Poetry & Analysis
Selected Poems
Inspirational PoemsOpportunity
This I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:—
There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;
And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged
A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords
Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince’s banner
Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.
A craven hung along the battle’s edge,
And thought, “Had I a sword of keener steel—
That blue blade that the king’s son bears,—but this
Blunt thing—!” he snapt and flung it from his hand,
And lowering crept away and left the field.
Then came the king’s son, wounded, sore bested,
And weaponless, and saw the broken sword,
Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,
And ran and snatched it, and with battle-shout
Lifted afresh, he hewed his enemy down,
And saved a great cause that heroic day.
Overview Short Summary
The poem teaches that opportunity often lies in the tools already near us, even when they look broken or inadequate.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Courage: One person abandons the sword, another uses it bravely.
- Resourcefulness: The broken sword becomes enough in determined hands.
- Action: The poem encourages doing what can be done with what one has.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is dramatic and instructive.
Craft Literary Devices
- Narrative allegory: The battle story teaches a life lesson.
- Contrast: The craven and the king’s son show opposite responses to difficulty.
- Imagery: Dust, swords, shields, and battle cries create urgency.
Say Not the Struggle Naught Availeth
Say not the struggle naught availeth,
The labour and the wounds are vain,
The enemy faints not, nor faileth,
And as things have been they remain.
If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars;
It may be, in yon smoke concealed,
Your comrades chase e’en now the fliers,
And, but for you, possess the field.
For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.
And not by eastern windows only,
When daylight comes, comes in the light;
In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly!
But westward, look, the land is bright!
Overview Short Summary
The poem encourages readers not to give up just because progress is not immediately visible.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Perseverance: The struggle may be working even when success is hidden.
- Hope: Fear may be less reliable than hope.
- Collective effort: The poem reminds readers that others may be advancing beyond what can be seen.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is reassuring, strategic, and motivational.
Craft Literary Devices
- Metaphor: Battle, waves, and sunrise represent progress.
- Contrast: The poem contrasts visible failure with hidden success.
- Imagery: Light arriving from unexpected directions creates hope.
The Noble Nature
It is not growing like a tree
In bulk, doth make man better be;
Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,
To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere:
A lily of a day
Is fairer far in May,
Although it fall and die that night—
It was the plant and flower of Light.
In small proportions we just beauties see;
And in short measures life may perfect be.
Overview Short Summary
This poem says greatness is not measured by size or length of life, but by quality and beauty.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Self-worth: The poem values inner quality over outward scale.
- Purpose: A brief life can still be complete and meaningful.
- Confidence: The small lily becomes a symbol of radiant worth.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is wise, graceful, and affirming.
Craft Literary Devices
- Contrast: The oak and lily show two different kinds of value.
- Symbolism: The lily represents concentrated beauty and excellence.
- Aphorism: The final line offers a memorable moral insight.
George Moses Horton, Myself
I feel myself in need
Of the inspiring strains of ancient lore,
My heart to lift, my empty mind to feed,
And all the world explore.
I know that I am old
And never can recover what is past,
But for the future may some light unfold
And soar from ages last.
I feel resolved to try,
My wish to prove, my calling to pursue,
Or mount up from the earth into the sky,
To show what Heaven can do.
Overview Short Summary
This poem shows a speaker turning toward learning, inspiration, and renewed purpose despite age and limitation.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Self-improvement: The speaker wants knowledge to lift the heart and mind.
- Purpose: The poem looks forward instead of surrendering to the past.
- Determination: The speaker resolves to try and pursue a calling.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is humble, hopeful, and resolved.
Craft Literary Devices
- First-person voice: The poem feels personal and direct.
- Upward imagery: Mounting from earth to sky symbolizes aspiration.
- Contrast: The speaker contrasts age and lost time with future light.
Promise
Through the moil and the gloom they have issued
To the steps of the upwinding hill,
Where the sweet, dulcet pipes of tomorrow
In their preluding rhapsodies trill.
With a thud comes a stir in the bosom,
As there steals on the sight from afar,
Through a break of a cloud’s coiling shadow
The gleam of a bright morning star!
Overview Short Summary
This short poem moves from gloom to a glimpse of morning light, making it a compact poem of hope.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Hope: The morning star suggests that better things are coming.
- Hard times: The poem admits gloom before presenting promise.
- Renewal: Tomorrow appears musically and visually, as if calling the spirit forward.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is luminous, expectant, and uplifting.
Craft Literary Devices
- Imagery: Hill, pipes, clouds, and star create a movement from darkness to hope.
- Symbolism: The morning star symbolizes promise and guidance.
- Sound imagery: The “pipes of tomorrow” make hope audible.
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More selected reading from Inspirational Poems.
