God! but it takes a man to stand Firm as a rock midst troubled seas When doubts assail on every hand When friends depart and honor flees; When foes exult and cowards sneer, When soft-lived men deny and rail, And even fools at wise men leer, He is a man who does not quail. God! but it takes a man to be Calm as the deep when torrents roar, When some loved soul proves Pharisee And passes by forevermore; When Poverty stalks grim, and rules Because of principles, unshared, When Wrong, through precedent, befools, He is a man who stands declared. God! but it takes a man who knows, And knowing, rights the age's wrong, Who stands alone and overthrows The moss-back doctrines of the throng; When Piety deplores his might, And lifts its hands to out-grown gods, When pulpits rage and proselyte, It takes a man to stand the odds. God! but it takes a man who moves Straight to the line marked to the goal When others follow time-worn grooves, When Custom's marks have seared the soul; When others live in ease, and laugh The bravest man who dares, to scorn, When few will speak in Right's behalf, Then is the time when manhood's born! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...COVERING WINGS by KATHERINE MANSFIELD THE GENERAL PUBLIC by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET THE WHITE PEACOCK by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET BIRTHDAY POEM FOR THOMAS HARDY by CECIL DAY LEWIS MEMORY by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TO TIME by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON |