It appears to be poetry day - or at least that was my thought when I saw that Liz on Awake and Rael on Reflective Beauty had both posted poems. I was planning on doing another post, but I decided I would go with the flow and post the poem that is perhaps my all-time favorite, and the inspiration for Wordcrafter.Rudyard Kipling's The Thousandth Man:
One man in a thousand, Solomon says,
Will stick more close than a brother,
And it's worth while seeking him half your days
If you find him before the other.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine depend
On what the world sees in you,
But the Thousandth Man will stand your friend
With the whole round world agin you.
'Tis neither promise nor prayer nor show
Will settle the finding for 'ee;
Nine hundred and ninety-nine of 'em go
By your looks, or your acts, or your glory.
But if he finds you and you find him,
The rest of the world don't matter;
For the Thousandth Man will sink or swim
With you in any water.
You can use his purse with no more talk
Than he uses yours for his spendings,
And laugh and meet in your daily walk
As though there had been no lendings.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine of 'em call
For silver and gold in their dealings;
But the Thousandth Man he's worth 'em all
Because you can show him your feelings.
His wrong's your wrong, and his right's your right,
In season or out of season.
Stand up and back it in all men's sight
With that for your only reason!
Nine hundred and ninety-nine can't bide
The shame or mocking or laughter,
But the Thousandth Man will stand by your side
To the gallows-foot - and after!
Wow... that is powerful. Thank you so much for sharing this poem - I had never heard of it before! It's wonderful!
ReplyDeleteLike, If it is convicting too. I certainly am not a "Thousandth Man" to my friends... It's a marvelous challenge to try to live up to.
"To the gallows foot and after..."
Again - thank you for posting this, Abigail!
Blessings,
~ Liz
What a beautiful poem! I can easily see how it could inspire a novel. Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAw, I'm glad you both liked it! That last line is my absolute favourite, along with -
ReplyDelete"His wrong's your wrong, and his right's your right,
In season or out of season;
Stand up and back it in all men's sight
With that for your only reason!"
This poem, "If," and "The Roman Centurion's Song" are so beautifully powerful, and the first two are convicting.
Thanks for commenting, gals!
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ReplyDeleteAbigail! I thoroughly adore this poem -- I've had it memorized for months, and I say it to myself every few days because it's just brilliant like that.
ReplyDeleteI suppose I now ought to make a poem post, only you've stolen my first choice. Fie on brainsharing! :P
I blame Liz! She started it! (Because relegating blame is so much fun.) But I'm sure you could find another good Kipling poem, or another poem altogether, like Tennyson. I'm particularly fond of his "The Splendour Falls."
ReplyDeleteOr Byron or Keats or Browning or Shakespeare or *stops and blushes* okay, I'm a poetry geek... But there's so much beautiful stuff out there! I hope Abigail's right and I did start a storm of poetry posts! :) I'd love to hear other people's favorites.
ReplyDelete~ Liz
Ick, I can't stand Byron since I learned more about him. His poetry may be lovely, but I can't stand him, and I can never seem to separate the writer from his writing. But I like what I've read of Keats (which is very little - I'm afraid I must confess to not being a poetry geek!) -
ReplyDelete"...magic casements, opening on the foam
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn."
Alfred Noyes is good, too; I love his "Highwayman" and "Sherwood."
Wow, Abigail, I just found your blog and I love what I've read! This poem is just beautiful, and something I really needed to hear/read, as I am going through a difficult time with a dear friendship.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this!
~Keaghan
PS: As to poems, one of my favorites right now is "The Happy Warrior" by William Wordsworth. Favorite poet would be either W.B. Yeats or John Donne.
Oh, thank you! I'm so glad you've enjoyed the posts. I just looked up "The Happy Warrior," and I like the thoughts it holds.
ReplyDeleteThis is the happy Warrior; this is He
that every Man in arms should wish to be.