

      He rises up like fifty men,

      Fifty good men and strong.

      A stanza for each century:

      Now heed it all who can!

      Who hears it, he, and only he,

      Is the elected man.

      —Charles Weldon.

      ———

      When faith is lost, when honor dies,

      The man is dead!

      —John Greenleaf Whittier.

      ———

      FAILURE AND SUCCESS

      He fails who climbs to power and place

      Up the pathway of disgrace.

      He fails not who makes truth his cause,

      Nor bends to win the crowd's applause.

      He fails not, he who stakes his all

      Upon the right, and dares to fall;

      What though the living bless or blame,

      For him the long success of fame.

      —Richard Watson Gilder.

      ———

      WHAT DOES IT MATTER?

      It matters little where I was born,

      Or if my parents were rich or poor;

      Whether they shrunk at the cold world's scorn,

      Or walked in the pride of wealth secure.

      But whether I live an honest man

      And hold my integrity firm in my clutch

      I tell you, brother, as plain as I can,

      It matters much.

      It matters little how long I stay

      In a world of sorrow, sin, and care;

      Whether in youth I am called away

      Or live till my bones and pate are bare.

      But whether I do the best I can

      To soften the weight of Adversity's touch

      On the faded cheek of my fellow man,

      It matters much.

      It matters little where be my grave—

      Or on the land or in the sea,

      By purling brook or 'neath stormy wave,

      It matters little or naught to me;

      But whether the Angel Death comes down,

      And marks my brow with his loving touch,

      As one that shall wear the victor's crown,

      It matters much.

      —Noah Barker.

      ———

      For I am 'ware it is the seed of act

      God holds appraising in his hollow palm,

      Not act grown great thence in the world below;

      Leafage and branchage vulgar eyes admire.

      —Robert Browning.

      

      ———

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