TRULY GREAT

 

TRULY GREAT

My walls outside must have some flowers,

My walls within must have some books;

A house that’s small; a garden large,

And in it leafy nooks.

 

A little gold that’s sure each week ;

That comes not from my living kind,

But from a dead man in his grave,

Who cannot change his mind.

 

A lovely wife, and gentle too;

Contented that no eyes but mine

Can see her many charms, nor voice

To call her beauty fine.

 

Where she would in that stone cage live,

A self-made prisoner with me;

While many a wild bird sang around,

On gate, on bush, on tree.

 

And she sometimes to answer them,

In her  far sweeter voice than all ;

Till birds, that loved to look on leaves,

Will doat on a stone wall.

 

With this small house, this garden large,

This little gold, that lovely mate,

 With health in body, peace at heart---

Show me a man more great.

 

                        This is a short but great poem by the tramp English poet William Henry Davies (1871-1940) who with another remarkable poem LEISURE became very famous. Here, the poet says that greatness of a family does not lie in having a big house. A small house with some books, a large garden,  many flowers and birds, a small regular inflow of inherited income, and a perfectly loyal beautiful  wife whose sweet voice can enchant even proud songbirds make a man  and his family truly great.  Add to these limited  possessions a healthy body and a peaceful heart as true components of human greatness.

 

                                                            ********

G. R. Kanwal

8^th September 2023