J.J. Thorne was born on February 11, 1871, whose full name is John Julius Thorne. His book “Humble Hours of Solitude” was published in 1904. He influenced people a lot because of his poetry. Even after such a long time, people still love to read his poetry. Here is a selection of some of his best and most famous poems. Let’s take a look.
Table of Contents
Try, Try Again
Poet: J.J. Thorne
The task may seem hard and difficult,
Doubts and fears may encumber the brain;
But resolution is half of the battle.
Try, try again.
Industry promises to old age,
A help as a crutch or cane;
If you stumble and loose foothold,
Try, try again.
Though your life be a terror,
And all constructions you have lain;
Fall a victim to despair,
Try, try again.
Conscience will help to smooth rough ways,
It is to duty a dressing pane;
If you have slubbered and run over life,
Try, try again.
Plod your way through the world.
Seek best methods to ordain;
Toil to prune the rose of perfection.
Try, try again.
Passions and temptations gears and hooks up,
Satan drives and holds the rein;
Ask of conscience the way to get loose,
Try, try again.
Conscience will give a true verdict,
Protest for right and wrong disdain;
And fill our hearts with gratitude.
Try, try again.
The good that others can do,
To live in harmony and leave no stain;
Why through love may not you —
Try. try again.
There is a place of paradise.
No sickness, sorrow, trouble or pain;
God will bless that ask advice.
Try, try again.
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Think Before We Speak
Poet: J.J. Thorne
We often do not think in time,
Our words are cold and bleak;
Think twice with careful thought,
Before we haste to speak.
Thought is care, care is thought,
Both combined is wisdom’s cheek;
Think twice with careful thought,
Before we haste to speak.
Do not allow a blissful tongue,
Imprudent words to leak;
Think twice with careful thought,
Before we haste to speak.
Passion rudely attempts the tongue,
But wisdom prevails and makes it meek;
Think twice with careful thought,
Before we haste to speak.
We all are indebted by gratitude,
From the briny wave to the mountain peak;
Think twice with careful thought,
Before we haste to speak.
We should with prudence lay the plan,
The best moral elements to seek;
Think twice with careful thought,
Before we haste to speak.
Love forgives and felicitates,
Envy abuse slander and sneak;
Think twice with careful thought,
Before we haste to speak.
Lies spoil and defiles Perfection,
They signify love and wisdom weak;
Think twice with careful thought.
Before we haste to speak.
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Give A Helping Hand
Poet: J.J. Thorne
The grandest deeds in our power.
Among the human band:
Forgive love and respect all.
And give a helping hand.
To cleanse our hearts of malice and hatred,
This we might and can;
And place therein a nearer feeling,
And give a helping hand.
Blessed is the name of charity,
Ancient, old and grand:
Warm, kind and sympathizing,
And gives a helping hand.
Our days on earth are but few ,
Our stay is short on land;
God loveth a cheerful giver,
And gives a helping hand.
To the heart of love and eye of wisdom,
Good is the benevolent man;
He blots out the faults of his neighbor.
And gives a helping hand.
Of all honor and duties of life.
That we make, bestow or plan;
One of the greatest of life perfections,
Is a helping hand.
If by friendship we are fraternal.
And in unity desire to stand;
Our hearts will avail itself eternal,
And give a helping hand.
Our Savior taught kindness and charity,
The Bible proves it a pious strand;
God gave his son to die for us,
It was love and a helping hand.
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God’s Love For All Man’s Unthankfulness
Poet: J. J. Thorne
Knowledge is power, conscience is truth,
It was given us the way to live by;
He that takes advantage of a weaker knowledge,
Where does his honor lie?
He that is able to give a penny,
To the poor and needy, the orphans that cry;
And will not share a penny to the lot of his Savior,
Where does his honor lie?
Duty on earth makes rich blessings,
It rewards us when we die;
He that ignores and shrinks from duty.
Where does his honor lie?
God made all races and colors,
A fact we cannot deny;
He that disdains owing to color;
Where does his honor lie?
The man that possesses so much esteem.
And feels so grand and high;
Is vain, scornful and extreme,
Where does his honor lie?
The man that pretends to love a lady,
To learn her affection and seeks to try.
And wins her love with no admiration,
Where does his honor lie?
