My two son's birthdays are within 2 days of each other in January. We have had a tradition of each of the three of us reading aloud a poem around the time of there birthdays. So far, we have usually read the following three (proposed by me). I hope that my sons will suggest their own favorite ones soon.
The Man In The Glass
When you get what you want in your struggle for self,
And the world makes you King for a day,
Just go to the mirror, look at yourself
And see what that guy has to say.
For it isn’t your father, mother, or wife
Whose judgment you must pass
But the one whose verdict means the most in your life,
Is the one staring back from the glass.
He’s the one you must please, never mind all the rest,
For he is with you right up to the end
And you’ve passed your most difficult, dangerous test,
If the man in the glass is your friend.
You may be Jack Horner, chisel a plum,
And think you’re a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says, “you’re only a bum,”
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.
You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get a pat on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartache and tears,
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.
The next one is actually more prose than poem, but I really like the message that I want my boys to internalize.
Success
The future is yours in all its mystery and promise. Know that it will offer you trials as well as treasures, tears as well as triumphs. Walk down Life's winding pathways with courage and humor and hope, savoring fully your achievements and learning from your defeats.
Speak kindly of others...and think kindly of yourself. Be forgiving, no less of your own mistakes than of theirs. Learn to laugh. Learn to listen. Aspire not to an unreachable perfection, nor merely to gain approval in the eyes of your friends.
Strive instead to live to the best of your ability by those personal standards of honor and excellence which only you can set. Cherish, above all, your individuality. Glory in those special qualities of mind and spirit that make you uniquely you.
Realize always that you are capable of reaching difficult goals and exceeding them, of dreaming wonderful dreams and making them come true, of achieving the only kind of success that really matters: that of being at peace with yourself and with the world around you.
And finally, a Rudyard Kipling poem that my Mom gave to me on an engraved board 50 years ago:
If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs, & 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 worn out 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 breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve their 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 60 seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And what's more - you'll be a Man, my Son!
- Rudyard Kipling
Loved these poems. The Kipling has long been a favorite, and one I've needed a lot in the last year.
ReplyDeleteWho is the poet of the first one? I'd love to share it with my daughter.
Dear ProfessorB: I've long had that poem in my personal document of favorite quotes & poems, but without knowing who the original author was. I've googled just now to find that the author was Dale Wimbrow 1895-1954. He wrote that poem (with some minor differences from today's version) in 1934. Here is the url for his family's webpage which provides a bit more background.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theguyintheglass.com/
It's fun to see the poem. How can we apply this to teaching? Would students write their own, comment of classics, edit each other?
ReplyDeleteI would suppose that mandating that a class post poems that they wrote may not be a good idea. The better writers may be more eager while those who see themselves as poor poets or writers may be embarrased to have their work displayed to their classmates.
ReplyDeleteRather, I can see inviting students to post their poems and then their classmates can reply with their perspectives, questions, or hopefully their constructive criticisms. Alternatively, I could ask the class to post THEIR favorite poems and explain why they like them. Even the less talented writers should know a poem that they like above others. Then, the classmates could reply with what those "favorite poems" mean to them in particular.