IF YOU CAN'T BE a pine on the top of the hill, Be a scrub in the valley -- but be The best little scrub by the side of the rill; Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If you can't be a bush be a bit of the grass, And some highway happier make; If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass -- But the liveliest bass in the lake! We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew, There's something for all of us here, There's big work to do, and there's lesser to do, And the task you must do is the near. If you can't be a highway then just be a trail, If you can't be the sun be a star; It isn't by size that you win or you fail -- Be the best of whatever you are! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: WASHINGTON MCNEELY by EDGAR LEE MASTERS VICARIOUS ATONEMENT by RICHARD ALDINGTON DEEP IN THE QUIET WOOD by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON BATTLEDORE AND SHUTTLECOCK by AMY LOWELL THE STARLING; SONNET by AMY LOWELL CONRAD AT TWILIGHT by JOHN CROWE RANSOM PLAINT OF THE DISGUSTED BRITON IN THE STATES by GEORGE SANTAYANA |