The man that oppresses, cheats and steals,
And harks to satan’s plea in reply;
When conscience condemns, pleads and appeal-,
Where does his honor lie?
Honesty, love, justice and charity,
We might call piety’s pie;
He that defiles with sour fruit,
Where does his honor lie?
God gives all blessings on earth,
He joins our hearts with a tender tie,
He that tattles and breaks friendship,
Where does his honor lie?
God’s love for humanity created the world,
His mercy is vision before our eye;
He that oppresses his brotherly flesh,
Where does his honor lie?
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Caution, Labor, Honor and Security
Poet: J. J. Thorne
Caution is the parent of safety,
It gives a lesson to obey;
While you are out of trouble.
Work to keep it away.
Ask your conscience for security,
Of pleasure in the future day;
While you are out of trouble,
Work to keep it away.
Bad society often wins.
And leads the mind astray;
While you are out of trouble,
Work to keep it away.
Execution of evil measures,
Causes pleasure to decay;
While you are out of trouble,
Work to keep it away.
Imprudent words, revenge and grudge,
Often ends in a fray,
While you are out of trouble,
Work to keep it away.
Virtue is a wreath of honor.
It’s beauty, brilliant and gay;
While you are out of trouble.
Work to keep it away.
When you see necessity and duty.
Execute, do not delay;
While you are out of trouble.
Work to keep it away.
Reason and think the best you can.
The surest plans to lay;
While you are out of trouble.
Work to keep it away.
All wrongs at some period,
Will bring on sorrow and dismay;
While you are out of trouble.
Work to keep it away.
If you take that you can not give.
Grief and sorrow cannot pay;
While you are out of trouble,
Work to keep it away.
The happiness of life is here explained.
In a short sentence to say:
While you are out of trouble,
Work to keep it away.
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Conscience The True Pilot
Poet: J. J. Thorne
When we have wandered vile and corrupt.
And have violated the laws;
Ask of conscience the reason why,
It will give the cause.
If we decline from truth and honor,
When duty commands a clause;
Ask of conscience the reason why,
It will give the cause.
Life and some duties seem hard and short,
Through weakness we often pause;
Ask of conscience the reason why,
It will give the cause.
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Do Not Scorn The Poor
Poet: J. J. Thorne
Do not scorn the poor, dear friends,
Why should this ever be done;
After toiling all their life.
And their task they have won.
What does the poor class inherit.
Toil and trouble all their days;
And strive manfully onward,
Until their weary life decays.
I to-day know poor people,
Whose best days are past and gone;
And are striving in worn out garments,
That are scarcely hanging on.
Why not sympathize with them,
If they have done thir part,
For beneath their tattered garments
There may be an honest heart.
Strive manfully, old friends,
Surely you will be blessed,
For accumulations in this world
Have never sent a soul to rest.
The rich may dream of their treasures,
And through bondage may not see;
But halt a moment and think that industry,
Is the thing for you and me.
And do not forget my friends,
That we all are as one with God.
And all will occupy.
The same space of sod.
And remember that in heaven.
There is no division there;
And the poor as well as the rich,
Shall take an equal share.
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Love And Harmony
Poet: J. J. Thorne
We should live in morality,
And diabolical pursuits abstain;
When on earth our lives are over,
That we may go and leave no stain.
If we rightly consider the blessing of wisdom.
Revenge and malice we will disdain:
And place our thought in search of safety,
That we may go and leave no stain.
Let our days be of honor,
And our deeds will not be pain,
When our time expires on earth,
That we may go and leave no stain.
Benevolence is a fountain of love,
Good will and hope it will gain;
Let’s live with a filial heart.
That we may go and leave no stain.
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Love And Kindness
Poet: J.J. Thorne
This is a lesson we should heed,
Through our Maker to obey;
To oblige the poor in case of need.
And help them on their way.
He is blessed as a cheerful giver.
And his deeds never decay;
That obliges the poor in case of need.
And helps them on their way.
It will fill our hearts with gratitude.
In some future day;
If we oblige the poor in case of need,
And help them on their way.
We plant in our breast the rose of charity,
With blossoms fragrance bright and gay;
When we oblige the poor in case of need.
And help them on their way.
A gift of benevolence secures gratitude.
And leaves our hearts o.k..
When we oblige the poor in case of need.
And help them on their way.
