MULTIMEDIA-ENGLISH
All The Way (Bukowski)
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3:01
Video page URL
https://multimedia-english.com/videos/esl/all-the-way-bukowski-5686
Description

“If you’re gonna try, go all the way. Otherwise, don’t even start.”



The video, directed by Willem Martinot, uses the Charles Bukowski poem “Roll The Dice” along with original footage to create a moving short video. And the poem appears in the book 'What Matters Most Is How Well You Walk Through the Fire'.

Transcript

if you’re going to try, go all the way.
otherwise, don’t even start.

if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
this could mean losing girlfriends,
wives, relatives, jobs and
maybe your mind.

go all the way.
it could mean not eating for 3 or
4 days.
it could mean freezing on a
park bench.
it could mean jail,
it could mean derision,mockery,
isolation.
isolation is the gift,
all the others are a test of your
endurance, of
how much you really want to
do it.
and you’ll do it
despite rejection and the
worst odds
and it will be better than
anything else
you can imagine.

if you’re going to try,
go all the way.
there is no other feeling like
that.
you will be alone with the
gods
and the nights will flame
with fire.

do it, do it, do it.
do it.

all the way
all the way.

you will ride life straight to
perfect laughter, it’s
the only good fight
there is.

Explanations

- GO ALL THE WAY= (idiom) If you go all the way when you are doing something, you do it completely.


- OTHERWISE= (sentence connector) Or else; if not, then.


- MEAN= Mean + ing: expresses what the result of an action will be. (If you take that job in London, it will mean traveling for two hours every day).
Mean + infinitive with to: expresses an intention/plan. (Did you mean to dial this number? I meant to phone your mom, but my cell didn't work. Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you).


- WIVES= Plural of 'wife'.


- RELATIVES= Family members; a person who is connected with another by blood or marriage.


- PARK BENCH= A long seat for more than a person, in a public park.


- JAIL= A prison.


- DERISION= An object of ridicule or scorn.


- MOCKERY= Scornfully contemptuous ridicule; derision.


- ISOLATION= A feeling of being alone; solitude.


- ENDURANCE= The power to withstand hardship. An endurance test is a test to measure the ability of a person, machine, system, etc to deal with physical activity, use...


- DESPITE= In spite of.


- REJECTION= A refusal to show someone the love or kindness that they need or expect.


- FLAME= To burn, ignite, or scorch (something).

Meaning

Do it, do it... who said it was easy? overcoming your fears.