எது கை கொடுக்கும்?

 






 எது  கொடுக்கும்?
 எது  கெடுக்கும்?

They lie on the table, side by side,
The Holy Bible and  the TV    guide.
One is well worn and cherished with pride,
No, not the  Bible, but the TV guide.
One is used daily to help folks decide,
No, not the  Bible but the TV guide.
As the pages are turned, what shall they see?
Oh what does it matter, turn on the TV.

Then confusion reigns, they can't all agree,
On what they should watch on the old TV.
So they open the book in which they confide:
No, not the  Bible, but the TV guide.
The word of God is seldom read,
May be a verse as they fall into bed,
Exhausted and sleepy and tired as can be,
Not from reading the Bible, but from watching TV.

So then back on the table side by side,
Lie the Holy  Bible and the TV guide.
No time for prayer, no time for the word,
The plan of salvation is seldom now heard.
But forgiveness of sin, so full and free,
Is found in the Bible, not on the TV.
                                          ~ Author Unknown

 பழைய பாடல்!

Barack Obama

ஒபாமா பற்றி ஒரு சிரிப்புக் கவிதை!

Barack Obama

had an American mama

but that's not enough when ya

may have been born in Kenya.

Barack Obama

could end the drama

and show that the birthers goof

if he merely offered proof.

Barack Obama

should get a note from the Dalai Lama

with a seal of approval from the Pontificate

saying "Jesus, too, lacked a birth certificate." 

-Anon

The night has a thousand eyes

The night has a thousand eyes,
      And the day but one;
 Yet the light of the bright world dies
      With the dying sun.

 The mind has a thousand eyes,
      And the heart but one:
 Yet the light of a whole life dies
       When love is done.

                  ----Francis William Bourdillon
 --------------------
டோண்டு ராகவன்  அனுப்பிய பின்னூட்டம்:

இரவுக்கு ஆயிரம் கண்கள் பகலுக்கு ஒன்றே ஒன்று
அறிவுக்கு ஆயிரம் கண்கள் உறவுக்கு ஒன்றே ஒன்று
(படம்: குலமகள் ராதை)
கண்ணதாசன்  Francis William Bourdillon-ஐ காப்பி அடித்திருப்பாரோ?

Begin the day with,,,,,,

This poem will brighten up your day!

Begin the day with Friendliness

Begin the day with friendliness

And only friends you will find.

Yes, greet the dawn with happiness;

Keep happy thoughts in mind.

Salute the day with peaceful thoughts,

And peace will fill your heart;

Begin the day with joyful soul,

And joy will be your part.

Begin the day with friendliness;

Keep friendly all day long;

Keep in your soul a friendly thought,

Your heart a friendly song.

Have in your mind a word of cheer

For all who come your way,

And they will  bless you too, in turn,

and wish you `Happy Day!'

Begin each day with friendly thoughts,

And as the day goes on,

Keep friendly, loving, good, and kind,

Just as you were at dawn.

The day will be a friendly one,

And then at night you'll find

That you were happy all day long

Through friendly thoughts in mind.


---Frank B. Whitney

Judged by the company

One night in late October, 

When I was far from sober,
Returning with my load with manly pride,
My feet began to stutter,
So I lay down in a gutter,
And a pig came near and lay down by my side;
A lady passing by was heard to say:
"You can tell a man who boozes,
By the company he chooses,"
And then pig got up and slowly walked away.

                                -Author Unknown

Things Work Out == Edgar A. Guest

Because it rains when we wish it wouldn't,
Because men do what they often shouldn't,
Because crops fail, and plans go wrong-
Some of us grumble all day long.
But somehow, in spite of the care and doubt,
It seems at last that things work out.

Because we lose where we hoped to gain,
Because we suffer a little pain,
Because we must work when we'd like to play-
Some of us whimper along life's way.
But somehow, as day always follows the night,
Most of our troubles work out all right.

Because we cannot forever smile,
Because we must trudge in the dust awhile,
Because we think that the way is long-
Some of us whimper that life's all wrong.
But somehow we live and our sky grows bright,
And everything seems to work out all right.

So bend to your trouble and meet your care,
For the clouds must break, and the sky grow fair.
Let the rain come down, as it must and will,
But keep on working and hoping still.
For in spite of the grumblers who stand about,
Somehow, it seems, all things work out.

It Couldn’t Be Done -- Edgar Guest

Somebody said that  it couldn’t be done

     But, he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn’t," but he would be one
     Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin

     On his face. If he worried he hid it.

He started to sing as he tackled the thing

     That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you’ll never do that;
     At least no one has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
     And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
     Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
     That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
     There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
     The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,
     Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
     That "couldn’t be done," and you’ll do it.

===========
 Quiddit - A subtilty; an equivocation.
 

from Collected Verse of Edgar Guest

THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE WORLD

 by WILLAM BOSS WALLACE.

