INVICTUS
-BY WILLIAM ERNEST HENLY
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 winched nor cried aloud
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond the 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 straight the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.
IF
-BY 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,
And 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 them up with worn-out tools;
​
If your 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,
An 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!!!
TEST OF A MAN
-BY CARLYLE STRAUB
The test of man is the fight that he makes.
The grit that he daily shows.
The way that he stands on his feet.
And takes fate's numerous bumps and blows.
​
A coward can smile,
When there’s naught to fear.
When 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 that a brother makes.
A man who, driven against the wall,
Still stands erect and
takes the blows of fate.
​
With his head held high.
Bleeding and bruised and pale,
Is the man who'll win and fate defy,
For he isn’t afraid to fail.
It's the hurdles you mount and the breaks you get,
And the shocks your courage stands;
The hour of sorrow and vain regret,
For the prize that escapes your hands,
That test your mettle and prove your worth;
It isn't the blows you deal
But the blows you take on this good old earth,
That show if your stuff is real.
THE MAN WHO THINKS HE CAN
-BY WALTER D. WINTLE
If you think you’re beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you’d like to win, but think you can’t,
It’s almost a cinch you won’t.
​
If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost.
For out in the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will,
It’s all a state of mind.
​
If you think you’re out-classed, you are;
You’ve got to think high to rise.
You’ve got to be sure of yourself,
If you ever want to obtain a prize.
​
Life’s battles does not always go,
To the stronger or faster man.
But, soon or late, the man who wins,
IS THE MAN WHO THINKS HE CAN!!!
HOUSE OF ALPHA
-BY BRO. SIDNEY P. BROWN
GOODWILL is the monarch of this house. Men, unacquainted, enter,
shake hands, exchange greetings, and depart friends. Cordiality exists
among all who abide within.
I am the eminent expression of friendship. Character and temperament
change under my dominant power. Lives once touched by me become tuned
and are therefore amiable, kindly, fraternal.
I inspire the musician to play noble sentiments and assist the chemist to
convert ungenerous personalities into individuals of great worth. I destroy
all ignoble impulses. I constantly invoke principles which make for common
brotherhood and the echo responds in all communities and princely men are
thereby recognized. Education, health, music, encouragement, sympathy,
laughter - all these are species of interest given on self-invested capital.
Tired moments find me a delightful treat, hours of sorrow, a shrine of
understanding - at all times, I am faithful to the creed of companionship.
To a few, I am the castle of dreams - ambitious, successful, hopeful dreams.
To many, I am the poetic palace where human feeling is rhymed to celestial
motives; to the great majority, I am the treasury of good fellowship.
In fact, I am the college of friendship, the university of brotherly love;
the school for the better making of men.
I AM ALPHA PHI ALPHA!