In light of Father’s Day, I’ve compiled 5 of my favorite poems and quotes for real men.

Today, men are needed more than ever. God proclaimed in Ezekiel 22:30, “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” 

Enjoy these inspiring words, and share with a friend who you think would be blessed by them this Father’s Day.

“Be Strong!” Maltbie Davenport Babcock (1858-1901)

Maltbie Davenport Babcock is better-known for writing the treasured hymn, “This Is My Father’s World.” Note the similarities between the last stanza of this poem and the last stanza of the hymn. 

Be strong!
We are not here to play, to dream, to drift;
We have hard work to do, and loads to lift;
Shun not the struggle, face it; ’tis God’s gift.

Be strong!
Say not, “The days are evil. Who’s to blame?”
And fold the hands and acquiesce? oh shame!
Stand up, speak out, and bravely, in God’s name.

Be strong!
It matters not how deep intrenched the wrong.
How hard the battle goes, the day how long;
Faint not, fight on! To-morrow comes the song

“Four Things” Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933)

“Four Things” summarizes four characteristics of real manhood.

Four things a man must learn to do 
If he would make his record true: 
To think without confusion clearly; 
To love his fellow man sincerely; 
To act from honest motives purely; 
To trust in God and Heaven securely.

“If” Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

In 1910, famed author Rudyard Kipling wrote the following poem, “If,” for his only son John. Tragically, in September 1915, John perished on the Western Front in World War I, only six weeks after his 18th birthday.

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,
    But make allowance for their doubting too;   
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too 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 gave your life to, broken,
    And stoop and build ’em 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’s in it,   
    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

“God, Give Us Men!” Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819-1891) 

Josiah Gilbert Holland reminds us that men have always been needed in every era.

GOD, give us men! A time like this demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands; 

Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office can not buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor; men who will not lie; 

Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking!
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty, and in private thinking; 

For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds,
Their large professions and their little deeds,
Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,
Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps. 

“It’s Not the Critic Who Counts” Teddy Roosevelt (1858-1919)

“Critics” will point out that this last quotation is not really a poem at all, but rather a famous quotation from a speech by one of America’s Presidents. The original speech was The Man in the Arena: Citizenship in a Republic. Roosevelt reminds us that it’s not enough to simply criticize, we must act.

It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled,
or where the doer of deeds could have done better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena;
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly;
who errs and comes short again and again;
because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds;

who knows the great enthusiasms,
the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement;
and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly;
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls
who know neither victory nor defeat.

Men Needed!

Our world today is in turmoil. Sadly, people are looking for answers to their problems in all the wrong places. As men, will we criticize or fold our hands and wish that things were better?

Or will we walk with God in humility, and boldly live out His truth?

Read More: Fatherhood: A Most Important Work

Read More: Life Lessons From My Father

Question: Which poem (or quote) was your favorite?