EARTHLY THINGS ARE NOT FOREVER

 

EARTHLY THINGS ARE NOT FOREVER

            “Earthly Things Are Not Forever” is the theme of a poem “This, Too, Shall Pass Away” written by the American poet and story writer Lanta Wilson Smith. She was born on July 19, 1856 and died on October 19, 1939.  

            She was a prolific writer, wrote more than five hundred poems, articles and hymns. In “This, Too, Shall Pass Away “ she tells the readers that all good and bad situations are temporary. No event in this world lasts forever. If easy  times are short-lived, so are difficult times. Life’s nature of joy and sorrow is cyclic. One follows the other. If prosperity is transient, so is adversity.

            Mrs. Smith advises her readers not to become sad when some unhappy event or failure takes place. They have just to tell themselves that this situation, too, is ephemeral. It will pass away, not stay forever.

            Here are some important lines from the poem:

*When some great sorrow, like a mighty river,

Flows through your life with peace-destroying power,

And dearest things are swept from sight forever,

Say to your heart each trying hour:

“This, too, shall pass away.”

 

**When ceaseless toil has hushed your song of gladness,

And you have grown almost too tired to pray,

Let this truth banish from your heart its sadness,

And ease the burden of each trying day:

“This, too, shall pass away.”

 

***When fortune smiles, and, full of mirth and pleasure,

The days are flitting by without a care,

Lest you should rest with only earthly treasure,

Let these few words their fullest import bear:

“This, too, shall pass away.”

            And finally:

****When earnest labor brings you fame and glory,

And all earth’s noblest ones upon you smile,

Remember that life’s longest, grandest story

Fills but a moment in earth’s little while:

“This, too, shall pass away.”

 

                                    *******

G.R.Kanwal

18 July 2025

 

READ AND REMEMBER

 

                READ AND REMEMBER

          Under this heading, readers will find some precious thoughts about life and its ups and downs. It does not matter who said them. What matters is their utility in making life as happy and successful as possible.

 1.Man courts happiness in a thousand shapes; and the faster he follows it the swifter it flies from him. Almost everything promiseth happiness to us at a distance, but when we come nearer, either we fail short of it, or it falls short of our expectation; and it is hard to say which of these is  the greatest disappointment. Our hopes are usually bigger than the enjoyment can satisfy; and an evil long  feared , besides that it may never come, is many times more painful and troublesome than the evil itself when it comes.

        The author of this quotation is John Tillotson the English divine and Archbishop of Canterbury. He was born in October 1630 and passed away on 22 November 1694. He delivered fiftyfour sermons and discourses on several occasions. These are available together with the Rule of Faith.

2. It seems to me that the coming of love is like the coming of spring – the date is not to be reckoned by the calendar . It may be slow and gradual; it may be quick and sudden. But in the morning, when we wake and recognize a change in the world without, verdure on the trees, blossoms on the sward, warmth in the sunshine, music in the air, we say spring has come.

          These are the views of the English novelist Edward George Bulwer-Lytton . He was born on 25 May1803  and expired on 18 Jan 1873. He was a versatile writer who wrote many novels, plays, poems, pamphlets, all of which reflected the contemporary changes in tastes, fashions and thoughts.

3. In contemplation of created things, by steps we may ascend to God.

          These are the words of the English poet John Milton. He was born on 9 December 1608 and left this world on 8 November 1674. He was also Secretary For Tongues to the Commonwealth Council of State. He had become blind  before he composed his major works. His epic poem Paradise Lost was written in 1667 . Milton’s main theme in poetry is the justification of ways of God to man.

4. Kill not your hearts with excess of eating and drinking.

          This advice against gluttony is found in the ethical code of almost every religion.  Buddhism includes it in its eightfold path. The Persian poet Sheikh Saadi Shirazi (1210-1291/92) who followed Islam said: He who is a slave to his belly seldom worships God.

5. The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us, and we are nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone,

          This quote belongs to the English novelist and poet George Eliot who was born on 22 November 1819 and passed away on 22 December 1880. She is known for developing the method of psychological analysis in her novels. Her major works are: Adam Bede (1858), The Mill on the Floss (1860). Silas Marner (1861) and Middlemarch (1871).      

