Poetry & Analysis
Selected Poems
Inspirational PoemsThe Bridge Builder
An old man, going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,
“You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again will pass this way;
You’ve crossed the chasm, deep and wide,
Why build this bridge at eventide?”
The builder lifted his old gray head:
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followeth after me to-day
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been as naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.”
Overview Short Summary
The poem shows effort as service: the old man works not for himself, but for someone who will come after him.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Helpful effort: The builder spends strength to make another person’s path safer.
- Responsibility: The poem values work that benefits future generations.
- Legacy: The bridge becomes a symbol of care that outlasts the worker.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is gentle and moral, with a reflective mood focused on service.
Be Strong!
Be strong!
We are not here to play, to dream, to drift;
We have hard work to do, and loads to lift;
Shun not the struggle—face it; ’tis God’s gift.
Be strong!
Say not, “The days are evil. Who’s to blame?”
And fold the hands and acquiesce—oh shame!
Stand up, speak out, and bravely, in God’s name.
Be strong!
It matters not how deep intrenched the wrong,
How hard the battle goes, the day how long;
Faint not—fight on! To-morrow comes the song.
Overview Short Summary
This short poem is a direct call to effort, courage, and responsibility in the face of difficult work.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Hard work: The poem openly says there are loads to lift and work to do.
- Courage: It urges the reader to stand up rather than drift.
- Perseverance: The final line promises song after a long battle.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is urgent and motivating, while the mood is brave and energetic.
Thinking
If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you’d like to win, but you think you can’t,
It is almost a cinch you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost;
For out in this world we find
Success begins with a fellow’s will;
It’s all in the state of mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are;
You’ve got to think high to rise.
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can!
Overview Short Summary
The poem links effort with mindset, arguing that confidence and willpower shape the outcome of struggle.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Self-belief: The speaker shows how thought can strengthen or weaken effort.
- Success: Winning begins with the will to try.
- Persistence: The poem reminds readers that strength alone does not decide every battle.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is plain, direct, and motivational.
Good Timber
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow with ease:
The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
Where thickest lies the forest growth
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.
Overview Short Summary
The poem compares people to trees, showing that strength often grows through resistance, toil, and difficulty.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Growth through struggle: Storms and wind become forces that build strength.
- Effort: The poem values toil as part of becoming strong.
- Resilience: Scars become evidence of endurance, not failure.
Craft Literary Devices
- Extended metaphor: Trees and timber represent human character shaped by hardship.
- Parallel structure: The poem repeatedly compares natural struggle with human effort.
Opportunity
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 bestead,
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
This poem shows that effort depends less on perfect tools and more on courage, readiness, and action.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Opportunity: A broken sword becomes enough when used with courage.
- Initiative: The prince acts while another person complains.
- Success through effort: The poem suggests that decisive effort can turn weakness into victory.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is dramatic and heroic, with a mood of sudden possibility.
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