Be the Best of Whatever You Are
Douglas Malloch
1877 to 1938
Track 1
Reconstruct the poem by dragging each line into its correct position. Your goal is to reassemble the original poem as accurately as possible. As you move the lines, you'll see whether your arrangement is correct, helping you explore the poem's flow and meaning. You can also print out the jumbled poem to cut up and reassemble in the classroom. Either way, take your time, enjoy the process, and discover how the poet's words come together to create something truly beautiful.
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It isn't by size that you win or you fail—
If you can't be a highway then just be a trail,
We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew,
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
There's something for all of us here.
And the task we must do is the near.
Be a bush if you can't be a tree.
If you can't be a bush be a bit of the grass,
If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass—
Be a scrub in the valley—but be
Be the best of whatever you are!
But the liveliest bass in the lake!
If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill
If you can't be the sun be a star;
And some highway some happier make;
There's big work to do and there's lesser to do,