Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE SCHOOL MASTER, by ALBERT INGBERG


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE SCHOOL MASTER, by                    
First Line: I am a school master
Last Line: "shouting for their battle cry, my dictum, ""for others""!"
Subject(s): Teaching & Teachers; Educators; Professors


I am a school master.
Sometimes I wish I could steal away
And be a hermit for a day.
I am a leader of Youth
Along their road to destiny.
I must guide, I must point,
I must show how to dig,
I must show where to dig,
I must live, as I guide.
I must be with my work always.
I must be like a wax model
In a dry goods window --
On constant exhibition to my pupils
And their elders.
I must know the best things,
I must do the best things,
I must hold high the best things,
I must be the best!
I must produce the best,
Whether I have the gold or the dross
With which to work;
Whether I have the delicacies or the husks to eat,
Whether I have broadcloth or sackcloth to wear.
I must be a self-renewing font for my own inspiration.
I must sow where others shall reap;
I must strew where others shall gather;
I must give of myself what others will hoard;
I must do what others are too busy to do.
I must be the guardian of the cradle of our commonwealth.
I must be different from all other people,
Yet I must live like other people;
But I must not demand a hire worthy of my labor.
From the refuse and alms of Industry
I must build my geniuses and wise men,
So the great god Business
Shall not want for servants
To fill his insatiable maw.
My most brilliant, my finest must go to him;
For his rewards, his vain golden promises
Loom greater than anything I can offer.
I must console the remainder.
I must polish my lamps.
I must show them the deeper purposes of life.
I must show them new fields of endeavor;
I must show them how to carry on my work.
I must show them how to walk when I am left behind.
Again, I wish I could steal away
And be carefree for a day,
And see this wide world for which
I am fashioning those who are to carry on,
That I might better see and understand the pattern.
But -- I must be at my task,
I must be within my raw material,
I must be in my place.
I must not be gone from my work,
I must feed my sheep
Strenuous though it be.
I must give unstinting to the last drop,
When I must step down from my chair.
For I must make room at last for others.
Yes, others, "For Others", has always been my dictum.
And then when my work is done,
And my eyes are blinded,
And I have no more the wherewithal;
The rushing crowds pass me swiftly by,
Give me a joyous and grateful glance,
Shouting for their battle cry, my dictum, "For Others"!





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