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 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
Sill’s poem shows that success often depends on using the opportunity available now, even when it looks imperfect. One person rejects a broken sword; another uses it to win.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Opportunity: The broken sword becomes a chance for victory.
- Action: Success comes to the person who acts, not the person who complains.
- Success after difficulty: The king’s son is wounded and weaponless but still moves forward.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is dramatic and instructive. The mood is urgent because one decision changes the outcome.
Literary Technique Imagery and Symbols
The battlefield, broken sword, banner, dust, and shout symbolize imperfect opportunities and decisive action.
Poetic Form Rhyme Scheme and Structure
The poem tells a compact story with a clear success lesson.
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
Malloch’s poem is a strong success-after-struggle poem. It teaches that easy conditions do not make the strongest trees or people; pressure, storm, and effort build strength.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Struggle and success: Strength grows through wind, storm, cold, rain, and resistance.
- Hard work: The man who never has to toil never fully grows.
- Growth: Good timber becomes a metaphor for strong character.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is wise, firm, and motivational. The mood is encouraging because hardship becomes a source of strength.
Literary Technique Imagery and Symbols
Trees, wind, sky, storms, scars, and forest patriarchs symbolize growth through difficulty.
Poetic Form Rhyme Scheme and Structure
The poem’s parallel between trees and people makes its lesson easy to understand.
Be the Best of Whatever You Are
If you can’t be a pine on the top of the hill,
Be a scrub in the valley — but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can’t be a tree.
If you can’t be a bush be a bit of the grass,
And some highway happier make;
If you can’t be a muskie then just be a bass —
But the liveliest bass in the lake!
We can’t all be captains, we’ve got to be crew,
There’s something for all of us here.
There’s big work to do and there’s lesser to do,
And the task we must do is the near.
If you can’t be a highway then just be a trail,
If you can’t be the sun be a star;
It isn’t by size that you win or you fail —
Be the best of whatever you are!
Overview Short Summary
This poem is ideal for success poems for students because it defines success as doing your own role with excellence. Success is not being the biggest; it is being your best.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Personal success: The poem values doing your own work well.
- Self-acceptance: Not everyone is a pine, captain, highway, or sun.
- Effort: Winning depends on being the best of whatever you are.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is simple, cheerful, and encouraging. The mood is positive and student-friendly.
Literary Technique Imagery and Symbols
Pine, scrub, rill, bush, grass, muskie, bass, captain, crew, highway, trail, sun, and star make success easy to picture.
Poetic Form Rhyme Scheme and Structure
The repeated “If you can’t” structure turns limitation into possibility.
My Wage
I bargained with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store;
For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.
I worked for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have paid.
Overview Short Summary
Rittenhouse’s poem connects success with ambition and self-worth. The speaker learns that life gave only what was asked for, suggesting that small expectations can limit achievement.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Ambition: The speaker realizes that asking too little shaped the result.
- Self-worth: Success begins with valuing your own possibility.
- Goals: The poem encourages readers to demand more from life and themselves.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is regretful but empowering. The mood is awakening because the speaker discovers a hard lesson too late.
Literary Technique Imagery and Symbols
Life as an employer and wage as a metaphor turn ambition into a clear workplace image.
Poetic Form Rhyme Scheme and Structure
The poem’s three stanzas move from bargain to lesson to realization.
Will
There is no chance, no destiny, no fate,
Can circumvent or hinder or control
The firm resolve of a determined soul.
Gifts count for nothing; will alone is great;
All things give way before it, soon or late.
What obstacle can stay the mighty force
Of the sea-seeking river in its course,
Or cause the ascending orb of day to wait?
Each well-born soul must win what it deserves.
Let the fool prate of luck. The fortunate
Is he whose earnest purpose never swerves,
Whose slightest action or inaction serves
The one great aim. Why, even Death stands still,
And waits an hour sometimes for such a will.
Overview Short Summary
Wilcox’s poem is about determination and success. It argues that firm will, not luck alone, drives achievement.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Determination: A determined soul cannot be easily controlled by chance or fate.
- Purpose: Success requires actions that serve one great aim.
- Hard work: The poem rejects passive waiting for luck.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is bold, confident, and motivational. The mood is forceful because will is shown as unstoppable.
Literary Technique Imagery and Symbols
The sea-seeking river and ascending sun symbolize steady movement toward a goal.
Poetic Form Rhyme Scheme and Structure
The sonnet-like structure makes the argument compact and intense.
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