Читать книгу Impertinent Poems - Cooke Edmund Vance - Страница 8

What is a failure? It's only a spur

To a man who receives it right,

And it makes the spirit within him stir

To go in once more and fight.

If you never have failed, it's an even guess

You never have won a high success.

What is a miss? It's a practice shot

Which a man must make to enter

The list of those who can hit the spot

Of the bull's-eye in the centre.

If you never have sent your bullet wide,

You never have put a mark inside.

What is a knock-down? A count of ten

Which a man may take for a rest.

It will give him a chance to come up again

And do his particular best.

If you never have more than met your match,

I guess you never have toed the scratch.