Good Timber
Douglas Malloch
About The Author
Douglas Malloch (May 5, 1877 – July 2, 1938) was an American poet, short-story writer and Associate Editor of American Lumberman, a trade paper in Chicago. He was known as a "Lumberman's poet" both locally and nationally.
He is noted for writing Round River Drive and "Be the Best of Whatever You Are" in addition to many other creations. He was commissioned to write new lyrics for the Michigan State Song, Michigan, My Michigan in 1902.
More about'Douglas Malloch' Wikipedia Douglas Malloch
About The Poem
'Good Timber' by Douglas Malloch describes the way that trees of good timber and strong men are formed through hardship and struggle. The poem begins with the speaker describing how there are two types of trees and men. First, there are those who are readily given everything they need to survive.
Good Timber
by: 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.
(Never became a forest king)
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.
संघर्ष
लेखक:
डगलस मलोक
Transcreated by:
'Ambar' Kharbanda
जिसने जाना कभी नहीं के क्या होता है
मुश्किल से टकरा कर अपनी राह बनाना
उसके लिए तो बिल्कुल भी आसान नहीं है
अपनी क़िस्मत से इस दुनिया पर छा जाना
कोई ऐसा पेड़ जो कोशिश करे बिना ही
धूप, हवा, आकाश, रौशनी पा जाता है
बारिश भी मिल जाए उसको लेकिन फिर भी
बौना-सा इक पौधा बन कर रह जाता है
और आदमी भी कोई संघर्ष न करके
बैठे-बैठे ही जो सब कुछ पा जाता है
जैसा इस दुनिया में आया था वैसे ही
रहता है बेनाम, चला जाता है
सुंदर हों मज़बूत हों, ऐसे पेड़ तो अक्सर
आंधी से, तूफ़ानों से जूझा करते हैं
ऊँचाई छूने की कोशिश में ही हरदम
पूरे दमख़म से वो ऊपर को बढ़ते हैं
पेड़ हो या इंसान, लड़ेगा जो मुश्किल से
वो ही कुछ बन पाएगा, ये तो तय है
जिसका जीवन संघर्षों की भेंट चढ़ा हो
वो ही ऊँचा उठ पाएगा, ये तो तय है
(पेड़ हो या इंसान, लड़ेगा जो मुश्किल से
वो ही कुछ बन पाएगा, ये तो तय है)