POEMS
Posted in here are list of famous, even unfamous, poems I love. Since I was a kid, I have this inherent love of poetry and I’ve made it a habit to write down in a journal every poem that captures my interest. Thanks for the dawn of digital age, I now have the opportunity to post this on the web, to preserve, to share and to pass it on to others. Enjoy reading…
HOW DID YOU DIE?
Did you tackle the trouble that come your way
With a resolute heart and cheerful?
Or hide your face from the light of day
With a craven soul and fearful?
Oh, a trouble’s a ton, or a trouble’s an ounce,
Or a trouble is what you make it,
And it isn’t the fact that you’re hurt that counts,
But only how did you take it?
You are beaten to earth? Well, well, what’s that!
Come up with a smiling face.
It’s nothing against you to fall down flat,
But to lie there – that’s disgrace.
The harder you’re thrown, why the higher you bounce;
Be proud of your blackened eye!
It isn’t the fact that you’re kicked that counts;
It’s how did you fight – and why?
And though you be done to the death, what then?
If you battled the best you could;
If you played your part in the world of men,
Why, the Critic will call it good.
Death comes with a crawl, or comes with a pounce,
And whether he’s slow or spry,
It isn’t the fact that you’re dead that counts,But only how did you die?
(by: Edmund Vance Cooke)
