October 5, 2016

Poems and Song Lyrics

Invictus

By William Ernest Henley

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 bludgeonings 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 the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

 

THE BRIDGE BUILDER

by: Wm. Allen Dromgoole

An old man, going a lone highway, came at the evening,
cold and gray, 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 sullen 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 eventide?”

The builder lifted his old gray head. “Good friend, in the path I
have come,” he said, “there followeth 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
twilight dim; good friend, I am building this bridge for him.”

 

Am I My Brother’s Keeper

If you were my brother’s keeper
Will my best interest be at hand?
Or will you catch an attitude
When I can not meet your demands?

If you were my brother’s keeper
Will you be there in times of need?
Or will you let our golden friendship
Be destroyed by jealousy, envy and greed?

If you were my brother’s keeper
Would you always help me out?
Or would you take me to the green
when I didn’t set it out?

If you were my brother’s keeper
Would you put me right on track?
Lay down your life in times of need?
Would you always have my back?

If you were my brother’s keeper
Would you let anything come between us?
Talk to me behind my back?
Would I ever lose your trust?

If you were my brother’s keeper
Would you fight me over a girl?
Would you disrespect my family?
Would you divulge my secret pearl?
But I know you’re my keeper
Because we have a common goal
Uplift is important and
FRIENDSHIP IS ESSENTIAL TO THE SOUL

I know you’re my keeper
And our family is large and strong,
Knowledge and manhood is our
infrastructure and
“Omega Dear” is our song

I know you are my keeper
And our bind is no fascade
You’re always willing to die for me,
And our strength comes from God

I know you’re my keeper
Proud, concientious, and bold
I know you will never leave me
Because your blood is royal PURPLE
and your heart Is made of old GOLD!

Author: UNKNOWN

 

If

Rudyard Kipling

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 imposters 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 wornout 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 breath 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!

 

Members Versus Men

Bro. Walter H. Mazyck

“The value of our Fraternity is not in numbers, but in men, in real brotherhood.

Eight men thoroughly immersed in the true Omega spirit are far greater assets than eighty with lukewarm enthusiasm.”

TO THY DUTY THAT IS BEST, LEAVE UNTO THE LORD THE REST

 

Mother to Son

By: Langston Hughes

Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me aint’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor-
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So, boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now-
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

 

Psalm 133

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

It is like the precious ointment upon the head,

that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard:

that went down to the skirts of his garments;

As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion;

for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

 

See It Through

Edgar Guest

When you’re up against a trouble, Meet it squarely, face to face;

Lift your chin and set your shoulders, Plant your feet and take a brace.

When it’s vain to try to dodge it, Do the best that you can do;

You may fail, but you may conquer, See it through!

 

Black may be the clouds about you And your future may seem grim,

But don’t let your nerve desert you; Keep yourself in fighting trim.

If the worst is bound to happen, Spite of all that you can do,

Running from it will not save you, See it through!

 

Even hope may seem but futile, When with troubles you’re beset,

But remember you are facing Just what other men have met.

You may fail, but fall still fighting; Don’t give up, whate’er you do;

Eyes front, head high to the finish. See it through!

 

It Couldn’t Be Done

Edgar Guest

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face.  If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it”;
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.

Omega Dear

By Hon. Bro. Mercer Cook and Hon. Bro. Charles Drew

Omega Dear, we are thy own
Thou Art our Life, our Love, our Home,
We’ll Sing Thy praises far and nigh
We love Omega Psi Phi.

To all thy precepts make us true;
Live Nobly as all real men do;
Let manhood be our eternal shrine;
With faith in God and Heart and Mind.

Through days of joy or years of pain;
To Serve thee e’er will be our aim;
And when we say our last goodbye;
We’ll love Omega Psi Phi.

 

The Sweetheart Song

Words and Music By Hon. Bro. Don Q Pullen

Dear Omega Girl I love you,
with a love that is divine.
Swear by all the stars above you,
That my love will be but thine.

When the moon appears those pleasant mem – ries.
Then I’ll have you near but not for real – – – ly
Dear Omega girl, I love you
Sweet – heart of O – – mega Dear.

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