We should be up and doing,
And our moments not delay;
To oblige the poor in case of need.
And help them on their way.
Kindness denotes a benevolent heart.
It shines as a morning rose of May:
When we oblige the poor in case of need;
And help them on their way.
Blessed is the name of charity.
Of many a heart that sleeps in clay;
They obliged the poor in case of need,
And helped them on their way.
A possession of nature’s love,
He can truly say,
That obliges the poor in case of need
And helps them on their way.
The Lord loveth a cheerful giver.
And our Savior love obey.
When we oblige the poor in case of need,
And help them on their way.
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A Happy Home
Poet: J.J. Thorne
Caution is the parent of safety,
It keeps us from going astray
It will make a happy home,
In some future day.
If duty and respect to all,
We live, serve and obey.
It will make a happy home,
In some future day.
Honesty is a commandment,
That never will decay;
It will make a happy home,
In some future day.
Treat each and every person right,
Respect the old and gray;
It will make a happy home,
In some future day.
Sympathy, charity and gratitude
Makes life bright and gay,
It will make a happy home,
In some future day.
True examples and honest deeds,
We should to our children lay,
It will make a happy home,
In some future day.
Love is with a tender heart,
As the spring showers of May;
It will make a happy home,
In some future day.
If we live an upright life,
We have only the pain of death to pay;
It will make a happy home.
In some future day.
Humble duty and the love of Christ,
Is our only way;
It will make a happy home,
In some future day.
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Never Say I Can’t
Poet: J.J. Thorne
A sluggard’s plea is no excuse.
It is inferior to the little ant;
Busy as a bee, industrious is he,
That never says I can’t.
Industry is the bloom of life,
Through honor it shares to grant,
Man becomes a slothful sluggard.
When he says I can’t.
The seed of sorrow we often sow,
Which grows to be a dwarfish plant;
To weed and reap a successful row,
We must not say I can’t.
The row becomes foul with grass,
The sluggard grows and pants;
He reaps no harvest at all alas,
When he says I can’t.
Perseverance accomplishes much,
Patience rolls obstacles down the slant;
When combined generally triumphs,
The victim is I can’t.
The energy of life prudently guided,
And supervised observant,
Will square the log of honor,
The knots need not say it can’t.
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A Contented Home
Poet: J.J. Thorne
If we work and trust in faith,
Our labor will be blessed;
Joy and mercy will reach our home,
And make a home of rest.
If honesty we live, truth we serve –
We have done our best;
Joy and mercy will reach our home
And make a home of rest.
If we live by the dictates.
Of the conscience of our breast,
Joy and mercy will reach our home
And make a home of rest.
If our labor and deeds are good,
Satan only can infest,
Joy and mercy will reach our home.
And make a home of rest.
Divide with the poor, raise the weak-
Help the beggar and oppressed;
Joy and mercy will reach our home
And make a home of rest.
If we trust in God and believe in Christ,
This was the Savior’s request;
Joy and mercy will reach our home
And make a home of rest.
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Our Personal Duty
Poet: J.J. Thorne
Never yield to evil habits.
Never good things disdain,
Never suffer tongue and lips
To take God’s name in vain.
Never curse and swear,
Never steal and fight;
Never fail to show a conscience
Clear, clean and white.
Never stoop to cheat a person,
Never tell a lie.
Never let thoughts and malice,
Break a friendly tie.
Never bear a stain or grudge,
Never suiter an envious heart
Never fail to love your neighbor.
Never fail to do your part.
Never bear false witness,
Never envy other’s wealth.
Never forget that hygiene.
Is a benefit to health.
Never speak ill of any one,
Never their business offend
Never yet was it our duty,
Never did it gain a friend.
Never commit a harsh deed,
Character it does not adorn;
Never did a pious person
Treat any one with scorn.
Never fail to help the needy,
If it be in our power.
Never will we lose the honor,
Never will be lost the hour.
Never was there a flower
Sprang up from any shore.
With beauty superior to a helping nature.
Of charity for the poor.
Never let the devil lead us
In to toil and strife.
Never let our temptations
Degrade a moral life.
Never be led by any one
Into a wrong deed.
If you are doubtful, ask your conscience,
The mysteries it will plead.
Never rebuke any person,
Never did it defend,
Never will it be of honor,
If they desert a friend.
