Poems

Question 1

Invictus by William Ernest Henley

Answer 1

Out of the night that covers me
Black as the pit from pole to pole
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloody but unbowed

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade
And yet the menace of these years
Finds and Shall find me unafraid

It matters not how strait the gate
How charged with punishment the scrolls
I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul

Question 2

Espirit de Fraternity

Answer 2

An Alpha Phi Alpha man’s attitude should not be “how much can I derive from the Fraternity” but “how much can I do for the Fraternity?” In proportion to what he does for his Chapter and for Alpha Phi Alpha will a member receive lasting benefits from the Fraternity to himself in the way of self-development by duty well done, and the respect of the Brothers well served.

A member’s duties should be:

1. Prompt payment of all financial obligations, the prime requisite for successful fraternal life.
2. The doing of good scholastic work in his chosen vocation, thereby accomplishing the real end of a college course.
3. The reasonable endeavor to participate in general college activities and social service and to excel therein.
4. The proper consideration of all things with appropriate attention to the high moral standard of Alpha Phi Alpha.

Question 3

Don’t Quit

Answer 3

Don’t quit

When things go wrong as they sometimes will
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill
When funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to weep but have to sigh
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit

Life is queer, with its twists and turns
As everyone of us sometimes learn
And many a failure turns about
When he might’ve won had he stuck it out
Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow
You might succeed with another blow

Oft the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man
Often the struggler has given up
When he might’ve captured the victors cup
And he learned too late as the night slipped down
How close he’d been to the golden crown

Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
And you may never know how close you are
It may be near, when it seems so far
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit

Question 4

Test of A Man

Answer 4

The Test of A Man is the fight that he makes
The grit that he daily shows
The way he stands upon his feet
And takes life’s numeros bumps and blows

A coward can smile when there’s naught to fear
And nothing his progress bars
But it takes a man to stand and cheer
While the other fellow stars

It isn’t the victory after all
But the fight a brother makes
A man when driven against the wall
Still stands erect and takes the blows of fate

With his head held high
Bleeding bruised and pale
Is a man who will win and fate defied
For he isn’t afraid to fail

Question 5

IF by Rudyard Kipling

Answer 5

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!