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Life Poems
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Life poems can be long and meaningful... or short and to the point, such as this one. Here, Van Dyke asks us to define the qualities of ideal manhood (or womanhood). Various people have given various answers to this question. Here the poet states what qualities he thinks are indispensable.
Four Things
Four things a man must learn to do
If he would make his record true:
To think without confusion clearly;
To love his fellow-men sincerely;
To act from honest motives purely;
To trust in God and Heaven securely.
~Henry Van Dyke (1852 – 1933)
Henry van Dyke was an American author, educator, poet, playwright, and clergyman. He attended Princeton University and graduated in 1873, after which he became a professor of English literature at Princeton, serving between 1899 and 1923.
Being a pastor, Van Dyke wrote many stories and poems related to Christianity, religion in general, and Christmas. For example, his Christmas story (The Mansion) is about a mansion that speaks "not of money squandered but of wealth prudently applied," and is the companion story to The Other Wise Man. You can find several reprints of stories and Poems by Henry Van Dyke
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