Never form evil opinions.
Of your fellowman.
Never will the deed decay,
To prevent them if you can.
Never use deceit.
Never work for spite,
Never say I can’t.
But try with all your might.
Never kill, rob and murder,
Never dispossess;
Never fold an idle arm,
If a chance to bless.
Never put off to-morrow
What we should do to-day,
Never contract a debt.
That we do not aim to pay.
Never fail with careful thought,
To think before we speak;
Never fail with kind words,
Friendship to seek.
Never laugh at other people,
To joke and make fun;
Never speak a harm word
To hurt any one.
Never fail in search of wisdom,
To strive to get your part;
Never think that all of wisdom
Equals an honest heart.
Never forget that our duties,
In twelve words they ly,
To love and do by others.
As we would be done by.
If we control our temptations –
With heart, lips, and arms –
We will live in peace and love.
No creature we will harm.
Let our footprints prove our fate,
Our lives a friendly tie.
Honor and wisdom will commemorate,
In bereavement when we die.
After we are placed away
We return to mother sod,
Whether we find joy or woe
It all lies with God.
Never forget that we have a father
Who knows our fate and heart
From kind deeds and good works
Never will he depart.
We should toil to live in obedience,
God’s mercy protect and bless –
By his mercy and obedience
Depends our life and rest.
There is a home prepared for us,
Whether it be joy or woe,
After we have done the best we knew
No debt to the world we owe.
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Love Is
Poet: J.J. Thorne
A life without the bonds of love.
Its pleasure would be none;
‘Tis that warm and tender spirit,
That joins two hearts as one.
True love is like the little lambs,
Playing in the shepherd’s fold;
So strong a tie and tender feeling,
That all is never told.
Love is an inward blessing,
That makes a tender heart;
It makes our union sweet and dear,
And grieves us when we part.
Love is the key of happiness,
It was given from above;
The world would wag in the heathenism,
Were it not for love.
Love is a rose of joy,
It blooms without strife;
It beautifies a home of honor;
It makes a gentle life.
Love is kind, warm and tender,
Above slander and scorn;
It refreshes our hearts with sympathy,
As the dew drops of the morn.
Love unites us friends together,
Our union sweet and dear ;
It joins our hope and hearts together,
It drives away the tear.
Love is a key to our heart.
It makes our lives complete;
It joins our hearts in fraternal love,
Arid happy when we meet.
Love is the fruit of trouble and pleasure,
It makes a tender heart;
It makes us happy and sad together.
It grieves us when we part.
Love is a link that joins us together,
It buries us when we die;
It unites our hearts and hands together,
‘Til side beside we lie.
Love is the greatest of nature’s blessings,
Complete without a blunder;
‘Tis a holy divine cause,
Man cannot put asunder.
Love is a stream that gently flows.
It refreshes day by day,
Its waters replenishes, strengthens and grows,
A care and devotion that never decay.
Love is with a tender heart.
As the spring showers of May;
It forgives others of their wrongs.
And washes them away.
Love makes a life of sympathy,
A warm and tender breast;
A quiet and friendly neighborhood,
A happy home of rest.
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The Heart’s Repose
Poet: J.J. Thorne
Procrastination is the thief of time,
Truth reveals it at its close;
Sip the tongue and lips in truth.
And give the heart repose.
Wisdom’s way will lead you right.
Time and experience will disclose:
Sip the tongue and lips in truth.
And give the heart repose.
Up right and honest deeds,
Gains friends and loses foes:
Sip the tongue and lips in truth,
And give the heart repose.
On every tree sound and perfect.
Its blooms are sweet, good fruit it grows;
Sip the tongue and lips in truth.
And give the heart repose.
Good deeds cheer our feeble hearts,
This each and every one knows,
Sip the tongue and lips in truth.
And give the heart repose.
Do by others as you would be done by.
A debt each and every one owes;
Sip the tongue and lips in truth.
And give the heart repose.
Ask of conscience the way of duty.
It reveals the right and wrong oppose;
Sip the tongue and lips in truth,
And give the heart repose.
Charity is greater than hope or faith.
So said Jesus, the spiritual rose;
He budded in spirit and bloomed in truth.
To give the heart repose.
Place all hope and trust in him.
We reap fruit from seed we sow;
He beseeched the father for all that love him.