             Writtten in 1865

 Blessings on the hand of women!
Angels guard its strength and grace,
In the palace, cottage, hovel,
Oh, no matter where the place;
Would that never storms assailed it,
Rainbows ever gently curled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.
     
Infancy's the tender fountain,
Power may with beauty flow,
Mother's first to guide the streamlets,
From them souls unresting grow--
Grow on for the good or evil,
Sunshine streamed or evil hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.
     
Woman, how divine your mission
Here upon our natal sod!
Keep, oh, keep the young heart open
Always toA the breath of God!
All true trophies of the ages
Are from mother-love impearled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.    

Blessings on the hand of women!
Fathers, sons, and daughters cry,
And the sacred song is mingled
With the worship in the sky--
Mingles where no tempest darkens,
Rainbows evermore are hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.  

(From:Webster's Little folks speakers -1875)

Be the best of Whatever You Are
by Douglas Malloch

If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill
Be a scrub in the valley--but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can't be a tree.

If you can't be a bush be a bit of the grass,
And some highway some happier make;
If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass--
But the liveliest bass in the lake!

We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew,
There's something for all of us here.
There's big work to do and there's lesser to do,
And the task we must do is the near.

If you can't be a highway then just be a trail,
If you can't be the sun be a star;
It isn't by size that you win or you fail--
Be the best of whatever you are!

from: The best Loved poems of American people 
==========

Scrub : Shrub

Muskie: Fragrant like that of musk

Bass: saltwater fish
rill - narrow rivulet

FOOTPRINTS

             குறிப்பு: சுமார் பதினைந்து வருஷங்களுக்கு முன்பு புத்தகசாலையில்  FOOTPRINTS  என்ற இந்த அற்புதமானப் பாடலை படித்து மெய்மறந்தேன். அப்போதே அதைத் தமிழ்ப் படுத்த முனைந்தேன். சுமாராக மொழிமாற்றம் செய்தேன். ’சாவி’க்கு அனுப்பினேன்.  முதல் பக்கத்தில் பிரசுரமாயிற்று.

           இப்போது மீண்டும் படிக்கும்போது இதை இன்னும் சிறப்பாக  மொழிபெயர்த்து இருக்கலாமே என்று தோன்றியது.  அதற்கு எனக்குத் திறமை இல்லை என்றும் உணர்ந்தேன்.

படிப்பவர்கள் முயற்சி செய்யலாம்.  திருத்தமும் கூறலாம்.

 =================================

FOOTPRINTS

By Margaret Fishback Powers

One night I dreamed a dream.

I was walking along the beach with my Lord.

Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.

For each scene,

I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,

One belonging to me and

One to my Lord.

When the last scene of my life shot before me

I looked back at the footprints in the sand.

There was only one set of footprints.

I realized that this was at the lowest

And saddest times of my life.

This always bothered me

And I questioned the Lord

about my dilemma.

"Lord, You told me when I decided to follow You,

You would walk and talk with me all the way.

But I'm aware that during the most troublesome

Times of my life there is only one set of footprints.

I just don't understand why, when I need You most,

You leave me."

Love - Roy Croft

I love you

Not only for what you are,

But for what I am

When I am with you.

I love you,

Not only for what

You have made of yourself,

But for what

You are making of me.

I love you

For the part of me

That you bring out;

I love you

For putting your hand

Into my heaped-up heart

And passing over

All the foolish, weak things

That you can't help

Dimly seeing there,

And for drawing out

Into the light

All the beautiful belongings

That no one else had looked

Quite far enough to find.

I love you because you

Are helping me to make

Of the lumber of my life

Not a tavern

But a temple.

Out of the works

Of my every day

Not a reproach

But a song.

I love you

Because you have done

More than any creed

Could have done

To make me good.

And more than any fate

Could have done

To make me happy.

You have done it

Without a touch,

Without a word,

Without a sign.

You have done it

By being yourself.

Perhaps that is what

Being a friend means,

After all.

                    - Roy Croft

கவலையை விடு,

This, Too, Shall Pass Away -- 
Lanta Wilson Smith

When some great sorrow, like a mighty river,
      Flows through your life with peace-destroying power,
And dearest things are swept from sight forever,
     Say to your heart each trying hour:
              "This, too, shall pass away."

When ceaseless toil has hushed your song of gladness,
     And you have grown almost too tired to pray,
Let this truth banish from your heart its sadness,
   And ease the burdens of each trying day:
       "This, too, shall pass away."

When fortune smiles, and, full of mirth and pleasure,
   The days are flitting by without a care,
Lest you should rest with only earthly treasure,
   Let these few words their fullest import bear:
       "This, too, shall pass away."

When earnest labor brings you fame and glory,
   And all earth's noblest ones upon you smile,
Remember that life's longest, grandest story
  Fills but a moment in earth's little while:
       "This, too, shall pass away."