                                      ********

G.R.Kanwal

17 July 2025

 

   

UP-HILL : A POEM

 

                UP-HILL : A POEM

            “UP-HILL” is a famous poem by the English poet Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-94).  A devout Anglican, she refused to marry two suitors because of religious differences. Unfortunately, as she did not enjoy good health, she became an invalid for her last twenty years and found consolation in her religious poetry and prose writings. Literary historians have called her a great saint and a great poet. Her well-known anthologies are Goblin Market and other poems (1862), The Prince’s Progress and other poems (1866), and The Pageant and other poems (1881). She is also known as a skilled sonnet-writer and most of her sonnets are autobiographical.

            UP-HILL is an allegorical poem based on the hardships and challenges of life. It is about life’s difficult journey and the restful end which death brings to all travelers.

            The poem describes life’s strenuous struggle through a dialogue which ends with hope and assurance of rest.  

            Here is the full text of the poem:

Does the road wind up-hill all the way?

   Yes, to the very end.

Will the day’s journey take the whole long day?

   From morn to night, my friend.

 

But is there for the night a resting-place?

   A roof for when the slow dark hours begin.

May not the darkness hide it from my face?

   You cannot miss that inn.

 

Shall I meet other wayfarers at night?

   Those who have gone before.

Then must I knock, or call when just in sight?

   They will not keep you standing at that door.

 

Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?

   Of labour you shall find the sum.

Will there be beds for me and all who seek?

   Yea, beds for all who come.

                        ******

G.R.Kanwal

16^th July 2025

HOLD FAST YOUR DREAMS

 

HOLD FAST YOUR DREAMS

 

            ‘Hold Fast Your Dreams” is an inspirational poem by the American poetess Louise Driscoll (1875-1957). By dreams she means our aims, goals,   hopes, plans, designs, wishes,  desires, yearnings,  aspirations, ambitions, etc.

               The key idea of the poem is that we should create a sacred place in our hearts where dreams can  grow undisturbed and we can endeavour to change them into realities despite all difficulties and hardships.

 

            Even when dreams are likely to remain untrue , we should let them grow and flourish.

 

            To put it briefly, he poem is a call to action to nurture one’s inner world of aspirations, as a source of strength and the ability to bounce back from difficult situations.

             In short, it is necessary to maintain a positive attitude  in life even when we are surrounded by adversities.

                     

            Here is the full text of the poem:

 

                              Hold fast your dreams!

Within your heart

Keep one still, secret spot

Where dreams may go,

And, sheltered so,

May thrive and grow

Where doubt and fear are not.

 

O keep a place apart,

Within your heart,

For little dreams to go.

Think still of lovely things that are not true.

Let wish and magic work at will in you.

Be sometimes blind to sorrow.  Make believe.

 

Forget the calm that lies

In disillusioned eyes.

Though we all know that we must die,

Yet you and I

May walk like gods and be

Even now at home in immortality.

 

We see so many ugly things-

Deceits and wrongs and quarrellings;

We know, alas we know

How quickly fade

The color in the west,

The bloom upon the flower,

The bloom upon the breast

And youth's blind hour.

 

Yet keep within your heart

A place apart

Where little dreams may go,

May thrive and grow.

Hold fast-hold fast your dreams!

                                                                        *******

 

G. R. Kanwal

15 July 2025

 

 

WHY SHOULD WE PRAY?

 

                WHY SHOULD WE PRAY?

          We should pray to survive both physically and spiritually. Our life is a gift of God. It is his creation. He has fixed its functions. It is he who  has decided its survival span. From the time we are born to the time we cease to be , we are dependent on His will. He is our Master. We are his subordinates.  Our duties have been chalked out by him. We have to perform them efficiently and faithfully. On His part, God provides us with all the requisite means. When these means cease or decline, we approach Him through prayers. We present to Him the list of our necessities with the request to fulfil them so that we may continue to perform our duties without any hindrance. He does not ignore our request for making us re-equipped with essential facilities for the performance our specific duties. This situation makes us happy and also inspires us to offer our  gratitude to God. Consequently, we have a healthy body, a calm mind and a blissful soul. In the light of these facts, prayer becomes our moral duty to perform. In fact, it is beneficial to be grateful to God every moment of our life. Such an approach is like prevention is better than cure.

            Here are some great thoughts about prayer:

*Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the soul to God.

