Invictus
By Sir William Ernest Henly

Out of the night that covers me, 
Black as the pit from pole to pole, 
I thank whatever gods may be 
For my unconquerable soul. 

In the fell clutch of circumstance 
I have not winced nor cried aloud. 
Under the bludgeonings of chance 
My head is bloody, but unbowed. 

Beyond this place of wrath and tears 
Looms but the Horror of the shade, 
And yet the menace of the years 
Finds and shall find me unafraid. 

It matters not how strait the gate, 
How charged with punishments the scroll, 
I am the master of my fate, 
I am the captain of my soul. 

Test of a Man

The test of man is the fight that he makes. 
The grit that he daily shows. 
The way he stands upon his feet. 
And takes life’s numerous bumps and blows.

A coward can smile, 
When there’s not to fear. 
noting, his progress bars. 
But it takes a man to stand and cheer. 
While the other fellow stars.

It isn’t the victory after all, 
But, the fight that a brother makes. 
A man when driven against the wall  
still stands erect and takes

The Blows of Fate, With his head held high. 
Bleeding, bruised, and pale 
Is the man who will win, fate defied, 
For he isn’t afraid to fail.

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother
By Brother Freeman Montaque, Jr.

​Our Family trees are not the same,
we both have a different mother
And yet I'd proudly tell the world
that this man is my Brother.
It's like we've lived our lives together,
though we meet for the first time
As this powerful sense of Brotherhood
makes everything seem fine.

Spectators stand and look with awe
as we do our secret shake,
Never realizing that this clasping of hands
does not a Brother make.
We are Brothers in a deeper sense
than they can comprehend,
For when our bond has just begun,
theirs are about to end.

When we were searching for the light,
as all Sphinxmen must do,
They stood aside and laughed out loud,
"I wouldn't do that! Would You?"
and yet when we had crossed those sands
and the light we could finally see,
They stood aside and whispered softly,
"Oh how I wish it were me!"

I know the decision I made was wise,
of this I'm sure and have no doubt
Each day in my life will have blue skies,
for I'm an Alpha from here on out.
And never again will I be lonely
for I have Brothers everywhere,
In cities of population two,
I even have a Brother there.

There is nothing in this whole wide world
that we wouldn't do for one another
I'm sure I'd even give my life
to save that of my Brother.
But there are still those in darkness
who cannot understand
Why I would share the burden
which belongs to another man.

When asked,
"Why weigh yourself down
with the load of another?"
I simply smile at them and say,
"He ain't heavy...he's my Brother!"

There Goes an Alpha Man
By Brother Peter Clarke

​There goes a man of high impulse,
of princely mien and grace.
There goes a man of humble faith,
a credit to his race.

There goes a man of conscious vast,
with will to reach his goal.
There goes a man of lordly rank,
of heroes stock and soul.

There goes a man of noble cast
whom hardship cannot break.
There goes a man in merit clad,
whom duty won't forsake.

There goes a man of culture verse,
who holds a sportsman's creed.
There goes a man too vigilant
to bow to lust or greed.

There goes a man whose life is spent
in service, not in scorn.
There goes a man whose majesty
shines like a maytime morn.

There goes a man who is a friend
to love and duty truth.
There goes a man to help uplift
the lives of wholesome youth.

There goes a man with industry
and faith at his command.
There goes the best man in or out
for he's an Alpha Man.

Don't Quit

​When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to weep but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow
You might succeed with another blow.

Oft the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late, as the night slipped down,
How close he'd been to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you never can tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems so far.
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

The Man Who Thinks He Can

​If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't;
If you'd like to win, but think you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you've lost,
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow's will;
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are;
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.

House of Alpha
By Brother Sydney P. Brown

​GOODWILL is the monarch of this house.
Men, unacquainted, enter, shake hands, exchange greetings, and depart friends.
Cordiality exists among all who abide within.

I am the eminent expression of friendship.
Character and temperament change under my dominant power.
Lives once touched by me become tuned, and are
Thereafter, amiable, kindly, fraternal.

I inspire the musician to play noble sentiments, and 
assist the chemist to convert ungenerous personalities into individuals of great worth.
I destroy all ignoble impulses.
I constantly invoke principles which make for common brotherhood and
the echo resounds in all communities and princely men are thereby recognized.
Education, health, music, encouragement, sympathy, laughter - all these are species of interest given on self-invested capital.

Tired moments find me a delightful treat, hours of sorrow, a shrine of understanding -
at all times I am faithful to the creed of companionship.
To a few, I am the castle of dreams - ambitious, successful, hopeful dreams.
To many I am the poetic palace where human feeling is rhymed to celestial motives;
To the great majority I am the treasury of good fellowship.
In fact, I am the college of friendship, the university of brotherly love,
the school for the better making of men.

I AM ALPHA PHI ALPHA!

If
By Sir Rudyard Kipling

​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 imposters 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 them 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!

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