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Christopher Farai Charamba The Reader
The year 2016 is coming to an end and many people and businesses are winding down with the year. Some are gearing up for a festive season with family and friends while others are preparing for a holiday exploring foreign lands.

One thing that many will do in common is reflect on the year gone by. They will take stock of what they accomplished, what they failed to do, and what they want to do in the year to come.

In my personal reflection, I often am drawn to two poems that I consider favourites. Not only to they remind me of goals that I have set, but also serve as a gentle reminder that on the road of life one will encounter many trials, what is chief is to preserve.

The first poem is “If” by Rudyard Kipling written in 1895. Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet and novelist famed for penning “The Jungle Book”.

Kipling said his poetic inspiration for “If”, was the military actions of Leander Starr Jameson, leader of the failed Jameson Raid of December 1895 to January 1896 against the Transvaal Republic to overthrow the Boer government of Paul Kruger some 15 years prior to its publication.

The failure of that mercenary coup d’état would aggravate the political tensions between Great Britain and the Boers, which led to the Second Boer War.

But I digress, this is not a history lesson but a focus on the poem that Kipling dedicated to Jameson.

I first heard the poem on a SuperSport commercial around 2007 and 2008 and was instantly drawn to it. In the poem, Kipling states that if you can do a certain number of things such as “keep your head when all about you// Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,”

Or “If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,// But make allowance for their doubting too;… 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 fill the unforgiving minute// With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,”

Then he says, “Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,// And —which is more — you’ll be a Man, my son.”

The poem considers situations in life that people go through. It talks of having humility where Kipling mentions talking with crowds and keep your virtue, or walking with Kings and losing the common touch.

It talks of taking risks and losing but not being discouraged by loss and persevering. To me this poem is a reminder that there are certain principles that an individual must have, and they must abide by them.

The other poem is “Desiderata” by American writer Max Ehrmann written in 1927. It is a prose poem that, like “If”, speaks to the different situations in life and is a reminder to some of the virtues and principles that one should hold.

“Go placidly amid the noise and haste// and remember what peace there may be in silence.// As far as possible without surrender// be on good terms with all persons.” Ehrmann opens.

He continues, “Speak your truth quietly and clearly;// and listen to others// even the dull and the ignorant;// they too have their story.”

This to me is also a reminder to be humble. To realise that even if one dis-agrees with others respect what they have to say.

One line in the poem that resonates states that one should “keep interested in (their) own career, however humble (as) it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time”. This is certainly true of the prevailing economic conditions in Zimbabwe and something people should keep in mind in the year to come.

The ending is a reminder that all should take to heart, regardless of the challenges they face. Ehrmann says: “With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams// it is still a beautiful world.// Be cheerful.// Strive to be happy.”