The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Ode on Solitude

Alexander Pope

Happy the man whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air,
In his own ground.

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,
Whose flocks supply him with attire,
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
In winter fire.

Blest, who can unconcern'dly find
Hours, days, and years slide soft away,
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day,

Sound sleep by night; study and ease,
Together mix'd; sweet recreation;
And Innocence, which most does please
With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown,
Thus unlamented let me die,
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.

Stars

Sara Teasdale

Alone in the night
On a dark hill
With pines around me
spicy and still,

And a heaven full of stars
Over my head,
White and topaz
and misty red;

Up the dome of heaven
Like a great hill,
I watch them marching
Stately and still,

And I know that I
Am honored to be
Witness
Of so much majesty.

"Brutus"

William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar"

Be patient till the last.
Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my cause,
and be silent, that you may hear! believe me
for mine honour and have respect to mine honour,
that you may believe! censure me in your wisdom,
and awake your senses, that you may the better judge.
If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar's,
to him I say that Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his.
If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar,
this is my answer:
not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.
Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves,
than that Caesar were dead, to live all freemen?
As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate,
I rejoiced at it; as he was valiant, I honour him;
but as he was ambitious, I slew him.
There is tears for his love; joy for his fortune;
honour for his valour; and death for his ambition.
Who is here so base that would be a bondman? If any,
speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude
that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I offended.
Who is here so vile that will not love his country?
If any, speak: for him have I offended. I pause for a reply.

Diary 1980, España, Manila

A. Ferrer, 1980, España, Manila

"When my lips can't express my feelings,
let my actions do the speaking".

Oh, my Love

John Lennon

Oh, my love, for the first time in my life
My eyes are wide open.
Oh, my lover, for the first time in my life
My eyes can see.

I see the wind, oh, I see the trees,
Everything is clear in my heart.
I see the clouds, oh, I see the sky,
Everything is clear in our world.

Oh, my love, for the first time in my life
My mind is wide open.
Oh, my lover, for the first time in my life
My mind can feel.

I feel sorrow, oh, I feel dreams,
Everything is clear in my heart.
I feel life, oh, I feel love,
Everything is clear in our world.

Requiem

Robert Louis Stevenson

Under the wide and starry sky
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you gave for me;
"Here he lies where he longs to be;
Home is the sailor, home from sea,
And hunter home from hill..."

Love is a Special Word

Theresa Ann Hunt

Love is a special word,
rich with meaning,
overflowing in thought
Love is sharing - -
sharing happiness and sorrow,
the blue skies and gray,
the important and everyday
concerns of life.
Love is understanding - -
a quiet understanding
in which a thought
may not be spoken
but is understood.
Above all, love is what we share.

O Captain! My Captain!

Walt Whitman

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up - for you the flag is flung - for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribboned wreathes - for you the shores a - crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Hear Captain! Dear Father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;
Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
But I with mournful tread
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

Diary 1985, Frankfurt, Germany

A. Ferrer, 1985, Frankfurt, Germany

"Many people have I known, whose measure of their fellowmen is
rich or poor, famous or unknown, powerful or powerless,
strong or weak, good-looking or not good-looking,
belongs to the upper social class or belongs to the lower social class,
has lots of material belongings or has less material belongings,
has the latest in fashion & trend or has old fashioned stuff,
has the most expensive things or has the cheapest in the market,
intelligent or not intelligent, talented or not talented,
always on top or always at the bottom,
has many influential friends or has no influential friends,
and so on and so on until one gets dizzy with the long list of this crap.

My friend, if ever you will try to measure somebody,
I advice you to look carefully who is:
the oppressor or the oppressed, the cheater or the honest,
the crook or the righteous , the rude or the polite & kind,
the arrogant & haughty or the humble,
the aggressive or the meek,
the loud & noisy or the quiet & serene,
the aggressive or the peaceful,
the unjust & unfair or the just & fair,
the inhumane or the humane,
the one whose god is money & wealth or
the one whose slave is money & wealth,
the one who will suffer patience & endurance or
the one who will step on fellow people just to reach a goal,
the one who treats human beings like animals or
the one who treats animals as if they were people,
the one who has no respect for others' feelings or
the one who has utmost respect for others' feelings,
the one who sucks the lifeblood of other people or
the one who would do what he can
to help ease the burden of his fellowmen, and lastly,
the one who takes or the one who gives...

