When

When everything is lost and fame foregone

When from the pedestal you've been dethroned

When your mind is wearied and spirit harried

When your soul feels dead and buried

When the audience is gone and the stage's bereft

When all the cavalcade and entourage has left

When the roads are empty and streets deserted

When the dark nights seem lonely and haunted

When your spirit is bruised and beaten

When all that was yours has been taken

Don't give up yet for glory still beckons

Stand up, fight, and be a man, my son

Author's Note

Inspired by the poem 'If', by Rudyard Kipling. I hope I have done some amount of justice to the original composition.

Reviews

[Ambrin]

very nice............well done.

[Arabdha]

yes..I did think I had been inspired by something similar before..:) Beautifully done-you've lived up to Rudyard Kipling.. :)

[Andy David]

Hello.
Life is one long journey that everyone must travel. We will stumble, we will fall, but our inner voice always gives us the strength to pick ourselves up and continue along the journey, even if it means starting from afresh.
Lovely tribute to the original.
Thanks for sharing.

[Murtuza]

A brilliant tribute to a brilliant poem. The stark contrast between the last 2 lines and the rest of the poem shows the power of the message that this poem brings. Quite inspiring. A great read :)

[Wallflower]

most definitely have done the original justice. Such power in the last four lines, it balances out the preceding description of rock bottom. The beginning pulls you down, the end pulls you right back up.