 

*Certain thoughts are prayers, full of gratitude to benevolent God.

 

* Prayers are mostly our wishes, desires and supplications turned God-ward.

 

* The 16^th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) said : “ I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming   conviction  that I had nowhere else to go,    My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day.

 

* God dwells far off from us, but prayer brings him down to our earth, and links his power with our efforts. ----French author Madam Gasparin  (1813-94).

 

*It is as natural and reasonable for a dependent creature to apply to its Creator for what it needs, as for a child to solicit the aid of a parent who is believed to have the disposition and ability to bestow what it needs. ---American clergy Alexander Archibald (1772-1851).   

 

            Finally, this famous quote: Prayer is as natural an expression of faith as breathing is of life.

                                                                        *******

G.R.Kanwal

14 July 2025

A GOOD MAN

 

 

                                                A GOOD MAN

            Will Allen Dromgoole (1880-1934) was an American author and poet. She was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. It is said that she wrote over 7,501 poems; 5,000 essays, and published thirteen books. One of her poems “The Bridge Builder” has found place in the inspirational section of the popular anthology known as “ Best Loved Poems”.  

          The full text of the above-mentioned poem is given below with the title “A Good Man”. Readers will hopefully consider it an appropriate title according to the theme of the poem.

            Good men wherever they are have many admirable qualities. Two of them are endless industriousness and unselfishness. Even when they become old, they continue to use their talents constructively for the benefit of others including those who are young today but will one day become old like them in future.

            Here is the poem with the original title “The Bridge Builder”.

An old man, going a lone highway,

Came at the evening, cold and grey,

To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,

Through which was flowing a sullen tide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim—

That sullen stream had no fears for him;

But he turned, when he reached the other side,

And built a bridge to span the tide.

 

“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,

“You are wasting strength in building here.

Your journey will end with the ending day;

You never again must pass this way.

You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide,

Why build you the bridge at the eventide?”

 

 

 

The builder lifted his old grey head.

“Good friend, in the path I have come,: he said,

“There followed after me today

A youth whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm that has been naught to me

To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.

He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;

Good friend, I am building the bridge for him.

 

                                    ********

G.R.Kanwal

13 July 2025

  

 

THE QUALITIES OF A GOOD PERSON

 

THE QUALITIES OF A GOOD PERSON

            A good person has a number of admirable qualities. He is virtuous, righteous, honest, noble, upright, industrious, high-minded, kind-hearted, friendly, affectionate, helpful, sympathetic, charitable, gracious, generous, benevolent, altruistic, unselfish, patriotic, grateful and God-fearing, etc.   

            Such good persons, however,  are few and far between. That is why there are numerous sinners, criminals, thieves, cheats, dacoits, smugglers, scoundrels, brutes, miscreants, libertines, goons, rogues, crooks, hooligans, delinquents, ruffians and malefactors.

              Governments  deal with such persons through police forces, courts, prisons, etc.

            To maintain law and order, protect life and property, prevent crime and disorder, and punish the criminals, are the main duties of police.

             Educational and religious institutions play a prominent role in promoting the qualities which make good persons.

            In his book “Sceptical Essays” first published in 1939 , the British philosopher and logician  Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) said: We all know what we mean by a “good” man. The ideally good man does not drink or smoke, avoids bad language, converses in the presence of men only exactly as he would if there were ladies present, attends church regularly, and holds the correct opinions on all subjects. He has a wholesome horror of wrong-doing, and realizes that it is our painful duty to castigate sin. He has a still greater horror of wrong thinking, and considers it the business of the authorities to safeguard the young against those who question the wisdom of the views generally accepted by middle-aged successful citizens. Apart from his professional duties, at which he is assiduous, he spends much time in good works  : he may encourage patriotism; and may promote industry, sobriety, and virtue among wage-earners and their children……Above all, of course, his “morals,” in the narrow sense, must be irreproachable.

            To conclude, here are a few famous quotes :

1.Forget injuries; never forget kindness.

2. Practice kindness all day to everybody.

3. A truly good person will speak truth, act with truth, and stand for truth.

4. Love and kindness are never wasted.

5. A nice person is someone who is pleasant to be around, has good manners,

and cheerful. A good person on the other hand, is someone who is honest,

helpful, and morally good.

                                                            ******

G.R.Kanwal

11 July 2025