December 1, 2007

  • Maybe This Doesn't Have a Lot To Do With Acting,
    but it has a lot to do with me. When I was a child, my brother and I were coerced by our father into memorizing the following poem. It didn't mean too much at the time, except I think it may have earned me a dollar. It stuck in my mind though and has always resonated with me, especially in times of strife. I only remembered a few lines of it and I'd been unable, until tonight, to find the whole poem. It's by Henry Willard Austin, a Victorian poet who apparently isn't known for much else but the first line of this poem which is quoted a lot. I found however that ONLY the first line is quoted and so, to honor Mr. Austin and my father, I present the poem  "Perseverance Conquers All" for perhaps the first time in a blog anywhere on the planet.

    PERSEVERANCE CONQUERS
    ALL.

     -----

    GENIUS,
    that power which dazzles mortal eyes,

    Is
    oft but perseverance in disguise.

    Continuous
    effort, of itself, implies,

    In
    spite of countless falls, the power to arise.

    'Twixt
    failure and success, the point's so fine,

    Men
    sometimes know not when they touch the line.

    Just
    when the pearl was waiting one more plunge,

    How
    many a struggler has thrown up the sponge!

    As
    the tide goes out, it comes clear in;

    In
    life, 'tis at turns the wisest win.

    And
    oh! how true when shades of doubt dismay,

    "'Tis
    often darkest just before the day."

    A
    little more persistence, courage, vim!

    Success
    will dawn o'er fortune's cloudy rim,

    Then
    take this honey for the bitterest cup:

    "There
    is no failure save in giving up,

    No
    real fall as long as one still tries,

    For
    seeming setbacks make the strong man wise.

    There's
    no defeat, in truth, save from within;

    Unless
    you're beaten there, you're bound to win."

      -Henry Willard Austin-