Poems
Invictus
William Earnest 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.
IF
Rudyard Kippling
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!
Test of a Man
Author Unknown
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 numerous 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 that 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 the man who will win and fate defied,
For he isn’t afraid to fail!
He Ain't Heavy,
He's My Brother
Bro. Freeman Montague, Jr
Our family trees are not the same;
we both have a different mother
And yet I’d proudly tell the world
that this man is my brother.
It’s like we’ve lived our lives together,
though we meet for the first time.
As this powerful sense of brotherhood
makes everything seem fine.
Spectators stand and look with awe
as we do our secret shake.
Never realizing that this clasping of hands
DOES NOT a brother make.
We are brothers in a deeper sense
than they can comprehend.
For when our bond has just begun,
theirs is about to end.
When we were searching for the light,
as all Sphinxmen must do,
They stood aside and laughed out loud
and said “I wouldn’t do that, would you?”
And yet when we had crossed those sands,
and the light we could finally see,
They stood aside and whispered softly
Oh how I wish it were me!
​
I know the decision I made was wise,
of this I’m sure and have no doubt.
Each day in my life will have blue skies
for I’m an ALPHA from here on out.
And never again will I be lonely
for I have brothers everywhere.
In cities of population two,
I even have a brother there.
​
There is nothing in this whole wide world
that we wouldn’t do for one another,
I’m sure I’d even give my life
to save that of my brother.
But there are still those in darkness
who cannot understand
why it is I share the burden
which belongs to another man.
​
When asked “Why weigh yourself down
with the load of another?”
I simply smile at them and say,
He ain’t heavy, He’s my Brother!!!
To Be An Alphaman
Bro. Fred H. Woodruff
To be an Alphaman means more than just to wear a pin,
It requires intrinsic qualities that are developed deep within,
It calls for lasting brotherhood, a word sometimes used in vain,
It means an honest devotion, not anticipation of personal gain.
Fraternity speaks of brotherly love, that’s something to achieve,
It’s more than just a grip of hands, it’s an ideal to conceive.
You’re proud to be an Alpha, and share her praises won,
Before you inflate yourself with pride, ask yourself, honestly, how much have I done?
To realize the wealth of personal satisfaction, from knowing you’ve given your all,
To have helped her cause unfalteringly, when you rally to her call.
To combine all these qualities, and root them deep within,
The product would be an Alphaman, deserving of his pin.
So take an honest inventory of your character within,
And for every virtue you find missing, try and weave it in.
For a man without these virtues isn’t worth a grain of sand.
It’s plain to see, it’s more than just a pin, that makes an Alphaman.
There Goes An Alpha Man
By Peter Clarke
There goes a man of high impulse,
Of princely mien and grace.
There goes a man of humble faith,
A credit to his race.
There goes a man of conscience vast,
With the will to reach his goal.
There goes a man of lordly rank,
Of heroe’s stock and soul.
There goes a man of noble caste,
Whom hardship cannot break.
There goes a man in merit clad,
Whom duty won’t forsake.
There goes a man in cultured verse,
Who holds a sportman’s creed.
There goes a man too vigilant,
To bow to lust or greed.
There goes a man whose life is spent,
In service not in scorn.
There goes a man whose majesty,
Shines like a may time morn.
There goes a man who is a friend,
To love and duty truth.
There goes a man to help uplift,
The lives of wholesome youth.
There goes a man with industry,
And faith at his command.
There goes the best man in and out,
For he is an Alphaman.
House Of Alpha
Bro. Sindney 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 thereafter, 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 resounds in all communities, and princely men are thereby recognized.
​
Education, health, music, encouragement, sympathy, laughter: All these are species of interest given of 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!
