Poetry

Invictus

by Mr. William Earnest 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 straight the gate  
How charged with punishments the scroll  
I am the master of my fate 
I am the captain of my soul 

If

by Mr. 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 imposters 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 wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings  
And risk it 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! 

Don't Quit

 
When things go wrong as they sometimes will.

When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill

When the funds are low and the debts are high

When you want smile, but you have to sigh 
When care is pressing you down a bit,

rest, if you must, but Don’t quit!

 
Life is queer with its twist and turns,

as every one of us Sometime learn,

and many a fellow turns about,

when he might Have won had he stuck it out

Don’t give up, though the pace Seems slow,

you may succeed with another blow. 

Success is failure turned inside out,

in a silver tent, in a cloud of doubt.  
When you never can tell how close you are

It may be near, When it seems afar.

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,  
It’s when things seem worst that your mustn’t quit.

Don’t Quit! 

The Test Of A Man

The test of man is the fight that he makes.  
The grit that he daily shows.  
The way that he stands upon his feet.  
And takes life’s numerous bumps and blows.

A coward can smile,  
When there’s naught to fear.  
And nothing, 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 stands tall, and 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.  

The House Of Alpha

Goodwill is the monarch of this house, men  
Unacquainted, enter, shake hands, exchange  
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!!!  

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

by Brother Freeman Montaque, Jr. 
 
Our Family trees are not the same 
we both have a different mother 
And yet I'd proudly tell the world 
that this man is my Brother 
It's like we've lived our lives together 
though we meet for the first time 
As this powerful sense of Brotherhood 
makes everything seem fine 
Spectators stand and look with awe 
as we do our secret shake 
Never realizing that this clasping of hands 
does not a Brother make 

We are Brothers in a deeper sense 
than they can comprehend 
For when our bond has just begun 
theirs are about to end 
When we were searching for the light 
as all Sphinxmen must do 
They stood aside and laughed out loud 
”I wouldn't do that! Would You?” 
And yet when we had crossed those sands 
And the light we could finally see 
They stood aside and whispered softly 
“Oh how I wish it were me!” 
I know the decision I made was wise 
of this I'm sure and have no doubt 
Each day in my life will have blue skies 
for I'm an Alpha from here on out 
And never again will I be lonely 
for I have Brothers everywhere

In cities of population two 
I even have a Brother there 
There is nothing in this whole wide world 
that we wouldn't do for one another 
I'm sure I'd even give my life 
to save that of my Brother 
But there are still those in darkness 
who cannot understand 
Why I would share the burden 
which belongs to another man 
When asked 
“Why weigh yourself down with the load of another?” 
I simply smile at them and say 
"He ain't heavy...he's my Brother!"