NOT they who soar, but they who plod Their rugged way, unhelped, to God Are heroes; they who higher fare, And, flying, fan the upper air, Miss all the toil that hugs the sod. 'Tis they whose backs have felt the rod, Whose feet have pressed the path unshod, May smile upon defeated care, Not they who soar. High up there are no thorns to prod, Nor boulders lurking 'neath the clod To turn the keenness of the share, For flight is ever free and rare; But heroes they the soil who 've trod, Not they who soar! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE VOLUNTEER by ELBRIDGE JEFFERSON CUTLER RICH DAYS by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES THE SLAVE AUCTION by FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER ON THE DEATHS OF THOMAS CARLYLE AND GEORGE ELIOT by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE TO A SNOWFLAKE by FRANCIS THOMPSON THE MYSTIC TRUMPETER by WALT WHITMAN TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: PART 4. FORMS ETERNAL AS THE MOUNTAINS by EDWARD CARPENTER |