Go as a pilgrim and seek out danger
far from the comfort and the well lit avenues of life.
Pit your every soul against the unknown
and seek stimulation in the comfort of the brave.
Experience cold, hunger, heat and thirst
and survive to see another challenge and another dawn.
Only then will you be at peace with yourself
and be able to know and to say;
“I look down the farthest side of the mountain,
fulfilled and understanding all,
and truly content that I lived a full life and one
that was my own choice”
If ever there were ninety six words which completely encapsulated the desire and purpose in people who seek adventure, it is those above. The author is reported to be James Elroy Flecker and taken from his play Hassan. I’ve searched the text numerous times, both by traditional means and by downloading the plain text and using search function and I cannot find it anywhere. However, perhaps it is in another piece of his work, if you have a source, let us know and we’ll link it here. Whoever wrote the lines above, they deserve a solid handshake. Beyond anything else worth coveting, surely the last two lines of this poem offer something truly worth aspiring to.
What Flecker did write, which is famous inscribed on the clock tower at Hereford, is this passage;
ISHAK
We are the Pilgrims, master; we shall go
Always a little further; it may be
Beyond that last blue mountain barred with snow
Across that angry or that glimmering sea,
White on a throne or guarded in a cave
There lies a prophet who can understand
Why men were born: but surely we are brave,
Who take the Golden Road to Samarkand.
And in truth, that is no less inspiring.