Choose wisely, my friend, because life is short.
Live as if you will not be here tomorrow,
rather than live as if you were immortal.
In a nutshell, just choose the good and reject the evil.
Do this and destiny will smile upon you.
Do this and Mother Nature will take care of you.
Do this and God will bless you and keep you.
Do this and mankind will defend your cause".

Diary 1985, Zürich, Switzerland

From the diary of Alfredo Ferrer:
1985, Zürich, Switzerland

"No work is futile if done with honesty, dedication and passion.
People who are good in what they do are looked upon by God
with pleased and satisfied eyes.
But the godless cannot bear the sight of other people's success
and are slowly blinded by envy.
And envy brings out the beast in man".

Diary 1985, Karachi, Pakistan

From the diary of Alfredo Ferrer:
1985, Karachi, Pakistan

"Some people have a strong tendency
to look for faults, loopholes, weak points,
petty and insignificant matters
regarding everything that is in front of their eyes.
It is a pity to see them focus and concentrate
on one particular imperfect leaf or bark of a tree
because in doing so,
they will lose sight of the grand beauty of the forest".

Diary 1985, Singapore

From the diary of Alfredo Ferrer:
1985, Singapore

"Money per se (as such) is not evil.
It can be useful or it can be misused, just like power.
It can be used for godly purposes
or it can be worshiped as a god.
It all depends upon us. Let us choose wisely.
Money should be our slave.
Not the other way around".

Trees

Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast
A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts its leafy arms to pray
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair
Upon whose bosoms snow has lain
Who intimately lives with rain
Poems are made by fools like me
But only God can make a tree.

Sa aking mga Kababata

Jose Rizal

Kapagka ang baya'y sadyang umiibig
sa kanyang salitang kaloob ng langit
sanlang kalayaan nasa ring masapit
katulad ng ibong na sa himpapawid.

Pagka't ang salita'y isang kahatulan
sa bayan, sa nayon at mga kaharian,
at ang isang tao'y katulad, kabagay
ng alin mang likha noong kalayaan.

Ang hindi magmahal sa kanyang salita
mahigit sa hayop at malansang isda,
kaya ang marapat pagyamaning kusa
na tulad sa inang tunay na nagpala.

Ang wikang Tagalog tulad din sa Latin,
sa Ingles, Kastila at salitang anghel,
sa pagka ang Poong maalam tumingin
ang siyang nag-gawad, nagbigay sa atin.

Ang salita nati'y tulad din sa iba
na may alfabeto at sariling letra
na kaya nawala'y dinatnan ng sigwa
ang lunday sa lawa noong dakong una.

Silence is Thought converging

Jose Garcia Villa

Silence is thought converging,
Unprecipitate, like
Dancer on tight wire balancing,
Transitive, budlike.

Till - her act finished - in
One lovely jump skips
She to the floor, bending
To make her bows, dips

Herself in bright applause -
Then silence is
No more. Now it is the rose
Called Speech.

There is no Frigate like a Book

Emily Dickinson

There is no frigate like a book
to take us lands away,
nor any coursers like a page
of prancing poetry.

This traverse may the poorest take
without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
that bears a human soul!

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 even doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting
Or, being hired about and lied about, don't deal with 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 'em up with worn out 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 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,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the will which says to them: "Hold on!";

If you can think and 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!

Sleep Sweet

Ellen M. Huntington Gates

Sleep sweet within this quiet room,
O thou, whoe'er thou art,
And let no mournful yesterdays
Disturb thy peaceful heart.

Nor let tomorrow mar thy rest
With dreams of coming ill:
Thy Maker is thy changeless friend,
His love surrounds thee still.

Forget thyself and all the world,
Put out each garish light:
The stars are shining overhead -
Sleep sweet! Good night! Good night!