Invictus

Out of the night that covers me

Black as the pit from pole to pole

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul



In the felt clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud

Under the bludgeoning of chance

My head is bloodied but unbowed



Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the horror of the shade

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid



It matters not how straight the gate

How charged with punishment the scroll

I AM THE MASTER OF MY FATE!!!!

I AM THE CAPTAIN OF MY SOUL!!!!











-William Ernest Henly

House of Alpha

GOODWILL IS THE MONARCH OF THIS HOUSE, MEN UNACQUAINTED, ENTER, SHAKE HANDS, EXCHANGE GREETINGS AND DEPART FRIENDS. CORDIALITY EXIST AMONG ALL WHO ABIDE WITHIN. I AM THE EMINENT EXPRESSION OF FRIENDSHIP. CHARACTER AND TEMPERAMENT CHANGE UNDER MY DOMINANT POWER. LIVES ONCE TOUCHED BY ME BECOME TUNED AND ARE THEREAFTER AMIABLE, KINDLY, FRATERNAL.

I INSPIRE THE MUSICIAN TO PLAY NOBLE SENTIMENTS AND ASSIST THE CHEMIST TO CONVERT UNGENEROUS PERSONALITIES INTO INDIVIDUALS OF GREAT WORTH. I DESTROY IGNOBLE IMPULSES. I CONSTANTLY INVOKE PRINCIPLES WHICH MAKE FOR COMMON BROTHERHOOD AND THE ECHO RESOUNDS IN ALL COMMUNITIES AND PRINCELY MEN ARE THEREBY RECOGNIZED. EDUCATION, HEALTH, MUSIC, ENCOURAGEMENT, SYMPATHY, LAUGHTER, ALL THESE ARE SPECIES OF INTEREST GIVEN OF SELF INVESTED CAPITAL.

TIRED MOMENTS FIND ME A DELIGHTFUL TREAT, HOURS OF SORROW, A SHRINE OF UNDERSTANDING, AT ALL TIMES I AM FAITHFUL TO THE CREED OF COMPANIONSHIP, TO A FEW, I AM THE CASTLE OF DREAMS, AMBITIOUS, SUCCESSFUL, HOPEFUL DREAMS. TO MANY, I AM THE POETIC PLACE WHERE HUMAN FEELING IS RHYMED TO CELESTIAL MOTIVES; TO THE GREAT MAJORITY, I AM THE TREASURY OF GOOD FELLOWSHIP.

IN FACT, I AM THE COLLEGE OF FRIENDSHIP; THE UNIVERSITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE; THE SCHOOL FOR THE BETTER MAKING OF MEN.

I AM ALPHA PHI ALPHA

If

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 men doubt you

And make allowance for their doubting too

If you can wait and not be tired of waiting

Or being lied about don’t deal in lies

Or being hated don’t give in to hating

And yet don’t look to good or talk to 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've gave your life to broken

And stoop and build them 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 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 is in it

And which is more, you’ll be a man, my son



-Rudyard Kipling

THE TEST OF A MAN




The test of a man is the fight that he makes,
The grit that he daily shows,
The way he stands upon his feet,
And takes life's numerous bumps and blows.
A coward can smile when there's nothing to fear.
And nothing his progress bars,
but it takes a man to stand and cheer,
While the other fellow stars.
It isn't the victory after all
But the fight that a brother makes.
A man when driven against the wall, still stands
erect and takes the blows of fate with his head
held high, bleeding and bruised and pale,
Is the man who will win and fate defied,
For he isn't afraid to fail.

SEE IT THROUGH
BY: EDGAR A. GUEST
When you're up against a trouble,
Meet it squarely, face to face;
Lift your chin and set your shoulders,
Plant your feet and take a brace.
When it's vain to try to dodge it,
Do the best that you can do;
You may fail, but you may conquer,
See it through!

Black may be the clouds about you
And your future may seem grim,
But don't let your nerves desert you;
Keep yourself in fighting trim.
If the worst is bound to happen,
Spite of all that you can do,
Running from it will not save you,
See it through!

Even hope may seem but futile,
When with troubles you're beset,
But remember you are facing
Just what other men have met.
You may fail, but fall still fighting;
Don't give up, whatever you do;
Eyes front, head high to the finish.
See it through!