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Famous Inspirational Poem
Douglas Malloch (1877-1938), known as the "Lumbermen's Poet," compares good men to good timber in this famous metaphorical poem. The message of this poem is that people, like trees, grow and reach their true potential by overcoming adversity. It is only through struggles, like a tree fighting through forest growth to reach the sun, that we grow and discover our true potential. Malloch lived in Michigan where he grew up amongst logging camps and lumber yards. He wrote his first published poem when he was still a boy; it was published in the Detroit News.
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Poetry is a passionate way of expressing our innermost thoughts, emotions, spirit, and love, amongst other things. As I read this poem, I thought of a very humble gentleman who lost his...
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By Douglas Mallochmore Douglas Malloch
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow with ease,
The stronger wind, the stronger trees,
The further sky, the greater length,
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
Where thickest lies the forest growth
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.
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Has this poem touched you? Share your story!
- by CL
- 11 months ago
Our son memorized this poem for an annual gathering of friends where they all recite it. Today we heard his five-year-old son say it almost perfectly from memory, with his father's phrasing and intonation: it was unforgettable.
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- by Josefina Eyveth Romero
- 2 years ago
Poetry is a passionate way of expressing our innermost thoughts, emotions, spirit, and love, amongst other things. As I read this poem, I thought of a very humble gentleman who lost his beloved wife to cancer. It made me envision him as the tree where good timber grows. Men like him are hard to find and indeed, like good timber, have withstood the test in the most difficult of life circ*mstances. He shares his story of loving her to the very end and so is the tree that loves the good earth to be able to produce good timber.
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- by Judy Mitchel
- 3 years ago
My husband was a logger most of his younger life, then a lumber man, selling lumber for the last. He passed on Christmas 2019. He was also a poet. He would have loved this.
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- by Nora
- 3 years ago
My brother, Mando, died of liver cancer on May 15, 2020. This poem is an accurate description of his character.
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- by Rachel
- 3 years ago
My father, John, died of Covid on April 23, 2020. He will be buried on May 12. This poem will be read at his graveside.
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- by Connie Dye
- 4 years ago
In life we are given trials. We can either be stricken down by them or strong and grow because of them. If we look to our Savior and KNOW that He knows us and He has felt all of the trials in our lives, we can lean on Him and trust Him. He will help us grow.
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- by Kumari Weerasooriya
- 4 years ago
This is a poem that addresses the law of nature. No one can go against it. The poet has used metaphorical language to depict the similarities between man and other creations of nature. Nature is the supreme power which decides man's destiny.
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