Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE GREAT ADVENTURE (WITH ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TO GEORGE MATTHEW ADAMS), by BERTON BRALEY Poet's Biography First Line: What is the profit that men can find Last Line: In the way that they want to do it! Subject(s): Adventure & Adventurers | ||||||||
(With acknowledgments to George Matthew Adams) What is the profit that men can find In the frozen North or the jungle heat? What is the vision they hold in mind When they face the hardships that they must meet? It cannot pay, yet they see it through And the magic purpose that keeps them to it, Is doing the work that they want to do In the way that they want to do it. It isn't money, it isn't fame, That stirs the soul to a true adventure, Or makes men stick to the grimmest game In spite of ridicule, doubt and censure. It's just the spirit that holds you true To what you've started, and bears you through it; It's doing the work that you want to do In the way that you want to do it. Oh, the weary souls who are chained by chance To a treadmill track they must always amble, Who never thrilled to a mad romance, Who feared the risk of a mighty gamble. They are the failures in life, not those Who dreamed and struggled and risked and lost, Who toiled and battled and baked and froze But never flinched when the dice were tossed. It's the thought that lifts us above the beast, The dream that moves us to discontent, The thing that's driven us west and east And conquered ocean and continent; And when we win to the heaven true We'll find a place, when we come to view it, Where men do work that they want to do In the way that they want to do it! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BLESSING THE BOATS (AT ST. MARY'S) by LUCILLE CLIFTON HER MONOLOGUE OF DARK CREPE WITH EDGES OF LIGHT by NORMAN DUBIE THE PRAYER OF AGASSIZ by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER THE FOOL'S ADVENTURE by LASCELLES ABERCROMBIE ADVENTURE ON THE WINGS OF MORNING by RACHEL ALBRIGHT ADMIRAL, HAIL! by ANNA EMILIA BAGSTAD THE THINKER'S VISION by WILLIAM ROSE BENET SHANAHAN'S OULD QUEEN by GERALD BRENNAN |
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