To Thine Own Self Be True
By thine own soul’s law learn to live,
And if men thwart thee take no heed,
And if men hate thee have no care;
Sing thou thy song and do thy deed.
Hope thou thy hope and pray thy prayer,
And claim no crown they will not give,
Nor bays they grudge thee for thy hair.
Keep thou thy soul-worn steadfast oath,
And to thy heart be true thy heart;
What thy soul teaches learn to know,
And play out thine appointed part,
And thou shalt reap as thou shalt sow,
Nor helped nor hindered in thy growth,
To thy full stature thou shalt grow.
Fix on the future’s goal thy face,
And let thy feet be lured to stray
Nowhither, but be swift to run,
And nowhere tarry by the way,
Until at last the end is won
And thou mayst look back from thy place
And see thy long day’s journey done.
By Pakenham Beatty
Pakenham Thomas Beatty was born on 23 June 1855 in Maranhão, Brazil, as a son of Pakenham William Beatty, a merchant hailing from Mount Pleasant, Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland. He became a poet, and resided with his wife Edith ‘Ida’ Beatty (maiden name Dowling) in Middlesex, England. He is known for three volumes of verse, “To My Lady” (1879), “Three Women of the People” (1881) and “Spretae Carmina Musae” (1893), among other works. Pakenham Thomas Beatty passed at 74 years of age in April 1930 in County Louth, Ireland.
By thine own soul’s law learn to live,
And if men thwart thee take no heed,
And if men hate thee have no care;
Sing thou thy song and do thy deed.
Hope thou thy hope and pray thy prayer,
And claim no crown they will not give,
Nor bays they grudge thee for thy hair.
Keep thou thy soul-worn steadfast oath,
And to thy heart be true thy heart;
What thy soul teaches learn to know,
And play out thine appointed part,
And thou shalt reap as thou shalt sow,
Nor helped nor hindered in thy growth,
To thy full stature thou shalt grow.
Fix on the future’s goal thy face,
And let thy feet be lured to stray
Nowhither, but be swift to run,
And nowhere tarry by the way,
Until at last the end is won
And thou mayst look back from thy place
And see thy long day’s journey done.
By Pakenham Beatty
Pakenham Thomas Beatty was born on 23 June 1855 in Maranhão, Brazil, as a son of Pakenham William Beatty, a merchant hailing from Mount Pleasant, Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland. He became a poet, and resided with his wife Edith ‘Ida’ Beatty (maiden name Dowling) in Middlesex, England. He is known for three volumes of verse, “To My Lady” (1879), “Three Women of the People” (1881) and “Spretae Carmina Musae” (1893), among other works. Pakenham Thomas Beatty passed at 74 years of age in April 1930 in County Louth, Ireland.