To give the heart repose.
Hope and faith has to be given.
Charity from youth the spirit bestowed-,
The morning star and lamb of God,
He gives the heart repose.
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Tomorrow We May Be Placed
Poet: J.J. Thorne
Life decays, as a shadow fades,
And death we must obey;
To-morrow we may be
Placed in clay.
Life is precious, love is sweet;
But these pleasures must decay.
To-morrow we may be
Placed in clay.
Let our footprints prove our honor
From pious steps day by day,
To-morrow we may be
Placed in clay.
We should to our duty haste
And our moments not delay
To-morrow we may be
Placed in clay.
Let our deeds compound alone a love
To anoint our heads when old and gray,
To-morrow we may be
Placed in clay.
We should seek good examples
To our children lay.
To-morrow we may be
Placed in clay.
An honest and upright spirit
Avoids sorrow and dismay,
To-morrow we may be
Placed in clay.
If our conscience be our guide,
Truth and honesty we may say,
To-morrow we may be
Placed in clay.
Let not lies and malice
An evil heart betray,
To-morrow we may be
Placed in clay.
The sting of death ends our lives,
A debt we all must pay.
To-morrow we may be
Placed in clay.
Jesus bore our pain and burden,
Repentance if he pay,
To-morrow we may be
Placed in clay.
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The Bright And Morning Star
Poet: J.J. Thorne
Man in nature things he knows,
And from truth he is so far;
For Christ was just what he said,
The bright and morning star.
We pursue our way in sin and nature,
Nothing proves it but revelation;
And the morning star to search our hearts,
With truth and manifestation.
The heart is in nature’s darkness,
The eye as blind as blind can be;
‘Tis the bright and morning star,
That opens the heart and eyes to see.
The spirit is beyond nature.
Just as the day above the night;
But never known ’till the morning star.
Rises and gives her light.
Things of nature were made by nature,
All things of nature in the dark;
Yet unknown till the morning star,
Drops her spiritual spark.
She rises near the dawn of day.
In darkness she gives her light;
There she shows the spirit as day.
And nature as the night.
The sun rises and lights the world,
A spiritual token plain and bright;
Yet nature perceives it not;
‘Till the morning star gives her light.
God in spirit as the day.
Man in nature as the night;
The morning star rises in darkness.
And reveals the spiritual light.
The world in nature and in darkness,
And from truth it was so far,
This is what Jesus meant,
When he said he was the morning star.
The morning star rises up.
Just before the dawn of day,
Spreads its beams in life’s darkness,
And reveals the truth and way.
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Hopes Of Joy
Poet: J.J. Thorne
Love, friendship and devotion.
Ought to be our song;
In our hearts he placed a conscience,
To teach us right from wrong
By the dictates of our conscience,
We should, live and stand;
So far as earthly things concern,
It is the only truth of man.
Let our conscience be our guide,
Through reason and love to adore:
For we have no other aid,
Until we are given more.
Let us treat each other right,
And live upright, honest and fair;
When friendship is exercised,
It places happiness there.
Let our lives be submissive,
Sin and evil be above,
The sweetest thing there is on earth
Is contentment, peace and love.
Peace and harmony is the river,
That honesty and love ascends,
If we paddle our boat upon its waters
We will have a plenty of friends.
Reason and sympathy make friendship,
With strangers that are miles apart,
When they met on earth in harmony,
And show an honest heart.
If our friends stoop below us,
And in sin they go astray,
From the dictates of our heart
Tell to them the right way.
Some will curse others for their wrongs
As if their hearts were pure as flowers.
Before we blame other people,
Let us think of ours.
Some will abuse others for their faults,
And through estimation try to hem.
When they sum up their own respect,
Then their sympathy will be for them
If a person talks about you,
Pass it by and let it go,
If your life is moral and good
It will prove to not be so.
Let our lives be calm and docile,
And place evil on the left,
The bravest hero is the man,
Who tries to conquer himself.
If on our journey we meet a tramp,
Let our love and hope impart,
For beneath those tatered garments
There may be an honest heart.
There are many people degraded in life
And through their style we cannot see,
But we do not know their sentiments,
And what their troubles may be.
Let us all love each other,
Regardless of riches, chances or features,
Keep peace and harmony in our hearts,
As humble human creatures.
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