Your Children Poem by Kahlil Gibran

Your Children

Rating: 3.2


Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you.
And though they are with you, they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite.
And He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hands be for happiness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
So He loves the bow that is stable.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
A. M. 14 January 2012

Beautifully said. So very true

9 1 Reply
Pamela Lee 30 November 2017

I first read Mr Gibran in the 70's...he has always been in my thoughts ever since...such a deep and knowing man...Thank you for this opportunity to revisit words of wisdom...11/30/2017...🌿🌿🌿

8 2 Reply
Kathleen Butler 09 October 2010

So much wisdom! The amazing beauty, intelligence, and purity of heart that this man had should be exposed to each generation!

7 1 Reply
M Asim Nehal 13 June 2016

Amazing, philosophical touch in this poem. Thanks for sharing.

5 1 Reply
Ramchandra Baban Jadhav 01 February 2018

मराठीत असा कवी कधी जन्म घेणार

2 3 Reply
Deborah Marie Menno 16 July 2022

You left out a word in the last line. Shame on you!

0 2 Reply
James Andrews 09 July 2021

Sadly the writer is a minion for the great deceiver, the Devil. He has done a great work by becoming the archer within in this text that the writer is completely unwittingly helping to lie steal, kill and destroy. Especially in this case the traditional family bonds.

1 10 Reply
June S. Waldo 01 October 2020

Accurate, magnificent, so true.

3 1 Reply
Charbel z 22 January 2020

This is one of the best poem ever person should know

3 2 Reply
Carol 15 August 2019

Wish I knew this 30 years ago.

3 1 Reply
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