While on my last sail I found a poem recited by an acquaintance; he wasn't sure of his accuracy, and didn't recall the author. Any help with both would be appreciated. Here it is: One ship driven East, the other West, With the self same winds that blow. 'Tis the set of the sail, and not the gale, That determines the direction they go. Like the winds at sea, or the ways of fate as we journey through this life 'Tis the set of the soul that determines the goal, And not the storm or strife!
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"Ships East and West"
ELLA WHEELER WILCOX American Poet & Journalist & Free Thinker (November 5, 1850 - October 30, 1919)
ELLA WHEELER WILCOX American Poet & Journalist & Free Thinker (November 5, 1850 - October 30, 1919)
Gary Wyngarden S/V Shibumi H335Hey Gary...
When I was in engineering school, there was a physics professor who would begin each lecture with a passage from Kipling ("If" was one of his favorites) or authors like Shakespeare (natch), Joseph Conrad and Miguel de Cervantes. It was his way of making sure that we didn't turn out to be a bunch of one-dimensional number-crunchers. It worked for me. If you think about it, sailing is one of those rare pursuits in life that appeals to both sides of the brain, i.e., the analytical and the emotional/spiritual. You can sail by the numbers or you can sail by feel. As engineers, we get to enjoy both. Fair winds. Peter H23 "Raven"
When I was in engineering school, there was a physics professor who would begin each lecture with a passage from Kipling ("If" was one of his favorites) or authors like Shakespeare (natch), Joseph Conrad and Miguel de Cervantes. It was his way of making sure that we didn't turn out to be a bunch of one-dimensional number-crunchers. It worked for me. If you think about it, sailing is one of those rare pursuits in life that appeals to both sides of the brain, i.e., the analytical and the emotional/spiritual. You can sail by the numbers or you can sail by feel. As engineers, we get to enjoy both. Fair winds. Peter H23 "Raven"
I believe the title is "Fate"
FATE One ship drives east and another drives west With the self same winds that blow. 'Tis the set of the sails, And not the gales, That tells us the way to go. Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate; As we voyage along through life, 'Tis the set of a soul That decides its goal, And not the calm, or the strife. By Ella Wheeler Wilcox Munsey's Magazine (February 1897): 554.
FATE One ship drives east and another drives west With the self same winds that blow. 'Tis the set of the sails, And not the gales, That tells us the way to go. Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate; As we voyage along through life, 'Tis the set of a soul That decides its goal, And not the calm, or the strife. By Ella Wheeler Wilcox Munsey's Magazine (February 1897): 554.
Tom's Right!
Didn't even look at the titles on the web site I linked to! After looking at them I have to say it looks like Tom is right. One thing I'll never forget about high school English is having to memorize part of Beowulf and recite it with Old English pronunciation as approved by the teacher. Don’t remember how many times I’ve used that information but it hasn’t been very many times!!! Hope Mr. Codey isn’t reading this post. One of my best friends in undergraduate engineering was nearly a straight A student and dropped out of engineering and switched to philosophy. Another near straight A student dropped out and went into stock market investing in his senior year (this was before the ’69 crash) and yet another honor student took up racing dirt bikes. Go figure. Early american books can be very interesting. I've got some old books here I'm going to sell on ebay dating back to the early 1800's (have to downsize). One interesting book published around 1830 is about a couple american guys, around 24, who went to Europe and traveled around, much like "Europe on $5 dollars a day". It's really interesting reading what life was like then, and their descriptions of the country and the cities compared to today. Unfortunately they didn't talk about their trip across the Antlantic. By the way, for what it's worth, probably the most difficult part of engineering is dealing with people (or the human interface)!
Didn't even look at the titles on the web site I linked to! After looking at them I have to say it looks like Tom is right. One thing I'll never forget about high school English is having to memorize part of Beowulf and recite it with Old English pronunciation as approved by the teacher. Don’t remember how many times I’ve used that information but it hasn’t been very many times!!! Hope Mr. Codey isn’t reading this post. One of my best friends in undergraduate engineering was nearly a straight A student and dropped out of engineering and switched to philosophy. Another near straight A student dropped out and went into stock market investing in his senior year (this was before the ’69 crash) and yet another honor student took up racing dirt bikes. Go figure. Early american books can be very interesting. I've got some old books here I'm going to sell on ebay dating back to the early 1800's (have to downsize). One interesting book published around 1830 is about a couple american guys, around 24, who went to Europe and traveled around, much like "Europe on $5 dollars a day". It's really interesting reading what life was like then, and their descriptions of the country and the cities compared to today. Unfortunately they didn't talk about their trip across the Antlantic. By the way, for what it's worth, probably the most difficult part of engineering is dealing with people (or the human interface)!
Thanks all!
Much appreciated, folks, and the correct version goes in the log..Mark Major, s/v Lesismor
Much appreciated, folks, and the correct version goes in the log..Mark Major, s/v Lesismor
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