Article - MASCULINITY

What is a man? A bit of clay,

The rain dissolves and floats away,

A diamond of Lustre rare, Forever firm, forever fair,

A bubble dancing on the stream,

An empty film, a bursting gleam,

A king upon a dateless throne,

With all eternity his own,

A mockery of love and hate,

The play of time, the sport of fate,

The conqueror of endless life,

Victorious in every strife,

Compact of virtue and of sin,

Creation's Matchies harlequin,

And each of these, in devious plan, Discernible in every man!

Why, what Superior Scientist,

What Erudite Anatomist,

Could pick these creatures from the bog,And classify and catalogue?

Laugh and the world laughs with you,

Weep and you weep alone,

For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,

But has trouble enough of its own.

Sing, and the hills will answer,

Sigh, it is lost on the air.

The echoes bound to a joyful sound,

But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you,

Grieve, and they turn and go.

They want full measure of all your pleasure,

But they do not need your woes.

Be glad, and your friend are many:

Be sad, and you lose them all.

There are none to decline your nectared wine,

But alone you must drink life's gall.

Feast and your halls are crowded,

Fast, and the word goes by.

Succeed and give, and it helps you to live,

But no man can help you die.

There is room in the halls of pleasure,

For a long and lordly train,

Help and the world wants more support,

Even the lord is wanting to face hardship,

A guy craving for help, but nobody hears,

He smiles and hides all of the fears,

I beg the world to listen the tears,

It matters how straight is the gate,

How charged with punishment the scroll,

He is the master of his own fate,

He is the supreme of his own soul...