Ode to Marketing in the Coming Ages

Marketing is part commerce and part art. The creative side of our profession can make a huge difference in the results we get. I am inspired by a poem that was written in the second half of the 19th century. It’s a poem about poetry but I think it offers all of us a unique challenge in our lives and in our careers. What will we as marketing professionals bring to the coming new age? I hope this poem inspires you as it has me. Be a leader. Do great work. Why? Here's a good answer in a timeless poem:

ODE
BY ARTHUR O’SHAUGHNESSY

WE ARE THE MUSIC MAKERS,
AND WE ARE THE DREAMERS OF DREAMS,
WANDERING BY LONE SEA-BREAKERS,
AND SITTING BY DESOLATE STREAMS;
WORLD LOSERS AND WORLD FORSAKERS,
ON WHOM THE PALE MOON GLEAMS:
YET WE ARE THE MOVERS AND SHAKERS
OF THE WORLD FOREVER. IT SEEMS.

WITH WONDERFUL DEATHLESS DITTIES
WE BUILD UP THE WORLD’S GREAT CITIES,
AND OUT OF A FABULOUS STORY
WE FASHION AN EMPIRE’S GLORY:
ONE MAN WITH A DREAM, AT PLEASURE,
SHALL GO FORTH AND CONQUER A CROWN;
AND THREE WITH A NEW SONG’S MEASURE
CAN TRAMPLE AN EMPIRE DOWN.

WE IN THE AGES LYING
IN THE BURIED PAST OF THE EARTH,
BUILT NINEVEH WITH OUR SIGHING;
AND BABEL ITSELF WITH OUR MIRTH;
AND O’ERTHREW THEM WITH PROPHESYING
TO THE OLD OF THE NEW WORLD’S WORTH;
FOR EACH AGE IS A DREAM THAT IS DYING,
OR ONE THAT IS COMING TO BIRTH.