Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE GAME OF LIFE; A HOMILY, by JOHN GODFREY SAXE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE GAME OF LIFE; A HOMILY, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There's a game much in fashion, I think it's called euchre
Last Line: The victor is he who can go it alone!
Variant Title(s): Go It Alone
Subject(s): Hope; Optimism


THERE's a game much in fashion, -- I think it's called Euchre
(Though I never have played it, for pleasure or lucre),
In which, when the cards are in certain conditions,
The players appear to have changed their positions,
And one of them cries, in a confident tone,
"I think I may venture to go it alone!

While watching the game, 't is a whim of the bard's
A moral to draw from that skirmish of cards,
And to fancy he finds in the trivial strife
Some excellent hints for the battle of Life;
Where -- whether the prize be a ribbon or throne --
The winner is he who can go it alone!

When great Galileo proclaimed that the world
In a regular orbit was ceaselessly whirled,
And got -- not a convert -- for all of his pains,
But only derision and prison and chains,
"It moves, for all that!" was his answering tone,
For he knew, like the Earth, he could go it alone!

When Kepler, with intellect piercing afar,
Discovered the laws of each planet and star,
And doctors, who ought to have lauded his name,
Derided his learning, and blackened his fame,
"I can wait!" he replied, " till the truth you shall own";
For he felt in his heart he could go it alone!

Alas! for the player who idly depends,
In the struggle of life, upon kindred or friends;
Whatever the value of blessings like these,
They can never atone for inglorious ease,
Nor comfort the coward who finds, with a groan,
That his crutches have left him to go it alone!

There's something, no doubt, in the hand you may hold,
Health, family, culture, wit, beauty, and gold
The fortunate owner may fairly regard
As, each in its way, a most excellent card;
Yet the game may be lost, with all these for your own,
Unless you've the courage to go it alone'

In battle or business, whatever the game
In law or in love, it is ever the same;
In the struggle for power, or the scramble for pelf,
Let this be your motto, -- Rely on yourself!
For, whether the prize be a ribbon or throne,
The victor is he who can go it alone!





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